What's the difference between a 500/250 tone pot?

[briankou]

I have an Ibanez 470, HSH, with 1 volume, and 1 tone. Should I get 500 or 250 CTS tone pots?

I am getting a 500 volume pot as well.

 

[Artie]

Re: What's the difference between a 500/250 tone pot?

The question in your title, and the question in your post are slightly different. I'll try to tackle both.
(Oops . . . no they aren't.) :laugh2:

Relative to a volume control, the resistance affects the "load" that the pickup "sees". Its how much work, you're asking the little AC generator to do. The "tone" the pickup provides is related to how hard you're making it sweat. Lower pot value, (250 vs 500), is a greater load. It works harder and doesn't hit the high notes as well. Or, you might say its smoother, like a heavier flywheel.

Relative to a tone control is different. A 250k and a 500k is exactly the same . . . except that the 250 is "preset" halfway down. (Electrically, not physically.) You can roll a 500k tone control down to 250. You can't roll a 250 "up" to 500. If you don't need the extra high-end, a 250 gives a bit more rotational resolution.

 

[H8Red442]

Re: What's the difference between a 500/250 tone pot?

So what affect would changing out a 500k volume pot to a 1000k port have? likewise would a 500k tone pot have a brightening affect on a pickup that originally had a 250k pot?

 

[Artie]

Re: What's the difference between a 500/250 tone pot?

Generally speaking, yes. But it can get complicated.

Suppose this is a graph of the output of two different pickups:

The blue line represents one pup, and the green line the other. Obviously, the blue pup has a bit more bass, and the green a bit more treble.

Now suppose we plot the affect of a 250k tone pot with a .022uf cap. And lets say thats represented by the red line here:

As you can see, a bit of the green pup's highs are rolled off. But none of the blue's. If we increase the tone pot to 500k, it's roll-off becomes the purple line. The blue pup was unaffected, the green pup gained some high end.

So it all depends on the pup, the guitar, and the cap. And the position of the moon.

Ultimately, you just have to experiment to find the right values for your situation.

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: What's the difference between a 500/250 tone pot?

The question in your title, and the question in your post are slightly different. I'll try to tackle both.
(Oops . . . no they aren't.) :laugh2:

Relative to a volume control, the resistance affects the "load" that the pickup "sees". Its how much work, you're asking the little AC generator to do. The "tone" the pickup provides is related to how hard you're making it sweat. Lower pot value, (250 vs 500), is a greater load. It works harder and doesn't hit the high notes as well. Or, you might say its smoother, like a heavier flywheel.

Relative to a tone control is different. A 250k and a 500k is exactly the same . . . except that the 250 is "preset" halfway down. (Electrically, not physically.) You can roll a 500k tone control down to 250. You can't roll a 250 "up" to 500. If you don't need the extra high-end, a 250 gives a bit more rotational resolution.

Man, I could have used you in my engineering classes. Good job cutting through the BS terminology and explaining it in a way everyone can understand. :bigok:

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: What's the difference between a 500/250 tone pot?

Man, I could have used you in my engineering classes. Good job cutting through the BS terminology and explaining it in a way everyone can understand. :bigok:

Yeah, Artie's good like that. Great graph! It helps to visualize what's happening.