Tone pots - Linear or Audio
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Tony_H
New member
Re: Tone pots - Linear or Audio
Don't know ... I always use an audio taper pot for my tone controls but when it comes to volume controls, I usually try both an audio and a linear pot to see which works better for that particular guitar. I slightly seem to favor audio pots, but...
Back when I had just one old battered guitar, it had an audio vol pot and I got used to using it to control my volume and distortion. The guitar is an all-maple bolt-on with a single humbucker, and it works perfectly. As I got more guitars and started experimenting with various wirings, I found that some guitars worked better with linear volume pots. I like two-humbucker guitars with 3-way toggles and push-pull pots or with 5-way switches wired for various coil split combinations. Those guitars seem to work better with linear pots. I mean, the coil split function makes quite a difference in volume and color of the tone. Then if I need to cut the volume just a bit, an audio pot will usually cut too much volume within a very little rotation. That's where a linear pot works better (for me anyway).
Don't know ... I always use an audio taper pot for my tone controls but when it comes to volume controls, I usually try both an audio and a linear pot to see which works better for that particular guitar. I slightly seem to favor audio pots, but...
Back when I had just one old battered guitar, it had an audio vol pot and I got used to using it to control my volume and distortion. The guitar is an all-maple bolt-on with a single humbucker, and it works perfectly. As I got more guitars and started experimenting with various wirings, I found that some guitars worked better with linear volume pots. I like two-humbucker guitars with 3-way toggles and push-pull pots or with 5-way switches wired for various coil split combinations. Those guitars seem to work better with linear pots. I mean, the coil split function makes quite a difference in volume and color of the tone. Then if I need to cut the volume just a bit, an audio pot will usually cut too much volume within a very little rotation. That's where a linear pot works better (for me anyway).
Artie
Peaveyologist
Re: Tone pots - Linear or Audio
If thats whats happening, it means that you've accidently installed a reverse taper audio pot. An "ordinary" audio taper should only cut about 10% of the signal, at approx. 50% of rotation.
A linear taper control will be at half resistance @ half rotation.
An audio taper control has very little effect until you turn it pretty far. The resistance element is "tapered", so that you only have about 10% of the resistance @ about halfway down.
Tony_H said:
If thats whats happening, it means that you've accidently installed a reverse taper audio pot. An "ordinary" audio taper should only cut about 10% of the signal, at approx. 50% of rotation.
Xeromus said:
A linear taper control will be at half resistance @ half rotation.
An audio taper control has very little effect until you turn it pretty far. The resistance element is "tapered", so that you only have about 10% of the resistance @ about halfway down.
Lee_M.
Brockburst Toneologist
Re: Tone pots - Linear or Audio
In general (and I mean in leyman's general terms):
Audio Taper Pots allow you to roll-off more volume and distortion with less turn of the knob.
Linear Taper Posts allow you to roll-off less volume with more turn of the knob.
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To answer the original question, if you are using 500K Audio Taper Pots in your LP's Volume positions, you should be consistent with the Tone Pots, too.
In general (and I mean in leyman's general terms):
Audio Taper Pots allow you to roll-off more volume and distortion with less turn of the knob.
Linear Taper Posts allow you to roll-off less volume with more turn of the knob.
-------
To answer the original question, if you are using 500K Audio Taper Pots in your LP's Volume positions, you should be consistent with the Tone Pots, too.
Artie
Peaveyologist
Re: Tone pots - Linear or Audio
Actually, you may be right. I shoulda' put one on my meter to be sure. I use linear's so this always gets me. :yell:
Too bad Kent deleted his post. He might have straightened us out.
(I'll check this when I get home.)
btw - Here's a good link that explains this:
The Secret Life of Pots
Actually, you may be right. I shoulda' put one on my meter to be sure. I use linear's so this always gets me. :yell:
Too bad Kent deleted his post. He might have straightened us out.
(I'll check this when I get home.)
btw - Here's a good link that explains this:
The Secret Life of Pots
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rspst14
Tone Cat
Re: Tone pots - Linear or Audio
Having tried both, I now use audio tapered pots for all guitar applications. Artie is right, a 500k audio taper pot set at 5 will only measure 50k. A linear tapered pot set at 5 will measure 250k. Audio tapers are best if you're after a smooth change in volume or a smooth rolloff of high frequencies. When I tried linear pots, I couldn't tell the difference between a pot set to 10 and a pot set to 4. Then all of a sudden there was a substantial drop when I got below 4. Remember that the human ear hears volume and tone changes in a logarithmic fashion, which is why audio tapered pots sound more natural despite the strange taper.
Ryan
Having tried both, I now use audio tapered pots for all guitar applications. Artie is right, a 500k audio taper pot set at 5 will only measure 50k. A linear tapered pot set at 5 will measure 250k. Audio tapers are best if you're after a smooth change in volume or a smooth rolloff of high frequencies. When I tried linear pots, I couldn't tell the difference between a pot set to 10 and a pot set to 4. Then all of a sudden there was a substantial drop when I got below 4. Remember that the human ear hears volume and tone changes in a logarithmic fashion, which is why audio tapered pots sound more natural despite the strange taper.
Ryan
Re: Tone pots - Linear or Audio
+1 ...
Linears are kinda cool for volume controls when doing quick pinky swells in a short range of space and mainly clean to mildly crunchy, that's one good use for them as a volume, another is if you just want to make fine adjustments (as in mixing to pups).
Linears work fairly well as tone controls, but they still have most of their action towards the end of the sweep. I might add though, that linears do work very well in active tone circuits ... i.e. most graphic eq faders are linear, the same might apply to a guitar with and active eq installed.
If anyone wants something a bit in between one of the 30% (CTS J taper) pots of Fender works well.
The 30% denotes the amount of total resistance between the CCW and W and center rotation (*5* on 0~10), the standard two segment audio approximation is 10% (A Taper) ... { Also refered to by other companies as a modified log taper} ...CTS also has 20% (BD Taper) that works well ... also 5% (C Taper), 15% (B Taper), 25% (H taper), and some linear variations as well.
Lee_M. said:
+1 ...
Linears are kinda cool for volume controls when doing quick pinky swells in a short range of space and mainly clean to mildly crunchy, that's one good use for them as a volume, another is if you just want to make fine adjustments (as in mixing to pups).
Linears work fairly well as tone controls, but they still have most of their action towards the end of the sweep. I might add though, that linears do work very well in active tone circuits ... i.e. most graphic eq faders are linear, the same might apply to a guitar with and active eq installed.
If anyone wants something a bit in between one of the 30% (CTS J taper) pots of Fender works well.
The 30% denotes the amount of total resistance between the CCW and W and center rotation (*5* on 0~10), the standard two segment audio approximation is 10% (A Taper) ... { Also refered to by other companies as a modified log taper} ...CTS also has 20% (BD Taper) that works well ... also 5% (C Taper), 15% (B Taper), 25% (H taper), and some linear variations as well.
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