technical Q about tone pot values

[bongomania]

I got a new pre for my Dlux Jazz, and I want to add a passive tone pot. Following the directions and suggestions on the Audere site, I went looking for a dual-ganged 100K audio taper pot. The only one I could find was by Alpha, so I ordered one just to "get the job done". But Alpha pots suck IMO. I was hoping for a CTS or Alps, but can't find any in quantities smaller than 5,000. The closest alternate I found was a 50K dual audio CTS, so I went ahead and ordered that too.

Is 50K too far outside the useful range? If I just put a 50K resistor in series with the wiper, will the range be "more useful" or "less useful"? Do you have any other suggestions?

Thx!

[jrfrond]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I got a new pre for my Dlux Jazz, and I want to add a passive tone pot. Following the directions and suggestions on the Audere site, I went looking for a dual-ganged 100K audio taper pot. The only one I could find was by Alpha, so I ordered one just to "get the job done". But Alpha pots suck IMO. I was hoping for a CTS or Alps, but can't find any in quantities smaller than 5,000. The closest alternate I found was a 50K dual audio CTS, so I went ahead and ordered that too.

Is 50K too far outside the useful range? If I just put a 50K resistor in series with the wiper, will the range be "more useful" or "less useful"? Do you have any other suggestions?

Thx!

I have a suggestion: don't worry about the quality of Alpha pots, which is actually pretty good. CTS and Alps are really no better in that price range, despite the mojo attached to the names, and NONE of them is made in the USA, or even Japan.

Alpha pots are gracing the innards of a lot of gear nowadays, and compared to some of the other Far East trash you will encounter when servicing a lot of gear, like I do, they are GOLD!

[i2k]

For passive tone control, lower pot value will make the sound darker. I prefer 250k for single coil.

I know a trick: usually linear tapered pot is easier to get, you can turn it to log/audio taper by attaching same valued resistor on pin 1 & 3 of the pot. In case of dual ganged/stereo 100k pot, you'll need 4 x 100k resistor.

BTW, Alpha pots are good. And I found Alps here : http://www.angela.com/catalog/potent...Alps_Pots.html but look at the price !!!

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by i2k

know a trick: usually linear tapered pot is easier to get, you can turn it to log/audio taper by attaching same valued resistor on pin 1 & 3 of the pot. In case of dual ganged/stereo 100k pot, you'll need 4 x 100k resistor.

That's a good tip, thanks!

[jdier]

Originally Posted by jrfrond

I have a suggestion: don't worry about the quality of Alpha pots, which is actually pretty good. CTS and Alps are really no better in that price range, despite the mojo attached to the names, and NONE of them is made in the USA, or even Japan.

Alpha pots are gracing the innards of a lot of gear nowadays, and compared to some of the other Far East trash you will encounter when servicing a lot of gear, like I do, they are GOLD!

I bought and used some alpha pots when my normal supplier did not have CTS and they have performed exactly as I would expect a CTS pot to perform. No problems at all.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by i2k

I know a trick: usually linear tapered pot is easier to get, you can turn it to log/audio taper by attaching same valued resistor on pin 1 & 3 of the pot.

I don't see how that could possibly be true.

[mikezimmerman]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I got a new pre for my Dlux Jazz, and I want to add a passive tone pot. Following the directions and suggestions on the Audere site, I went looking for a dual-ganged 100K audio taper pot. The only one I could find was by Alpha, so I ordered one just to "get the job done". But Alpha pots suck IMO. I was hoping for a CTS or Alps, but can't find any in quantities smaller than 5,000. The closest alternate I found was a 50K dual audio CTS, so I went ahead and ordered that too.

Is 50K too far outside the useful range? If I just put a 50K resistor in series with the wiper, will the range be "more useful" or "less useful"? Do you have any other suggestions?

Thx!

I just thought I'd mention a different point, since no one else seems to have mentioned it. I believe the Audere instructions specify a dual-ganged pot because the Audere preamp has an active blend, and there's a separate buffer for each pickup before they are combined, so the dual-ganged pot is to allow you to apply the tone control to both pickup circuits at the same time.

Adding a passive tone to the regular Jazz Deluxe circuit shouldn't require a dual-ganged pot, since in that case the pot would simply go at the end of the circuit, like the diagram for an Aguilar OBP-1 with an added passive tone control here: http://www.aguilaramp.com/pdf/support_wiring_obp1.pdf

Mike

[Audere]

Originally Posted by jrfrond

NONE of them is made in the USA, or even Japan.

The Alps we use are made in Japan.

Bongo you can use a larger value (like 250K) pot in this case.

[i2k]

Originally Posted by ggunn

I don't see how that could possibly be true.

Sorry, I didn't give good explanation, the good one is here

[jrfrond]

Originally Posted by Audere

The Alps we use are made in Japan.

Bongo you can use a larger value (like 250K) pot in this case.

Alps also has Taiwan production. It all depends on the price point you are looking at when sourcing.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by i2k

Sorry, I didn't give good explanation, the good one is here

Thanks for the link, I'm still looking at it. I will point out, though, that you said something about putting a resistor across pins 1 and 3; the site you linked I believe talks about a resistor from the wiper (pin 2) to the ground side.

[biggs1249]

Originally Posted by i2k

For passive tone control, lower pot value will make the sound darker. I prefer 250k for single coil.

I know a trick: usually linear tapered pot is easier to get, you can turn it to log/audio taper by attaching same valued resistor on pin 1 & 3 of the pot. In case of dual ganged/stereo 100k pot, you'll need 4 x 100k resistor.

BTW, Alpha pots are good. And I found Alps here : http://www.angela.com/catalog/potent...Alps_Pots.html but look at the price !!!

I have a related question. I'm working on a project bass and I want a slider for volume instead of a rotary pot. The bass will be passive. I've read that its best to have at least a 250k pot. I can only find 100k audio pots and 250k linear pots.

so is 100k too low for a volume pot? can I use that trick you just mentioned to turn the 250k linear into a audio taper?
or does anyone know where to find 250k audio sliders?

thanks

[hyp.spec]

http://bayoucables.com

Send Chuck an email with your questions and he'll be able to help you out. He can even prewire a custom harness for your bass so all you have to do is attach the pickups!

[biggs1249]

who's chuck?