Rolling down volume nob question

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hthomas

hthomas

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does a amp have to be turned up pretty good to really be able to clean up the gain with the volume nob? I have cts 500k pots in my LP and I can roll it down to 5 and it still be gainy.

I believe i made a mistake by getting 500k linear taper pots. audio taper is the way to go correct?
 
A lot of amp / guitar combination's well not clean up well. It won't clean up a lot till it is almost off in most cases. Not really sure what you mean by "turned up pretty good" ?
 
hthomas":3armqbmn said:
does a amp have to be turned up pretty good to really be able to clean up the gain with the volume nob? I have cts 500k pots in my LP and I can roll it down to 5 and it still be gainy.

I believe i made a mistake by getting 500k linear taper pots. audio taper is the way to go correct?
Click to expand...

Linear taper pots tend to cut off abruptly and they don't have a smooth taper from 0-10. The really do have a linear taper, but the human ear can't perceive linear changes in the sweep. If you want 500k pots with a good sweep, check out RS Guitarworks.
 
stephen sawall":1hfxs43s said:
A lot of amp / guitar combination's well not clean up well. It won't clean up a lot till it is almost off in most cases. Not really sure what you mean by "turned up pretty good" ?
Click to expand...

I think he's talking about poweramp distortion versus preamp. Preamp gain tends to not clean up as well as a pushed non-master volume amp that's cranked. So, like a cranked Superlead compared to a Dual Rectifier with the channel gain up high to get a good overdrive, but with the master low.

Since a hot signal driving the power section hard is what gets you that nice poweramp distortion, turning the guitar's volume down will clean it up easier than a lots of preamp gain and little power tube saturation.
 
What is the difference between Audio and Linear taper pots?
"Audio and Linear taper pots have the same total resistance but differ in which position of rotation the pot will reach the 50% value. Linear pots are usually marked with a B or Lin (examples 250KB, B250K, 250K Lin) and will reach 50% of its total resistance in the 50% rotation point. Audio taper pots are usually marked with an A or Aud (examples 500KA, A500K 500K Aud) and will decrease most of the resistance in the last 50% of the rotation. This can give a more gradual audio reduction is some cases. Most manufactures and builders either use Audio taper pots for volume and tone or linear for volume and audio for tone. However, if a problem of exists where a volume or tone pot has no effect on the sound, try a changing the taper. How to check the taper with an ohm meter: Set the pot to the center position (50% rotation) and measure the resistance between the center pin and each of the outer pins. If the the resistance is equal (50% of the pots value) the pot is linear. If the values are not equal, the pot is an Audio taper."
 
FourT6and2":3eusi6yi said:
stephen sawall":3eusi6yi said:
A lot of amp / guitar combination's well not clean up well. It won't clean up a lot till it is almost off in most cases. Not really sure what you mean by "turned up pretty good" ?
Click to expand...

I think he's talking about poweramp distortion versus preamp. Preamp gain tends to not clean up as well as a pushed non-master volume amp that's cranked. So, like a cranked Superlead compared to a Dual Rectifier with the channel gain up high to get a good overdrive, but with the master low.

Since a hot signal driving the power section hard is what gets you that nice poweramp distortion, turning the guitar's volume down will clean it up easier than a lots of preamp gain and little power tube saturation.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience and part of the reason I like poweramp distortion better.
 
I personally recommend Audio taper pots for volumes and they are what I use when I do work on guitars. I use DiMarzio pots where possible. To me, they have a really nice taper and no operating noise.
 
thanks for the Link! Looks like the RS super pot for both volume controls is the thing to do.
 
Here are a few others since you are going back in there .....

https://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/I ... a_Pro.aspx

I own the third hand on this page and it saves a lot of time on projects for me.

https://www.premierguitar.com/magazine/I ... older.aspx

https://www.premierguitar.com/magazine/i ... itors.aspx

https://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/I ... rt_II.aspx

https://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/I ... eness.aspx

Sorry for the over kill ..... I am sure some well find this stuff useful.
 
I just installed an RS Kit. While I'm not super happy with the tonal changes due to the higher value pots (my guitar had 250k, RS are 500k), I'm happy with the sweep of the pots. They are really easy to use and the taper is great. Highly recommended as long as you know you want 500k pots.
 
FourT6and2":3k54gg1i said:
I just installed an RS Kit. While I'm not super happy with the tonal changes due to the higher value pots (my guitar had 250k, RS are 500k), I'm happy with the sweep of the pots. They are really easy to use and the taper is great. Highly recommended as long as you know you want 500k pots.
Click to expand...

What is a "RS kit" ?
 
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