Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:08 pm
Fri Aug 17, 2012 9:01 am
Arcturus wrote:Hello all,
One goofy thing I've noticed about my pots, though, is that while my volume and bass pots feel very nice and sturdy, turning evenly and with a good taper, my treble pot doesn't seem right. For one, the treble pot somehow wound up with the push-pull function to activate the neck pickup instead of the volume pot (unless there was a change I was not made aware of?), and the treble pot itself is much, much looser and cheap feeling compared to the other two. It turns much too easily, and I'm not a fan of that; I prefer a firm pot on my guitar.
Does anyone know what the deal is with that? Are Tribute Comanches supposed to have the treble pot have the push-pull function? And is it normal for one pot to feel so much looser than the others?
If this isn't normal, then I'll just add "upgrade/change the pots" to the list of things to do for this guitar and put that at the top of the list. Thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
Arcturus
Fri Aug 17, 2012 9:58 am
Fri Aug 17, 2012 10:31 am
Arcturus wrote:Hello all,
I'm new to this forum, and here my intro post with a photo of my new Comanche. http://goo.gl/HXTgF
Here's the Comanche itself for anyone too lazy to click.
I'm loving this guitar, and it sounds immaculate. Switching out the nut for a Graphtec TUSQ XL was my first move right off the bat, and I'm glad that I did. I've still got a list of other things to change on this guitar, like Schaller locking tuners, a TUSQ XL string tree, string-saver saddles, a brass bridge block, and a Tremol-no, but those can all wait for quite some time. For now, I'm just pleased to be playing this thing! I'm in love with the neck.
One goofy thing I've noticed about my pots, though, is that while my volume and bass pots feel very nice and sturdy, turning evenly and with a good taper, my treble pot doesn't seem right. For one, the treble pot somehow wound up with the push-pull function to activate the neck pickup instead of the volume pot (unless there was a change I was not made aware of?), and the treble pot itself is much, much looser and cheap feeling compared to the other two. It turns much too easily, and I'm not a fan of that; I prefer a firm pot on my guitar.
Does anyone know what the deal is with that? Are Tribute Comanches supposed to have the treble pot have the push-pull function? And is it normal for one pot to feel so much looser than the others?
If this isn't normal, then I'll just add "upgrade/change the pots" to the list of things to do for this guitar and put that at the top of the list. Thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
Arcturus
Fri Aug 17, 2012 10:37 am
FenderGuy53 wrote:
Hey, Arcturus, I have the same kind of deal, but slightly different:
2009 Comanche: PTB System and Expander Switch Setups
1. Holding the guitar in the playing position, and working from closest to furthest, my pots are arranged as VOLUME, BASS and TREBLE. Is this correct?
2. The Expander function seems to be tied to my BASS pot, since that is the push/pull pot. Is this correct?
3. The shafts on the VOLUME and TREBLE pots are rigid, while the shaft on the BASS push/pull pot has a slight wobble. The pot seems to function okay and there is no scratchiness during adjustments. Also, I checked the nut securing the pot to the pickguard and it is tight. Is the wobble a sign that the pot is defective? Should it be replaced?
Hopefully, someone can chime in and shed some light on the subject for us. Thanks for your help, guys.
louis cyfer wrote:
you wouldn't want the push pull on the volume, since that is the most often used pot and you'll have a harder time doing volume swells when the pot is up. i switch out all push pull pots push push, as in performance they are much more useful. i also use low torque linear for volume and high torque audio taper the the treble.
Craig wrote:
I've brought your post to Dave McLaren's attention.
Stay tuned.
Fri Aug 17, 2012 10:39 am
FenderGuy53 wrote:
Hey, Arcturus, I have the same kind of deal, but slightly different:
2009 Comanche: PTB System and Expander Switch Setups
1. Holding the guitar in the playing position, and working from closest to furthest, my pots are arranged as VOLUME, BASS and TREBLE. Is this correct?
2. The Expander function seems to be tied to my BASS pot, since that is the push/pull pot. Is this correct?
3. The shafts on the VOLUME and TREBLE pots are rigid, while the shaft on the BASS push/pull pot has a slight wobble. The pot seems to function okay and there is no scratchiness during adjustments. Also, I checked the nut securing the pot to the pickguard and it is tight. Is the wobble a sign that the pot is defective? Should it be replaced?
Hopefully, someone can chime in and shed some light on the subject for us. Thanks for your help, guys.
Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:22 am
Craig wrote:FenderGuy53 wrote:
Hey, Arcturus, I have the same kind of deal, but slightly different:
2009 Comanche: PTB System and Expander Switch Setups
1. Holding the guitar in the playing position, and working from closest to furthest, my pots are arranged as VOLUME, BASS and TREBLE. Is this correct?
2. The Expander function seems to be tied to my BASS pot, since that is the push/pull pot. Is this correct?
3. The shafts on the VOLUME and TREBLE pots are rigid, while the shaft on the BASS push/pull pot has a slight wobble. The pot seems to function okay and there is no scratchiness during adjustments. Also, I checked the nut securing the pot to the pickguard and it is tight. Is the wobble a sign that the pot is defective? Should it be replaced?
Hopefully, someone can chime in and shed some light on the subject for us. Thanks for your help, guys.
The pots are Volume, Treble cut, Bass cut, so your's is the same as Arcturus' 2012 Comanche.
I suspect that the wobble on the push/pull pot is from the knob not being seated level on the shaft. The knob should be
secured to the shaft with an allen set screw, so you should be able to loosen it and reseat it.
Hope this helps.
Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:32 am
Arcturus wrote:FenderGuy53 wrote:
Hey, Arcturus, I have the same kind of deal, but slightly different:
2009 Comanche: PTB System and Expander Switch Setups
1. Holding the guitar in the playing position, and working from closest to furthest, my pots are arranged as VOLUME, BASS and TREBLE. Is this correct?
2. The Expander function seems to be tied to my BASS pot, since that is the push/pull pot. Is this correct?
3. The shafts on the VOLUME and TREBLE pots are rigid, while the shaft on the BASS push/pull pot has a slight wobble. The pot seems to function okay and there is no scratchiness during adjustments. Also, I checked the nut securing the pot to the pickguard and it is tight. Is the wobble a sign that the pot is defective? Should it be replaced?
Hopefully, someone can chime in and shed some light on the subject for us. Thanks for your help, guys.
No, mine is Volume (nice feel), Treble (push/pull, lousy feel), and Bass (nice feel). There's no scratchiness or negative effect on the sound when I use them, but the treble pot sure feels a lot flimsier than the others, and I was under the impression that from G&L's description of the push/pull switch being on the volume knob that something might be wrong with mine (says it's on the volume pot right here: http://goo.gl/FmgLk). I was wondering the same thing about a flimsy feeling pot needing replacement, especially considering it's not consistent with the others. Arcturus
Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:02 pm
Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:18 pm
louis cyfer wrote:the push push and push pull pot do have a slight inherent wiggle to them. kind of unavoidable because of the function. but it is rather small.
arcturus, there are low medium and high torque pots, look at mouser electronics, they pretty much carry anything.
Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:56 pm
Arcturus wrote:louis cyfer wrote:the push push and push pull pot do have a slight inherent wiggle to them. kind of unavoidable because of the function. but it is rather small.
arcturus, there are low medium and high torque pots, look at mouser electronics, they pretty much carry anything.
I looked through Mouser's website, but I didn't see anything in potentiometers that had to do with torque or anything like that. More to the point, none of the potentiometers on that site appeared to be push/pull or even 500k (even CTS and Alpha). Is there something I can look for on guitar related parts websites, like StewMac, AllParts, or GuitarPartsResource? What should I be looking for to know what kind of torque I'm getting?
Arcturus
Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:21 pm
louis cyfer wrote:i use mainly bourns pots. but you can find the push push and push pull at allparts and those are medium torque. only bourns marks the different torques. you can also change it. the difference is the pressure of the wiper and how much grease there is inside it. the more grease the more torque.
Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:57 pm
Fri Aug 17, 2012 10:10 pm
louis cyfer wrote:while bourns claims 15% tolerance, i have bought many and have found them to be within +/-5% or better. i always measure all pots and always buy several and use the best value for my purpose.
Fri Aug 17, 2012 10:53 pm
Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:21 pm
louis cyfer wrote:if you like solid feeling volume pots, the bourns 250k linear high torque would be a great choice. finding a linear taper push pull might be difficult. i had a very hard time locating a 250k linear taper low torque split shaft pot, i contacted bourns and they made it for me, sent me 20 of them, no charge. i don't think customer service could be better. i tested all 20, they were all between 242-255k. that is a very good tolerance. i would go with the 500k audio taper push push for the treble pot, and be done with it. the push push wirks so much better, all you have to do is tap the top and it switches.
Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:47 pm
Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:05 pm
Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:16 pm
Arcturus wrote:An update:
After checking the website information for specs once more, it appears that it now states that it is indeed the treble pot that is supposed to have the push/pull function and not the volume pot. I was certain, absolutely CERTAIN, that it said volume pot before, but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes. I feel very foolish right now, and now my memory is taunting me on what I saw before. If it did indeed say treble pot this entire time, then I feel that I've got egg on my face.
In any case, I guess I only need to replace a wobbly treble push/pull pot now and not a volume & treble switch. Would G&L be willing to help out with that, or would I be on my own?
Thanks,
Arcturus
Hi Craig,
It is the treble pot, not the volume, which makes perfect sense. We've just changed that on the site.
Regarding the tension difference, as much as I'd love them to be the same across all three, it seems to
be inherent in all of them. The factory tells us that it's due to design, which may be true, but I also think
there are variances in the production from the pot manufacturing. We see this in the US instruments as
well as the Tribute Series, though we have some more control here. The critical element is the proper value
and taper of the pots, so when picking our battles, that's our priority.
Thanks for the heads up, Craig.
Dave
Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:20 pm
Craig wrote:Arcturus wrote:An update:
After checking the website information for specs once more, it appears that it now states that it is indeed the treble pot that is supposed to have the push/pull function and not the volume pot. I was certain, absolutely CERTAIN, that it said volume pot before, but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes. I feel very foolish right now, and now my memory is taunting me on what I saw before. If it did indeed say treble pot this entire time, then I feel that I've got egg on my face.
In any case, I guess I only need to replace a wobbly treble push/pull pot now and not a volume & treble switch. Would G&L be willing to help out with that, or would I be on my own?
Thanks,
Arcturus
As I mentioned on Friday, I brought your post to Dave McLaren's attention.
I heard back from him earlier today and this is his reply:Hi Craig,
It is the treble pot, not the volume, which makes perfect sense. We've just changed that on the site.
Regarding the tension difference, as much as I'd love them to be the same across all three, it seems to
be inherent in all of them. The factory tells us that it's due to design, which may be true, but I also think
there are variances in the production from the pot manufacturing. We see this in the US instruments as
well as the Tribute Series, though we have some more control here. The critical element is the proper value
and taper of the pots, so when picking our battles, that's our priority.
Thanks for the heads up, Craig.
Dave
Hope this helps.