this may be a stupid question but what do changing the pots and input jack on a guitar do (like will it lower the buzzing when you not playing) and would you use the same pot for tone and volume

and what are your recommendations when it come to brand of pots and jacks

i was think about getting new pots and a jack for my blacktop telecaster but will it make a differeance tone wise

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B.C Rich Body Art Warlock "The Fly"--Blacktop Telecaster--ESP LTD EC-100--IbanezRG420EX--into A Fender Mustang III

It won't do anything that anyone except a guitarist sat by themselves in a quiet room would notice.

Adding resistance strangles bass frequencies thereby giving the perception of increased treble. Conversely lowering resistance will not strangle bass frequencies as much. Giving the perception of more bass.
It's also a good way to fix crackly pots.

Adding a new jack socket can stop an old jack socket failing. I've never had a jack socket fail, ever.

If it makes you more comfortable with your guitar, do it. Being comfortable will make you practice more and become a better player. Thats whats important.

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No no and no

thanks

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B.C Rich Body Art Warlock "The Fly"--Blacktop Telecaster--ESP LTD EC-100--IbanezRG420EX--into A Fender Mustang III

In addition to Nikki's post there is also the issue of taper which will affect how the pot sounds as you roll it up and down. The word taper with respect to pots refers to the shape (curve) of the $@!&# of attenuation from one end of the sweep to the other. There's prolly a simpler way to describe that.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I have, though it was visibly a budget unit, so...

Also, I find that the traditional Telecaster cup style output mounting often becomes hopelessly loose over time and needs replacing with an Electrosocket one - which qualifies as an honest-to-goodness "upgrade" in my view.

But, corpseknot, in general I see little reason to go swapping out pots, switches and sockets unless what you've got in there is malfunctioning, and even then it can usually be sorted with some contact cleaner. Unless a fella has specific feelings about the taper of his pots, that is; which is fair enough.

If you do find you have to replace them CTS and Alpha are brands of potentiometer to shop for. And Switchcraft make a reliable output socket. To answer your other question, volume and tone pots are usually the same (though not always - check what you have in there already).

Personally, I'd leave 'em alone, unless there's a proper reason to be swapping them out. Is there?

Cheers - C

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no there is nothing wrong with the pots/jack i was just under the understanding that it made a differeance mainly going from 250k to 500k pots cause i read in some spot it made a major differeance and others it dont really

what if i switched to a gold input jack aint gold spose to be better then crome
same as patch cords being better with gold tips

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B.C Rich Body Art Warlock "The Fly"--Blacktop Telecaster--ESP LTD EC-100--IbanezRG420EX--into A Fender Mustang III

so when you trun up the tone or volume it will increse evenly insted of say on some guitars you can only notice a difference in sound when the tone i competly up or down theres no inbetween?

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B.C Rich Body Art Warlock "The Fly"--Blacktop Telecaster--ESP LTD EC-100--IbanezRG420EX--into A Fender Mustang III

Nah that gold connection thing is a complete hoax, nothing more.
Gold is an excellent conductor, which is the reason these nonsense products are pushed at us.

But, to get the benefit of it you need gold jack plugs as well as sockets, at both ends of the chain. And if you have a pedal in the chain that will need gold sockets too. If your normal plug/socket doesn't conduct as well as the gold one then you are limited to that plug/sockets conductivity. Regardless of whats on the other end of the lead.

Oh and those plugs/sockets need to be 18carrat too. Not the micron thin plated nonsense we get ripped off with.

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No no and no

so you need to have gold input jack on you guitar and all you pedals and have golden tip chords to benfit form it

pretty much your only as strong as your weakest link

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B.C Rich Body Art Warlock "The Fly"--Blacktop Telecaster--ESP LTD EC-100--IbanezRG420EX--into A Fender Mustang III

corpseknot, Niki, Ceri and Matt have given you excellent information.
I can only add, regarding pots, that Ceri's choice of CTS is a good one.
Example: 1) conventional pot, 500k-ohm audio taper, full size pot. Generally used for humbuckers and high output pickups , 24 MM DIA., 3/8-32 thread, 24 spline, 20% tolerance, 3/8" Bushing height 3/8" shaft length.
Example: 2) CTS pot, 10% tolerance ,Full size pot. 24 MM DIA., 3/8-32 US thread, 24 spline, 3/8" bushing height 3/8" shaft length SHAFT.238 (6.3mm) Requires 3/8" diameter mounting hole.
Although my preference for the lower tolerance may be a figment of my imagination or wishful thinking, lol. Hope this helps.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

If the entire signal chain from pickup to amp input used 18k gold hardware the change in resistance would not even be measurable on a typical VOM.

The main advantage of gold is that it doesn't corrode.

And gold has a higher resistance, and therefore is not as good a conductor, than copper or silver.

Electrical resistivity and conductivity

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.