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Paul P
10-30-2007, 07:20 PM
I'm in the process of gathering all the parts for my amp. Most everything
has been decided but the potentiometers are giving me a bit of trouble.

Is there a big difference if I use 250K linear pots instead of log tapers
for the bass and treble controls ? I've read some people say that they
prefer linears. Fender's audio tapers were 30% which is pretty close to
linear.

I originally wanted to use Bourns 3852 cermet pots but I can't find a
source.

So I've decided to go with pots made by Precision Electronic Components
sold by Digi-Key, these are MIL style K/RV4 :

http://www.precisionelectronics.com/MIL%20Style%20RV4%20PDF%20Download_files/MIL%20Style%20RV4.pdf

These have "hot molded carbon elements". Is this just regular carbon ?
Anyone used these pots ?

All the values I need are available except the 4M and 10M reverse audio
for the vibrato. What would be a good choice for these ?

I also tried to source various Clarostats, they look good, but I can't find
them in log tapers anywhere in single quantities.

I've spent hours searching for pots. Any help would be appreciated.

Paul P

LeftyStrat
10-30-2007, 08:32 PM
I get Clarostat pots from here:

http://westlabs.com/

He has 250k in both linear and audio tapers.

I doubt you'll find reverse audio tapers anywhere. But you can probably simulate them:

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm

stokes
10-31-2007, 02:23 AM
Ted Weber has 3m and 10m reverse audio pots.

Paul P
10-31-2007, 05:06 AM
Thanks for the help.

Are Ted Weber's pot's any good ? He also has the 350k-70k tap
treble pots which would better fit my circuit. At 2.00$ each I'm
a bit worried that they're not the highest quality.

For the 4M and 10M pots I've been thinking about using a 1M
audio pot with a rotary switch to switch in a variable number
of 1M resistors. Kind of kludgy but it would permit me to use
a quality pot.

Angela Instruments has some NOS Clarostats that are in the
proper range but they're linear. Would this make a big difference
in a vibrato circuit (speed and intensity) ?

Paul P