Hi,

I've been searching the last couple of days for information on potentiometers, but haven't really found anything to answer my question, which is:

What effect a 250k, a 500k and a 1 meg potentiometer have on the sound of the guitar.

the reason I ask is that I'm upgrading my '93 MIM Strat to CS 69 pickups, and I'm wondering if the stock pots that are in it are suitable, or if they should be changed and if so, to what.

I'm not sure what the stock pots are, they have 20W and D500 stamped on the bottom.

Thanks,
Hammer

This guy seems to know what he talks about, I've read his writing for awhile, and I've listened to his music - he's not a bad guitarist either.

See anlysis of the effects of guitar parts and cables - complete with nice pretty graphs - http://terrydownsmusic.com/technotes/guitarcables/guitarcables.htm

Here are the conclusions:

High resistance volume pots create more treble, but allow various cables to cause a more drastic change in tone.
Lower resistance pots results in less overall tone change with cable variation, but result in less treble overall.
The volume control pot is like a damping resistor to the resonant circuit. Lower values reduce the peak amplitude.

Gil

_________________
Where ever you go, there you are

1998 Ovation 1861 Standard Balladeer Natural
Taka - 2005 Squier '51 Black
Yume - 2006 Squier Strat Cherryburst
Houbi - 2008 Fender VG Strat Blizzard Pearl - won here
Fender Super Champ XD; Vox DA-5

Good info. So you're saying the pots value affects the high frequencies or treble only but not the low frequency or bass side?

Here is some more info-http://www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/Electric-Guitar-Potentiometers__BYO-P.aspx

Ok, makes sense, for short then:

250k Warmer (Single Coils)
500k More Highs (hums)

Many thanks Giljanus, im quite a lot closer to understanding it now, you're conclusion was the most helpfull bit too

Well it's really Terry Brook's conclusion - he did the analysis

I just did the reporting. Glad I could be some help.

Gil

_________________
Where ever you go, there you are

1998 Ovation 1861 Standard Balladeer Natural
Taka - 2005 Squier '51 Black
Yume - 2006 Squier Strat Cherryburst
Houbi - 2008 Fender VG Strat Blizzard Pearl - won here
Fender Super Champ XD; Vox DA-5

Man, you could have taken all the credit

Not my style.

Gil

_________________
Where ever you go, there you are

1998 Ovation 1861 Standard Balladeer Natural
Taka - 2005 Squier '51 Black
Yume - 2006 Squier Strat Cherryburst
Houbi - 2008 Fender VG Strat Blizzard Pearl - won here
Fender Super Champ XD; Vox DA-5

Then you add what a Caps do when added to the tone pots or even a resistor as in the case of the HWY Ones.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Hey Dude...

My advice is to stay away from Pot(s) It wont help you with your music and it only leads to a slippery $@!&# of doom and regret...Plus you smell bad and eat too much junk food.

I'm here to help -

The Freeze

_________________
There's Always Room For MELLOW !!!!

2000 MIM Stratocaster, Midnight Wine W/Texas Specials
2000 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
1969 Fender Vibro Champ

Thats being BLUNT

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

good link giljano.

thanx for sharing.

cheers

That was great Gil. Thanks a lot for posting that. Very Interesting.

I just have one thing to add. Remember that the fundamental frequency of the highest note on a Strat is about 1200 Hz (C# on 21 fret necks, D on 22 fret necks). So those resonances are mostly about high harmonics, which are very important to the tone.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Doesn't that infer 500k pots? Wouldn't a MIM std have 250k pots?

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...