A bit of theory…
The lower the resistance of a potentiometer, the more the higher frequencies of a pickup signal will be attenuated. The sound will be softer and warmer. That’s why you normally use 500k pots for humbuckers and for P90-style single coils, as these naturally sound a bit softer. For single coils on Strat- or Tele- style guitars you would rather use 250k pots, so the pickup is deprived of some sharpness. Of course this can be varied according to ones personal taste or situation. 25k pots are used for active pickups - they are not suitable for standard pickups.
Although most guitars are equipped with audio taper pots, this does not have to be everyone’s best choice. For example, if you turn a linear pot back from 10 to 5, not much will happen, however between 5 and 0 quite a lot. This can be more comfortable if you mainly play with clean sounds. In this case an amp reacts much more dynamically to changes on an input signal, allowing more nuanced volume control on the guitar. With audio taper pots however, the volume increases almost linear between 0 and 7,and gains a lot more between 7 and 10. This is much better when played in the crunch or high-gain section, because changes in the input signal mainly affect the degree of distortion, so the pot will have to react more dynamically in order to achieve an audible volume change. In the end, everyone should decide for themselves which pot combination suits their playing style the best. In general however this will be audio taper potentiometers, they are the most commonly used pots on guitars. One more thing: for tone control you should always use an audio taper pot, since this is the only way to achieve an acoustically linear tone control.
Our recommendations:
- Humbucker/P90: 500k (Volume/Tone)
- Singlecoil: 250k (Volume/Tone)
- Volume control for clean sound: audio taper or linear pot
- Volume control „crunch" and „higain": audio taper pot
- tone control: generally audio taper pot
By the way… it is not a question of quality if a pot is easy or stiff to use. That’s just a matter of how much grease was used during manufacture, so feel free to decide what suits you best.
A bit of theory… The lower the resistance of a potentiometer, the more the higher frequencies of a pickup signal will be attenuated. The sound will be softer and warmer. That’s why you normally...
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A bit of theory…
The lower the resistance of a potentiometer, the more the higher frequencies of a pickup signal will be attenuated. The sound will be softer and warmer. That’s why you normally use 500k pots for humbuckers and for P90-style single coils, as these naturally sound a bit softer. For single coils on Strat- or Tele- style guitars you would rather use 250k pots, so the pickup is deprived of some sharpness. Of course this can be varied according to ones personal taste or situation. 25k pots are used for active pickups - they are not suitable for standard pickups.
Although most guitars are equipped with audio taper pots, this does not have to be everyone’s best choice. For example, if you turn a linear pot back from 10 to 5, not much will happen, however between 5 and 0 quite a lot. This can be more comfortable if you mainly play with clean sounds. In this case an amp reacts much more dynamically to changes on an input signal, allowing more nuanced volume control on the guitar. With audio taper pots however, the volume increases almost linear between 0 and 7,and gains a lot more between 7 and 10. This is much better when played in the crunch or high-gain section, because changes in the input signal mainly affect the degree of distortion, so the pot will have to react more dynamically in order to achieve an audible volume change. In the end, everyone should decide for themselves which pot combination suits their playing style the best. In general however this will be audio taper potentiometers, they are the most commonly used pots on guitars. One more thing: for tone control you should always use an audio taper pot, since this is the only way to achieve an acoustically linear tone control.
Our recommendations:
- Humbucker/P90: 500k (Volume/Tone)
- Singlecoil: 250k (Volume/Tone)
- Volume control for clean sound: audio taper or linear pot
- Volume control „crunch" and „higain": audio taper pot
- tone control: generally audio taper pot
By the way… it is not a question of quality if a pot is easy or stiff to use. That’s just a matter of how much grease was used during manufacture, so feel free to decide what suits you best.
