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Looking for measurements of original pot and cap values in 50's Les Pauls

gasimakos

New member
Joined
Jul 20, 2020
Messages
3
I searched the forum already and couldn't find anything that exactly matched what I was looking for, but I am wondering if anyone has ever measured the values of the caps and pots in these older Gibsons. Do they vary as much as modern stuff? Because I've found modern CTS pots as low as 400k and as high as 600k. Also, I've measured a few old black Sprague caps that I have around and the current values were all over the place. Between .018 and .025.
 

somebodyelseuk

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
457
No, but...
Caps age, so not surprised they're all over the place.
Pot values...
Back in the day, everything electrical with any adjustment had pots - TV, radio, car radio, every piece of apparatus in every industry that passed electricity that required an adjustment, including critical military and medical equipment.
Pot tolerances needed to be tight, and build quality needed to be very good.
Today, pretty much everone uses digital push buttons, except the guitar industry.
In the grand scheme, the guitar industry is insignificant. Tolerances are now +/-20% and they're made in China to keep cost down.
 

springhead

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2016
Messages
262
CTS make their pots in Taiwan I think, in either +/- 10, 20 or 30% tolerances. So your 400 - 600K range is 20%. I've got old 500K Centralabs that now measure 600K, 700K etc. They wear and drift. I don't think it's as simple as old pots being better made, you can buy perfectly good quality modern pots - PEC, Bourns etc.. Just depends on how much you want to spend as there is now more choice and you can spend less on lower quality components if that suits your wallet and application.
 

hogy

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
715
As a pot is used, the carbon trace thins due to abrasion. As the trace gets thinner resistance goes up. Sometimes way up. It is not at all unusual to measure volume pots in well used 1950s Gibsons in the 700 to 800k range, and even higher.

Same for other guitars as well, of course. The 100k volume pot in my heavily used '54 Strat measured 196k.
 
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