Volume pots on Les Paul

mattdavis · February 2018

I'm a bit crap at technical aspects of guitar, so bear with me, but any advice re: pots would be appreciated.

I have a 2012 Les Paul Traditional which is 99% lovely. Only thing I find irritating is the volume pots are not massively useful. They seem to muddy up quite quickly on reducing the volume, and the taper seems to be very non-linear. I.e not much happens between 10 and about 3 - cleans up between about 2-3 but with lots of top end loss - then it is basically off. Changing the controls from speed knobs to vintage style top hats did not help :-)

Is this a function of the pots, the pickups (Classic 57s) or both?

If it is the pots, are there any recommendations re: replacements? I know a bit about different pickup brands but no idea re pots/capacitors etc.

Cheers

ICBM · February 2018

Pots. The ironic thing is that they *are* Linear taper - that's what it does. They will also be 300K which does give a muddier tone... Gibson does this on most of the modern models, I don't know why.

Replace them with 500K Log pots. You can also use '50s' wiring if you want, which reduces the treble loss as you turn the volume down, at the expense of making the pots more interactive if you turn the tone controls down.

CTS are the go-to brand for pots, but it may be better to buy them from a specialist reseller who specifies a higher quality than the standard range - they'll be more expensive, but not that much in the grand scheme of things.

Travisthedog · February 2018

And don't push too hard when you put the knobs back on

flyingv · February 2018

Exactly what I done with my 2012 Trad...... 50s wiring, WD CTS 550k log pots, k0y4-9 0,022uF PIO caps.... 100% Improvement!

ICBM · February 2018

You don't need to change the tone pots and caps though - the tone pots are 500K Log already, and the caps make no difference.

flyingv · February 2018

ICBM said:

You don't need to change the tone pots and caps though - the tone pots are 500K Log already, and the caps make no difference.

My caps look prettier though!

ICBM · February 2018

flyingv said:

My caps look prettier though!

I'm sure they do! They've also greatly increased the mojo, which is what really matters

.

mattdavis · February 2018

Cheers guys. Knew I would use ‘linear’ incorrectly the moment I typed it. Any go to retailers for this kind of stuff?

mattdavis · February 2018

Also confuses me why they cut corners on some of the (presumably) cheapest parts of the guitar.

flyingv · February 2018

ICBM said:

flyingv said:

My caps look prettier though!

I'm sure they do! They've also greatly increased the mojo, which is what really matters .

Exactly!

flyingv · February 2018

mattdavis said:

Cheers guys. Knew I would use ‘linear’ incorrectly the moment I typed it. Any go to retailers for this kind of stuff?

@streethawk

mattdavis · February 2018

Cheers - will have a look.

Thanks guys

flyingv · February 2018

Or plenty on eBay'

p90fool · February 2018

mattdavis said:

Also confuses me why they cut corners on some of the (presumably) cheapest parts of the guitar.

They don't, they cost exactly the same. 300k linear pots are the same price as 500k log pots, it's just a question of personal preference.

My own preference in Les Pauls is for 250k log volume and tone, but I'm in a minority.

500k log pots wired 50s style (not a big deal, the tone cap just goes to the other active lug on the volume pot) is the accepted standard for the vast majority of LP owners who like to use their controls.

There are all kinds of other options, but I'd start there and see how you get on, it'll certainly be vastly better than what you have in terms of volume taper.

bbill335 · February 2018

I tried 500k cts linear "vintage taper" for vol & tone in my SG special and, for volume, I think they're really good.

AndyR · February 2018

This thread made me chuckle.

I too have a 2012 Trad LP. When I first got it, I immediately LOVED how the thing reacts to volume control use. I was all "why don't my other geetars work like this? what's so special about it?"

When I upgraded the pickups, I even bought a set of pots to go with (500 log) ... I was in a bit of a rush to try the pickups, and didn't get round to putting the pots in.

It was FABULOUS with the new pickups, and I ended up not wanting to touch the rest of it in case I fried the mojo with my soldering skills..

But I still couldn't figure out why this guitar's controls were perfect and the others weren't.

Eventually, after a couple of months, I found out it probably had the 300K linear volume pots in it... Wot?!?!... but everyone on the interweb sez that's horrid, why Gibson so stupid... etc, etc, blah...

er...

And then the penny dropped: if they really were 300K linear, then this could well be why the thing was working how it did.

So, as an experiment I went to my spares/old-crap box to get the pots off an older Gibson circuit board I'd replaced (a Faded SG - they were known 300 linear) and then put them back into a guitar with pots I'd "upgraded" to 500 log. And... suddenly I'm bonding with the thing after years of "it's nice but it don't react how I want".

So, ever since then, I am gradually replacing all my "upgraded" 500 log volumes with 300 linear!

... it really is personal taste and how you want to use the guitar and its controls... It turns out that I personally don't like what 500K Log volumes do to most of my humbucking guitars.

ICBM · February 2018

Yes, it is a personal taste thing - but the reason most people think Gibson are stupid to do it is because you're in a small minority. It's good to find out something like this though, because it lets you get what you want.

p90fool · February 2018

Well put @AndyR I'm also not a fan of 500k pots, I find them harsh, and they exaggerate the dulling effect when you roll them down.

I think in the OP's case though, he'd be better off with log rather than linear pots from the symptoms he's describing, the actual value maybe being secondary.

AndyR · February 2018

Yep, in general, 300 seems to work better for me on volumes, 500 is usually "too harsh" - but I do have at least one geetar that 500 helps a bit. Horses for courses (now I know what actual effect the things have!)

And, definitely, I think the OP needs log here, not linear, on the volume.

It was a big surprise to me when I found I actually prefer linear. I understand it's because I tend to use the guitar's volume more as an "overdrive control" rather than a "volume control".

I can use either log or linear on the tone controls, it seems I've been used to operating both over the years - but in general I do think I prefer log for tones.

ICBM · February 2018

AndyR said:

It was a big surprise to me when I found I actually prefer linear. I understand it's because I tend to use the guitar's volume more as an "overdrive control" rather than a "volume control".

Odd, I find it the other way round - for me, linear works best as an actual 'volume' control for a clean sound, Log works better for cleaning up an overdriven sound. I generally prefer Log, but I can use both.

And I cannot get on with linear tone controls at all - you get only two sounds with almost no useful in-between settings, all at the bottom end. But I know some people prefer them for exactly that reason, as a 'hand wah' so you don't have to turn the knob as far.

We're all different though...

bgmartinsbridge · February 2018

I'm going to jump in to this thread and ask advice too, as someone who doesn't have a scooby about electronics.

I'm together an SG Special (fitting all parts, not building).

It's 2 vol and 1 tone.

I was going to go for 2 linear and 1 audio.
All cts 500k.

Does this sound right - any suggestions?

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Volume pots on Les Paul

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