I've used CTS and Alpha pots and find them both quite sub par. I used 1meg solid shaft audio taper versions for volumes in a Hiwatt build and a 5E3 build. The tapers are horrible. What does everyone find to be good solid shaft pots with smooth taper?
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gotta be log taper? I get high quality CP or cermet bourns pots at 2-5Megs and then bridge the legs with whatever metal film resistor gets me the value I need. For audio/log taper in a "rheostat" variable resistor circuit I add a resistor from leg to wiper as described in the "secret life of pots" to get a good audio/log taper approximation. For voltage divider circuits I usually just go linear or settle for a crappy carbon log pot.
My favorite current pots:
dual 5M bourns 81 series 2w cermets:
$2 at the electronicsgoldmine.com
these split into a single pot and a trimmer easily and are silky smooth, or double up for a 10M guitar volume pot (!)
(FYI adding a TINY amount of loctite 290 to the shaft/bushing edge can add some resistance to "too smooth pots" but be careful not to poison the resistive element.)
other nice pots at apexjr.com
also http://brigarelectronics.com has oddball Alps audio taper pots, some with concentric shafts, for ~1/10 the price on Ebay
Alps and Spectrol are the choice of high end audiophiles, and cost $10-25 aftermarket, the Bourns "guitar" 91A1D series are some of the best audio taper single turn pots available, both cermet and CP lasting 100k cycles, although the CP handles 1/4w and the cermet 1w. They are in stock at Mouser for $14-23 at 500k, and 1M special order
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I've never used anything but the miniature Alpha pots, and they always worked fine for me. I like lots of knobs on my amps, and the mini pots mean room for more.
The only annoying thing is that I couldn't get the 220k in the right taper for a tone stack bass control."Enzo, I see that you replied parasitic oscillations. Is that a hypothesis? Or is that your amazing metal band I should check out?"
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Those Alpha pot's that everyone sells with aluminum bushings and Cad plated covers? All the ones I have are seized up and will barely turn. I avoid them unless have to go cheap.Now Trending: China has found a way to turn stupidity into money!
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