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250k vs, 500k vs. 1.5m pots

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  • 250k vs, 500k vs. 1.5m pots

    seriously is the diff on a passive p/u all that great. SD site mentions 250k pots reduce treble? Is the effect really that noticeable? Whats the diff in tone between the values?
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  • #2
    Going from a 500k pot to a 1Meg pot on say a Custom Custom or even a JB is very noticeable.
    It's all about the flow of electrons.
    A 250k pot has a greater resistance than a 500k or 1Meg pot.
    Really want to hear the difference?
    Take a pickup that is going through a 250k pot and run it direct.
    Very different sound.
    -Rick

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    • #3
      The difference is simply a reduction in treble. Think of turning your tone knob down to produce a squeezed bollocks effect on your pickup. The higher the value, the less treble you lose, 250k being commonly applied to neuter singlecoils and 1meg to let your hum open up.

      Edit

      Slow I am
      Its all fun and games till you get yogurt in your eye.; -AK47
      Guitar is my first love, metal my second (wife...ehh she's in there somewhere). -Partial @ Marshall

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      • #4
        Yeah, ok, duh. Should have thought about it that way myself. I feel stupid now. Oh well never can keep my series/ parallel ohms calculations strait anymore either. I actually have it written down in my wallet.
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        • #5
          Now wait a minute, wouldn't a 1 megaohm pot have 4 times the resistance of a 250k pot, not the other way around?
          Scott

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Spivonious View Post
            Now wait a minute, wouldn't a 1 megaohm pot have 4 times the resistance of a 250k pot, not the other way around?
            Yes. For example, with a volume pot there'd be 4 times the resistance to the leg of the pot that is soldered to ground. The more resistance to ground, the brighter the sound....at least that's the way I understand it.

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            • #7
              Yep... higher pot value equal greater resistance. I always get that backwards.

              Anyway...the higher value pot has less treble roll-off.
              Meaning a 500k pot will remain brighter than a 250k pot.
              -Rick

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              • #8
                Put a 1Meg pot to a Tele, notice how your ears start to bleed
                "There is nothing more fearful than imagination without taste" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

                "To be stupid, selfish and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost" - Gustave Flaubert

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                • #9
                  I've been thinking about this more. When the pot is "wide-open" wouldn't the resistance be 0? If that's true, then why would a different value pot make any difference at all?

                  I'm an idiot when it comes to electronics.
                  Scott

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Spivonious View Post
                    I've been thinking about this more. When the pot is "wide-open" wouldn't the resistance be 0? If that's true, then why would a different value pot make any difference at all?

                    I'm an idiot when it comes to electronics.
                    No. Because the signal is following the full length of the resistance trace of the pot. At wide open a 500K pot has 500K resistance to ground. At wide open a 1meg pot has 1meg resistance to ground.

                    Years back, I took an old pot apart and looked at how they work internally and it really helped things "click" understanding-wise.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Chad View Post
                      No. Because the signal is following the full length of the resistance trace of the pot. At wide open a 500K pot has 500K resistance to ground. At wide open a 1meg pot has 1meg resistance to ground.

                      Years back, I took an old pot apart and looked at how they work internally and it really helped things "click" understanding-wise.
                      So they're wired "backwards" in a sense? Sending the signal with no resistance to the ground when the pot is "off", and sending the signal with the rated resistance to the ground when the pot in "on". So the more resistance, the less signal gets to ground?:think:
                      Last edited by Spivonious; 02-23-2010, 12:44 PM.
                      Scott

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                      • #12
                        Ok, I have a question then, I have a DXMG with the EMGHZ pups, and I think they sound 'muddy' at higher volume. If I change to say a 500K pot, will this 'brighten' the sound? Curious.
                        "illegal downloading saved people from having to buy that piece of shit you tried to pass off as music" - Nighbat

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Spivonious View Post
                          Sending the signal with no resistance to the ground when the pot is "off", and sending the signal with the rated resistance to the ground when the pot in "on". So the more resistance, the less signal gets to ground?:think:
                          Outside of your first sentence (which I edited out in this reply), I think you've pretty much got it.

                          When a volume pot is turned all the way down, it is basically grounded out.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Scooter View Post
                            Ok, I have a question then, I have a DXMG with the EMGHZ pups, and I think they sound 'muddy' at higher volume. If I change to say a 500K pot, will this 'brighten' the sound? Curious.
                            Yeah, it should be brighter. Pots are cheap if you want to experiment.

                            Or you could temporarily wire straight to the output jack and see what that sounds like. If that is still too muddy, then those pickups probably aren't for you. If wired straight to the output jack is too bright, then you'd know that a pot value higher than what your guitar currently has might be a good solution. You could also experiment with your tone pot values.

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                            • #15
                              Not to further confuse, but there are actually two things happening as you turn up a volume pot: 1) resistance between input and output is decreasing, and 2) resistance between output and ground is increasing. Full up there is basically nil resistance between input and output. But there is 500K resistance (with a 500K pot) between the output and ground. This is why different value pots sound different even when turned all the way up. I really think a person has to rip a pot apart to get this.

                              BTW, just want to say that I'm not a technical authority on this by any means. This stuff can be over-analyzed but the simplest thing is to just realize that the higher the value of the pot, the brighter it can get.

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