Strat pots suck..... (suhr pickups, Fender pickups) why?

[Joeytpg]

I cannot get a good range out of my volume pot in both my strats... when I lower the volume it sounds very muffled and the volume drop is quite drastic once I'm under 8 or 7...... this is with both my John Mayer strat and my MIA strat which is loaded with Suhr FL/FL/SSV system.

This doesn't happen with my Edwards Les Paul.... I can play with the volume at 3 or 4 and have a great warm clean tone. the volume pot has a huuuge range.


how can I fix this? it bugs me a lot, I have to play my strats with the volume on 10 or 9 tops

 

[degenaro]

I cannot get a good range out of my volume pot in both my strats... when I lower the volume it sounds very muffled and the volume drop is quite drastic once I'm under 8 or 7...... this is with both my John Mayer strat and my MIA strat which is loaded with Suhr FL/FL/SSV system.

This doesn't happen with my Edwards Les Paul.... I can play with the volume at 3 or 4 and have a great warm clean tone. the volume pot has a huuuge range.


how can I fix this? it bugs me a lot, I have to play my strats with the volume on 10 or 9 tops

Put a treble bypass cap on the volume..

 

[Joeytpg]

I cannot get a good range out of my volume pot in both my strats... when I lower the volume it sounds very muffled and the volume drop is quite drastic once I'm under 8 or 7...... this is with both my John Mayer strat and my MIA strat which is loaded with Suhr FL/FL/SSV system.

This doesn't happen with my Edwards Les Paul.... I can play with the volume at 3 or 4 and have a great warm clean tone. the volume pot has a huuuge range.


how can I fix this? it bugs me a lot, I have to play my strats with the volume on 10 or 9 tops

Put a treble bypass cap on the volume..

thanks Ed

why does this makes such a difference? I though those electronics from the Suhr pickups and the Fender should be better quality than the Edwards, but still, I find it's not

 

[Joeytpg]

something like this?

 

[Flump]

I don't think its the quality of the electronics, just the nature of single coils. They have a lot more treble and bite in them than any humbucker, and that gets knocked off quickly when you turn the volume down. The treble bleed cap lets the treble through as if the volume is on 10 all the way down the knob. It does SLIGHTLY change things when the volume is at 10, but I"m not sure it would be noticeable. I have a cap on my strat and on my Jazzmaster.

 

[Joeytpg]

ok..... I mean don't get me wrong I've being able to use the volume knob on my strats but the amp has to be STUPID loud and even then it'll only be usable between volume 10 and volume 7...... but my Edwards LP has the largest rage even at very low volumes... I can have the amp setup for a nice distortion sound when the guitar volume is at 10, an awesome bluesy crunch with the volume at 7 and a nive cleanish dirt with the volume at 4... it's awesome.


I still prefer the tone of strats compare to les paul but this little thing bugs me....

 

[Flump]

ok..... I mean don't get me wrong I've being able to use the volume knob on my strats but the amp has to be STUPID loud and even then it'll only be usable between volume 10 and volume 7...... but my Edwards LP has the largest rage even at very low volumes... I can have the amp setup for a nice distortion sound when the guitar volume is at 10, an awesome bluesy crunch with the volume at 7 and a nive cleanish dirt with the volume at 4... it's awesome.


I still prefer the tone of strats compare to les paul but this little thing bugs me....

First of all the Edwards most likely has 500k pots in them which are generally used with humbuckers to brighten them up a bit. Strats generally have 250k pots in them. So, 10 on the strat doesn't necessarily = 10 on the Edwards as far as the value. Also its possible that the Edwards might have linear pots as opposed to logrithmic taper. If you want a quick tryout I'd definitely suggest the treble bleed cap as mentioned. If that doesn't work try out different pot values for the volume pot, or even a linear pot instead.

 

[Suhr]

I cannot get a good range out of my volume pot in both my strats... when I lower the volume it sounds very muffled and the volume drop is quite drastic once I'm under 8 or 7...... this is with both my John Mayer strat and my MIA strat which is loaded with Suhr FL/FL/SSV system.

This doesn't happen with my Edwards Les Paul.... I can play with the volume at 3 or 4 and have a great warm clean tone. the volume pot has a huuuge range.


how can I fix this? it bugs me a lot, I have to play my strats with the volume on 10 or 9 tops

Make sure you are using my wiring so the Humbucker sees a 500K volume and the singles see 250K
Then put a 150K resistor in parallel with 680pf cap across the in and out of the volume pot and dont use any longer than 20ft cable.
IF you need the wiring send us and email