About changing potentiometers

[ggodoree]

Hi,

my bass knob for g&l legacy has been faulty for a while,
so i am thinking of changing potentiometer to new one.
I have heard CTS pots are the best.
DO i just buy 1M linear pot or,
do i have to buy "REVERSE" 1M linear pot for my bass knob?
(The bass knob originally use 1M pot it says)

P.S Previously, I ordered one from BBE sound, but they have got
me a 1M pot (REVERSE) with shaft which is a bit higher.. so i decided to replace the pot by myself with purchasing of CTS pot.

[Ken Baker]

Hi,

my bass knob for g&l legacy has been faulty for a while,
so i am thinking of changing potentiometer to new one.
I have heard CTS pots are the best.

CTS pots are not necessarily the best, but they are considered a defacto standard.
<hmm... That's kind of redundant.>
CTS pots are not necessarily the best, but they are a defacto standard.
<Yeah. That's better.>

DO i just buy 1M linear pot or,
do i have to buy "REVERSE" 1M linear pot for my bass knob?
(The bass knob originally use 1M pot it says)

You don't have to buy the reverse audio taper pot, as a regular taper will work. The difference will be in how the action of the pot affects the tone.

P.S Previously, I ordered one from BBE sound, but they have got
me a 1M pot (REVERSE) with shaft which is a bit higher.. so i decided to replace the pot by myself with purchasing of CTS pot.

This should only be a visual thing. So from a visual perspective, it doesn't matter so long as the knobs are at an even height. You can adjust the height using the jam nuts on the pot shank. If your knobs use a set screw, then you can adjust there as well.

Ken...

[ggodoree]

U said, i can just use regular taper for my bass knob,
does it mean that i can just use
- 1M audio taper
OR
- 1M linear taper ?

[Ken Baker]

U said, i can just use regular taper for my bass knob,
does it mean that i can just use
- 1M audio taper
OR
- 1M linear taper ?

Perhaps I should have been more precise. When I said "regular" I meant regular audio taper. So, to clarify my statement above, even above & beyond my original statement:

You are not required to buy the reverse audio taper pot, as a regular (normal) audio taper pot will work as a bass control in this circuit. However, there will be an audible difference in how the action of the pot affects the tone.

Why did I not say "regular audio taper" originally? A couple reasons: (1) Because reverse audio taper pots are quite limited in their implementation, to the point that G&L is one of the very few places to buy them in the US in non-OEM quantities; and (2) The context of the thread and the implementation (a passive guitar circuit) assumes audio taper, at least to me.

Hope you enjoy your Legacy,

Ken...

[mann_jt]

actually a 1meg linear taper would work far better because an audio taper pot would cut your bass almost instantly as you rolled off of ten to nine. the 1 meg reverse audio pots that you can buy directly from the g&l website are by far the best pots that you can get for this application and plus they are cheaper than almost any other quality pots that you can buy.