EvoRider Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I have heard somewhere on the net that later model Gibson SG use 300k pots. is this true? and what kind of difference woulld it make to switch mine out? The reason i am asking is My 2006 Gibson SG Standard it just dont seem to have as much output.. And it is a little thin sounding. i have tried switching pickups and just cant seem to get out what i want.. Has anybody tried a Wiring kit? i have seen different ones on the net and wanted to know if anybody has ever used one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Collins Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Gibson has used 300k linear volume pots as standard for over 40 years now. Switching from the stock 300k volume pots up to 500k would likely move you in the opposite direction of what it sounds like you want, depending on your definition of "thin sounding". It's not a change that will make any notable difference in overall output, but will raise the high end response by a slight amount. Almost sounds to me like you'd be better making any changes with the settings on your amp. Higher volume, lower tone. Maybe a change in string type/gauge or setup. Changing the pots is unlikely to yield significant improvements here though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 I have heard somewhere on the net that later model Gibson SG use 300k pots. is this true? and what kind of difference woulld it make to switch mine out? The reason i am asking is My 2006 Gibson SG Standard it just dont seem to have as much output.. And it is a little thin sounding. i have tried switching pickups and just cant seem to get out what i want.. Has anybody tried a Wiring kit? i have seen different ones on the net and wanted to know if anybody has ever used one. I just put the 500K Stew Mac pre-wired kit into my SG Classic. It was sounding a bit too dark for me and now sounds a bit brighter and fuller to my ear. I could not tell what pots were on the PCB. I tested it next to my 50th Anniversary Pete Townsend SG that was initially much brighter than the Classic (cannot tell what pots are in there either as I cannot read the numbers.) Both guitars have P90's in them and now sound very close in tone. The only problem with the 500K Stew Mac setup is that the pots respond differently than the Gibson pots and I believe they are all CTS pots. The new pots have a drastic drop in volume very quickly compared to the original Gibson pots but the overall tone is better IMHO. Stew Mac pre-wired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Rutherford Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I altered all my P90 gibsons to 500k log tone AND vol, and rather regretted it as a waste of effort and money. It sounded reedier and the volume pot was not as responsive in the 1-6 volume sweep range The tried and tested set up they have of 300K lin for vol and 500K log for tone is ideal for all uses Gibson know what they are doing. PS the only thing I've added which is non spec is a tiny 0.001uf capcitator [ treble bleed ] on the volume pot that gives a brighter tone when the pot is turned down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 The problem with pots is their ACTUAL value not their nominal value, Gibson USA guitars use 300k on the volume and 500k on the tone, that's good except the last Gibson pots I measured with my multimeter clocked at like 200k for the volume and 240 on the tone pots, way off spec. If you get actual 500k pots your guitar may actually become too bright, this happened to my Explorer, I have true 500k pots in it from RS Guitarworks and most of the time I have to set the tone at 5 because the guitar can be real bright. Also, beware of pots on eBay saying they have "vintage taper" my a$$, I bought one and it is like an on/off switch, full volume at 10 but not a lot when you get to 8. RS Guitarworks has the volume Super Pot, those are worth the extra money, they have the best taper. By the way, SGs are thin sounding, both pickups are closer to the bridge than a Les Paul in comparison. You may need a booster pedal instead of keep changing pots and pickups, I just bought an Ibanez BB9 Big Bottom Booster for $50 at musiciansfriend.com, it has not arrived yet so I have not tried it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaicho8888 Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I altered all my P90 gibsons to 500k log tone AND vol, and rather regretted it as a waste of effort and money. It sounded reedier and the volume pot was not as responsive in the 1-6 volume sweep range The tried and tested set up they have of 300K lin for vol and 500K log for tone is ideal for all uses Gibson know what they are doing. PS the only thing I've added which is non spec is a tiny 0.001uf capcitator [ treble bleed ] on the volume pot that gives a brighter tone when the pot is turned down. Concur with your posting on Vol with 300k OHMS Linear, and Tone with 500k audio. Does the treble bleed on P90 pickups have the same result with humbuckers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.