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Post subject: Fender Control, Volume/Tone Pots
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:06 pm
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I am replacing my old Mexican Standard Strat Pickups with some new Samrium Cobalt pickups so I also deceided to replace the Volume/Tone pots as well as the 5 way switch.

The old pots are 250K with a .022 capacitor on the volume pot. The guy at the music store sold me 500K pots. so, my questions are:

1. Are these 500K ok for this model guitar and pickups?
2. Will I need a different capacitor (specs)?
2b. What is this capacitor 's purpose and do I even need it?
3. What is the best type of wire to purchase from radio shack to do this (rating, size, etc...)?

I hope this was not too many question at once. Any help is appreciated.


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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:41 pm
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The 500k pots will give you a brighter sound, they are usually used with humbuckers for that reason. Some people like to use them for a Strat volume to get that brighter sound (some even use a 1meg - which can just about shatter glass with the treble). I tried it and went back to the 250k pots.
I have an older American Strat Ultra, but I recently bought a Made In Mexico Jazz Bass, and I was surprised to find CTS brand pots already inside. These are some of the best made, and if they are in your Strat, there would be no reason to change them. The should have CTS stamped right on the bottom (if it isn't covered by solder), just check the solder joints on the Caps though, one of mine was a cold-joint (solder not completely melted - strands of wire not enveloped by solder) and that will need to be heated up to reapir the joint.
The Capacitor is what makes the tone pot bleed off the treble. My bass had a ceramic capacitor (looks like a tan disk) which I promptly replaced with a Sprague Orange Drop brand capacitor. Even a Polyester or other plastic based pot from radio Shack would be an improvement over the ceramic. You might also want to consider going with a .047 mfd capacitor - it will make no difference at 10, but it will give you a thick tone at the lower numbers (many people, including me, consider this to be the standard value for a Strat tone capacitor).
The wire is 22gauge multi-strand.

Good Luck, Rob


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