Audio vs Linear pot for volume

[Harbor_mcfly]

I ordered a Jazzmaster wiring kit for my partsmaster and everything seemed to be correct with all the wiring diagrams I've seen, except instead of sending me one 1meg linear and one 1 meg audio pot, I was sent two 1meg audio pots. I'm really trying to get as true to a vintage Jazzmaster as I can in terms of tone. Will using an audio pot for volume make any difference in tone, or is it not that big of a deal?

[jim93]

If I recall correctly :

The difference between the pots is how the pots changes from 0 to X where X is the pot value.

linear scale

log scale


Human hearing works on a log scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel

[Soochdaddy]

I ordered a Jazzmaster wiring kit for my partsmaster and everything seemed to be correct with all the wiring diagrams I've seen, except instead of sending me one 1meg linear and one 1 meg audio pot, I was sent two 1meg audio pots. I'm really trying to get as true to a vintage Jazzmaster as I can in terms of tone. Will using an audio pot for volume make any difference in tone, or is it not that big of a deal?

In terms of resistance, 0 - 1,000,000 ohms is still 0 - 1,000,000 ohms whether the scale is linear or log (let's conveniently ignore that fact that a log axis cannot have a zero value)... so, no, it would not affect the tone of the circuit.

What it will do differently is control the way the sweep works, which you might find to be a pain in the ass in pursuit of control. An audio pot for your volume control might seem more like an "ON/OFF" switch... If you look at the second plot jim93 posted, you will see that between the origin and 100 on the X axis, the Y axis value increases by almost 5. Now, between 100 and 500 on the X-axis, the Y axis value increases by about 1 (from 5 to 6).

So the volume pot will "feel" like it doesn't do much for a chunk of its range, and then the volume will start to drop off rapidly in the remainder. Depending where you are on the pot sweep, either big adjustments will make minimal difference or small adjustments will make a big difference.

[Harbor_mcfly]

Thanks for the response! Knowing that, I probably will look for a taper. Seems like it would be tough to get that slight roll off if you're wanting to clean up the signal with an audio pot.

[cbrown]

It won't affect the tone at all.

The position of the knobs will be different for a given tone. It's just personal preference.

[ClipArtSongs]

I replaced the audio volume pot on my MIJ Jag with a linear pot.

Hands down the highest value for effort/cost adjustments I've ever made.

[Zeus]

I'm thinking changing the volume pot in my USA-made 50th Anniversary Jaguar from 1 meg audio to 1 meg linear.

Working on the basis that I'm a complete idiot about these things, what should I be buying?

Would this work without changing the existing knobs? http://www.angela.com/fenderjazzmaster1 ... 53000.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(I've never touched a soldering iron in my life, so I might get someone else to do the tricky work, but I want to have the right parts first.)

[StevenO]

Not exactly sure why anyone would prefer a Linear pot to an Audio pot. Audip pots tend to have a more gradual swell in volume rather than the sharp jump in volume that Linear pots have. I guess it's all preference, but I'd much rather have an Audio pot, as they tend to be more intuitive and versatile.

[StevenO]

I ordered a Jazzmaster wiring kit for my partsmaster and everything seemed to be correct with all the wiring diagrams I've seen, except instead of sending me one 1meg linear and one 1 meg audio pot, I was sent two 1meg audio pots. I'm really trying to get as true to a vintage Jazzmaster as I can in terms of tone. Will using an audio pot for volume make any difference in tone, or is it not that big of a deal?

In terms of resistance, 0 - 1,000,000 ohms is still 0 - 1,000,000 ohms whether the scale is linear or log (let's conveniently ignore that fact that a log axis cannot have a zero value)... so, no, it would not affect the tone of the circuit.

What it will do differently is control the way the sweep works, which you might find to be a pain in the ass in pursuit of control. An audio pot for your volume control might seem more like an "ON/OFF" switch... If you look at the second plot jim93 posted, you will see that between the origin and 100 on the X axis, the Y axis value increases by almost 5. Now, between 100 and 500 on the X-axis, the Y axis value increases by about 1 (from 5 to 6).

So the volume pot will "feel" like it doesn't do much for a chunk of its range, and then the volume will start to drop off rapidly in the remainder. Depending where you are on the pot sweep, either big adjustments will make minimal difference or small adjustments will make a big difference.

I think you have the two mixed up. The Linear pots act more like an on/off switch due to how our hearing works. We don't hear things linearly, an audio pot works like how our hearing works... What looks like a sharp curve on a graph actually translates to a gradual increase in volume throughout the pots taper.

[Zeus]

I think you have the two mixed up. The Linear pots act more like an on/off switch due to how our hearing works. We don't hear things linearly, an audio pot works like how our hearing works... What looks like a sharp curve on a graph actually translates to a gradual increase in volume throughout the pots taper.

This is a confusing topic for me, as that's exactly what I experience with the audio taper in the Jag, that sudden on/off, and that's why I want to try linear in the hope that it would be more gradual.

[StevenO]

Linear, in my experience, has never had a gradual swell/taper. Are you positive your pot is an audio/logarithmic pot? Maybe it's how the guitar is wired? Honestly, I'm not sure.

[Zeus]

This post (on a Strat forum) explains my experience of the taper on the Jag perfectly:

https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/volu ... fix.85430/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

the fact that a linear pot rolls down slower than an audio taper is not a matter of preference. the voltage on linear taper is 50% at 5 or 50% of travel. on audio taper it is 50% at 9 or 90% of travel. so rolling down 50% of the voltage in a much shorter distance the audio taper rolls down faster. that is not debatable. whether you like that or not is a different story.

Maybe different people hear/experience that change differently, but the audio taper has such a dramatic change from 10 to (say) 8.5 that I'm willing to take the chance on linear as it couldn't be any worse in that respect.

[StevenO]

The way I hear Linear pots is like this... "Gradual change from 10-7, then on/off", where as Audio is like "smooth consistent change from 10-1", "10" being full-on.

It is a matter of preference, for sure. I just know that swells tend to sound better with Audio pots, but I could see a Linear pot working better for having a cleaning-up effect being available with minimal knob turning. To me, that's too finicky, but then again I learned on Tele and Strats, so audio is what I'm accustomed to.

[novamax]

The Jag has a different wiring than the JM and many others: The pot is wired as a voltage divider instead of a resistor which increases the effect of the sweep. So with a linear pot, you'd have a double steep control function. But I find the Jag too steep as it is, so I rewired my Jag to a signal resistor volume pot with audio characteristics.

[Zeus]

The Jag has a different wiring than the JM and many others: The pot is wired as a voltage divider instead of a resistor which increases the effect of the sweep. So with a linear pot, you'd have a double steep control function. But I find the Jag too steep as it is, so I rewired my Jag to a signal resistor volume pot with audio characteristics.

This (kind of) goes over my head, but I wonder if that might help.

I learned on Tele and Strats, so audio is what I'm accustomed to.

I did too, that feel is actually what I'm trying to replicate on my Jag. It's particularly noticeable with something like a Fuzz Face; on my Tele, I could roll down the volume knob and get varying shades of fuzziness (as is meant to happen). On the Jag with the stock audio pot, it's pretty much full on or off.

I've read of people changing the volume pot to 500k, even 250k, and having some success but I really like the sound of the 1 meg pot so I don't want to change that, just want a more pleasing and gradual change in volume when I roll down the knob.