Changing Pots

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
Post Reply
User avatar
j mascis
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 289
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 10:28 pm

Changing Pots

Post by j mascis » Mon Nov 11, 2019 11:26 am

Hey guys.

I have some 250k and 500k in both audio and linear taper pots.
What would be the best combo for a Jazzmaster if I want to get rid of the ice pick frequencies? I have '65 AVRI pickups.

Can anyone explain whether it's better to change the volume, the tone, or both, and why? I've read a lot of posts on this forum and it seems there are a lot of different opinions on which pot to change. Some people say volume, some say tone, and some say both.

I don't like rolling down the volume because then I lose volume (I play clean a lot and need the volume on 10 because it's a small Princeton amp, and I don't want distortion overdriving it). I play with the amp on 3 to 4 most of the time for cleans, so lowering the volume on the guitar isn't a great option.

Thanks.

User avatar
Rgand
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 3:55 pm

Re: Changing Pots

Post by Rgand » Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:25 am

250K pots will warm the tone some. 500K pots have less filtering effect and allow more highs to come through. 1M pots are a step brighter yet. The taper doesn't affect tone that I know of so that would be your choice. A number of years ago I put humbuckers in a Tele and they sounded good. Eventually I changed the 250K pots to 500K and the whole guitar came alive. I was surprised at the difference. If the tone is too piercing for you, a change of pots might be in order. From 1M drop to 500K and if that doesn't do it, go to 250K pots.

User avatar
j mascis
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 289
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Changing Pots

Post by j mascis » Wed Nov 13, 2019 9:44 am

Rgand wrote:
Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:25 am
250K pots will warm the tone some. 500K pots have less filtering effect and allow more highs to come through. 1M pots are a step brighter yet. The taper doesn't affect tone that I know of so that would be your choice. A number of years ago I put humbuckers in a Tele and they sounded good. Eventually I changed the 250K pots to 500K and the whole guitar came alive. I was surprised at the difference. If the tone is too piercing for you, a change of pots might be in order. From 1M drop to 500K and if that doesn't do it, go to 250K pots.
Thanks, man. Would it be a change of both pots or does one affect this more than the other?

User avatar
Rgand
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 3:55 pm

Re: Changing Pots

Post by Rgand » Wed Nov 13, 2019 11:51 am

j mascis wrote:
Wed Nov 13, 2019 9:44 am
Rgand wrote:
Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:25 am
250K pots will warm the tone some. 500K pots have less filtering effect and allow more highs to come through. 1M pots are a step brighter yet. The taper doesn't affect tone that I know of so that would be your choice. A number of years ago I put humbuckers in a Tele and they sounded good. Eventually I changed the 250K pots to 500K and the whole guitar came alive. I was surprised at the difference. If the tone is too piercing for you, a change of pots might be in order. From 1M drop to 500K and if that doesn't do it, go to 250K pots.
Thanks, man. Would it be a change of both pots or does one affect this more than the other?
I'm not an expert but I think you can get by changing just the tone pot. You can always try it. Does your tone control take care of the problem if you dial it down a bit? That would leave the highs available should you ever want them.


Here's an article on tone/vol pots from the Seymour Duncan site.

Post Reply