Will new tone pots help with tone control?

[Silentbob1010]

I'm sure people ask this question frequently, but I'm a newbie at replacing electronics in a bass, so bear with me.

I just bought an MIM Fender P Bass, and I went ahead and got a new set of Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound SPB-3 pickups to help improve the tone. I'm confident the new pickups will give me a great sound, but I'm not so sure the tone pots I have now will give me much control over the tone. I have to roll the tone knob on this bass about 90 percent before I hear any difference, and I'm not sure if that's an issue with the pots or the pickup.

Should I also buy a new set of tone pots to go with my new pickups so I can get a more gradual tone change as I roll the knobs? Or are tone pots irrelevant in this case because I'll be putting in new pickups?

If the answer is, "Yes, you do need new tone pots," any recommendations on which pots to buy? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[line6man]

Try a low value pot and a bypass switch.

 

[Steve Dallman]

A tone pot should be an audio taper pot, and probably 250k for your bass, although 500k will work. I don't know what taper you have in your bass. Fender usually uses a 250k audio taper pot. I don't know why the action isn't smooth.

 

[iiipopes]

A tone pot should be an audio taper pot, and probably 250k for your bass, although 500k will work. I don't know what taper you have in your bass. Fender usually uses a 250k audio taper pot. I don't know why the action isn't smooth.

They may be using inexpensive pots that have two wafers, one with a steep taper, and one with a shallow taper, and in the middle where the changeover is it will not be smooth.

 

[LoveThatBass]

A 250K pot will have more usable tone control then a 500K pot (which will do nothing until you get to the last 1/4 or so of the pot).

 

[walterw]

A 250K pot will have more usable tone control then a 500K pot (which will do nothing until you get to the last 1/4 or so of the pot).

not true at all, sorry; the issue is audio vs linear, the audio tone pot will be usable throughout the full sweep while the linear does nothing until it's almost off. it's worse with 500k linear pots, but 500k audio tones are perfectly smooth throughout their whole range.

it is weird that a MIM is having this issue, they usually come with nice 250k audio CTS pots.

 

[LoveThatBass]

I did not say a 500k isn't smooth but you have to turn it further than a 250k pot to get to the same level of tone control. That is just electronics 101

 

[RobbieK]

first check that the pot is a 250kA (not B).

if it is, remove the cap and test the pot with a multimeter. at half rotation, the middle lug should read 25-35k to the earth lug.

if it does, replace the cap with one that is around twice the value of the old one. (if it's 22nf, go with a 47nf. if it's already a 47nf, go with a 100nf.)

 

[walterw]

I did not say a 500k isn't smooth but you have to turn it further than a 250k pot to get to the same level of tone control. That is just electronics 101

well, you said that you got all the action in the last 1/4 turn, and that's what's not true with audio tones.

an audio 500k tone will have an audible effect in every part of its sweep, including the first 1/4 turn, where it goes from a touch brighter than a 250k to the same as a 250k, between "10" and maybe "7".

 

[LoveThatBass]

I could have worded it better. Thanks for the update

 

[Silentbob1010]

I took a look at the pots on my bass. Turns out I have 250KB pots in there, which I believe means they're linear. I'd rather have audio pots for a more dramatic effect on my tone. Any recommendations for audio pots? The Fender pots look fine, but their site doesn't say whether their pots are audio or linear.