Pot Arrangement

[slapfunk987]

I have a Marcus Miller Signature Bass and I was reading up on the specs given by other Talkbass members. One guy said that on his MM Sig, the neck pot was 206 kohms and the bridge pot was 275 kohms. He said he corrected this by switching the pots around making the neck 275 and the bridge 206, because a neck pot should have more kohms than bridge pot..

Was wondering if in a traditional Vintage Fender 1977 Jazz or even just in general on a bass, which pot should have more kohms in the bass??? Or is this simply a matter of preference.... Im hearing Jazz basses are wired in a particular way usually.

[line6man]

Originally Posted by slapfunk987

I have a Marcus Miller Signature Bass and I was reading up on the specs given by other Talkbass members. One guy said that on his MM Sig, the neck pot was 206 kohms and the bridge pot was 275 kohms. He said he corrected this by switching the pots around making the neck 275 and the bridge 206, because a neck pot should have more kohms than bridge pot..

Was wondering if in a traditional Vintage Fender 1977 Jazz or even just in general on a bass, which pot should have more kohms in the bass??? Or is this simply a matter of preference.... Im hearing Jazz basses are wired in a particular way usually.

In 90% of cases, the same value is used for both pickups. On Fender basses, the standard is 250k.

206k and 275k sound like 20% tolerances on 250k pots. 275k is ok, but I would trash the 206k for a better pot.

If anything, I would rather use a lower value on the neck pickup than the bridge. You want to preserve output on bridge pickups, because they naturally have a lower output than neck pickups due to their location. It makes a subtle difference, however, and I would not be worried over variations of +/- 50k Ohms. The difference between 250k and 500k is still subtle.

Don't forget, btw, that when two volumes are used, the resistance of the pot varies against the pickup as you adjust it. With that being said, actual resistances don't matter much, as they vary with position. Only the resistance parallel to the output is constant.

[testing1two]

Actually, it's not nearly that scientific (referring to the OP). The pots are typical 250K pots but they are manufactured with a 20% tolerance, which means they can range anywhere from 200K to 300K and still be considered acceptable. That's a wide variance and will definitely affect both the output and volume taper between the two pickups.

If you want to eliminate the guesswork, you can buy 10% tolerance pots from places like Acme Guitar Works and RS Guitarworks (among other places). Ideally you want both pots to be matched so their volume taper and output will be roughly the same. In this scenario the bridge pickup may be slightly louder because bridge pickups are often wound slightly hotter than the neck pickup to compensate for the fact they are closer to the bridge and see less of the string's vibration.

Anyways, you can certainly measure the pots in your bass and experiment but if you're happy with the way it sounds now then don't worry about it. Just go play.