Basically what he's saying is that while the pots would have been supposed to be 250k, the tolerances meant that they could be out by +/- 15 to 20k so while the ones they took out could have been 230k, the new one they put in was nearer 280k meaning there was a perceived change in tone.

If you're building a replica then I really wouldn't worry too much about this as (short of actually measuring the values on the original or one of the tribute Blackies - which doesn't seem feasible) there's no way to know for sure.

I would go with the traditional Fender values of 250k.

I'd be interested to know whether Eric had the tone pots rewired so one of them did the bridge pickup...

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How did it sound to you?