El Gringo
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2015
- Messages
- 5,657
The pots have been nowhere near vintage spec, and it is hard, very hard to find new pots with a similar logrithmic sweep. Changing pots to a type that suit your needs is smart. I'd offer this advice though. Don't fall into the nubes trap.
So many think the volume pot resistance must be at least 500k and many look for values greater as if 500k is good 525k is better and 550k must be even better! Right?
Consider this, though the larger values send less of the very high frequency to ground, the higher values send less very high frequency to ground!
Remember, good pafs are bright! Newer versions seem to favor the underwound type which are even brighter still. Why boost brightness on an overly bright guitar?
The other thing I noticed is that the larger value pots have terrible audio sweeps. At largest values they are more like an on/off switch. 250k is often used with single coils to tame harsh high frequency. It can apply to bright humbuckers too as the concept is the same.
It can be mind blowing how much more useful and sweeter a less than 500k volume pot can be, even as low as 300k or, .... gasp!, ... 250k!, when paired with these very bright pickups.
Clipping in a large value pot, reducing the value by turning down and measuring the resistance to where it sounds right with a dialed in amp can give a good place to start from.
I like 250k bridge pickup volume pots and 500k or slightly less for neck volume. Works well in my chain but certainly not a rule.
Big Al , you touched on an interesting aspect of the underwound CustomBuckers , such as Wildwood uses and CME CustomBucker S pickups , and I had the chance to play a CME R9 Les Paul while I was in Chicago a few months ago . I played the guitar thru a high gain amp similar to my set up at home and I was quite surprised at how easy the pickups distorted in the most nicest way . Yet they sounded different than my ThroBak's which scream .Other times when I have played someone else's R9 with Custombckers they sounded down right weak and anemic and I am puzzled by the difference ? Please enlighten me ?