tone pot question....

[MichaelYoung]

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i have a les paul and i changed the pots and wiring to the 50s style wiring and also changed to a oil in cap. I gotta say, I absolutly love the cts 500k pots. My question is this. I want to change the pots and wiring and cap for my sg, but i have push pull pots for the volumes. will i get the same results putting just the cts 500k pots in the tone or do i need to change the volume as well.... thanks.

[MichaelYoung]

"crickets"

[Ancient Mariner]

First, why do you 'love' the CTS pots? And can you not get CTS push-pull pots?

[warriorpoet]

Short answer: it will probably sound different.

 

Long answer: typical potentiometers have +-20% tolerance. Your last batch may have varied anywhere from 400k - 600k. Depending on what the stock values are, and what the new values are, you may notice a little, a lot, or no difference at all in the tone after the swap.

 

If, however, you are changing your pots for other reasons, like the stiffer action of CTS pots, you will probably notice a difference; good or bad depends on your preference.

[Armitage]

warriorpoet is correct, pots are a non capasitive non reactive device, if their measured values are identical, they will sound identical. But that 20% variation can make a big difference. Higher makes it brighter, (mostly around 7k...), lower makes it fatter, smoother.

 

And '50s wiring only makes a difference when you turn the volume down... if pots values etc are the same.