Twiz Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Hey gang, I had to change the volume pots in one of my Les Paul Specials (they died). I wound up getting some 500k DiMarzio's because my local shop was out of Gibson's, and I had a gig. My guitar sounded way better after I changed them. So much so, that I think I'm going to change my other LP's volume pots to 500k's. Are there any manufacturers that are better than the others? I'm not too familiar with electronic components makers, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre S Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 RSGuitarworks is generally regarded as the standard for guitar electronics. I use their kit, with vintage wiring and PIO caps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 It was a long time ago that I had tried out a lot of different pots from different makers, so perhaps things have changed. The pots that I had that were marked Dimarzio were the same as the one's I could get that were marked Gibson. They were not made by CTS, and I don't remember who made them. One, (Gibson or Dimarzio) Had the Manufacturer codes on them. They did produce a different sound to them comparing them to the CTS pots. They sounded smoother and lacked treble compared to the CTS, But the CTS sounded grainy and the treble sounded..hmm..more rough. I eneded up prefering the CTS by far, but these were strats. They really needed that extra treble to sound like a strat, scratchy as it was. I also stuck with the CTS because they were the most common in the older guitars. They also looked the same, so I thought there was a better chance they were also made the same. I think it is a good question you ask, because you can NOT judge a book by it's cover with these things. Not only did the pots sound different, but the ones that were clearly the best sounding were the ones made in Japan (I have no idea who made them-but I am referring to the ones that came stock in Japanese fenders around the late 80's-mid 90's) It would be worthwhile to know the codes on your pots, and compare them visually to the Gibson ones. They may be the same make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon S. Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 RSGuitarworks is generally regarded as the standard for guitar electronics. I use their kit, with vintage wiring and PIO caps. +1. They do great looking(and sounding) remakes of all the old Fender and Gibby PIO caps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzboy Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I just get CTS 500K audio pots that read 500K +. You can get them from WD Music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 CTS is a brand, they make pots of different qualities and price points, so choose wisely. For instance there are CTS pots with aluminum shaft while the better quality ones have a brass shaft. Gibsons use CTS pots but they are not the highest quality CTS offers. RSGuitarworks.net has a 500k "Superpot" for the volume position that has fine specs, they have them made especially for them, they are more expensive but worth it. Those pots work exactly like you think a volume pot should work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiz Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 Awesome. Thanks for the info everyone. I'm probably going to go with some kind of higher end pots from CTS. Or, I may just get another couple of the DiMarzio 500k's. -The ones I got have brass posts and sound pretty good. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Yes, great info.....I don't use volume or tone pots.......For replacements, I prefer the round ones..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl00dsm0k3 Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 i still have they stock epi's that came with my wilshire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobB Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 CTS 500K Audio taper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 All my guitars have their original pots but the one project LP I did I chose to use RS Guitar works 500ks... They were part of the Jimmy Page push pull kit they made me... Love 'em... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 +1. They do great looking(and sounding) remakes of all the old Fender and Gibby PIO caps. Here's an idea - maybe Gibson should offer remakes of Gibson's old PIO caps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungimsam Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 I buy new, and use whatever comes on the guitar. Have never had probs with my SG's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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