Tone pot value

nognow

New member
Hey!
I know what effect a volume pot's value has on the sound,but what about the tone pot?
what effect do different tone pot values have on the sound?
thanks!
 
Last edited:
Re: Tone pot value

Usually the higher the pot value the brighter and louder the sound. 1 meg = 1000 ohms. 250k, 300k, 500k and 1 meg are the most popular, depending on the pickups tey are associated with. Some people switch pots to either tame pickups or bring their sounds to life depending on tastes. Usually the pots match but sometimes are mixed. It's pretty much the same deal for the tone knob, it just depends what pickup it's wired to. It also controls how subtle or drastic the sweep is. I believe the higher the value the broader the sweep. I could be wrong.
 
Last edited:
Re: Tone pot value

It's basically the same. When rolled all the way off a 250 and a 500 will sound pretty much identical. But all the way up, one had a higher resistance cap then the other, so the 500 will let the tone get brighter than the 250.
 
Re: Tone pot value

BUT some people prefer 250 because you can dial in the tone more finely, as in a subtle change with a 500 will change the tone more than a subtle change in the 250, but the 500 will cover a wider spectrum. Does that make sense?
 
Re: Tone pot value

BUT some people prefer 250 because you can dial in the tone more finely, as in a subtle change with a 500 will change the tone more than a subtle change in the 250, but the 500 will cover a wider spectrum. Does that make sense?

Not necessarily so. Most people prefer 250k with single coils and 500k with humbuckers and not cause of the sweep range but because of the high end roll off.

Keep in mind that pot values are cumulative so a guitar with 2 500k pots vs a guitar with a 500k volume and a 250k tone will sound different.
 
Re: Tone pot value

Not necessarily so. Most people prefer 250k with single coils and 500k with humbuckers and not cause of the sweep range but because of the high end roll off.

Keep in mind that pot values are cumulative so a guitar with 2 500k pots vs a guitar with a 500k volume and a 250k tone will sound different.

Wait what? I thought I mentioned that already. " But all the way up, one had a higher resistance cap then the other, so the 500 will let the tone get brighter than the 250." So yeah , 250 takes off some high end.
 
Back
Top