I'm about to upgrade my ESP strat from SSS to HSS and some say I should use one 500K and two 250K. But some say three 500K with either a 470 Ohm or a 560 Ohm is better for HSS for clarity and better balance. This is way beyond my knowledge and some input and reason behind would be highly appreciated .
Pots for HSS?
- Thread starter MrFlexx
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Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
Depends on what kind of wiring you intend to have. Do you have a master volume and a master tone and that's it? Or two tones? Or two volumes?
I have a friend who just rewired his HSS Strat with all 250K pots, but a no-load tone for the bridge, so in the end, the bridge pickup sees the same resistance when the knobs are turned to 10 as if it were wired to 500K volume and tone pot. But he has two tones (one for the SC's, one for the HB) and a master volume.
I have a friend who just rewired his HSS Strat with all 250K pots, but a no-load tone for the bridge, so in the end, the bridge pickup sees the same resistance when the knobs are turned to 10 as if it were wired to 500K volume and tone pot. But he has two tones (one for the SC's, one for the HB) and a master volume.
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Teleplayer
Active member
It depends which pickups you will use. In my case I also replace the single coils with hum-cancelling stacks or blades. Then it’s logical to put in 500k controls that work with the set of 3 new pickups.
Mixing true singles and humbuckers is obviously common, but often requires some tweaks and learning. The benefit is you retain the traditional strat tone.
Mixing true singles and humbuckers is obviously common, but often requires some tweaks and learning. The benefit is you retain the traditional strat tone.
freefrog
Well-known member
That's 470 or 560 KILO Ohm.
A 470k resistor in parallel with a 500k pot changes it virtually in a 242.26k pot. A 560k resistor sets its resistance to 264.15k. The pickup "sees" these resistive loads and behaves more or less as if it had a 250k pot.
There's a difference of "taper": a 500k+resistor doesn't behave quite in the same way than a 250k when lowered. Reason why those who fiddle a lot with their pots might prefer a real 250k volume control for single coils (real ones, not stacks or rails HB's: I agree with the ideas that stacks & rails take advantage of 500k controls). But for players who keep their controls at 10/10 most of the time, parallel resistors should do the trick.
I've 500k + parallel resistors in several Strats (and treble bleeds tuned to my liking to give me what I want once the volume pots lowered).
HTH.
marcello252
Well-known member
what pickups are you going to use? the 250K / 500K is not a perfect rule, for example, with my ears , I don't like 500K with JB, I do prefer 250K (matter of taste)
3 way blade? What are the 3 positions each pickup alone?
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
If you use the same pots that came with the guitar and just swap the pickup, the humbucker will see the same resistance humbuckers usually see in an HH guitar and the single coils will see the same resistance they were already seeing.
If you put a 500k pot in there, everything will be brighter, because the humbucker sees double it's usual resistance and the single coils see a little bit more resistance than they usually do
If you put a 500k pot in there, everything will be brighter, because the humbucker sees double it's usual resistance and the single coils see a little bit more resistance than they usually do
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
But but... none of us suggested that 
Then I must've understood it wrong. But then again, english ain't my native languageBut but... none of us suggested that
Bill Dennis
Active member
Refine it for what you will be using the most. I would live on the humbucker 90% so I would fine tune accordingly.
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