What value pots for a Korina epiphone explorer bass

[mr79redbird]

First off hello to everyone here at TB.I recently bought a used epiphone explorer in natural korina.It feels and plays great but the pots are scratchy.Was wondering what value pots i should use as replacements,also will i need long shaft pots since they run through the body.As this is my first experience with a set neck humbucking bass i just dont know.My other basses are a mid nineties fender mij fotoflame p,and a '66 magnatone hurricane.I know both of those have 250k pots.Also the output of the explorer seems very low compared to my other basses all basses have flatwounds..Is this normal ,by low i mean i have to crank the input gain knob on my trace combo just to get close to trace's recomendations on the input gain setting.While both my other basses achieve this at about 11 o clock.I am strictly a finger player and this will be my rock/metal bass.Any info/recommendations are greatly appreciated.Thanks

[walterw]

500k is normal for soapbars. you should only need regular, not long shaft.

i'd get linear taper for the volumes, and you should only use audio taper for the tone.

[mr79redbird]

Thanks Walter is a .05 cap ok?Any thoughts on the low output?I didnt know if maybe stock low quality pots & caps maybe had something to do with it.Seems the controls dont do much especially the tone.

[walterw]

.05μF is normal.

low output usually means the pickups themselves are quiet. how close are they to the strings?

[mr79redbird]

The neck pickup is about a quarter inch under & the bridge pu is under the strings about a heavy eighth of an inch.Cant raise the neck pu any more or its over the fretboard causin dead frets.Maybe my ear is just so used to the huge thump of the p the explorer just seems quiet?I like its sound i just find myself constantly feeling the need to turn up.To achieve the same percieved output of the p or the magnatone on say three on the amp,i have to jump to 5or6 with the epiphone.I also noticed that when the pickup toggle is in the middle position,both pickups on and i roll the bridge volume all the way off it also kills the neck pu,and if i roll off the volume completely off on the neck it also kills the bridge.Is this normal?Thanks for your time.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by mr79redbird

I also noticed that when the pickup toggle is in the middle position,both pickups on and i roll the bridge volume all the way off it also kills the neck pu,and if i roll off the volume completely off on the neck it also kills the bridge.Is this normal?Thanks for your time.

That's the way Gibson guitars are wired up. But you can change that be wiring the new pots as on a Jazz bass or Rickenbacker, i.e., wire the output from the pickups to the wiper (center lug) on the pot instead of the outside lug. That way you can blend the pickups.

[mr79redbird]

Thanks for the info.

[mr79redbird]

Update i just got done changing out the pots.The stock pots were all 500k, linear vols & audio tone.I ended up going with Dimarzio custom taper 500k #EP1201 for both volumes & tone.And the difference is HUGE my output more than doubled.I orignally installed a .047 cap but still seemed a little too zingy.So i ran a second .047 in parallel[i had no other values on hand] with the first.Now this bass is a monster it can go from way low and deep to super articulate and piano like and everywhere between.The amp strings & settings are the same as before except i had to dial back the input gain from cranked to around 11'o clock.I couldnt be happier with my results.If you have a epi explorer or t-bird with stock pots try this.If i didnt know better i would think this had a very expensive pickup swap.I hope this helps someone out.You do have to enlarge the pots mounting holes to 3/8 and my knobs wouldnt fit other then that.Perfect fit.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by mr79redbird

Update i just got done changing out the pots.The stock pots were all 500k, linear vols & audio tone.I ended up going with Dimarzio custom taper 500k #EP1201 for both volumes & tone.And the difference is HUGE my output more than doubled.

then something else was wrong. one brand of 500ks wont sound massively different from another brand. you may have had a bad pot or wire choking down your output.

[mr79redbird]

The lead from the neck p/u had a burn mark in it.No crackles or hum but it did indeed feel/sound as if it were choked.The factory solder connections were tinged yellow & looked a little burned & pots were scratchy.Which brought about the swap.In any case this certainly solved my problem.Thanks for your responses.Rock on