Members Ekynox Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 I have a schecter c-1 classic and I really dislike the tone pot. it's either 0% or 100% with no inbetween. the pot says it's a B500k(ohm) and says alpha below. What could I swap it out with to improve it? and, is it hard to do the swap or should I let a tech do it. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Suspicious Mail Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Do you have the push- pull tone pot or the 5- way switching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ekynox Posted January 29, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 it's the 5 way switch. No push/pull tap option on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mazi Bee Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 If you put full sized CTS pots in there you will have to enlarge the holes a little bit. I did this on my C1 Plus using a forstner bit and a mini drill press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members k4df4l Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 B's are linear taper...you might want to swap for an audio/log taper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ekynox Posted January 29, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 did you just use a 500k(ohm) cts pot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Suspicious Mail Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 it's the 5 way switch. No push/pull tap option on this one. Oh... well, you're in clover then. Sort of, anyway. I find making a new solder joint on a fresh pot to be a real pain... others not so much, though. Your gripe with the pot in this case has to do with what kind of "taper" it uses (ie, how much it changes the sound in relation to how much you turn the knob). IIRC what you've got is "linear taper" and what you want is "audio taper" -- but I'm not sure I don't have that mixed up, so double check that with somebody else. Assuming you've got humbuckers you'll want a 500k ohm (resistance) pot -- as a rule of thumb, 500k is for humbuckers and 250k is for single coils. There'll be a capacitor hooked up to the current pot and it should have its value printed on it... you can use the same capacitor on the new pot or replace it as you see fit. I don't really know what replacing a "cap" will do for you. So. Hire somebody to do it or DIY? Well, parts are cheap... a replacement pot should run you in the $3.00 - $5.00 range. A decent soldering iron can be had for about $30.00. The real kicker will be the time and sheer volume of expletives involved -- which, if you've never done this sort of thing before, could both be considerable (couple hours maybe?). Odds are pretty good you won't cause any real harm to your guitar, so don't worry about that... basically, if your time is worth more to you than the cost of having a pro do it, pay to have it done for you. On the other hand, if you like working with your hands and feel like learning something the hard way, you can save yourself some money now and some more down the road. Up to you, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Suspicious Mail Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 If you put full sized CTS pots in there you will have to enlarge the holes a little bit. I did this on my C1 Plus using a forstner bit and a mini drill press. Really? That's a bummer... my PT Fastback uses minis for the push- pull tone, but is routed for full- sized. The volume pots actually ARE full- sized, which blew me away given that it's a MIK guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mazi Bee Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 did you just use a 500k(ohm) cts pot? yup. 500k CTS pot (audio taper) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArKay Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Alpha makes them, too... You don't have to buy CTS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mazi Bee Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Really? That's a bummer... my PT Fastback uses minis for the push- pull tone, but is routed for full- sized. The volume pots actually ARE full- sized, which blew me away given that it's a MIK guitar. They look full sized but the shaft threading is smaller than your typical CTS pots, not sure about the PTs but all my C1s are the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Suspicious Mail Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 They look full sized but the shaft threading is smaller than your typical CTS pots, not sure about the PTs but all my C1s are the same way. Ah... full- sized body, smaller- than- usual hole for sticking it up through the wood. Gotcha. That could be a hassle for somebody who isn't tool- oriented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ekynox Posted January 29, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Does anyone have a c-1 classic that could confirm that. Or, are all c-1 series like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mazi Bee Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Ah... full- sized body, smaller- than- usual hole for sticking it up through the wood. Gotcha.That could be a hassle for somebody who isn't tool- oriented. Yeah, the threaded portion is I think 5/16th, whereas the CTS threaded portion needs a 3/8th inch mounting hole. Generally I think the import pots have the smaller threading diameter, while the USA pots have the larger ones. It would nice if there was a high quality pot available in the 5/16th. Push/pull pots usually have the smaller threading though so they generally won't present a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mazi Bee Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Does anyone have a c-1 classic that could confirm that. Or, are all c-1 series like that? I have a C1 Plus, a C1 Classic, a C1 Standard and a C7 Plus and they are all the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArKay Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Does anyone have a c-1 classic that could confirm that. Or, are all c-1 series like that? That's how most tone controls work. You sure that it's a B500k? That should be a linear control. "Audio and Linear taper pots have the same total resistance but differ in which position of rotation the pot will reach the 50% value. Linear pots are usually marked with a B or Lin (examples 250KB, B250K, 250K Lin) and will reach 50% of its total resistance in the 50% rotation point. Audio taper pots are usually marked with an A or Aud (examples 500KA, A500K 500K Aud) and will decrease most of the resistance in the last 50% of the rotation. This can give a more gradual audio reduction is some cases. Most manufactures and builders either use Audio taper pots for volume and tone or linear for volume and audio for tone." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Suspicious Mail Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Yeah, the threaded portion is I think 5/16th, whereas the CTS threaded portion needs a 3/8th inch mounting hole. Generally I think the import pots have the smaller threading diameter, while the USA pots have the larger ones. It would nice if there was a high quality pot available in the 5/16th. Push/pull pots usually have the smaller threading though so they generally won't present a problem. Didn't know that either, you're full of good info today. So... say you got in a pinch and had to do it yourself and couldn't resize the hole. Assuming you had room in the cavity, could you get the job done by using a push- pull and rigging the "pull" position as a killswitch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ekynox Posted January 29, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 yeah it's a b500k(ohm) when at 0% the tone is completely rolled off (as it should be. Barely turn it to say 1.5 - 2 (not oclock) and it's almost completely 100% on. Any continual turning barely affects the tone. It does, but it's barely audible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mazi Bee Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Didn't know that either, you're full of good info today. So... say you got in a pinch and had to do it yourself and couldn't resize the hole. Assuming you had room in the cavity, could you get the job done by using a push- pull and rigging the "pull" position as a killswitch? Yeah, I suppose you could just hook up the push/pull without wiring the dtpt switch part of it. Stewmac sells "full size" pots with the 5/16th inch threading that would work, but I don't happen to care for those pots much. The tolerances are always way off (500k pots measuring at 400k, etc), plus they feel kinda cheap and no better than the cheapies you'd be pulling out and replacing anyway. A quick and easy way to enlarge the hole would be to use a reamer. That's what I've used in the past to enlarge tuner holes and pickguard holes. I just went the extra mile with a forstner bit on the schecter top because I wanted it make sure it was perfect. If you are slow and careful with a reamer, and mark it off with masking tape at the correct depth, you should be able to enlarge the hole enough with just a few turns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ekynox Posted January 30, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 so, assuming i want to do this right? What pots do I need to purchase? Do they not make quality pots that have the correct shaft size i need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ekynox Posted January 30, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 would this work? ToneStyler would I still need to make the hole larger to accomodate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Everyalt Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 This thread was just what I needed. I was having trouble figuring out the right size shaft and thread for the pots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ekynox Posted January 30, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 you have a c-1 classic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Everyalt Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 C-1 Blackjack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.