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Centralab Pot Codes

K

Kim R

Guest
Hi All,

I've never been an expert on pot codes, but now find myself on the search for some replacement parts for old guitars. I have a couple of example pots on my bench, and might be able to learn a few things from the resident LPF experts.

Could someone kindly decipher these for me?

A) 134738
BA211-1053
500K-C2

B) 134319
BA011-1053
500K-C2

C) 1346536
BA C96 50K


Thanks, in advance!
 

sunburst1

Active member
Joined
Sep 3, 2002
Messages
3,989
The 134 is the makers code in this case as you know Centralab. The first one is a 1957 made in the 38th week of that year. The next one is a 1953 made in the 19th week of that year and the last one is a 1965 made in the 36th week of 1965.
They are 500K which were used in most Gibson's from that time period i don't know what the other #'s mean , but they are most likly batch codes. Hope this helps out a bit. :salude
 
K

Kim R

Guest
Sunburst1,

Thank you so much.. !!

What a resource we have here in shared knowledge! :salude
 

sunburst1

Active member
Joined
Sep 3, 2002
Messages
3,989
FlyingNotes said:
Sunburst1,

Thank you so much.. !!

What a resource we have here in shared knowledge! :salude


Your welcome , but i just leared this stuff by reading reference guides. This info i got from the Gruhn's Guide To Vintage Guitars. You shoud pick it up , it has a lot of great info every one into vintage guitars should know imo.
:salude
 

kthesheep

Active member
Joined
Aug 5, 2004
Messages
2,218
First 3 Digits:
Manufacturer of the potentiometer.
Some common makers (but not all) codes are these...
137 - CTS
704 - Stackpole
140 - Clarostat
134 - Centralab
381 - Bourns Networks
106 - Allen-Bradley
On some pots, the Manufacturer number is separated by a space, hyphen, or a period.
If 6 Digits:
The 4th is the last digit of the year the pot was made between 1947 and 1959.
If 7 Digits:
The 4th and 5th Digits:
These correspond to the last 2 digits of the year of manufacture.
Last 2 Digits:
These represent the week of the year of manufacture (01-52). If the last 2 numbers are higher than 52, it is not a pot code, but is probably a part number.
I hope this is helpful to those who need it. I have found that with "House Brand" guitars such as Silvertone, sometimes pot-code dating is a good way to zero in on date of manufacture since there were so many makers and no real serial number dating systems.
46558167-L.jpg

34679808-L-2.jpg
 
K

Kim R

Guest
Now this will make everyone laugh:

Anyone have any Centralab 500K pots from 1953 or 54 for sale?? :2lol
 

fretwire

Active member
Joined
May 21, 2003
Messages
1,427
Also, the "C2" denotes the percent of taper as per Centralab's percent taper chart.
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
fretwire said:
Also, the "C2" denotes the percent of taper as per Centralab's percent taper chart.

Can you post that chart or the info, please? ;)
 

fretwire

Active member
Joined
May 21, 2003
Messages
1,427
TW59 said:
Can you post that chart or the info, please? ;)

I wish I could. I learned this from a post by Dave P. a while back but his image of the chart he posted in that thread is long gone from his server.
 

CptZar

Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2016
Messages
74
Hi All,

I've never been an expert on pot codes, but now find myself on the search for some replacement parts for old guitars. I have a couple of example pots on my bench, and might be able to learn a few things from the resident LPF experts.

Could someone kindly decipher these for me?

A) 134738
BA211-1053
500K-C2

I found this code on several 57 Les Pauls. Also there was one on Reverb for sale. The LP's I knows with this pot code do actually have low serial numbers. But the code would suggest, they have been made after September 57. I assume that Gibson bought a bunch of those pots, all produced on the same day. So I do assume there is more LPs out there with this pot code.

Anybody else, who would find that number on his pots?
 

sws1

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Messages
2,846
I found this code on several 57 Les Pauls. Also there was one on Reverb for sale. The LP's I knows with this pot code do actually have low serial numbers. But the code would suggest, they have been made after September 57. I assume that Gibson bought a bunch of those pots, all produced on the same day. So I do assume there is more LPs out there with this pot code.

Anybody else, who would find that number on his pots?

My early 57 (when I had it) had:

134701
500k C2
BA211-1053
 
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