Pot taper question

[daz]

I've asked some pretty lame questions here, but this one may take the cake. I always thought the answer to this was obvious and would till now never have asked this, but i read something recently that had me wondering what i could be missing. So here goes....in a position like a typical marshall tonestack where the 25k mid control has one side grounded, the other going to the bass pot, and center taking the mid cap input. Can the pot's taper make any difference in the tone besides the obvious difference in where things happen along the rotation? I realize one will have the same resistances at a different point in the rotation than the other. But is there anything else that could be different tonally ? Like i said, stupid question, but i read something that made me wonder if there was something not so obvious i may be missing.

[Enzo]

All the circuit knows is the resistance, it has no idea which way the knob points. Taper is totally a convenience for you, the user. Only thing it will change is where the knob points for your setting.

[daz]

All the circuit knows is the resistance, it has no idea which way the knob points. Taper is totally a convenience for you, the user. Only thing it will change is where the knob points for your setting.

Thanks. Thats what logically makes sense and there seems no other possibility. But you know how that goes....someone mentions something you never would have thought of. Just wanted 2 b sure, thanks.

[soundguruman]

Well, if the adjustment is spread out over a very narrow range, (consumer grade) then it is harder to dial a certain setting.
The knob points, but the area it points at is much smaller in cheaper controls, the entire adjustment range occurs over 40% of the rotation...
The other 60% rotation produces no audible change, or very little.
This is "audio taper" consumer grade, cheap...

In professional Grade, the taper is specially developed to spread out the adjustment range over a much wider area,
nearly 90% or more of the adjustment range rotation produces an audible change in sound.
So, you could say that it makes it "easier" to find a particular setting ...and some musicians seem to prefer this convenience.

Then in that respect, the taper can make the difference in the sound it produces.
I can now dial a spot easier than it was with the cheap control....

However, not everybody has a musically qualified ear, some may not appreciate this improvement.

I do like these pro grade pots a lot, but they cost 10X more than the consumer grade.
I would rather use them, from the standpoint (as a) of a guitar player.

Precision Electronics Corporation: Potentiometers

[daz]

Trust me...I DO appreciate it ! I went thru a number of pots trying to find a 1M with a taper that didn't do that for the master on my amp. I ended up having to find some NOS that were the same pot as an old one i had that had a good taper for that position. It was old and damaged but i could see the taper was right. Googled the numbers on the casing and after a LOT of research found one site that had some old NOS pots for sale with a pic and i could see they were the same. Now i can adjust the volume at very low bedroom levels to where i want instead of trying to barely move it only to have the volume jump from bedroom level to pissed off neighbor level and impossible to find that spot in between. Turned out they were old CTS from the early 70's if i recall.

Well, if the adjustment is spread out over a very narrow range, (consumer grade) then it is harder to dial a certain setting.
The knob points, but the area it points at is much smaller in cheaper controls, the entire adjustment range occurs over 40% of the rotation...
The other 60% rotation produces no audible change, or very little.
This is "audio taper" consumer grade, cheap...

In professional Grade, the taper is specially developed to spread out the adjustment range over a much wider area,
nearly 90% or more of the adjustment range rotation produces an audible change in sound.
So, you could say that it makes it "easier" to find a particular setting ...and some musicians seem to prefer this convenience.

Then in that respect, the taper can make the difference in the sound it produces.
I can now dial a spot easier than it was with the cheap control....

However, not everybody has a musically qualified ear, some may not appreciate this improvement.

I do like these pro grade pots a lot, but they cost 10X more than the consumer grade.
I would rather use them, from the standpoint (as a) of a guitar player.

Precision Electronics Corporation: Potentiometers

[Chuck H]

I like a well considered taper myself. Contrary to SGM I think this has much more to do with circuit design than pot quality. A parabolic taper vs. a ramp taper IS nice though and you will rarely get a parabolic taper in a cheap pot. But to say a certain pot is always superior by virtue of it's taper design assumes that all adjustable circuits require the same taper. They do not. I use pots of several different tapers in my designs to idealize things like the nominal setting position and adjustment range. And I don't usually use expensive pots. I would never pay ten times the price of a common pot in search of something special. But then I must have blunt, unrefined musical sensibilities.

[Gingertube]

Get any taper you want -
The Secret Life of Pots

There was also an article from a few years back which was entitled "Bendy Pots".
This may be it - I don't know coz the work Internet filter is being its usual over achieving self and won't let me look.
http://www.wavefront.mcmail.com/pot.htm
If this is'nt it, yell, I have a hardcopy of it at home somewhere and can scan it.

Cheers,
Ian