3 Myths About Guitar Pots

[@jppagetoo]

If people put as much effort in playing as they do on obsessing over stuff like this, we'd have some really amazing guitar players.

[@DylanTalksTone]

EXACTLY

[@kh884488]

Things like potentiometers, capacitors and tone wood make an incredible amount of difference in the tone of one's guitar...in one's own head.

[@slavesforging5361]

Haha, yeah. And if people focused on writing good songs as much as they practice playing guitar we'd have some really amazing music!

[@joshcbrown97]

Hey! Tone obsession is a great obsession! But it's like vynal vs digital or solid state vs tube. Important stuff man!

[@daveyroque1070]

True man true. I personally prefer Emerson pots and caps, just because of the looks. They really add detail and depth to the cavity.

[@evanwilliams8908]

Never even heard of matched pots. That’s a new level of being obsessed with absolutely negligible detail. Too many people are concerned with everything BUT playing their damn guitar.

[@rb032682]

LOL! Yeah, I had never heard of "matched pots" either. That is funny. Just another weird snake oil opportunity.

[@goodwill5756]

Me

[@christophernoia5197]

I get people preferring 1 Meg, 250k, or 500k pots as well as the kind of taper for specific guitars, though people shouldn’t obsess over it. But damn, matched pots? I didn’t know that was a thing either.

[@timstudio1]

All means more or less to different people. There's so many people on the internet nowadays that are saying tonewood makes no difference in guitar building which is the biggest load of crap in all of guitar building history.

[@Romans--bo7br]

@@timstudio1.... you are SO Right, about the tonal & sustain qualities of various woods in building ANY stringed instrument. The possibilities and variations are as endless as all the various wood types that are on the planet. People who say "the wood make no, or negligible difference" in tonal (and sustain) qualities.... know nothing, or... extremely little about the subject.

[@lumberlikwidator8863]

Thanks, Dylan. I didn’t know most of the stuff you covered here. I’m not a full time guitar tech but occasionally I’ll do some work for a few friends. It’s most common when somebody brings me an Epiphone or some $200 thing off Amazon and they want me to “Gibsonize” it with better pickups and CTS pots. The look on their faces is priceless when I tell them they have to put up another $25 or so for Gibson knobs because their imported ones won’t fit.

[@DDE_ADDICT]

they only really matter in 2 situations: 1 when you have a very desirable collectible like a Fender 1957 Mary Kay worth 90k with everything correct: 2 when you are gigging hard and use your volume knob on stage as i do all night. The small ones do seem to wear faster if you gig a lot. i have only used full size Bourne's in my strats since 2000. if you are a home player every pot is a good pot unless it is failing.

[@davidaylsworth8964]

Your video answered all the questions I’ve been researching lately. I was considering replacing the stock guts in my 09 Epiphone Les Paul but watching this I can tell you it doesn’t make the first gate. The guitar works fine has all the tone I need so I won’t fix what isn’t broken. Thanks for this video - really useful info.

[@blb2388]

Its nice to hear some sanity in the growing mythology surrounding guitar technology.

[@rockhead69]

Great video, my man... thanks. Alpha pots are made in South Korea, though. I use Alpha not only because of reliability, but also for feel...they are the smoother pots out there...

[@azbababooey]

Saw the videos pop up and disappear and was disappointed. Glad to see you’re back!!

[@neverman3398]

Absolutely brilliant my guy. Most electrical components are made in the eastern seaboard. And lot is rebranded. It amazes me that how many people don’t know this as a fact.

[@geekinthegarden3927]

Thanks for this. I'm changing my cheap tiny pots mainly because they have 3 settings - off, on and sound like a fart mode. I'll take the opportunity to use push pull potentiometers so that I can wire in a couple of extra bits without drilling holes and make space for switches. I'll be putting in cheap, small Chinese pots because they will fit into the cavity without me having to rout the body. Surely if you have matched potentiometers in your guitar as soon as you change the volume or the tone they are no longer matched as they would then have totally different resistances, so they are only "matched" if you always keep them on full - in which case why bother having variable resistors at all?

[@BJJandBS]

Dylan - if a strat neck pickup is using a 500k pot and its too bright, will it not warm up quite a bit with a 250k pot installed?

[@gearViewmirror]

Yes....or wire in a 470k resistor from neck pup lug on switch to ground on the volume pot!🎸🤘🏼🎸

[@BJJandBS]

@@gearViewmirror got a video on what that means? No clue what that is

[@gearViewmirror]

@@BJJandBS Six String Supplies has a video on how to use resistors to balance humbuckers and singlecoils!

[@BJJandBS]

do you know which vid it is or what the title is?@@gearViewmirror

[@BJJandBS]

disregard i found it. @@gearViewmirror

[@theonlyrobot]

More and more, I'm becoming a fan of Alpha. In my limited experience, they're just as tight on the tolerances as any others, but with a more consistently smooth action.

[@RalphMercuroMusic]

Anderson uses Alpha. The taper and friction is perfect.

[@algreen1231]

I was CTS fan, now I prefer brass Alpha, smooth and fit 8mm hole in export guitar bodies. Anyway these days CTS are made in Taiwan.

I like Bourns, as they are smooth and attractively finished. But Alphas work just as well. Who cares? But CTS always seem to be priced at a premium.

algreen1231 Must check out those brass Alphas.

[@georgerobartes5989]

Bournes or Alpha ( normally marketed as Taiwan Alpha ) as both produce a true log pot if you want to pay the price but the multiple slope Log A are good enough . My local warehouse stocks Alpha at great prices , RS carry Bourns here in the UK . Alpha are common in most amps too . You can buy conductive plastic by Omeg or Pfier but these are much more expensive and would you want to see a small green plastic square in your guitar despite being aerospace quality ? I have made a mini amp using these. 16mm Alpha round great for new custom builds where you don't want large cavities and covers , you don't need a 1 inch pot in there any more and stick to the 2 brands and you will have no problems whatsoever. You can, with a little practice mod the pot slopes by thinning the carbon tracks after disassembly. So if your amp design calls for a 2M2 and you have only 1 Meg pots gently with very fine emery paper brush the track until it does its thing up to 2Meg or so .You can also cut and remove part of the track if you want it to do a certain job like cut volume at max , instead of using a switch .

[@gregguzzardi]

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You !! Greg from New Orleans. Just seeing this 5/17/22. Fixing & Playing since 1967. Some of the things players come up with blow my mind. I am in the electronic repair business as well. So I know a little more about the electronic guts than the average guy. I just smile and try to be polite. Just Subscribed Thanks

[@timcarter2373]

thanx for all yr' vids. wish you were around 30yrs ago.

[@p.s8950]

Thanks for this info. If it wasnt for guys like you I dont know where we would get these facts.

[@elysianfury]

That was cool, I listened to the whole thing while cleaning. Thank you for that

[@harmonyvegan]

This is really reassuring, thanks! I bought a cheap guitar as a mod project and glad I don't have to worry about replacing the pots

[@ramencurry6672]

My budget guitar has Mighty Might brand potentiometers. I think it’s owned by Cort guitars. It works fine. No need to change it.

[@ryanforresterrenaissancesa4204]

Great video; very helpful for folks who are not sure about this stuff. The whole obsession with potentiometers, capacitors, DC resistance, magnets, strings, tone woods, bridge material and country of origin is out of hand. And this is just electric guitars! Forget about pedals, amps, speakers, microphones, and anything else.

[@tomfoolery2082]

Is that to say tht even tho there are different tolerances are they all the same quality ?

[@CountrySixStringer]

I purchased a Squire not that long ago and as I was checking it over, I did notice that it has the small pots installed. I left them alone because the guitar sounds great and the taper is fine. In fact, I left everything electronic stock but the output jack. The only things I changed out were the tuners and bridge using Gotoh.

[@ramencurry6672]

In most cases, cheap pots and electronics will be fine. I have experienced a faulty switch that needed to be replaced on my budget guitar. If you’re constantly gigging, then in my opinion you could change the electronics just for peace of mind

[@jimiwills]

​@@ramencurry6672totally!

[@zeroumashi2947]

There is a brand that wasn't listed in the video that makes quality components including a variety of potentiometers. Alps Alpine (alps electric). There is a manufacturing facility located in texas.

[@moparbryan]

I agree with everything you’re saying. I mostly play guitars with single pickups and have swapped a lot of pickups and pots cause it’s a hobby I like to fiddle with things. I’ve come to appreciate a smooth consistent taper more than anything. I find just as your saying that lower cost pots tend to perform more erratically ie you roll off the volume and it’s either no difference then it all drops off or the opposite. Also “cheaper” pots can some times be less smooth or gritty in the actual feel of the pot. I hav actually found rarely a 500k pot that is actually 550k ish. I like to swap these into guitars that I find muddy or pickups that to my ear lack a little on the high end and it seems to wake them up the difference is subtle but it’s there. By way of example I’ve found the newer Dimarzio super distortion kind of “flat” compared to older models but with a higher value pot it seems to sound better. Also a lot of newer Les Paul’s came with 300k pots I find them more pleasant with 500k. But your right the volume pot doesn’t change the tone it just lets more or less of what’s there out

[@eltimbalerdelbruc1414]

Very informative Dylan, thank you. There is a point related to this subject matter in this video that wasn't articulated overtly. I have many guitars, MIK, MIC, MII and I have no problem with their pots. I have a 80's MIJ tele, beautiful guitar! I felt it sounded not overly "open" and so I changed pots to Emerson traditional tele pots. It had the desired effect. So, is it that there was an opening up of the sound, more harmonic richness to the sound, or was I just wishfully justifying my purchase by hearing an improvement, placebo effect?

[@HektorBandimar]

Useful info thanks, I appreciate your honesty in this video. I was going to change the pots on my Telecaster clone because I am upgrading the pickups, but now I'm going to leave them and just see if they work well with the new pickups. I've been to Myrtle Beach, it's a great place.

[@ezeahprime8203]

I have a schecter c-1 apocalypse that has active pickups and I was planing on putting Seymour Duncan sh-8 invader humbuckers which are passive been looking to see if I need to change the pots out and which ones would be best if I need to change them

[@pharmerdavid1432]

Changing pots and caps can make a bigger difference in tone than changing pickups. The lad at "the guitaristas" channel proved it with a Epiphone ES-335 dot. We could clearly hear the improvement with the upgraded pots and caps, but the expensive "Monty" PAF pickups didn't sound any better than the stock Epiphone pickups. Another video he changed the bridge and tailpiece, which improved the tone un-amplified, therefore amplified too.

[@Djole_NS246]

Do you know how that "comparison" videos has been made? You really believe them? "Oh, yeah, everything is same, just pots and caps are changed". Of course that those elements can make a difference, but with value change, not a brand. And always, and I mean 100% always, the biggest difference makes a player. A good player can use a baseball bat and still sound good and make better music than, for instance, me, even on most expensive equipment.

[@matthewotremba9230]

Just installed an Emerson Blend pot prewired harness setup in my parts Strat The HAPPIEST i have ever been with a Stratocaster (have had 30+ fenders of all eras ) Since 1979 ! ! !

[@Vor_Tex_Sun]

I believe tone comes from the fingers. And mainly from the guitar perspective from a bone nut and decent setup. Including the amp also

[@PintsofGuinness]

i have kind of a weirdly specific question about volume pots. i have an HSS strat that used to be SSS, and when i installed the humbucker i just left all the 250k pots as is. many years later i wanted a slightly brighter tone, so i got a 350k pot. it did indeed brighten the tone as expected, BUT it also killed all my low end. like absolutely zero bass in the signal. did i get a bad pot? bad solder job? it was my first and only time soldering myself so its entirely possible i screwed up somewhere lol.

[@ryanforresterrenaissancesa4204]

If all is okay then you shouldn't have that result. I am certain something wrong, most likely with the wiring.

[@artysanmobile]

Pints of Guinness No potentiometer value or taper would cause the problems you describe. A bad soldier job definitely could, and a grossly defective pot could as well. For future reference, make a diagram before replacing any components or wiring. It is very easy to get even the super simple wiring of a guitar wrong. Take a few close up photos and make some notes before removing parts.

[@fredchatham6680]

I'm glad these replay.

[@kimedmond5377]

Thanks for this excellent video

[@marcozarattini1854]

What you Say it's always interesting and explicative...great job man...Keep on rocking 🤟🤟🤟👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🎸🎸🎸

[@ppshill9863]

I'm in the uk love your channel and knowledge thanks Hill

[@guyfromnj]

You should do a episode like this on pickups. Boutique vs guitar fetish etc. If you haven't already.

[@brusselssprouts560]

Cool video. THanks for a great insight!

[@MobileDecay]

Thank you! I bought a cheap guitar to mod and I left the stock pots and Switch. I did change the pickups but it wasn’t really necessary. Just was using it to improve my soldering skills and they sound slightly better. Most of what I did was fret leveling, neck adjustment, replaced a broken bridge with a roller bridge, replaced the nut, and tightened the tuners. It sounds great, looks great, and plays great for under $250. It stays in tune forever too without tuner replacements or any stupid monstrosities screwed to the head of the guitar. Also the volume pot doesn’t do smooth volume changes but I mostly dime the pots and if I wanna mess around with volume swells or something I have an expression pedal that can be mapped as a volume pedal. Most of the mods people do for better tone can’t really even be heard. It’s a waste of money.

[@gangwu4541]

This is very helpful.

[@randyduncan5562]

I just watched a video on the Bourns manufacturing/assembly plant and it was was located in Tijuana with some of the parts coming from Idaho. Care to comment on your source of information?

[@farrellguitarrepair853]

Dylan, I have been repairing, restoring and building guitars for over 34 years and I did not know that ALL pots are made over seas!!! Thank you for that information. Gonna use it hard and fast now. Would I be correct to assume that Jacks and switches are also all made over seas??? Vic F.

[@ZachShannon1]

More than likely man, manufacturing of these types of small components isn't really something that's stayed in the west, most companies have shifted production to china to cut costs, and at this point, I'd suppose there's no real point in a small company starting production of those components domestically. Even companies like Pure Tone, who make that great multi-contact 1/4" jack, that's more than likely just a design they have made by an overseas production facility.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Any-one out there know how to get a clearer sound from a "Muddy" tappable Gibson P90 without a treble bleed? Di P90s need 500k or 250k pots for a brighter sound? I want to remove the harness and just have a basic 330 settup but cos it's a "Custom shop" I don't want to mess to much. The sound at 9-10 is out of this world but as soon as you turn the vol or tone down it sounds like MUD. Help!! BTW ,I do like the Taiwanese CTS pots, they made my Stratocaster sound great!

[@christopherstorrier5560]

Everybody has their favourite type, i use CTS 450 series 250k linear taper,9% tolerance, brass shafted pots...to my ears they are superior,i need linear as i play Jazz's ,Precisions & a Jaguar PJ bass...the linear pot gradually fades in the bridge pickup but if i use a log pot nothing happens till 9 to 10 on the volume knob..great for guitarists were a little turn cleans up their tone and makes it slightly darker sounding...all tone pots should be linear if you want a proper range on the pot where at 5 or halfway it is roughly 50% ...these are just my opinions & what i have learned over the years,being a bass player now i think good quality,tight tolerence,linear pots are the only pots to use as we use both volume & tone knobs a lot ,& a hifi grade polypropylene capacitor fitted to the linear tone pot, a 2% very high quality one, personally i like the Fender bass Greasebucket tone circuit ,it only uses 2 x 2% polypropylene caps & a 4k7 1% tolerance resister...after many hearing tests & blind hearing comparasing tests i can hear the superior tone of the Greasebucket tone circuit using high grade components, if it made no difference hifi companies would not use high grade very expensive capacitors & pots etc...ask any speaker maker if passive component quality is important & they will laugh & say of course it is...poor quality caps in their crossovers & without the other high grade components, air core inductor⁰ coils, resisters,capacitors etc the speakers would sound nowhere near as good...same for bass's & guitars imo...glad we all have different views or it would be a boring world if we all liked the same things.......

[@Falco45able]

You never mentioned potentiometers are marked Log, and Lin and that it’s important when replacing ! 😉

[@dasschaf2476]

What about reverse log too. I've only ever seen them on boost circuits in audio applications but they are still a thing!

[@achimdg6335]

I do use my tone pots, I have Allparts CTS Audio Taper, they came delivered defective, the shafts wobble. I'm not happy with the taper, so should I rather use linear taper? I guess they should be imperial again as I drilled the hole wider to fit the American measure. So there is one American difference, Epiphones use metric threads, CTS have imperial/inch Threads.

[@ashscott6068]

Linear taper is usually used for tone and logarithmic or "audio" taper for volume pots. Most people use either for volume, depending on haow they want the taper to work, but almost everyone uses linear for tone. Using audio pots for tone can give you a weird taper where the pot does nothing at all, and then suddenly has it's entire effect in the last 1/4 turn or something

[@achimdg6335]

@@ashscott6068 as I'm pretty unhappy with the logarithmic/audio taper for the tone pots, I guess linear tone pots are a good advice.

[@rockindavebyron3960]

Great info, changing pots, & pick ups can get expensive real fast, & how much a difference is it really compared to the expenses!?! One ? I have for you, are you a RV er? I ask this because my wife works at Camping World in Ft Myers & we love RV's!!! Great video, I just subbed to your channel based on your content, stay safe, Rock On & God Bless!!!

[@DylanTalksTone]

We live in a 38 foot Georgetown XL full time

[@rockindavebyron3960]

Awesome RV, 'A' class looks like. How do you guys like it & how long full-time RV'ing? This is something my wife, Deb, & I are planning on the future. We were full time musicians traveling, but not in a RV, we'd sleep at Truck stops in our car, not comfortable, LOL!!! Stay safe my friend, Rock On & God Bless!!!

[@thomasmodeen9140]

Excellent explanation of pots. Thanks!

[@pdp977]

Looks beautiful where you are - thanks for taking the time to explain this. I'm sceptical by nature, so I've always assumed the pot fetish was nonsense. Of course having a son who's an electrical engineer and never really using the pots much anyway made it easy for me.

[@markusferguson2985]

Isn't it true that Gibson has been using all Logarithmic (Audio Taper) potentiometers for both volume and tone controls since the late 50's ?

[@7387470]

I was thinking about putting a 250K pot in my volume and a 500K pot in my tone on my Fender Telecaster. Will this work ? I want to have my highs but also be able to roll them off.

[@BobbyCulpepper.srv3fender]

when you have the volume pot all the way up, it has zero resistance or its 0 ohms, correct? so why do people say 250k or 500k pots affect your tone. I dont see how this can be true when the volume is all the way up

[@johnmorrison5502]

People will say since the signal still travels through it when fully open and some signal will “leak” off, mostly high end(something about capacitance). 250k will leak off more than a 500k. That’s why single coils usually get 250k to loose some of the shrill high end. You don’t want to loose it in a humbucker since it will sound muddy. Is any of that true? I’ve never cared to test it. Honestly people just do whatever tradition is and hate change. Do people actually think everything Leo Fender did in the 1950s was perfect and no improvements have ever been made? Well Leo didn’t and constantly made changes up until he sold it in1965.

[@timbeaton5045]

It's a passive circuit (unless you have active electronics...well Duh!) soooo... in the simplest case, with just a volume pot, you have the output of the pickup connected to one end of, say a 500k resistor. That is ALWAYS in circuit, even when the volume is all the way up There is (theoretically) 0 ohms between the output of the pickup and the output jack. BUT that 500k resistance of the pot is always across the output. That is the crucial part. So, depending of course on the output impedance (and we are always talking impedance, as the signal is an AC waveform) that means there is always a load across the pickup. This means that there is an interaction with the pot and the pickup coil. This explains why a 500k pot loads the pickup less, and because of the physics of impedance matching, means a brighter tone (i.e. LESS high frequency loss) which suits the darker sound of a humbucker. A 100k load will tend to reduce the top end, which works well with single coil pickups as they tend to be brighter in tone. A 1 Mohm pot would load the pickup less, and a 50K would load it more. The toe control is a bit different. It uses the capacitor to shunt higher frequencies to ground, via the control pot. That still means there is a load on the pickup, but this is mitigated by the capacitor. Remember a capacitor is a DC block (ideally) and depending on the impedance of the circuitry will allow increasing amounts of electricity through, as the frequency of the signal increases. It's a bit more complicated than that, but in essence that's how it works. The most crucial part of the tone circuit is the value of the capacitor, dependent on the pickup and the value of the tone pot. And buying an inordinately expensive hand made oil and paper capacitor is a complete waste of money.

[@timbeaton5045]

@@johnmorrison5502 "Do people actually think everything Leo Fender did in the 1950s was perfect and no improvements have ever been made?" Well yes. Many do. And they are wrong. Those guitars were made to be cheap to manufacture, and assembled by semi-skilled labour. The fact that many mythologizes them is a different matter. Many guitarists seem to believe in "magic".

[@tangerinesrock90038]

What is your opinion on the Dunlop super pot? It has a protective cover on it thinking of putting a 250k for volume and 500k for tone on my tele. I want something to take a beating on tour.

[@nalukeko]

I’ve got a set in a double cut special wired 50s. I really like them. Smooth, easy turns and roll down the P90s nicely. I did have to replace one though cuz I replaced the knobs and one was so tight that I pulled out the whole shaft from the pot. Probly would have happened to any brand. Short of that they feel like they’ll last forever.

[@bluwng]

I didn’t know the volume and tone were in series as a voltage divider, I thought they were all in parallel?

[@martysound]

Love it, just common sense and no just hype.

[@aleksandr8809]

Hello! I have 2 pots. One is 500 and one is 450kOhm. Which one should I put on tone and which on volume in that case? Will there be any difference in swapping them?

[@patprop74]

YESSSSS! That's what I want lol advice on a guitar part from someone sitting outside of a Winnebago.

[@MrMortadelas]

Thoughts on replacing the volume pot with a 3 way switch (bypass-80%-ground)? I prefer using the volume knob than a boost pedal but sound guys hate the resulting inconsistency.

[@theonlyrobot]

That would work. You could even do a 7 way to get more levels, then series the switch circuit with your volume pot, and you'd still be able to use it. Just turn the pot to full when you need to use the switch, and let the resistors on the switch supply the load the circuit needs to reduce the volume. Or replace the volume pot with a 5 way rotary switch and do it that way, rather than using your pickup slider switch.

[@PintsofGuinness]

this is a really cool idea.

[@MrMortadelas]

@@theonlyrobot Anything more than 3 way would require a strat/tele style switch. I hoped to avoid the woodwork by popping out the pot and replace it with a LP style switch. But after reading your reply I am thinking or removing the tone and placing my switch there so I get to keep my first volume pot. Thanks for the idea mate.

[@theonlyrobot]

@@MrMortadelas If you get the right rotary switch you can even keep the tone's knob. The mod would be invisible.

[@robertm.1098]

Good info Dylan but if the volume pot doesn’t act like a tone pot, why does the guitar lose tone when you turn the volume down?

[@davidkastin4240]

If that bothers you look into treble bleed pots

[@basslinger]

Thanks!

[@cheapskate8656]

Good video. I just bought some pots for my next build which is probably why this video appeared in my feed. Subscribed :) Anyway I ordered Gotoh pots, apparently made in Japan. Japan is known for excellent electronics, so I thought, cool.

[@michaelwallace1189]

Which has the better taper from 10 to 0? log/audio tapered or linear, and which is best for volume or tone?

[@urso_polar_nz]

Audio taper for volume, linear for tone, though Dylan has said that he prefers audio taper for both.

[@GuitarQuackery]

Matched pots are like matched strings. Would you want 6 matched strings on a guitar?

[@charleswallace5818]

Wish the class was on a different day than Sunday. Have a great day

[@uncleericsguitarmoddingand1401]

I love MBSP there's an awesome little trail near the gift shop/ information center pier. Great place to watch a sunrise. Been to myrtle beach innumerable times. Great video about pots, we are in agreement. I use several types from dime size to full size metric to cts and alpha.

[@bellmeisterful]

Excellent work

[@philljrton]

Can you do a video about varriatone pots and blend pots. I'm building a super telecaster. I'm wondering what if either I should stick either in.

[@JacksonCharvelRULE]

I just bought a Gibson SG with original pots with swapped 78 Seymour Duncans and it just sounds muddy... I'm thinking the volume pots are 300k

[@rafaelostos-tapia9129]

Hello Dylan, I hope my message finds you well. I would like to know what pot should I use for a HS Telecaster? (humb in the neck, single in bridge) I know to use 2x 500k but bridge pup will sound so trebly thank you

[@davidkastin4240]

Try using 300k pots

[@dirkda2451]

i keep being reminded of toasters it's a very basic device some resistors that heat up ,put bread in wait toast pops up (unless you're a rickenbacker player of course ;-) )

[@REBELSCL]

Question… for a SG setup… are there any overall quality differences between the 3 manufacturers you listed ? Is one brand typically better than another?

[@lardnaminch8985]

"Lemme 'splain" - Dylan

[@robinleebraun7739]

Thanks for keeping it real.

[@RickDrift]

Have you ever notice a difference in build quality from brand to brand? I have gotten some pots that felt sticky, but just as well, some cleaner could do the trick.

[@SundayMatinee]

Between Alpha, CTS, and Bourns, which would you recommend? Is there any significant difference in build quality? (Eg. do their tapers match spec, do they rotate without feeling "gritty", do they produce noise while adjusting, etc.). How about reliability? (How long do they last?). Are they all equally good?

[@DylanTalksTone]

Bourns are my favorite because I like how easy they turn. they last and are affordable

[@theonlyrobot]

Alphas tend to have a very smooth action albeit with some weight to it, and I've yet to have one fail. Some of my CTS are great, some not so much.

[@rocket69218]

There's very little difference in my experience. ... and unless you are a teenager, they'll probably outlast you. ;) (or unless they get wet and rust or something like that, or you are continually doing swells or whatever all night)

[@slavesforging5361]

Great video. I've actually been disappointed when changing out decades old mini pots for same resistance new, full sized pots. Time to buy a multimeter and start labeling actual values for me. Just so I know if I'm going up or down in resistance when replacing bad pots. It was very valuable to know that you haven't noticed a huge difference when measuring pots. Feel- wise I like alpha pots and dislike cts, but that's not a quality thing. Just personal preference I'm also very fond of the people that can't tell the difference between something that is theoretically true, and something that is practically true. If you can't hear the difference, it doesn't matter- no matter what electronic principles say. Not a hard concept.

[@דורון-צ2ג]

I found out the hard way pots brand DOES matter. I installed seymour duncan jb on epiohone with the stock 500k push pull coil split quick connect and it didnt give the output it should. The gain was weak and the output was like the neck pickup.Tried many solutions (pickup height, string gauge) nothin helped. Untill i changed the volume push pull pot to regular cts 500k and the difference was huge.

[@johnmeehan4518]

What about Dunlop pots? Made in Benicia Ca.

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Wish you had done this two weeks ago, I just bought Gibson wireless pots for a left handed L.P. style guitar that I have turned into a right hander (getting sprayed as we speak) without even trying the small pots that came with it, damn!

[@dmeemd7787]

Spot on!

[@officialpoa3171]

*Extremely informative. **#cheers*

[@xfup]

In your personal opinion, Should the tone potentiometer have a linear taper or logarithmic? I'm in the camp that taper doesn't matter much. Does the curve really matter because it's just a certain position on the twist of a potentiometer? I've tried the 30/70 "Vintage Taper" but I don't know I'm sure that it matters. The touque is lower than I like. I like the "resistance" [not the electronic resistance] in adjusting the levels to be higher than "Mojotones" vintage taper. I believe Wampler just changed their verbiage on the "Made in the USA" because there are laws about this.

[@abl9087]

I want to put a couple of pushpull pots in my epiphone les paul. Which one do you recomend?? Thanks😊

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Love a good taper! Reason #1 to change pots and I find 500k pots are indeed brighter \m/

[@6nosis]

THERES 1 for fact

[@Ebadd9]

The value of the volume pot does make a difference in my opinion. I have a Squire which I thought about switching the pickups on, when I tested the volume pot, I found it only had a value of 234k ohms, I replaced it with a 250k emerson and now I'm happy with the sound and won't bother changing the pickups. The taper also feels better.

[@ale0kiss]

Thx so much for this video!! very useful since guitar players love to feed on myths. I've bought a chinese tele, solid construction but bad electronics, bought some di marzio twang kings to replace the pickups, and was afraid i needed to also change the pots to get the full tone of the new pickups ! Cheers !

[@MrJackrockerman]

Thanks a lot Dylan.. 🙏❤

[@regisdrift]

Thanks for that. There is a bunch of myths in the musician world. That makes me crazy!

[@Hmmm7512]

What about PCB pots in epiphones!? Help Dylan! I gots this feeling I need to get rid of these things. I feel like some of the notes when playing percussive single notes are getting choked out.

[@AkiraSpectrum]

great video, very informative!!

[@dashriprock8108]

Guitar.... Pot... Oh guitar pots... Yeah I like those two . Now onto the recording session.

[@ronaldbacha7818]

Hey Dylan,,, I have Dimarzio pickups in my Ibanez RG 550 guitars, IF I remove the tone pot how would the tone change if at all,,,? I mostly never use the tones on my guitars there always on ten,, you know the Vanhalen thing, what do you think, my pickups are wired in series,,, just thought I would ask,,, let me know what you think,, thanks RJ Bacha.

[@DragonofLimerick]

Very cool information!

[@DACRAF01]

The longer I’ve been playing, the more I realised there are no “rules” when it comes to guitar sound/tone, it’s all preference as to what inspires you.

[@timstudio1]

The hard to swallow fact is that every single thing has a tonal difference if you can't hear it you don't have the ear to hear it but I have changed the same value caps in guitar circuits with different brands and I can absolutely hear a difference, same thing in guitar amps, I can hear that difference and so can the boutique amp and guitar builders .

[@DylanTalksTone]

It’s all in where you put your focus.... are you having a pissing match over capacitors, or are you making music?

[@BibleStorm]

I think you hear what you want to hear, not what you actually hear.

[@DavidMorales008]

Does the same go for switches, I see a lot of folks say Epiphone toggle way worse than Gibson for example like Trogly (not trying to throw anybody under the bus I enjoy his channel I just really want to know if it's worth upgrading my epiphone or not)

[@artysanmobile]

David Morales Switches are far simpler and more consistent than potentiometers. However, there are really bad switches out there, with low quality contact material and poor mechanical qualities. These can be easily avoided by skipping off-brands. The big manufacturers do not produce low quality switches. Ditto potentiometers, btw.

[@mariushebnes5951]

I really like this channel, because someone actually explains tone in a good way. I hate those super specific "tone people". In a comment section once in a video of a guy burning his guitar body (to make a cool look) and one idiot commented: why would you do that? It will completely mess up the tone! I was like jesus christ dude, no it will. I dont get why people are afraid of "tone". Its like people are afraid of "changing" the "tone"

[@christopherventer6391]

I don't think I've ever actually had a guitar that came with small pots (that I know of, anyway) but pots are usually not something I change unless, like you say, they don't have a good taper to my taste or the tension is not what I want. I actually used PEC amp pots in a couple of my guitars because they don't turn very easily and I wanted the knobs to stay in a particular place to balance the two pickups a certain way. On another guitar I went the opposite direction and have a low tension EVH pot for the volume for control of swells, etc. Although I found I don't do that many swells after all and it's somewhat annoying because I can easily bump it out of place, so I may go back.

[@michaelkern9805]

Thanks for helping me cut through all the marketing BS !!

[@wesleymorris1]

Some of bourns pots are made in mexico, the high quality expensive ones, i think there the bourns 82 pots for vintage sound and taper. I actually like the small bourns pots, i use them and never have a problem.

[@cugir321]

Good video....only thing I'd add is some pots are easier to turn.....seems to be better made pots. Some of my older guitars have heavy duty pots and they turn easier. This is helpful if you use the pot as a volume pedal type situation.

[@PsychoMantis308]

I had a cheap Chinese pot that would cause any pickup I attached to it to squeal at a very high frequency if the gain was even remotely turned up. Same pickups with different pots and there was no squealing

[@polester]

You made everything clear to me. Thank you!