Electronics?

[laney]

Re: Electronics?

The 500k is brighter sounding. the 250k bleed some of the high end through the ground I believe. As a result it's supposed to be a little warmer sounding. There is not right or wrong, whatever sounds best to you......I'm not expert just what I've heard in my guitars.

 

[laney]

Re: Electronics?

Do any of you shield your guitar cavities...If so does aluminum foil work fine...or should it be copper?

I've also see copper strips that for expampl go from the pot up to where the cover sits...

Thanks

 

[ErikH]

Re: Electronics?

Heavy duty foil or the cooper strips work fine. Doesn't matter which. I shielded one of my Strats with aluminum foil and 3M adhesive with great results. Just make sure the shield in the cavity makes contact with the shield on the back of the pickguard. Just a small strip over the top of the body but where it won't be seen is fine. Near one or two of the pickguard screws is best. Make that area of the guard is shielded too.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Electronics?

So tone wise what would 250k vs. 500k pots value do to the tone of the invader in an alder strat? I have now idea what these "k" mean BTW. Thanks

In general, you want 250 Kohm (uppercase K == kilo == one thousand) potentiometers exclusively with close-to-original Fender-style single coils. These potis dampen the resonance frequency peak noticeably and you need that for those few pickups, because the raw pickup output is too shrill.

Almost everytime for other pickups you do not want 250 Kohm, because they continue to dampen the resonance peak, but these pickups already have a peak on the right level and now you kill some of it.

Or in other words: in a Fender-style pickup the dampening poti is part of the sound. In most other situations the sound you want is coming out of the pickup and you don't want to mess with it.

People often misunderstand this and think that Mahogany/set-neck guitars need 500 Kohm and alder/ash/bolt-on guitars need 250 Kohm. This is not the case. It's the pickups that dictate which poti you want, not the guitar.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Electronics?

People often misunderstand this and think that Mahogany/set-neck guitars need 500 Kohm and alder/ash/bolt-on guitars need 250 Kohm. This is not the case. It's the pickups that dictate which poti you want, not the guitar.

That may not be the case, but that doesn't mean the pickup dictates which pot to use all the time. The wood does come in to play.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Electronics?

Do any of you shield your guitar cavities...If so does aluminum foil work fine...or should it be copper?

I've also see copper strips that for expampl go from the pot up to where the cover sits...

I use kitchen aluminium foil. Gets the job done just fine. The thick stuff is easier to work with but doesn't make a difference from a shielding standpoint.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Electronics?

That may not be the case, but that doesn't mean the pickup dictates which pot to use all the time. The wood does come in to play.

If your guitar is too harsh because you have bright wood and bright pickup, then (if you don't want to get a new pickup obviously) a capacitor to lower the frequency of the resonance peak is usually the better solution than just killing parts of the resonance peak with a resistor (which is what the poti is when at full volume).

 

[ErikH]

Re: Electronics?

If your guitar is too harsh because you have bright wood and bright pickup, then (if you don't want to get a new pickup obviously) a capacitor to lower the frequency of the resonance peak is usually the better solution than just killing parts of the resonance peak with a resistor (which is what the poti is when at full volume).

True, that is a very good option as well (add a capacitor). Too bad that method isn't talked about more.

 

[laney]

Re: Electronics?

How do you add a capictor in a one volume no tone guitar. Does it go between the contact on the pot that's usually folded and soldered to the body and the center contact?

 

[uOpt]

Re: Electronics?

How do you add a capictor in a one volume no tone guitar. Does it go between the contact on the pot that's usually folded and soldered to the body and the center contact?

You put it across the wires that go directly to the pickup. It need to be parallel to the pickup with no poti in between.

Some guitars have the potentiometers connected backwards (which you should fix but that's besides the point) so you cannot assume the above.