electronics help needed!

[slotter]

hey. wondering if any of you electronics buffs could shed some light.

the story goes:

Got a Dot Studio, change the pups to GFS Mean 90's.

Kept the 500k tone pot in but changed the Cap to 0.047 Orange Drop.

Had to change the Volume pot cus the stock one was faulty, so put in a 500k.

Happy with the sound, BUT.. the volume pot is pretty all ot nothingy! lots of beef at the top, and then gets pretty quiet around 9 and 8.. then weak as hell after that.

Also, the tone pot is the same but the other way round... no change in tone until i get right down the bottom end, around 3.

The original Vol. pot ws a B500K (linear), were as the replacement one i put in is A500K (Audio Taper)... not sure if this would make a difference. It doesn't account for the tone problem though as i left the original in (A500K).

 

Anyone know what I can do? I thought about trying 250K pots, seeing as the Mean 90's are p90s (single coils).. I even ordered some CTS and they are on their way... but im happy with the sound with the 500K's.. its not too bright.

Maybe if i re-wired it... i have heard that switching to a "vintage" wiring config. makes a difference... not sure how to do this.. or why even!

 

anyone had similar probs? remembering that the dot studio only has 1 vol. and 1 tone.

 

other than this, I can highly reccomend this upgrade... the mean 90's sound great!

 

thanks in advance - Dave :)

[RotcanX]

The audio volume pot is causing your weird volume reaction. You need to replace it with a linear as in the original installation.

 

Your tone control problem is a little different; it's that wanking huge .049 capacitor you've installed. The one you have now is more than double the value recommended, which means it's dumping a lot more highs a lot sooner, so your tone turns to mud way before you want it to. Note that a .049 cap is what you use on a bass. Put the .022 back.

[slotter]

The audio volume pot is causing your weird volume reaction. You need to replace it with a linear as in the original installation.

 

Your tone control problem is a little different; it's that wanking huge .049 capacitor you've installed. The one you have now is more than double the value recommended' date=' which means it's dumping a lot more highs a lot sooner, so your tone turns to mud way before you want it to. Note that a .049 cap is what you use on a bass. Put the .022 back.[/quote']

 

ok.. thanks alot for your reply... ill try a linear volume pot.

however.. the problem with the tone is opposite to how you described.. nothing happens until i get down to 3, then it starts working...

i have a 0.047 cap in my tele (as most people) and its fine... but thats with a 250k tone pot.

however, i know a lot of people who use 0.47 with p90's. maybe ill try puttin the .022 back, but i seem to remember the tone doin the same thing with that in.

anything else that could be causing the tone problem?

cheers :)

[Ron G]

FWIW, I, too, have a Dot Studio with Mean 90s, everything else stock. The tone

control behaves pretty much like yours.

[slotter]

FWIW' date=' I, too, have a Dot Studio with Mean 90s, everything else stock. The tone

control behaves pretty much like yours.[/quote']

 

hhhmmm... but ur volume is ok?

im gonna try a linear 500k for the volume, and a 250k (audio taper) for the tone, then maybe try puttin the 0.22 orange drop back in...

 

ill keep you posted.. wanna sort this out.

 

how dya like ur means with the dot?

im really happy.. i needed something cheap to tracel with as im goin to the states for a month and didnt wanna take my gibson on too many planes etc.. and its great... for the price you cant beat it i reckon :)

[Ron G]

hhhmmm... but ur volume is ok?im gonna try a linear 500k for the volume' date=' and a 250k (audio taper) for the tone, then maybe try puttin the 0.22 orange drop back in...

 

ill keep you posted.. wanna sort this out.

 

how dya like ur means with the dot?

im really happy.. i needed something cheap to tracel with as im goin to the states for a month and didnt wanna take my gibson on too many planes etc.. and its great... for the price you cant beat it i reckon :)[/quote']

 

My volume control seems to work fine - the way you describe it, yours does seem

like something is wrong. Since pots are cheap, replace it. I don't think anything is

really wrong with my tone control - I think it's the nature of the beast, and don't

expect there to be a 1:1 ratio between pot position and tone effect. I read somewhere

that this is "normal". As far as using a 250k tone pot, it seems almost universal that

folks use 500's with P90s but it's cheap enough for you to experiment. I'll be interested

in your results.

[slotter]

 

My volume control seems to work fine - the way you describe it' date=' yours does seem

like something [i']is[/i] wrong. Since pots are cheap, replace it. I don't think anything is

really wrong with my tone control - I think it's the nature of the beast, and don't

expect there to be a 1:1 ratio between pot position and tone effect. I read somewhere

that this is "normal". As far as using a 250k tone pot, it seems almost universal that

folks use 500's with P90s but it's cheap enough for you to experiment. I'll be interested

your results. I

 

hey ron.

people seem pretty divided when it comes to p90's.. some prefer 250k pots, other prefer a brighter sound with the 500k. i like the sound im gettin with the 500k's... but like you say, it wont hurt to experiment.

ill keep you informed if i manage to better the tone situation.

cheers d :)

[slotter]

anyone one else had any experience with this? got any ideas? etc.

thanks.

d :)

[CodeMonk]

Check out this link on pots.

Some of its a bit technical, but very helpful.

 

http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/Pots/

[slotter]

Check out this link on pots.

Some of its a bit technical' date=' but very helpful.

 

http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/Pots/[/quote']

 

hey code monk... thans for that.. ill have a good look at it tomorow.

d

[slotter]

So.... I just replaced the volume pot with a CTS Linear 500k... and yes!!! its back to normal... lovely smooth volume control.. 1:1 ratio style taper... great!

I tried the Audio taper 250k in the tone but still did the same thing... i prefered the sound of the 500k with the .047 cap, so i swapped the old 500k for a CTS which i had. It still has that loooooong wait until the tone changes, but I'm almost 99% sure now that i need a linear tone pot too... at least for my tastes.

 

One thing though.... the CTS pots are WELL worth the money... they just seem to let more of everything through... before i had Alpha pots... but man.. the CTS do sound better... I'm not one to be won over by hype and expense.. man I'm playing a 200 euro epiphone... but these CTS are better full stop.

 

I'd very very very much reccmoned this mod people... the Dot Studio with GFS mean 90's, cts pots, orange drop cap and a tusq nut. umm hummm... everyone is commenting on the tone of this thing at gigs (i gig nearly every night, from blues, to soul, lots of be-bop).. my poor old gibson has taken a back seat for a while.. although i'm sure she'll be back out again very soon.. I still love her.

 

Ron G.. i'll let ya know what happens with the tone pot when i try the linear... but this wont happen for a while now cus im too busy. but im sure this will fix things.. now ive seen what the linear ot did for the volume control.