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Best quality pots


isaac42

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I'm looking to replace the potentiometers in some of my basses. I know that some pots are better than others, and some people claim to use only the very best, but don't want to tell anyone what they're using.

 

Anybody know of some top brands? What makes them better than the competition?

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I suppose it might help if I were to say what criteria matter to me.

 

500K audio taper. And I want it to really be in that neighborhood. I've encountered pots that are rather wildly off from their rated resistance.

 

I don't want it to feel cheap. My impression is that there are some high quality pots that nevertheless feel 'scratchy' when turned. I don't like that, and would prefer to avoid it. On the other hand, I don't want it too viscous. That may be nice for mixer controls, but not for a guitar (or bass, in my case).

 

I want it to last. It wouldn't do to have a pot get scratchy, generating noise when it's moved.

 

Then there are things I don't care about. I don't think that the actual resistive component makes a significant difference in the sound. I do think that a pot being off in its value can affect the sound. Scratchy pots always sound bad, of course.

 

I've almost talked myself into the idea that pot quality doesn't matter much, but I'm still open to suggestions and discussion.

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Different pots definitely do make a difference in how long they last. CTS Alpha and Bourne are going to be the ones that typically last a lifetime. anything else is pot luck on how long it will last.

 

As far as tone goes, so long as the tapers and resistance are the same there isn't any differences from one pot to another. Its only when the carbon contact wears and the pot becomes scratchy the quality becomes apparent.

 

There are a gazillion cheap imports now. The build quality varies all over the place. I bought some cheap mini pots which were something like $5 for 10 of them. I needed the small size and I didn't need top quality because they would be used as tone knobs which I barely ever use so it want like they would wear out.

 

I suppose there are other pots out there which have durability and can last but you risk getting burned badly. I've come across many which are so bad it was only a matter of weeks they became scratchy. Cleaning them made them fail completely. The cleaner would strip the film of carbon right off the pad.

 

It was easy to see why it failed too. All you have to do is bend back the tabs that hold a pot together and look and see how its built. Your best vintage pots used a Bakelite carbon pad and the thickness of the carbon glued down doesn't wear through very quickly. The rotor contact is made well too. Your cheap pots often have carbon glued to plastic pads. If you know anything about construction, glue doesn't stick to plastic as well as it does to Bakelite. the contacts can have a plastic shaft which requires a slip ring for the rotor contact which wears quickly. I'll take a metal shaft pot over a plastic any day.

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