Question for Fender Nuts about Pots

[Davo-London]

It just occured to me that I've never seen a Fender bass, and I'm only really looking at 60's Fenders, include pots with different dates, i.e. a Precision will always have 2 pots with the same month stamped on them.

And yet I'm assuming they are stamped at the supplier CTS prior to shipping to Fender? Or did Fender stamp the CTS pots, which seems unlikely? Or did CTS ship the pots in pairs and triples so that any guitar/bass always had the same dated pots?

Can anyone shed light?

Davo

[Caca de Kick]

Originally Posted by Davo-London

i.e. a Precision will always have 2 pots with the same month stamped on them.

And yet I'm assuming they are stamped at the supplier CTS prior to shipping to Fender? Or did Fender stamp the CTS pots, which seems unlikely? Or did CTS ship the pots in pairs and triples so that any guitar/bass always had the same dated pots?

No, not always matching numbers, and sometimes not even matching manufacturers. Fender used both CTS and Stackpole brand pots. 137=CTS, 304=Stackpole, but the majority was CTS.

Pots were stamped at the manufacture facility when they were made and shipped by the case load. I imagine they were probably shipped by like 500 to 1000 per case load. In typical Fender fashion, the assembly like workers simply and randomly grabbed pots from the box as needed. Sure, alot or even most of the time the pots matched, but there are quite a bunch of times they don't. There was no rhyme or reason for them to ensure matching number sets...a 250k pot was a 250k pot.

[lpdeluxe]

According to The Fender Bass Book, "...(M)ost potentiometers from 1966 to 1969 are date coded for 1966." (p 95) This indicates that CBS bought a shipload at one time in '66, and used them until they were gone.

[Flyingfrets]

FWIW, anytime I've ever rewired a guitar / bass or replaced pots, I make sure I buy them in matched sets (typically slightly above the stamped rating - ie: 500k might actually test at 510 to 550), but matched sets will all be rated within the same tolerance so there's no variance in volume or tone from one pot to another. So yes, there is a "pill" for compulsive freaks like me .