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Oh no! 1M or 500k!??! Poll, fast!

Rewire like this...

  • 500k in the ESP; 1M in the J

    Votes: 2 8.7%

  • 500k in the J; 1M in the ESP

    Votes: 8 34.8%

  • Mix'n'match, specified in comments

    Votes: 6 26.1%

  • Wait until you get payed next week and make a new order

    Votes: 10 43.5%
  • Total voters
    23
EricssonB

EricssonB

Apr 5, 2011
1,287
630
CO
#1
Oh no! I ordered five 1MΩ pots and five 500kΩ pots to rewire my ESP bass (two soapbars, four knabs, VVtT) and my recently acquired Squier J (stock J pups, three knabs, VVT) -- need to use seven of the ten!

I'd LIKE to have all pots from each match within the same bass, but that means that it's either one or the other!

Tone sweep isn't a big deal. I've got other effects to deal with tone. Since I pulled the pots from the ESP it's been running full bore to the output, not complaining. Brightness isn't a problem, just give me the full signal and I'll deal with it down the line.

So, 500kΩ in one and 1M Ωin the other, or mix'n'match V and T pots?
 
#4
What kind of tone are you looking for in each?

I left my Rics' neck pup with the stock 330K pots, but I put a no-load tone and a 750K volume on the bridge. I plan on putting a 2Meg on the volume eventually though.

It's aggressive, but not as bad as you think. This bass is pretty much used for rock tone, so I don't care too much about it being versatile.:)

Walter is right about the sweep though. If you want a good sweep, 500K is about the limit.
 
#5
more to the point, with passive magnetic pickups the brightness difference from 250k to 500k is noticeable, from 500k to 1M just barely discernible, and from 1M to open circuit not at all. therefore, 2M pots are completely pointless.
 
#6
Maybe I'll keep the 750K, then:) But I don't care about volume taper - I want a completely wide-open tone on my bridge pup.

I can get great grind out of 4 year old Lo-Riders with ease, and I partially blame my cutting bridge tone for it. It's definitely noticeable from Ric's "330K" pots(they actually both measured under 300K)

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It still can go deep, but with the top-end sitting nicely above it:

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#7
FaithNoMan said:
Maybe I'll keep the 750K, then:) But I don't care about volume taper - I want a completely wide-open tone on my bridge pup.
Click to expand...


Right up my alley there. Up an alley? I've ever only gone down alleys.

Thinking that I'll throw in the 1M for the volume on both. Who ever throttles down the volume on a bass, anyways? Guitar, maybe. Gotta use that J-hum-cancelling full on both pups, too.

500k for tone, to keep it pretty wide open but preserve some of the sweep. Use it occasionally.
 
#8
Haha, nice:)

I actually dial in a dark neck tone, but it's only at about 30% volume and tone - so it's important for me to have taper there.

The dark neck tone just gives me a slight low-end heft, yet doesn't fight with the cut coming from the bridge pup.
 
#9
walterw said:
more to the point, with passive magnetic pickups the brightness difference from 250k to 500k is noticeable, from 500k to 1M just barely discernible, and from 1M to open circuit not at all. therefore, 2M pots are completely pointless.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to disagree with you here and by all means don't want to argue with you, but I have noticed a difference of the very non placebo kind between 1meg and 500k

I've actually done quite a bit of experimentation with the volume tone circuit in my various p basses over the years.
One thing to point out that I'm sure we probably will agree on is that the tone control's value really doesn't effect much, it's the volume that does, as it is straight resistance to ground.

Anyways my current setup has a 2.5meg volume and here is why.

I did an experiment in a direct comparison between a 2.5meg, 1meg, 500k and as well a 250k setup in a switching box between the pickup and the amp.
The biggest difference was between the 2.5meg and 1meg then less so between 1meg and 500k and then even less between 500k and 250k.
The 2.5meg's sweep was fine through my test amp and since bright as all heck was what I was going for I ran with it.

I do get what your saying with the sweep getting worse with the higher values though as I've experienced this in the past.
I've also experienced it being off depending on what brand I use or what kind of rig I'm playing through.
My point here is that IMMHO some pots have better audio tapers then others and further more it's not just the pot but also what's going in and what it's going to.

FWIW the pots I'm using are NOS Allen Bradley's.
 
#11
walterw said:
more to the point, with passive magnetic pickups the brightness difference from 250k to 500k is noticeable, from 500k to 1M just barely discernible, and from 1M to open circuit not at all. therefore, 2M pots are completely pointless.
Click to expand...

I noticed a huge difference between 500k and 1M. I remember the first time I heard it: it was like my bass was out of my control. It took a few days to get used to the sound and the feel—with that much brightness, I had to rethink how I used the EQ.

It could be that our potentiometers vary greatly from their rated ohm values: my pots might be 1.2M and yours might be 890K. The tolerances from these factories aren't very strict. We'd all need to take multimeters to our pots to make sure.
 
#12
Interesting, and my definition of "barely discernible" may be different than someone else's.

I am surprised that anyone hears a difference with loads higher than 1M, but testing with a switching box is the right way to test, so you can't argue with that.

The trick for bass volumes (especially really high-value ones) is to use linear pots, so the sweep is even.
 
#14
Kinda feeling like an idiot when I realized that I didn't check the dimensions and assumed that Tayda would sell instrument-standard sizes.

:eyebrow:

Nope. But I've got some seemingly-nice pots for when I build pedals, or, something.

Guess that the "Wait until you get payed next week and make a new order" option is how it's going to be.
 
#15
walterw said:
The trick for bass volumes (especially really high-value ones) is to use linear pots, so the sweep is even.
Click to expand...

I'd like to try linear pots in my Jazz Bass. Do you know where I can purchase a linear 250K CTS pot with 3/8" diameter bushing 1/4" long and 1/4" diameter solid shaft 3/8" long for American Standard Jazz Bass control plates with set screw knobs?

Thanks for all the helpful info you have posted!
 
#17
Stealth said:
If the question's still there, and the 500ks and 1Ms are all linear, wire a 500k resistor across the 1M's output and ground - you'll get a 500k logarithmic pot which will then work well as a tone pot.
Click to expand...

Question is still there. Ordered electronics pots, not instrument. So, I'll be reordering when I get payed next week.

Think I may just give that a try.
 

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