October 16, 2009

More on selecting pots, and evaluating tapers

Guitar Potentiometers Electronics, Epiphone Riviera P93, Video 126

Here’s part 2 of my potentiometer project. In this one, I compare linear and audio tapers, and compare the different audio tapers of Alpha, JS, Bourns and CTS pots. Then I go over a bunch of other factors to consider when buying new pots- tolerances, dimensions, shaft types, etc.

While preparing for this video, I mounted a numbered knob on a bunch of different pots, and measured them on my multimeter at each knob position 0-10. Verrry interesting. The knobs on my Epiphone Riviera P93 were Alpha and JS, and these pots exhibit nearly linear behavior – unlike the Bourns and CTS which have much nicer audio taper curves.

This may explain part of the reason why, in my treble bleed video, I was unable to get the Epi to clean up as well as my G&L ASAT. With the knob on 1, the Epi is way louder than a good audio-taper pot.

Meanwhile, I’ve got all the CTS pots wired up and am now getting ready to install new pickups. Gotta catch up on all the video editing, over the next couple weeks – stay tuned! 🙂

126 Comments

SilverSkyline92
November 1, 2009 @ 1:31 pm

hey, i was wondering for my tone controls on my strat, should they be
linear or audio? also, i was wondering if you knew whether the CTS no load
pots are linear or audio taper? thanks

Reply
Guitar Electronics Comparisons :planet z
December 29, 2009 @ 11:33 pm

[…] which sound way more linear than log to me. This matches the pot taper measurements I showed in my pot tapers video. The difference is more noticeable with the volume pot than with the tone […]

Reply
BuzzyFredrick
March 20, 2010 @ 5:38 pm

Hi … Excellent video .. I wanted to know how I can gain more control over
my live playing. I need to boost my sound, and i would rather boost by
turning up the on board pot. The problem I have is that I play both gain
and clean sounds. I have a decent amp with boost. but in higher gain
situations I do not get a good vol boost, but just an increase in
distortion which is not desireable. I’ve considered switching out to a log
pot in order bring a more dramatic vol increase and decrease.

Reply
John
April 27, 2010 @ 8:50 am

@carlocanlas – yes the EP085 is a 250k audio taper pot – it can be used for
both tone and volume.

Reply
KX36
May 29, 2010 @ 11:19 am

Epiphone uses metric measurements. The shaft diameter is 9mm. USA doesn’t
use metric as standard, but Europe and Asia do. 3/8″ = 9.525mm, so 0.5mm
bigger. Also, the part the knob attaches to is 6mm as far as i know on the
metric ones Epi uses, but 1/4″ (6.35mm) on Gibson knobs and CTS for
example, so 0.15mm bigger, but I haven’t verified this last part.

Reply
w2iecmkkghht
July 4, 2010 @ 9:26 am

I must say that time diference between rotating ALFA(lin.) pot and
Bourns/CTS is aprox. 1/2 sec.This add a mater of subjectivity, or in other
words its not 100% accurate.

Reply
sikaudio
September 15, 2010 @ 9:07 pm

Mate….your a Legend! I have been wondering about the CTS pots & if they
are worth it. Well, now I know…they win for me 😉 i was going to do this
test myself… but you have saved me many hrs. Keep it up man, top work!

Reply
Theo Chou
October 12, 2010 @ 5:53 pm

CTS for the win

Reply
carlosfrogs
January 14, 2011 @ 6:53 pm

hey John I have a expression pedal (zoom fp02) and let me now what type of
potentiometer used Linear or Audio ?

Reply
ALTEREDMOVER EXBOX
February 6, 2011 @ 3:02 pm

I WILL SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR CHANNEL BUT CAN YOU PLEEEEAAASE MAKE A VIDEO FOR
Torres Engineering – The SUPER – HOT 2 Meg Pot??

Reply
wbesack
May 23, 2011 @ 12:06 pm

@ozboomer – I found Bourns pots at guitarelectronics. They also sell CTS
and Alpha. No wonder there is such a debate about whether to use Audio or
Linear taper pots on the tone position. It totally depends on the brand.
You’d think they’d at least be sort of close.

Reply
ObsequioGalanteo
July 14, 2011 @ 10:51 am

I would like to replace the Pots in my MIJ Fender Jazzmaster. The Pickgaurd is anodized metal. Will the step drill drill through this?

Reply
- John
  July 25, 2011 @ 6:04 pm
  
  @ObsequioGalanteo – should be ok, start with a well defined punch mark (using an automatic punch, or equivalent). then to avoid excessive dulling of your step bit, you might want to drill first with a regular smaller drill bit, and only finish with the step bit.
  
  Reply
John
July 25, 2011 @ 6:02 pm

@EmilFinnas94 – typically yes, log taper (aka audio taper) is used for tone controls.

Reply
- EmilFinnas94
  July 26, 2011 @ 2:31 am
  
  @johnplanetz Thanks dude!
  
  Reply
jawide626
July 28, 2011 @ 4:22 am

got the exact same settings on your VT30 as i have on my VT50. the ONLY difference is i have reverb at 11 o’clock xD

Reply
- John
  September 1, 2011 @ 1:47 pm
  
  @jawide626 – if I recall correctly, I positioned the knobs in that picture to show the stored values for the Green preset on the Boutique Clean model. (Reverb isn’t stored with the preset). That was one of my favorite sounds on that amp.
  
  Reply
peteq1972
July 31, 2011 @ 7:22 am

I’ve just bought new pots, there CTS and they’ve got a lump that sticks out on the base and wont sit level in the guitar, do i file that off? or dig a bit out of the guitar to get it to sit flush?

Reply
- John
  July 31, 2011 @ 2:40 pm
  
  @peteq1972 – that’s a positioning tab for use with pre-drilled panels. you don’t need it, and can easily cut it off with some sharp cutters.
  
  Reply
  - peteq1972
    July 31, 2011 @ 2:44 pm
    
    @johnplanetz Thanks, your vids are so informative, you obviously do a lot of work and spend a lot of time messing about to give us this info. Thankyou.
    
    Reply
jonathan9510
August 21, 2011 @ 12:26 am

In your experience with pots, what brand: Bourns, CTS : stay true and correct to their labelled value the most?

Reply
- John
  August 22, 2011 @ 9:29 pm
  
  @jonathan9510 – I haven’t really seen any that do better than their stated tolerance. Most of these pots are +/- 20%. There are some more premium pots available which have tighter tolerances, like the Bourns model 82 which has a *total* resistance tolerance of 10%. Of course, they’re more expensive.
  
  Reply
threedanman
August 28, 2011 @ 7:14 am

Thanks! Only for me it’s more interesting to see what a pot does turning it down from full open to a max quarter turn back.
When playing I turn it about a quarter back to clean the amp up and then turn it open for a solo. On an audio pot that last part sometimes can be a bit too sudden so there is a too small turn needed to get what I want. Then a linear pot works better because that last part is more smooth and you don’t need to be so exact. It would be great to see a video of you doing that.

Reply
- John
  September 1, 2011 @ 2:16 pm
  
  @threedanman – you’re right, I should’ve showed more examples like that. Yes, it works exactly as you describe. Figure a linear volume pot at 80% will have about 100k of resistance for your signal, while an audio pot (depending on the taper) may have more like 150k resistance. So with the linear taper, you have a bit finer control in that top 20% of the turn.
  
  Reply
waycool98
November 29, 2011 @ 5:10 pm

very informative video, thank you!!!!

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oneawakenedsoul
December 5, 2011 @ 1:09 pm

Hi, thanks for the useful demo. I am now well informed on the difference in sound between the two types and I can make a decision on the pot I need. Bravo! Peace.

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MegaCrappyusername
December 12, 2011 @ 2:47 pm

5:16 oh immaturity….

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ChronoGXay
January 4, 2012 @ 2:48 am

Could you not have a multimeter rigged into your computer via USB so that you could sample each potentiometer at a high rate and see exactly what is going on with the taper of each potentiometer and select the best one?…

Reply
- John
  January 10, 2012 @ 9:08 am
  
  @ChronoGXay – that’s a good idea, but I don’t have a usb multimeter. I just did measurements by hand (wrote down measurements at 10 positions around the pot), and showed the graphs comparing them at 2:15.
  
  Reply
ZipZipZippyZ
January 14, 2012 @ 6:16 am

Great videos!! Just discovered them. I am building my first guitar and tryinhn

Reply
ZipZipZippyZ
January 14, 2012 @ 6:20 am

Great videos! Just discovered them. I am building my first guitar and am trying to learn as much as I can on wiring and how different pots and wiring setups affect the sound you get. Your videos are really going to help me. THANK YOU!!

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IndridKoldt
January 14, 2012 @ 9:41 am

very interesting, to my ear the CTS audio taper sounds better than the Bourns.

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alvin10388
January 23, 2012 @ 1:47 pm

Thank you for very helpful video and could you please explain what is logarithmic audio taper and are there any linear taper to match this?your help much apriciated.

Reply
- John
  January 23, 2012 @ 2:15 pm
  
  @alvin10388 – the words “audio taper” and “log taper” are used interchangeably. Please see my video “Potentiometers – How They Work, Disassembly”
  
  Reply
pleximars
January 31, 2012 @ 6:36 pm

excellent video, well thought out and very imfomative.

Reply
RubbahSlippahs
March 6, 2012 @ 4:30 pm

John,

Thanks for your efforts in producing a very helpful and insightful video on pots. I’m curious about your opinion on something: I’ve got a ’62 AVRI Telecaster with a 250k (stock) volume pot, and I would have thought it would be CTS-brand, but apparently not. In addition, it doesn’t even function until its ~65-70% of the way engaged, and then it finally goes to full volume (i.e., its the opposite of ‘linear taper’). What would you suggest? Should I get a CTS 250k solid shaft or CTS 500k?

Reply
- John
  March 20, 2012 @ 3:30 pm
  
  @RubbahSlippahs – either one will be ok- the 500k will give you a brighter sound. Often on a Tele, the sound can be a bit too bright, and the 250k is used to roll off a bit of the high end.
  
  Reply
ericvilendrer
March 25, 2012 @ 5:02 pm

Great video, thank you.

Reply
DRRIFF666
April 4, 2012 @ 11:44 pm

That has answered all of of my questions on tone. Superb. Thanks so much for doing this.

Reply
Maafa1619
June 15, 2012 @ 12:51 pm

Hey, it’s the guy with the cardboard test platform again. I love that dude!

Reply
EternalAwait
June 19, 2012 @ 10:11 pm

By the way, what would you recommend for a single humbucker with 1 tone and 1 volume pot?
I was thinking of using a 500k audio taper for volume, and a 500k linear for tone… is this good or do you have any better suggestions?
Thanks 😀

Reply
- John
  June 24, 2012 @ 9:10 pm
  
  500k is a good choice. I use audio taper for tone- see my tone pot tapers video for a comparison: watch?v=7ANG3OrL5HI
  
  Reply
cocomartinievera
July 13, 2012 @ 5:42 pm

very nice videos.. can you do demonstrations for 5 way pups selector especially the otax vlx91? thank you very much.. i really want to know what is the difference of this pup selector in other selectors..

Reply
- John
  July 24, 2012 @ 12:22 pm
  
  I don’t have any near-term plans to make a video on that switch. You can find good info on 5-way switch wiring at stewmac.
  
  Reply
TheKurtTribute
July 30, 2012 @ 12:38 pm

I have a stratocaster with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge position (stock pots, all 250k) It is way to muddy for me, compared to the dimarzio in my jaguar. Would putting in a 500k pot make that much of a diferrence? Also I’m not sure if you are familiar with strats, but the bridge PU isnt wired to the tone. So it wouldnt matter if I changed that pot would it? in relation to the bridge PU?
Thank you in advance

Reply
- John
  July 31, 2012 @ 11:36 am
  
  Increasing volume pot resistance reduces load on the pickup, thereby increasing brightness. You’re right about the tone knobs not making a difference for the bridge pickup.
  
  Reply
- 62SG
  August 17, 2012 @ 12:06 pm
  
  The Seymour Duncan JB is famous for being a very bright pickup, so much so that it is common for users to put a 250k pot in to bring down the highs. Switching to a 500k should brighten it up a great deal.
  
  Reply
Andrew Somerville
August 3, 2012 @ 6:30 am

I tend to prefer linear for volume. I like the precision in the higher volume range to fine tune my volume by turning it up or down a bit. I find audio taper changes too significantly between five and ten for my liking.

On the other hand I find there’s little disagreement that audio taper are far superior for tone. The times I’ve tried linear for tone I find I get all the audible change in the last few degrees of the turn and almost nothing the rest of the way.

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Axegrinderz
September 30, 2012 @ 10:38 am

Don’t forget that US spec pots have a fine spline on the knurled portion (22 spline) and import spec pots have a coarse spline knurl (18 spline), so US knobs will not fit import spec pots, and vice versa.

Reply
Davesintexas
October 30, 2012 @ 9:45 am

Should I purchase the Counterfeit BB from China,,supposedly a PERFECT COPY or a FAKE ES 175 that is a FAKE and WILL have some “TELLS” that it is a fake. Which one???

Reply
- John
  October 31, 2012 @ 12:42 pm
  
  Hard to say- buying guitars online is always a bit of a gamble. Sometimes you get luck! Good luck!
  
  Reply
Gregory Schmisseur
December 18, 2012 @ 1:45 pm

i’v got a level of pot tolerance he he he…ill show myself out.

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martin80x
February 6, 2013 @ 7:14 pm

Hi, I have a Fender Tele and it uses 1Mohm pots and I would like to know where can I get a good dual pot to control the tone and volume with the same pot because I’m thinking on installing the Fishmann power chip, and I kneed space.
Thanks.

Reply
- John
  February 12, 2013 @ 4:01 pm
  
  Search for stacked dual concentric potentiometers. Dual 1meg is not a common configuration, but I see one at mojotone.
  
  Reply
slowhandrfpr
February 8, 2013 @ 3:43 pm

Great video Dude! It is very helpful… At least it was to me.
I didn’t know the difference between solid and shaft pots.

Could you help me please? I have a stratocaster and I wanna install a Dimarzio Fred [bridge], a Fender single [middle] and a Dimarzio Paf Pro [neck]. Do I have to change all the cts 250 pots to 500k pots, I say, the volume pot and the two tones? My neck pickup must be a SD Little 59 or Paf Pro, I don’t know yet.

Thanks for your videos. God bless. From Brazil.

Reply
- John
  February 8, 2013 @ 3:53 pm
  
  You don’t have to change the 250k pots, but you will get some additional brightness from your pickups if you switch to 500k. The 250k pots “warm up” the sound a bit (by loading the pickups more heavily to ground, causing the high frequencies to be attenuated).
  I’d suggest try your new pickups without changing the pots, and only change the pots if you think you need some extra brightness.
  
  Reply
  - slowhandrfpr
    February 21, 2013 @ 4:38 pm
    
    Thanks for your response.
    
    May I ask another question? About the capacitors, Do they influence in, more or less, “twang” in a stratocaster?
    I asked because I have a Fender Highway One with Fender Texas Special Set and comparing to some others strats on youtube I think mine doesn’t have that kind of twang, that “texas sound”.
    I don’t know if it was a stupid question, because I don’t know nothing about guitar electronics.
    
    Thanks in advance.
    
    Reply
    - slowhandrfpr
      February 21, 2013 @ 4:40 pm
      
      In time: I think a good tube amp is very important and I don’t have one. I use VSTs sometimes.
      
      Reply
    - John
      February 22, 2013 @ 2:00 pm
      
      The capacitor is just one ingredient in the overall sound, considering strings, pickups, pots, caps, cable, amp, etc. I would not expect you to get a big increase in “twang” just by changing your tone cap, but you can experiment to see.
      
      Reply
      - slowhandrfpr
        February 22, 2013 @ 6:58 pm
        
        Thank you very much.
        
        Reply
john walkerdine
February 18, 2013 @ 6:00 pm

nice on again john. 500k a defo. for all guitar pot volls. 250k can mush the sound and does . i use a 1meg log for violining gives easy movement of sound.

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LithiumGrim
March 2, 2013 @ 6:33 am

John, I learned so much from all your videos!! Now here is an idea I had for working around the tolerance of pots. If I want to have a 500K pot Why not buy a 1M pot and put a resistor in parallel to make it as close to 500K as possible? Say the pot measures 850K instead of 1M, I put a 1M and 2k2 in series and that in parallel to the pot to get as close to 500K. Do you see any tonal or usability drawbacks to this idea?

Reply
- John
  March 8, 2013 @ 2:08 pm
  
  Sure- it’s a reasonable suggestion. The parallel resistor will “flatten” out the taper a bit. See John Spina’s article on “tweaking pots” at Project Guitar. Experiment and see!
  
  Reply
nojyeloot .
April 8, 2013 @ 11:51 am

Thanks for making this clear and understandable. You enabled an “aha” moment. Thanks man.

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frethand101
April 22, 2013 @ 8:29 am

It seems to me that 250k pots seem to have a more even rolloff on a humbucker than a 500k?…Every humbucker w/a 500k pot that Ive used seems to not have a noticable volume drop until the last 1/3 of the pots trun radius whereas 250k pots always seem to rolloff more noticably per each 1-2 digits travelled on the vol knob??..For example,from 10 to 7 I here a nice/expected decrease in volume for the amount of rolloff traveled but with a 500k the decrease requires a 10 to 4 for the same results??..

Reply
- John
  April 23, 2013 @ 10:39 am
  
  Are the pots definitely the same taper?
  It could be just that the circuit load causes a more perceptible resonance change as you approach maximum load (lower resistance to ground, more load on the pickups, more treble rolloff)
  
  Reply
- RedJamaX
  June 14, 2013 @ 1:11 pm
  
  I completely agree with this. I compared Alpha and CTS A250k and A500k pots… A500k works great for volume, but I found that the A250k give you much more control over tone. I made this change on my PRS SE Santana with Santana III pickups… The Santana III’s are not really bright pickups to begin with so the 250K vs 500k is not noticeably darker. I will be trying the same thing on my LTD EC400 with Gibson 496R/500T, but I plan to try an A300k instead.
  
  Reply
frethand101
April 22, 2013 @ 8:45 am

Have you ever tried a treble bleed mod that involves an adustable trimpot?..For this mod you run a capcitor in series with a resistor & a trimpot is also added in the loop giving you the ability to fine tune the treble bleed of each volume pot..As an example,I have 2 strats that I have wired with 2-Hum,2-Vol,1-LP 3-way toggle..Adding this mod to each vol pot should give each pickup a trimpot that allow for both neck & bridge pups to “dialed in” independantly..I’m not sure how true this is though

Reply
- John
  April 23, 2013 @ 10:30 am
  
  Yeah, that’s a smart approach, if you have space for it. There’s a commercial product from PMT called V-Treb that implements this idea on a little PCB.
  
  Reply
  - RedJamaX
    June 14, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
    
    I’m working on a custom mod of this right now. I’ve tried the V-treb mentioned below, but I want a higher rated cap for the treble bleed. So I will be trying .002uf, .0047uf, .068uf, and .01uf on different Audio Taper mini-pots rated at 1K, 5K, 10K, 20K, 50K, 100K, 250K and 500K. Also, using a regular pot allows you to put the control at your finger tips instead of having to access the back, or inside of the wiring cavity.
    
    Reply
    - John
      June 14, 2013 @ 4:07 pm
      
      Sounds like a interesting project. Experimenting with the different cap values and pot ranges will let you find your preferred treble bleed sound. I imagine that once you find it, you probably won’t need to touch it again, and can move it all into the control cavity, as with the V-treb.
      
      Reply
seayhorseDC
May 1, 2013 @ 5:32 am

very very helpful. thanks for posting this!

Reply
nmssis
May 11, 2013 @ 2:55 pm

explain the tolerance value again, pls?

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David Qualls
May 14, 2013 @ 7:19 am

Thanks, John! Great job! To “nmssis”: A 500k ohm pot for example, with +/-20% tolerance, means that the value of a so-called 500k ohm pot can actually be anywhere from 600k ohm (+20%) to 400k ohm (-20%), or anywhere between those two values. The only way to know for sure what the actual value of the pot is would be to measure resistance across the pot with a multimeter as John has clearly demonstrated. Hope this helps.

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lenncrainie
June 10, 2013 @ 12:51 pm

Shaft and knob.. I thoroughly enjoyed this video 😉

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Jaysson Black
July 11, 2013 @ 10:52 pm

At least a couple times now I have been back to your ‘pot’ videos for information. I have been dealing with guitar electronics for years, but recently decided to get the ‘right’ info about potentiometers. Thank you for these videos, they are exactly what I needed! If you aren’t a teacher or a professor, I’d suggest getting into that line of work! You have a knack for it.

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alvitrollgamer gamertroll
July 16, 2013 @ 11:38 am

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Max Morris
July 27, 2013 @ 9:41 pm

Will the CTS 500k work on both volume and tone nobs or is it just for the volume nob? I am new at this stuff.

Reply
- John
  July 29, 2013 @ 3:39 pm
  
  Yes it will work fine for both volume and tone.
  
  Reply
J Elcheson
August 6, 2013 @ 6:52 pm

great video!

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jzoha64038
August 24, 2013 @ 9:15 pm

is it normal for a newer higher quality pickup to not be fazed much by the older cheap alpha pot. becasue the original cheap ceramic pickup worked well with the linear but the new alnico is like basically always wide open becasue the pot doesnt change the volume until its at 3 then its just off

Reply
- John
  August 30, 2013 @ 10:09 am
  
  No that’s not normal. Sounds like a wiring mistake.
  
  Reply
jonathan zohany
August 30, 2013 @ 10:49 pm

I noticed the Indonesian wiring is not normal 2 tone/2 vol wiring. Would rewiring its pickups and pots in the common way here a bad idea?

Reply
- John
  September 4, 2013 @ 3:04 pm
  
  Not sure what you mean by Indonesian wiring.
  
  Reply
  - jzoha64038
    September 4, 2013 @ 4:51 pm
    
    the way it was wired overseas in indonesia
    
    Reply
    - John
      September 10, 2013 @ 9:09 am
      
      Your terms “indonesian wiring” and the “common way” don’t really tell me anything. Take a look at the guitarelectronics wiring diagram archive for examples of how to wire guitars. For example, a 2 humbucker guitar with 3-way switch and two vol pots, two tone pots is most commonly wired in the standard Les Paul configuration, with non-independent volume controls. But you can wire it for independent volume if that’s your preference. I recommend you experiment and find what you like.
      
      Reply
Andrew Rincon
September 6, 2013 @ 2:28 am

you think is a good idea order a CTS 550k pots(9% Tolerance) to make sure the pot is not under 500k.,There will be a noticeable difference if the pot read 550k. Or should get a 500k 10% Tolerance. which one should i buy? (for a epiphone les paul standard with seymour duncan humbucker)

ebay – CTS Full Size 550K SHORT/Split Shaft – 9% Tolerance – Audio Taper Pots – 500K

Reply
- John
  September 10, 2013 @ 9:05 am
  
  550k may be marginally brighter than 500k, but it would be extremely subtle. Either one will be fine. 9% and 10% is essentially the same- don’t get too hung up on it.
  
  Reply
Tim Hoffman
November 11, 2013 @ 9:32 am

this helped me out a ton… thanks dude

Reply
hansiutub
November 20, 2013 @ 1:27 am

It also would help to hear the difference between those pots “from 10 to
0”, you know… when you need to drive your amplifier from the crunchy to
the clean sound or viceversa, directly from your guitar, when you look for
that precision that matches your needs (some need high rates of volume
loss, some need low rates).
If you’ll decide to do that video, please show a close video recording of
the pots whyle another guy is strumming the guitar on the crunchy to clean
border of that VT30 ampli. Thanks all the same for this very useful video.
P.S. Very very nice sounding guitar! GAS attack!

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coldweathersucks
November 30, 2013 @ 6:42 pm

great info thanks. i will def get audio taper to replace my linear vol pot.

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Jan Feldmann
December 3, 2013 @ 6:32 am

Great video. Thx a lot!

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ZanyDivine737
December 31, 2013 @ 5:56 am

i would freak out if I ever wake up in a morning and my penis to be
bleeding… wwwwoo .. am already freaked out .

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ManuelHung
December 31, 2013 @ 11:19 pm

Alpha audio tapers annoy me to no end – they never seem smooth! Ordering a
Bourns ASAP. Thanks, man!

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David Schiedler
January 3, 2014 @ 6:31 pm

This was very helpful. Thanks!

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Eliane Cintra
January 4, 2014 @ 2:00 am

Delicia!

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Richard Liang
January 4, 2014 @ 12:28 pm

Really good explanation — I love your really thorough demos. Thanks!

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O Lima!
January 18, 2014 @ 8:32 am

firts

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YunaSanshin
January 23, 2014 @ 10:07 pm

I bought the alpha 500k pots from stewmac and use them as my volume pots.
However the taper is really bad like the linear ones you used in the
beginning.

Is this due to my wiring? I really wish to a have a fuller and smoother
sweep… thanks a bunch!

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N1ke*Fox
February 20, 2014 @ 8:07 pm

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Andrea Laino
February 28, 2014 @ 9:01 am

Thakns

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Michelle Alexander
February 28, 2014 @ 4:19 pm

:3 girly girl except for the nail polish thing I don’t do it THAT much

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jostledmusic
March 13, 2014 @ 5:40 pm

Hey, Big Juicy question for anyone to answer…
What is the best volume pot to get a smoother transition for a volume pot
on a FENDER combo amp (Fender Frontman 212r)? If someone or something even
brushes against the volume knob there is a drastic change in volume
pivoting right between 1 and 2.
A sound guy at one of my gigs tried to dial down the volume on my amp,
while I was playing, pushed it up for a split-second, and it rumbled the
damn room.
(coffee-house)
Any help on resistance and brand would be appreciated.

Reply
Chris Colonna
March 29, 2014 @ 11:07 am

Hey John – Awesome stuff. I have an Epi Wilshire – with audio taper – that
sound like linear – alphas…standard on Epi’s. Now I’ll replace with CTS
or Bourns audio taper! Great videos!!! If you live anywhere near Chicago
– owe you a beer!

Reply
Beermaker2000
April 3, 2014 @ 9:44 pm

After a lot of switching out, I’ve decided I don’t like audio pots for
volume. They’re just not functional IMO. The drop off in volume is too
severe. And when playing, almost always you are going from 10 down, not
from 0 up like in your vid (or like you would with other devices that audio
pots are made for like radio volume) so that “smooth” thing doesn’t mean
much at all. Look at 1:37, the volume drops down to 15% when on 6. Same
as my Bourns, the volume is almost silent just going from 10 to 6. This
causes you to have to make super fine minute adjustments to your pot to get
the volume level you want, pretty tough to do in the middle of a song.

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rdx27666
April 11, 2014 @ 3:27 am

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BigDave Gaming
August 8, 2014 @ 11:09 pm

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Crowner MC
August 10, 2014 @ 8:03 am

Graser I <3 you.

No homo.

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Vicky Parisé
August 26, 2014 @ 1:35 am

🙂

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CodedToast Mark R
August 27, 2014 @ 10:19 am

What a guy-excellent review ,just what i was looking for..got this link
from seymour duncan site

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TheEpicMan45
November 2, 2014 @ 3:15 pm

Bets that Reyn’s fourth skill tree will be smugness

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Marco Antonio Fonseca
November 19, 2014 @ 3:36 pm

Excellent, John!

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Must Päike
November 21, 2014 @ 4:11 am

I’m gonna make a acoustic guitar to some kind of a Jazz model. I have a
lipstick pickup but i’m not sure what kind of potis I should use. I would
like to put 1 poti for the volume and 1 for the tone. Any advice?

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flashy5150
November 25, 2014 @ 9:18 pm

I’m glad that you made this video. I always get linear and audio taper
mixed up. I like to play Van Halen and an instrumental solo called
“Cathedral’, if you’ve heard of it. He does a technique with a combination
of volumes swells and delay to create a violin or cello sound by rolling
his volume pot back and forth.He uses linear taper pots for that because he
needs a fast attack and a fast roll-back on the volume.

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jwandhistools
December 8, 2014 @ 9:58 am

I followed this advise and put CTS audio pots in my SG.
The volume drops off after about 8.
It’s terrible.
Going back to linear.

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احمد السويسي
January 20, 2015 @ 8:44 am

😀 انا عندي بكرة

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Johan Hanehøj
February 14, 2015 @ 3:06 pm

Wow. I´d much rather whatch the burst video (WoW)…… 🙁

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Blech319
February 19, 2015 @ 1:37 pm

Thanks John. Very helpful series.

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iL15hts
April 13, 2015 @ 8:50 pm

This is very helpful. Thanks

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Smart Halayla
May 3, 2015 @ 4:34 pm

Hi John. Thanks for the valuable info. My question is about bass guitar,
pickup selector vs blend switch. My bass have a pickup selector, and I
want to replace it to a blend switch and still keeping the sound as before?
Is there any Blend switch that will give a good balanced mix without
dropouts of volume between the pickups and the variety of tones when moving
it around?

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tim rosenzweig
May 8, 2015 @ 3:34 pm

The linear might as well be an on/off switch!!

Reply
Napoleon Para
May 8, 2015 @ 4:32 pm

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avez à faire est de l’accès:
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Reply
Pro Mixing
May 21, 2015 @ 10:35 am

Extremely helpful video for me, thank you sir!

Reply
Logan Tucker
July 6, 2015 @ 12:13 pm

You rock!!!!! This helped me a tremendous amount! Thank much!!!

Reply
D Bass
July 11, 2015 @ 11:48 am

Great help, thanks a lot.

Reply
What the Bleedin’ Treble! – Planet Z
December 1, 2018 @ 1:37 pm

[…] which results in a very dull sound. Also, it turns out that the P93’s volume knobs are much more linear than the G&L, so the Epiphone seems louder with volume on […]

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More on selecting pots, and evaluating tapers

126 Comments

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