Best Brands for New Pots and Wires

[Blackjac97]

Hey TB! How ya doin'?

I've got an old P-Bass knock off that I'm gutting and trying to redo. 5 or 6 years ago I dropped in a Fender Original 1962 pickup. I plugged it in today after leaving it untouched for a few years and there was no output.

Upon disassembly, I found that the white wire that connects from the pickup to the pot had separated from the pickup lug. The white wire that connects the two coils together is also disconnected from both lugs. Plus the pots are cheap. They turn hard and feel a bit rattly. So, time for some new guts!

I don't want this to be a debate about which tapers and ohms to use. I want to use 500k for each pot, linear volume, audio tone. If I don't like it, I'll change them later.

I just want to know what brand of pots people have had good experiences with. Tone, durability, all that jazz.

I also want to know where I should get my wires and what I should buy. If there are multiples types of wires that go into the circuit, I'd like to learn what they all are as I will likely need to buy some of each kind.

Thanks everybody!

 

[petrus61]

If they're that bad, even Alphas will be an improvement. I'm assuming they're metric/mini pots? I use the CTS minis or Bourns where applicable, but I'm not sure if CTS makes a linear version in that size. So my short answer is Bourns.

 

[petrus61]

^^^ this is a standard P wiring diagram. Generally, you want to use 22awg hookup wire. A Switchcraft mono Jack is always a good idea as well.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

I doubt you would notice any difference in wire brands but CTS is the brand of pot you want to use. I would use Alpha if CTS isn't an option. While I haven't used every brand of pot I have talked with the top electronics guy at Dingwall who has, he swears by CTS and I respect his opinion.

I have 500k linear taper volumes and a 500k audio taper tone in my jazz bass, V/V/T. Just a head's up, if you want solid shaft pots nobody makes them for the 500k linear pots. Just get some brass sleeves from All Parts, they turn split-shaft pots into solid shaft ones. Another trick I got from a cat at Dingwall. Note that these are not a generic part that everybody stocks. I tried getting some from my electronics parts supplier and they thought I was nuts. The sleeves are a guitar specific item made by All Parts.

 

[Blackjac97]

Okay, I've seen the name CTS thrown around in my research too, so CTS it is. I'm not very picky about what knobs I put on the bass, so I will likely just try to match the knobs to the spline.

What is the difference between mini and - not mini? How do I know which I should use?

 

[ctmullins]

Mini are the size of a dime. Not-mini are the size of a quarter. Not-mini has larger contacts inside, which theoretically gives it a longer life. In practice it doesn't matter as much as the quality of the brand.

I really like the tiny pots that Audere uses.

 

[Blackjac97]

Regular size is what's in there now. I don't have to worry about space, and longevity is definitely important to me, so I will probably go with regular.

I see what you said, @petrus61 , about the 22awg wire. Is there a difference between the black wires and the white wires? Shielding? What's inside? Anything like that I should know about? Or are the colors just to help understand the circuit, and it's otherwise all the same?

 

[petrus61]

Regular size is what's in there now. I don't have to worry about space, and longevity is definitely important to me, so I will probably go with regular.

I see what you said, @petrus61 , about the 22awg wire. Is there a difference between the black wires and the white wires? Shielding? What's inside? Anything like that I should know about? Or are the colors just to help understand the circuit, and it's otherwise all the same?

No difference between the colors construction wise. The colors are only used to determine "hot", "ground" or whatever else you need them to easily identify. Most commonly used is regular poly or cloth "push back"...the latter called such because you can push back the cover to easily expose the pre tinned wire. Regular poly looks like regular old wire...plastic coating with copper strands underneath. You also want to make sure it's "braided" and not "solid core", as braided is more pliable and resistant to breakage at the solder joint if for some reason things come loose. Just buy the components on the diagram and some standard 22awg hookup wire and you're good to go. P bass wiring is one of the more straight forward to do, so as long as you use decent components and have decent soldering skills, you should be ok.

If the pots are full size, just determine whether they are split or solid shaft and buy accordingly. For full size pots, I prefer the CTS EP885's.

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[Blackjac97]

Awesome! Thank you so much petrus and others! I'm excited to work on this bass. It will be my first time soldering on an instrument (not in general, just on an instrument). This bass is my first, a $150 Fender knock off, so if I mess it up I'm really not out anything and it will a good learning experience.

Happy thumps

 

[Blackjac97]

View attachment 863237
^^^ this is a standard P wiring diagram. Generally, you want to use 22awg hookup wire. A Switchcraft mono Jack is always a good idea as well.

@petrus61 , I have a couple questions about this diagram. I just completed soldering and the circuit doesn't seem to be working. All of my joints are super solid and nothing looks like it's touching anything it shouldn't be. But, I get a "hummmmmmm." Touching the bridge or the volume pot accentuates the hum, and stimulating the pickups produces no output.

So, I just want to double check: In this diagram, the pots are being shown from the bottom, correct? Not from the stem side, but from the flat underside. And, in this diagram, the pickups are being shown from the front, as if you were looking at the front of the bass?

Thanks!

 

[petrus61]

@petrus61 , I have a couple questions about this diagram. I just completed soldering and the circuit doesn't seem to be working. All of my joints are super solid and nothing looks like it's touching anything it shouldn't be. But, I get a "hummmmmmm." Touching the bridge or the volume pot accentuates the hum, and stimulating the pickups produces no output.

So, I just want to double check: In this diagram, the pots are being shown from the bottom, correct? Not from the stem side, but from the flat underside. And, in this diagram, the pickups are being shown from the front, as if you were looking at the front of the bass?

Thanks!

Yes, the pots are shown from the bottom. Are any of the pots touching the walls of the cavity when you close it up? If it has shielding paint, it could be causing a short. You want the pots to only be affixed to the pickguard and not contacting the cavity walls. The pickup position doesn't matter, just that the wires from the pickup are going to the correct locations on the pots.

 

[Blackjac97]

I think they may be touching the walls of the cavity a little bit, but I don't have any shielding whatsoever in the cavity or on the guard. I also plugged in the circuit free-standing from the body, just by itself in the desk, and got the same results. I think I've narrowed it down to a grounding flaw from the volume pot.

 

[Blackjac97]

Is it possible to have too much solder? I'm sure the answer is yes. I have the negative from the pickup, the bridge ground, and a small piece of wire from the capacitor clippings to ground the lug back to the pot, and I have a pretty considerable glob of solder in that one spot. Is it bad if any of those wires touch, or if the solder goes down the side of the pot a bit?