alpha or cts?

grungebob

Sorry if in wrong section but im about to rewire a guitar (twin humbucker,single vol and tone with push pull) whats the general consensus these days on the diff between alpha and cts? Ive always liked the taper on prs tone pots, anyone know what they are?

boogieman

I've used CTS ones a couple of times in self-builds. Never had a problem with them, they're nice and smooth and seem to last well without getting scratchy. No idea whether they match a PRS taper though.

fretfinder

I cant answer your question but shugzlooms are very good quality and reasonable, if you're considering buying a prewired loom.

AlanP

The only issue I have with CTS pots is the syrupy 'lubrication' they put on the spindles... you really can't operate them with anything other than a finger & thumb grip...  a "little finger" job simply won't have the traction to move it...

Alan

ESchap

Best to meter them whichever you choose, they can stray quite a bit from their quoted value range.   The Expensive CTS's from Bare Knuckle are pretty much spot on for resistance in my experience.  

CTS can feel a bit tight when new and Alpha tend to be much "looser" feeling IMHO.  I've been buying BOURNES recently, mainly for amp building and find them very consistent in terms of resistance values.  When I've built a guitar loom with them, between CTS and ALPHA in terms of turning "feel" on a guitar .

stickyfiddle

ESchap said:

Best to meter them whichever you choose, they can stray quite a bit from their quoted value range.   The Expensive CTS's from Bare Knuckle are pretty much spot on for resistance in my experience.  

CTS can feel a bit tight when new and Alpha tend to be much "looser" feeling IMHO.  I've been buying BOURNES recently, mainly for amp building and find them very consistent in terms of resistance values.  When I've built a guitar loom with them, between CTS and ALPHA in terms of turning "feel" on a guitar .

The BKP CTS ones have good values and a lovely feel but a weird taper for my liking. Likewise the crazyparts CTS ones in my Strat and Tele have the perfect values and taper but are a bit stiff. I've never found a pot that does all 3 right.

Adam_MD

The cheaper cts aren't any better than the alpha in my opinion to echo an earlier comment definitely meter them. I rewired my prs recently and used a push push US size from wd music rather than the push pull, excellent pot much easier to use.

Cirrus

Since there are people here with opinions on pots, what's a good choice for a relatively stiff turning push pull pot?

Adam_MD

The best pots I've ever used have been the ones PRS fit to their US guitars as standard. I'd use those in every guitar if I could get them. Easy to turn and an excellent taper.

ThePrettyDamned

Easy to turn pots seem really popular, I'd rather have them quite stiff! 

But PRS guitars tend to have a nice taper, not sure if they select pots or get them in special... 

I use alpha pots and CTS, and they're both fine but Alpha pots need cleaning after a few years. 

OilCityPickups

I use and recommend nothing but Bourns of late. Their switched pots are better than any other make I've tried and their standard pots are just the right 'feel'. They absolutely wipe the floor with CTS.
At the moment I put them first, Alpha second, and CTS a poor third for feel and value for money.

ThePrettyDamned

TheGuitarWeasel said:

I use and recommend nothing but Bourns of late. Their switched pots are better than any other make I've tried and their standard pots are just the right 'feel'. They absolutely wipe the floor with CTS.
At the moment I put them first, Alpha second, and CTS a poor third for feel and value for money.

I'd be using Bourns in my Tele and PRS alikes if I didn't already have the CTS ones based on your recommendations.  

Just so you know, at least one person listened

ICBM

I still prefer CTS to Alpha - but only if you get specialist-vendor higher-end ones really, the quality of the standard range is shocking now. (They do more than one quality.) They do still feel OK and possibly still sound good (if pots make any difference), but they really are badly made.

ThePrettyDamned

Which bourns pots would you use @theguitarweasel?

http://uk.mouser.com/new/bourns/bournsproaudio/

There are loads!

OilCityPickups

Their 24mm GTR standard range are great ... and as I say ... the push/pulls are industry leaders.

ThePrettyDamned

Awesome

EdGrip

I used the full-size CTS ones in my build. It just seemed to be the done thing. If I were doing it again I would use the same Alpha mini-pots I put in pedals, because they feel about a million times nicer to turn. Or I would take people's advice and investigate the Bourns pots (though I seem to remember they were very hard to find and very pricey when I was looking)

usedtobe

ThePrettyDamned said:

Which bourns pots would you use @theguitarweasel?

http://uk.mouser.com/new/bourns/bournsproaudio/

There are loads!

You're not shitting!

OilCityPickups

EdGrip said:

.... Or I would take people's advice and investigate the Bourns pots (though I seem to remember they were very hard to find and very pricey when I was looking)

It often surprises me that people will spend a huge wad on top notch pickups, then balk at putting top notch components in the rest of the signal path. Bourns are pricey ... but not much more so than 'branded' CTS, and are made to far finer tolerances. True, they are a bit more difficult to track down, but as  @ThePrettyDamned pointed out, Mouser do the full range ... and actually Allparts do a few ... when they can be arsed to keep them in stock

EdGrip

It's the tolerances bit that confuses me slightly in a guitar-wiring context. Cos, like, who cares? My knobs haven't even got numbers on. I turn it down if I want it quieter and up if I want it louder. When people are discussing the pros and cons of 500k vs 250k, it seems odd to suggest that 250k is correct and, say, 234k isn't - especially as 0k is where the knobs spend most of their time on my guitar.

EdGrip

You should get some of the usual suspects from Mouser and offer them with pickup sales, Ash - just at point of sale, so you don't end up posting pots all day long?