Guitar volume pot listening test 500k vs 250k on Humbucker and Single Coils

Just had to get this one off my chest. Whilst there are many variables to consider, the traditional volume pot values appear to be the best choice in most scenarios.

[@FairlyUnknown]

Just the video I was looking for! Thank you so much. For those confused, the single coil clips go 250k, then 500k. The humbucker clips starts with 500k, and then 250k. Pay attention to where he flicks the switch ;) Visuals on the screen could have helped, but we're all adults who are hopefully attentive enough to figure it out on our own.

[@Ali-fl5mb]

Thanks for uploading this, the difference on the single coils is a lot less extreme than I expected!

[@MrMshep79]

Going on a journey with pickups for my strat and found this video. Thank you for taking the time to put this together!

[@gunjabeans]

YOU ARE THE MAN. Thank you. A lot of people will appreciate your contribution I am sure.

[@HueyMaxSucks]

This video is exactly what I was looking for! Great idea, fantastically executed. Thanks.

[@ilovenoise]

Adrian Flatley Thanks very much!

[@LuisHernandez-dy1rq]

Would have been nice to know which is which . I was lost

[@shinobi1014]

he said it. he played everything twice. you can also see him switching the toggle down before he repeats, and then up before the next piece. however........ maybe i have poor hearing but i cant tell the diff between 250k and 500k. they sound the same to me.

[@willswanderings6912]

@@shinobi1014 Sounded the same to me also.

[@nautilusmagellan7263]

A very thorough exploration. Thanks, man.

[@tntkonop]

You did great job, Sir!

[@LeMans512]

Absolutely great demo. The difference was much more dramatic than I thought it would be. Every electric guitarist should watch this video. Nice work James.👍🏼

[@erichameister7000]

fantastic! great demonstration and GREAT guitar playing!

[@wayne5354]

Its helpful. And I like your playing. Thx for your time making this

[@sheancarey106]

If Harvey Keitel and Scott Weiland had a son together lol

[@ChrisInNashville]

Nailed it 😂😂😂

[@tiotyme5532]

K Harvey Scott Weiland😎🤯

[@keithclark486]

If Steve Martin and Hillary Clinton together were telling a Corny joke.

[@ajbiggs113]

100% lol

[@Joe-xe6ev]

Great video. Also to your question on how Fender could have the best of both worlds on their HSS strats.. All Fender would need to do is have a dual stacked pot... 250k / 500k pot and have the humbucker go to the 500k and the single coils go to the 250k. I actually prefer using 1Meg pots on the neck pickups of a single coil and neck humbuckers just to give it the clarity and because it is almost like having a second bridge / lead sound. A lot of variables come into play. Their is no right or wrong. All that matters is what sounds good to YOU. Keep up the good work !

[@wtfchuck6192]

Thanks for this informative demonstration, answers my question perfectly. 🎸

[@SpencerAGuitar]

down position for single coils sounds more open and rounded. i dig that more, great video!

[@ed3782]

are those the original mij pickups? they sound lovely

[@chrisnaishguitar]

Very nice comparison! Thanks for posting.

[@presentelaw]

Thanks for the video! I could hardly hear the differences.

[@TheKingKorg]

What's your neck pickup, sounds great!

[@jordanwalsh8171]

Thanks for clearing this up dude 🤘

[@TheStuntmanSteve]

Dude your tone is off the hook!!!

[@danagboyer]

What this video mainly did for me was reaffirm to myself just how much more I prefer single coil pickups! Hahaha. Seriously though, I was surprised at how slight the difference between pots is for me. I hear it, but I was expecting more contrast than what actually came across. Interesting. For me, the humbucker could be either or and I wouldn't really mind, but I definitely had a preference for the 250k on the singles, as slight as it is. Thanks for this! I've never seen anyone else actually do a test like this. Cheers!

[@SamuelSilvaSouzaDF]

There's no great difference because of the strat construction! If this test would have been made with a LP, the result will be a little proeminent. The strat have the treble in its "soul"... But, in a comparision, the recommendation of many brands of lil' humbuckers for strats is mantain the 250k pots. So, there's no such greater difference in use 500k pots in a strat.

[@leviathan_is_me]

Don't forget that KZbin compresses everything. There IS a bigger difference then you hear on this platform.

[@gambosegaming]

This has been very insightful thank you, the Shafts on one of the a250k pots completely snapped on my cheap Aldi guitar and sounded just as horrible as their quality now that iv had a clear listen to the 500k ones. I think ill be going with that choice for a fresh set, thanks man.

[@catotrincado9579]

Thanks a lot James, really helpful.

[@stringsthings]

Great video. Listening with cheap speakers, I couldn't hear much difference, but switching to headphones did the trick. Listening to the single coil comparisons, I definitely like the 250k. The 500k sounds too brittle to me ... getting into icepick-tele tones. The 250k sound was still very bright, but had a pleasant, warmer sound. I'm in the process of putting a strat kit together and this really helps in choosing pot taper.

[@stevesorrell9835]

Excellent video! I had always wondered...

[@garysanders4310]

Love your style bro.

[@Cre8tvMG]

good demo and nice playing! Thanks.

[@jamiegustkey2573]

I've been wondering the same thing- my ears confirm to me that I prefer the 250 with the HB! that's all I was really wanting to know- so thank you for the demo! Great sound examples!

[@trillrifaxegrindor4411]

you like mud,yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@vinnieirvine1365]

Great video. I think everything sounded better with 250k. Even the humbucker.

[@silentboy85]

sick sound dude

[@obicross]

The difference is more subtle than i expected but you can hear it. When using a good ear monitor, on single coils, the 500k pot seems to emphasize pick attack, a bit more ice picky. Maybe not so noticable to the Listener but may annoy the player. The whole shape of the tone doesn't really get brighter but thatd could be due to the amps compression (drive). I prefer 250k, it just works

[@jgl2222]

Well, you just shattered that whole idea of locking nuts making a guitar sound bad. That tone is fierce!

[@RaulCerna]

Great video James! Thank you!

[@ilovenoise]

Raul Cerna Thanks man!

[@bonihthaean2317]

Amazing playing in the style of SRV..

[@LuisSoto-ly1jr]

where can i get the wiring diagram? i'll like to do this mod for my strat. great video

[@ToneLoft]

THX for this great video & test !!!

[@ilovenoise]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@timothyscibor9504]

+james ryan You played a song on your "seymour duncan mag mic..", video (which i bought btw and love) and i was wondering what that song might be? love the content have a wonderful day. Thanks

[@bdunn315]

Great video!

[@bthellam]

Thank you, fantastic demo, you were clear which pot was which (yes he WAS), the sounds were clear, and this was very helpful! I'll keep the 500k with my Super Distortion and just keep rolling the tone back to 7. The 250k sounds like it might roll it off too far.

[@matejamaiden]

Great video. Where I can get a wiring diagram for this dual volume wiring ?

[@bdunn315]

What were you mic'ing the cab with? Can't tell if that's a 57 or something else.

[@tyrssen1]

Agreed, some legend on-screen to tell us when ya were making' changes, and to which. Yeah I know, ya explained it at first. Legends would still help.

[@shaunsanders9673]

Nice playing!

[@GerryBlue]

If you have HB 5:30 is what you want to hear (500K)

[@Rafaelguitarplayer]

Man, what amp are you using? This is a killer crispy tone. Nice video, BTW.

[@vitaliistep]

Thank you very much! The best comparison on KZbin!

[@hansolo1345]

thanks mate! did the sh-4 / 250k feel wimpier when shredding in comparison?

[@SuperKomedyKing]

Yes excellent video with plenty of well known examples. Only suggestion would have been to add text to the screen as to what exact pickup setting and pot you were on.

[@metrakos]

Sounds dope !!!

[@DavidMichael613]

Solid playing James!!! May I ask...what gauge of strings are you using? Thanks!

[@eriwebnerr]

Cool test! Not to muddy the waters but the tone pot and cap value and also make a big difference. Just take into account when listening that no tone pot (as shown here) will be a lot brighter overall tone.

[@spentron1]

With the tone pot fully up, the cap doesn't really matter, it is better considered a short. Therefore 2 500K pots sound like a single 250K volume pot.

[@thormusique]

Very helpful video, thank you!

[@bobbyberetta4206]

I use a 300k for my JB JR in my Strat. Great video!

[@thejontao]

I literally couldn’t tell the difference between the 250k and 500k pots. If you put, for example, 1k ohms of resistance between your pickups and your output jack, it doesn’t matter whether it’s being put there by a 250k pot or a 500k pot or a 1k resistor or two 500 ohm resistor in series or two 2k resistors in parallel. 1k ohms = 1k ohms = 1k ohms. But thanks for doing this test. I appreciate it. It is exactly the video I was looking for!

[@tameromari2102]

250k on the single coil sounds just the way a good balanced pickup should sound like. Great video man :)

[@57stratkat]

Much thanks! I’ve been tormenting myself for days trying to figure out how to wire my hss - so many complicated suggestions out there. I don’t hear enough difference to matter. 500K’s seem to work fine with single coils.

[@Jmarshall-kj4hc]

I’m currently tormenting myself too! What did u end up with and do you like it? The manufacturer of my pickups is raw vintage and their diagram is all 250k which they use in the $3000 xotic guitars. So not sure why I’m second guessing them but it seems like nobody else does like that.

[@jeffreyz2290]

Should have put a description on the screen of what pot and pick up

[@onzkicg]

What's your wiring? I also have HSS, style- bridge: Gibson 498t, middle: Seymour Duncan Duckbucker, Neck: Seymour Duncan JB Jr. Please suggest wiring, pot type and capacitor. Thanks! :)

[@onzkicg]

Also, what strings did you used here? Thanks great video

[@ChocaZed]

Yup, nailed it! Thx

[@carsgunsandguitars]

Great video

[@skunkproductionsMLA]

This kind of renewed my love for Floyd Rose bridges on Strats. My experience is they always get too squawky on Strats.

[@JCDwyer]

Pretty cool comparison, I do this same exact shit, haha. Very thorough too!!

[@waynejames2014]

Couldn't follow which setting was being used when.

[@tonefish3825]

Watching both comparisons back to back, Capacitor size makes way more difference that Pot size does.

[@jimg5413]

Think you could add some titles in the video at the bottom, so we can more easily see which pot and pickup is selected?

[@dalgguitars]

Thank you for this demonstration! Just what I wanted to hear. I could even tell a difference on my shitty little laptop speakers. Tried and true seems to be for me.

[@fullmoonfool]

Damn I have been chasing that single coil tone you started out with and have spent a fortune and can't get it. I have three strats one with new Jason Lollar Black face SC 's in a Fender Professional emerson prewired pots with blender etc a Blues Jr and a Supersonic 22 head all kinds of speakers and cabs and recently just bought Fender blues delux tweed Keeley Tone workstation and Im getting close but damn. What is up? Old hippie needs some tips HELP lol BTW good stuff Im building a Tele deluxe and love the Creamery Wide Range from your video but I got the price from them and I'll have to with one Mojotone in neck and one stock RI for now might coil tap the Mojotone with a push pull and check that out. BTW do you play in a band or do any gigs at all?I'm guessing your down under by the accent right? Larry PS Keep em commin hoss

[@omarflores323]

Don't take this the wrong way but i truly believe alot of that tone is on his fingers. If you've been chasing it for so long you might already even have it but not realize it. It's happen to me before too. Good luck.

[@ganjaman8948]

You are rock man !

[@ederst9759]

I just replaced the pickups in a Squier Affinity Strat, and what I assumed would be standard 250K pots with a .22µf, were 500K with a .33µf capacitor. I believe what people are hearing is more the effect of different capacitor values, rather than the 250K vs. 500k debate... I almost felt like modding a pick-guard with a 3 way switch with .22, .33 and .47µf caps to see if there was a difference in tone, that might be interesting to hear, but the difference between 500k and 250k, to my ear, is negligible.

[@andrewguthrie6488]

Im looking at adding the Texas special neck pickup....and the Seymour Duncan pearly gate custom shop...single coil......now im confused I have 250k pots.....should I just stick with those? it seems that the 500 will also render some interesting sounds....

[@lesolak843]

great video! I like your tone with 250K better with single and 500k better with humbuckers. what I want to ask is: what's that "some type of fender single coil pick up" that you start with first? do you know the model name?

[@endysdoodoo]

It's so minute it's not going to fix a bright pu or a dark one

[@BoltRM]

250k does take the brittle edge off both PUs & I personally prefer it on both. More often than not, bridges are a little bright for my taste, but I agree it does muddy the bridge slightly... ;( what to do...

[@ajbiggs113]

I was wondering about this, because I want to use a humbucker, single coil combo for a Jag I'm building.. But what if your volume never moves from 10? Does it matter then? I really dont use volume under normal circumstances

[@shckltnebay]

amazing what Leo and Orville got right

[@victoramicci840]

500k more twangy, sometimes harsh on singles. 500k sounds broader, more rounded on humbucker, 250k on humbucker seems a little muffled.

[@marcuspayne2426]

You can get a "dual concentric" potentiometer for a tone control. Two pots in one position and they can be of different values, say 500k and 250k so you can wire the humbucker to the 500k. And it only takes on spot on the pickguard. The main downside is the pots are deeper and i've only found telecaster style knurled knobs for them.

[@TooSlowTube]

You could also use a dual concentric 500k pot and a DPST switch to select just one side, for 500k, or both in parallel, giving a 250k pot. A tone pot is actually being used as a variable resistor (only two connections to the rest of the circuit), so a double pole switch is all you'd need - i.e. one that opens or closes two separate circuits at the same time. If you wanted to switch between pickups during a tune, having a separate tone control for each pickup would seem to make sense.

[@alexandert696]

what if A vol pot is 500 and tone pots are 250 ? B If you remove one of the 2 tone pots of a strat and you are left with a vol and 1 tone?

[@mrcrappyguitarist]

the problem is that you still have say a 500k vol pot for the hb, strats need a 250k. its quite a problem. im currently working on a solution to this, results to follow soon. :)

[@bigfootingermany]

Strats don't NEED a 250k pot, anymore than a Tele does. The difference is that a 250k pot will automatically lop off a bunch of the high frequencies in your tone, before you even get a chance to hear them. The lower the number of the pot, the more high frequencies get sent to ground. Pots, regardless of the value, do not add anything to a passive pickup. They only filter what the pickup provides. The higher the value of the pot, the more of the natural sound of what the passive pickup can provide, makes it through to your amp. What does happen however, is if you use a 500k pot on a passive SC, you'll find that as a musician you'll be forced to actually use your tone knob. Most guys just turn it wide open and never touch it again. It is possible to completely bypass all pots and caps, and wire your pickup directly to the jack. I think a lot of guys would be stunned by what came out of those passive pups if they did. But even a volume pot will pull off tone, depending on what volume you have it set at. The lower the volume, the more high frequencies get filtered off and sent to ground. The whole reason for the treble bleed circuit you see a lot of new builders putting in the guitars now. As a builder, the hardest part has always been what value pots to use, in a guitar with different combinations of pups. Like the old HSH Super Strats of the 80's, most of those used 250's across the board early on. But the 250's filtered off more of highs, making the HB's too dark. As arena rock really started coming of age in the mid 80's and more and more guys started wearing mascara and singing with all the high pitched voice of a 10 year old girl, builders switched to 500k pots across the board, allowing more of the highs to make it through the circuit. Something I highly recommend all guitarists do, is to try different combinations for yourself. Different caps, different pots, audio pots vs linear pots in different positions. You might find something you like better. If you don't, you can always go back to your original set up. The other thing I recommend, is to use the tone knob. most people set it on 10 and never touch it again. If that's how you like to play, set it on 8-9 instead. It will become more active, especially on older guitars. Pots will kind of wear in a bit if it's just left on 10 all the time. The other option is to bypass the tone circuit, and only leave in the volume pot. This will give a better representation of what a passive pup is actually providing. Anyway, have a good one Mrcrappy. Take care. Bob in Germany

[@thankfullife7968]

Bigfoot in Germany interesting reading Samsquanch.

[@MC-dj7ri]

Nice work man! How bout sharing the wiring diagram.

[@Glensully]

do the TONE POT have any sound changing properties between the 250 & 500?

[@georgevelatides1415]

What amp are you running?

[@kyfisher3662]

i got a little confused when what was what, any chance of having little headings?

[@TooSlowTube]

Interesting stuff. Have you considered a switch to select different (smaller) tone capacitors too? I've made up a little tin box to feed my cheap Chinese 3/4 size single coil guitars through, with a rotary switch to select the cap, and a 500k pot. They have no tone pot or capacitor built in, just a volume pot. Position 1 sets no tone cap, and no pot - sending the signal straight through, giving lots of pickup noise, especially when my upstairs neighbour is in the room directly above me (whose phone is never switched off, apparently). Postions 2 to 9 set 2.2nF, 3.3nF, 4.7nF, 10nF, 22nF (aka 0.022uF), 47nF (0.047uF), 0.1uF and 0.2uF - the last two are really just for the hell of it. I could have gone to 12 switch positions, but I was running out of room in the tin, and didn't see the point. I skipped 1nF because it made a just noticeable, but not very useful difference. 2.2nF can be useful, in favourable EM noise conditions. I use this tin at the amp or pedals end of the cable from the guitar. Maybe surprisingly, 3.3uF makes plenty of difference - rejecting a lot of the noise. You might not want the guitar quite that bright sounding, but there's always tone knobs / EQ on pedals or the amp. Also surprisingly (at least to me), about half way on the tone pot can give less noise than all the way down (zero ohms, putting the cap directly across the input). The pot I'm using is a normal audio taper log pot, so half way is not the same thing as half way on a linear taper pot.

[@blacksnow150]

cool i did somthing similar on my 1981 ibanez destroer i swaped it from 2 volume one tone to 2x dual vol/tone pots and in the other space for a pot i instaled a dual rotery 6 position switch with 6 caps going to each pickup = ( 47n33b/33bn/33n22b/22bn/22n17b and what i usualy leave it set on 47n17b ) oh and a dpdt switch on each pickup for single coil series and paralell and a stock 3way n/nb/b pickup selector and apart from the 2 dpdt switches it still looks stock :)

[@bigfootingermany]

@blacksnow150 and @TooSlowTube Finally! Someone(s) that understands the tone circuit better!! Blacksnow150, I like the idea of what you did to your Ibanez. Making it appear more original, but still keeping it onboard. Your rotary switch, I'm guessing each position has a positive stop? Bob in Germany

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

can you back off a 500 k to sound like your 250? if so no switch needed

[@BoyAditya]

cool wiring on that Guitar

[@BoozyBeggar]

I prefer 500k across the board based on this video, but that's just me.

[@caljude]

you kept on switching without labeling, now we don't know which is which...LOL!

[@leonthompson8988]

If you want more bite from your pups replace the 500k pots with a 1megaohm pot. It will bring more bite and prescense to your tone. It will work on single coils as well even though you may want to roll back the tone. This 1meg pot will bring even cheap pups to life. I found out about this 30 years ago from Torres engineering who is an amp builder guru in So Cal. Some l.p. style guitars have 350k pots which really kill the sound. The 1meg pot works like this. It provides more resistance to ground which allows more signal or current to your amp. Torres provides the pots for l.p. and strats.The short shaft pots for strats are available anywhere.

[@andrewwong6158]

Thanks for this video. Not only the humbucker sounded darker, but also less gain. Which made it sound a little less lively. But that can be fixed with a clean boost. I actually like the darker sound, gives me alice in chains vibes.

[@nefariouspreludev2.046]

How are you going to compare two different pickup positions?

[@shredrick25]

Nice playing... But which is which, I'm not good in guessing.

[@alanredversangel]

Great video. I think a 500k resistor in parallel to the pot would give you 250k total load so there's probably a way of doing that with the single coils. Personally I'll have my neck pickups as bright as they can get so I don't care.

[@JuanLega]

some humbuckers are recommended by the manufacturer to be used with 250k pots. "lace alumitone"

[@michaelanderson3844]

Thanks! Got a Tele clone that I've put a full-sized A2 humbucker in the neck, for jazzier stuff, and a very bright GFS (but good-twangy) rail in the bridge. Looks like a stacked 250/500k pot will balance them tonally.

[@thankfullife7968]

Michael Anderson did you try it??

[@jarrodleerocks]

I think to key to the tone is the facial expressions and the tilt of the head back when demoing SRV riffs

[@122000bones]

Would have been better if you could say which was 500k and which was 250k and which pickup was on when you did the switching. I lost track after the 1st 2

[@4artful]

You are play cool!!!

[@KleyDeJong]

Use 500k pots all throughout. Then for the single coils wire a 270k resistor from hot to ground. HB sees 500k and the SC's see 250k.

[@RandomHero12]

+Kley De Jong Wire the resistor on the switch or on the volume pot?

[@KleyDeJong]

+Adam Bourne I did it on the switch for both of the single coil hot terminals. If you do it on the pot and the pot is a master volume it will apply to the HB too.

[@Dennisdem]

In this way SC's will see 167K. You have to put a 510K resistor then the SC'S will see 255K.

[@Dennisdem]

Yes, you have to put on the 5 way switch. One 510K on the wire from middle SC and other to the neck SC. Put the other side of resistor to the ground.

[@Dennisdem]

This must be in parallel, never in series.

[@anotherOneMore7]

Would have been nice to actually be told which pot you were switching to each time. just verbally saying it in between or text. Otherwise all we're doing is watching you play guitar. Regarding having both single and double coil in the same guitar, would it work to use a 250k pot but on the wire coming out of the humbucker attach a 250k resistor before it gets in the tone circuit (so the single coil just gets the 250k and the humbucker gets 250k + 250k with the same volume pot)? curious if anyone has tried that.

[@guitorgan]

I thought by your title that you were testing the actual VOLUME of the pickups of the two guitars, vintage vs reissue. Why don't you do that? I have yet to find THAT type of test anyhwere, between old and new guitars. The legend has it that the copper in the windings was more pure in the vintage models, and there were more windings on the pick up which resulted in more volume and better tone at the same amp setting for both guitars. I've yet to fine anyone who's done that actual test, at least with a DB meter. I don't have a vintage axe or a DB meter, or i'd do it.

[@the_nondrive_side]

Now that needs a stereo output jack with either pot wired to either channel so you can breakout later and give me one in either ear or keep it like it is when a Mono jack is connected

[@samwilcockmusic]

It’s pretty simple; he’s using the 250k pot first each time he plays a new riff. You can clearly hear the repeat of each new riff being brighter indicating the use of 500k

[@trafalgarsquare9019]

250 in volume or tone?