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Pickup Wiring Question

K

kwrbassist

Dec 15, 2007
66
0
#1
So, I bought the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound SPB-3 Pickups for my Fender Precision. I am putting in one volume pot and had some questions about wiring the pickups. I noticed in basic wiring diagrams they solder one of the leads on the pot to the back of the pot, what is the purpose of this? Why can't they just solder the ground wires to the lead? why solder the lead to the back of the pot?

I am wanting the Bourns EP 5085-000 pot on allparts.com http://www.allparts.com/store/250k-audio-pot,Product.asp, but it is enclosed with plastic, so I wont be able to solder a lead to the body of the pot, but would I really need to? If it has a ground lead then wouldn't that be enough?


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#2
The grounding on the back of the pot is for shielding...

It shields the pot itself, as well as the conductive foil around it, and all the other pots that are touching the foil...

The reason that its done to the pot is because thats usually the easiest way.

If your pots are plastic, connect the grounds to the sleeve terminal on the output jack.
 
#5
kwrbassist said:
If I do get the plastic pot over the metal pot do you think it would sound as good, or is it a safer bet to just go with a metal pot?
Click to expand...

I cant think of any reason that the tone would be different with plastic pots rather than metal...
Its more of a reliability kind of thing.

Is the taper any different on these pots than regular log. taper pots?

I have never dealt with those kind of pots, so i have no experience to offer, but i personally think the concept seems a bit cheap in comparison with regular pots, even though they appear to be alot more expensive and such.
 
#6
I used CTS pots in my basses. They sound great to me. I can't give you an honest answer as far as the difference the other post will make, though. They are probably have a smoother slope than standard pots, but I'm only guessing.
 
#7
yeah, i have been really frustrated in chosing since I only want to put quality electronics in and dont want to spend money on crappy electronics. THE regular pots i had in the fender were horrible. They didn't turn smoothly and that drove me nuts. It seems that after lots of research everyone sells the CTS pots and say they are quality and it seems everyone installs regular pots in their guitar so I decided to buy me a new pickguard from warmoth (only one volume hole) and the cts pot. We shall see how it turns out. I'm very excited to hear the difference between thequarter pound seymour duncan's and the originals though :D
 
#9
If you want a high quality pot, take a look at these:
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$50 a piece:eek::eek:

But seriously, CTS pots are pretty much standard...
I am very happy with the CTS pots i use, and if they break, they are cheap to replace.
I wouldnt worry about this, and i tend to worry about everything.
 
#11
line6man said:
If you want a high quality pot, take a look at these:
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$50 a piece:eek::eek:

But seriously, CTS pots are pretty much standard...
I am very happy with the CTS pots i use, and if they break, they are cheap to replace.
I wouldnt worry about this, and i tend to worry about everything.
Click to expand...
Line6man... this parts vender (alessandro-products) has a very nice website and all, but those PRICES!! I'm sure those pots and caps are 'head and shoulders' above alot of others on the market.. but $50 per tone pot, and $20 per cap? . . :eek:
. . . . . . . . .
 
#12
Rattman said:
Line6man... this parts vender (alessandro-products) has a very nice website and all, but those PRICES!! I'm sure those pots and caps are 'head and shoulders' above alot of others on the market.. but $50 per tone pot, and $20 per cap? . . :eek:
. . . . . . . . .
Click to expand...

I posted a thread on this a while back...

Apparently, these are military grade, 1 watt pots with solid stainless steel shafts.
I am sure that the taper is probably excellently balanced as well...
But IMO, there is absolutely no quality that a mere pot could possess that would make me want to spend $50 on it.

Caps on the other hand do tend to get expensive...
I have seen some vintage/NOS caps selling for $35-50 depending on what they were.
 

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