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Strange pot behavior and tone

Ztonemonster

New member
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
6
So I just got rid of the circuit board and such and rewired my 2019 LP Classic with 50's wiring scheme, along with custom-wound modern PAF's from Lindy Fralin.

I used CTS 500k pots. On only my neck volume pot, I'm getting a strange sort of "false stop" between like 9.5 and 10. It stops as if it's all the way to 10, but if you twist just a bit harder, it'll go just a tad further. The biggest issue is that my sound is somewhat thin as you roll from zero to about 9-.5 (when it stops). Then, at that last little twist my sound get very full.

Is this simply a bad pot? Could it be something else? Has anyone else ever had a pot do this?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer this newbie.
 

rick c

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2016
Messages
282
I think your bad pot thought is correct. The others don't do this so something's got to be wrong with the contact surfaces in the pot.
 

Monroe

Active member
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
1,139
Sounds like you might have overheated that pot...
 

megatrends

New member
Joined
Feb 19, 2019
Messages
27
A lot of times it’s the contacts in the pot itself, they are like a rotary dial in type deal. I’m a luthier and run into all kinds of issues for customers like this.

It’s also the same thing that causes there to be like a bleed through volume when you turn the knob all the way off yet sound still faintly bleeds through. I recently had a customer concern like this and fixed it by manually rebending the contacts with a small precision flathead screw driver. It allowed the contacts to mate better.

You can access the contacts through the base just behind where you solder your wires. You’ll physically see the metal contacts move while you turn the shaft of the pot and yes removing the pot is the best way to do it. You can still do it if you leave it soldered and lift it up where you can access it.

It doesn’t need much of a bend either so don’t go crazy. Might not hurt to shoot some Deoxit in there on the contacts, could be dirt or corrosion causing poor contact.

I’ve also had good CTS pots be imperfect out of the package.

I don’t think you overheated it or anything and caused it. It’s a contact metal on metal issue.
 

longlowrumble

New member
Joined
May 16, 2018
Messages
6
I wonder if it's a no-load pot? Some of those have a detent at the upper end of the range, right before the pot leaves the circuit. That would explain why the guitar sounds fuller when the pot is turned up past where it stops.
 

Ztonemonster

New member
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
6
I wonder if it's a no-load pot? Some of those have a detent at the upper end of the range, right before the pot leaves the circuit. That would explain why the guitar sounds fuller when the pot is turned up past where it stops.

Hmmm... it shouldn't be, but maybe an incorrect pot got mixed in with my order. That's exactly how it acs though. Almost as if it has a detent past the first stop. What drives me crazy is how full and wonderful it sounds when turned all the way up. But if it adjust the neck volume at all, I lose ALL the fullness of my tone. I'm putting a new pot in today or tomorrow. That's should fix it.

Thanks everyone for weighing in on this.
 
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