good pots vs. bad pots

Well... CTS pots are an aftermarket brand you can stick into just about any bass, and IMHO they're of great quality, have about 35 of them lying around my apartment here and there ready to be put into any bass that needs 'em.

Speaking generally, a good pot will be of solid construction, adjust smoothly, and have good contact with the resistive material inside, which to be fair is most of the aftermarket pots out there.

 

Good pots, bad pots, you know I've had my share
Well my woman left home for a brown-eyed man
But I still don't seem to care

 

If you don't cough, you don't get off.

 

About pots, does anybody know of pots with steps, for instance 11 from 0 to 10 or even 21?

 

Like multi-turn pots? I use em at my job, don't know how they'd work on a bass.

 

I haven't seen good pots since my college years.

 

I mean a potentiometer with a certain number of clicks. This way when you have a sound you like, you can remember for instance "3 clicks on the P, 7 clicks on the J, 8 clicks on the tone".

 

Ok, I found out that the part I described is called a stepped-attenuator, and that they retail from around $20 to $150 based on if you are ready to solder your own resistors or want a pro-model.

They use them in the higher-end audio.

 

Hmmmm......

Sounds interesting. Got a link?

 

All I know is that bad pots will leave you with nothing but a sore throat and a bad case of the munchies...

 

From what it sounds like, you seem to be talking about a simple rotary switch, the same switch used in the old Gibson Varitone switches.

You can find one at allparts: http://www.allparts.com/store/electronics-switches-ep-0920-000,Product.asp

 

Or is it a pot with detents that click every so many degrees of rotation? Photos would be cool, or a link to a site that sells em.

 

Well, what I am talking about is a stepped attenuator. Instead of getting resistance from the piece of circuitry the brush contacts with, you get resistance from ... resistors.

A 24-stepped (quite common with high-end audio devices) attenuator has 23 resistors soldered behind (none for the position with no resistance).

All these resistors look like these ladders or scaffolds that ants make sometimes, it's pretty odd-looking.

You end up soldering a lot of resistors and run the risk of messing up, but the advantage is a very scalable control of your Db level. There are spreadsheets that give you the values of your resistors and the result on the evolution of the Dbs based on different levels of sound.

For electric guitars, it may be a little bit overkill, but it may be great to accurately dose the balance on the pots.

They are also bulky in the back.

I have found a kit on eBay for $9.99 a piece without the resistors (which you can always buy in bulk).

Of course, I have to test it myself

 

easiest solution: dont use them.

 

Be safe and don't buy pots from someone you don't know. Once bought pots containing formaldehyde.