Members Loxley Posted June 12, 2008 Members Share Posted June 12, 2008 As some of you may remember, I'm upgrading my Pacifica with a complete electronics overhaul. I've already got some GFS pickups in my shopping basket, and looking at the guitarfetish website, I've noticed they have a few different pots. I'm planning on replacing both the volume and tone pots, but I have no idea if I should go with the 500K or 250K, or even something else. Can someone help me out here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted June 12, 2008 Members Share Posted June 12, 2008 Generally speaking the higher the value the brighter overall. That's why it is common for single coils to use 250K and humbuckers to use 500K. If you are going for say and H-S-S layout you might get 250K's for the tones and both a 250K and a 500K for the volume and try both values out to see which you like better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loxley Posted June 12, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 12, 2008 Generally speaking the higher the value the brighter overall. That's why it is common for single coils to use 250K and humbuckers to use 500K.If you are going for say and H-S-S layout you might get 250K's for the tones and both a 250K and a 500K for the volume and try both values out to see which you like better. Sounds good.. I think I might just get two 250k's.. but first I just want to get some more input, anyone else agree or disagree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted June 12, 2008 Members Share Posted June 12, 2008 Sounds good.. I think I might just get two 250k's.. but first I just want to get some more input, anyone else agree or disagree? I take it the pacifica only has one volume and tone control? Whats the pup layout going to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loxley Posted June 13, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 13, 2008 I take it the pacifica only has one volume and tone control? Whats the pup layout going to be? It's HSS, and it only has one tone and one volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members De-bone-air Posted June 13, 2008 Members Share Posted June 13, 2008 Try CTS 300K pots for both Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alley trash Posted June 13, 2008 Members Share Posted June 13, 2008 I'd also think about a 250 tone & 500 volume w/ a .022 capacitor as a starting point, then see if the bucker is too dark, or the singles are too bright & take it from there. Don't booger up all your solder joints, so it's easier to change out the vol pot and/or change the cap if you want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loxley Posted June 13, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 13, 2008 I'd also think about a 250 tone & 500 volume w/ a .022 capacitor as a starting point, then see if the bucker is too dark, or the singles are too bright & take it from there. Don't booger up all your solder joints, so it's easier to change out the vol pot and/or change the cap if you want to. What do I do with a .022 capacitor? I don't even know what that's for. Keep in mind, I've never done any of this before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loxley Posted June 14, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 14, 2008 Bump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ruinthere Posted June 15, 2008 Members Share Posted June 15, 2008 While you're at it, why not put a push/push tone pot to split the HB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alley trash Posted June 15, 2008 Members Share Posted June 15, 2008 What do I do with a .022 capacitor? I don't even know what that's for. Keep in mind, I've never done any of this before. Sorry I missed your return question & the bump, I was already gone. Take a look inside your guitar at what's already there. The cap is on your tone pot & soldered to ground. You can pretty much rewire it from studying what's already in there (take a picture to go by even) If you have new wire too, you can take the old harness out & use that as a model for building the new one, or you can just do one pot at a time & use the old harness. For chooosing your pots... the 500k will give your guitar a brighter sound & the 250k will give it a warmer sound. The higher pot values bleed less treble to ground. (through the pot) That's why the norm for humbuckers is 500k pots (keeps more more highs / brighter tone) Single coils use 250K pots because they bleed off more of the highs & thus, add some "warmth" to your tone. You have both type pickups in your guitar, so you will have to be the judge of what gives you the happy medium for the set up. But my opinion would be to start out with the 500k for vol & the 250k for tone. The capacitor is basically another part of controling your treble bleeding to ground, or more accurately a kind of low pass filter in the wiring system. Different cap values will also change the tone depending on what values you choose. I would play around with what ever you decide on first & then decide how much more "warmth" or "brightness" you decide you need to get. Capacitors are cheap, so you can get a couple different ones & then change it out if you feel like you missed the tone you were looking for the first time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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