So... I got some blend pots from Best Bass Gear. When I checked them with a meter they were only about 85% on in the middle position. That blows. All the ones I've had before from Bartolini have been 100% and an ALPS brand one I have in my parts box is also full on in the middle.

There are some from StewMac that claim to be full on in the middle but they've been out of stock each time I've looked since last summer. The ones I used to get from Bartolini were 100% in the middle.

I went to the Bart site and found some interesting details on their blends. They have a PDF for their older blend pots
http://bartolini.net/pdf/blndinst_alpha.pdf
and one for the newer blend pots
http://bartolini.net/pdf/blndinst_noble.pdf

The old one says "MN tapers (both pickups full on at center detent)" the new one says "C-A tapers (C=left hand audio - A=right hand audio)".

That explains why my new one is lame. Why would they change this? Why is StewMac always out of stock? Does making the full on ones kill baby polar bears?

Is there a place to get MN tapers anymore? I can't find any.

http://guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=wiring&action=display&thread=1197494011
http://guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=wiring&action=display&thread=1197494011
Been chasing round for proper M/N pot source for a while now. Barts and Fenders should be ok (and John East's) but not StewMac or any of the other popular internet guitar spares suppliers, although they still state them as being ideal for blending pickups together, the centre resistance is too high and gives a big drop in output.

Interesting link. I'd like to hear one of those series blends they're talking about. I always thought that was impossible.

I'm shocked that people are selling these C-A tapers and calling them blend pots.

It looks like the new Barts are C-A based on the PDF I linked, I couldn't find any blend pots from Fender or John East. I'm surprised this is so hard to find for something that used to be the standard.

I'll throw out a potential cause: One reason that the MN pots are hard to find is that there have been so few (none?) implementations of OEM passive blend setups. A CA balance control is fine for use in active blend setups and many of the common IC amps are designed for that kind of pot.

If the MN pot was used on a production bass made in large numbers, those pots would be common and cheap. They aren't. When I was making a lot of cables and building pre-wired passive control setups (I know a bunch of you still use my cables) I made some inquiries with an OEM about a short run of 250k blend pots and I would have needed to order a minimum of 5000 pots!!! I didn't want to be the blend-pot king of North America (or not badly enough to front that much cash) so I passed on it :help: