Vol knob basics.

[Sea Chief]

I'm still on page 1 it seems on some very basics.. rather embarassingly. Problem is: on my tele, I turn the vol knob & it decreaces only gradually down (almost imperceptibly) through the majority of the knob's rotation, then a sudden lurch to zero at the end. So it's sort of useless.. as I am.

I know it's got to be a taper thing only.

Thanks- SC

[pdf64]

I think your vol pot may be a linear taper. If that’s not working how you want, maybe try an audio taper type.

[Sea Chief]

I think your vol pot may be a linear taper. If that’s not working how you want, maybe try an audio taper type.

Hi pdf.. what is the usual pot here though? I'm fairly sure I put in a 'usual/ correct' pot with regard to whether audio or linear.

Does the interaction with the tone 'circuit' have any bearing on how the vol pot behaves?

thanks SC

[Sea Chief]

pdf64 yes it seems to be a B500K linear (mini cheapo 'CF' pot, both of them).

I do find an addition on lugs 1& 2.. a 680pf silva mica cap, plus resistors in series 100k & another(?) across the same lugs 1&2. I can't remember what for. But it does make things a bit complicated on this pot.

[Helmholtz]

Guitar vol. pot should def. be audio (A) or log type.

Also it seems that there is a treble bleed network across the pot which may cause the effect described.

If the wiring is not clear, please post a picture.

[Chuck H]

Guitar vol. pot should def. be audio (A) or log type.

Also it seems that there is a treble bleed network across the pot which may cause the effect described.

If the wiring is not clear, please post a picture.

With the cap and resistor in series the taper should only be affected on the treble. Which is the point of any treble bleed I suppose. It's those dreaded circuits that use the cap and resistor in parallel that speed up the taper badly.

IMHE 680p with a 100k in series is too large a capacitor. Since this guitar is using 500k I'll assume it's a humbucker tele, which would use a larger cap than a single coil model, but the 100k series resistor changes the impedance of the circuit and lowers the knee frequency of the capacitor. Maybe try a 330p in series with the 100k resistor... Using an audio taper pot.

[Sea Chief]

Guitar vol. pot should def. be audio (A) or log type.

Also it seems that there is a treble bleed network across the pot which may cause the effect described.

If the wiring is not clear, please post a picture.

Thanks Helmholtz.. ok why on earth there is a linear vol pot Ive no idea. The vol is the one closest to the neck p/u.. isn't it?

Yes I fitted the cap & r's to counter the treble loss, whenever it was (I dont think it did much good tbh: but hard to tell if I had just an eighth of a turn of the knob to tell!).

Also find the cavity actually -can- accomodate a full sized pot, by a gnat's chuff. So I might replace both of these cheapo chinese minis.

[vintagekiki]

https://guitarelectronics.com/original-fender-telecaster-wiring-diagrams/
Original Fender Telecaster Wiring Diagrams

1)
http://milas.spb.ru/~kmg/files/literature/Guitar_Electronics_for_Musicians_-_Donald_Brosnac.pdf
Guitar Electronics for Musicians - Donald Brosnac
2)
www.ak-line.com/medium/F-Telecaster-Schaltungen.pdf
Schaltungen der / für die TELECASTER mit Schaltdiagrammen

[Sea Chief]

https://guitarelectronics.com/original-fender-telecaster-wiring-diagrams/
Original Fender Telecaster Wiring Diagrams

1)
http://milas.spb.ru/~kmg/files/literature/Guitar_Electronics_for_Musicians_-_Donald_Brosnac.pdf
Guitar Electronics for Musicians - Donald Brosnac
2)
www.ak-line.com/medium/F-Telecaster-Schaltungen.pdf
Schaltungen der / für die TELECASTER mit Schaltdiagrammen

And there was me thinking there was 1 telecaster wiring..

jesusH how the dickens can I.. what do I.. where do I start?!

[Chuck H]

And there was me thinking there was 1 telecaster wiring..

jesusH how the dickens can I.. what do I.. where do I start?!

Start by telling us what model tele you have

[Sea Chief]

Start by telling us what model tele you have

Hi Chuck over here. i have to keep tabs on my threads. like an octopus I am.

Well you see its just a £80 ebay japan neck tele thing. fender texas special p/ups mind you. Lord knows which circuit I wired it up as. 'normal way' doesn't help does it?

[Chuck H]

Hi Chuck over here. i have to keep tabs on my threads. like an octopus I am.

Well you see its just a £80 ebay japan neck tele thing. fender texas special p/ups mind you. Lord knows which circuit I wired it up as. 'normal way' doesn't help does it?

Helps plenty. The Texas Specials are good sounding pickups in my experience. And Japanese necks are usually of better spec and equal materials to anything else, so...

Most guys use 250k pots with single coil pickups. I actually use 500k on my humbucker/single/single strat because it's a little dark sounding as strats go so the greater resonant peak helps. If your guitar is typical or if it seems too bright you could try using 250k pots.

[Sea Chief]

Helps plenty. The Texas Specials are good sounding pickups in my experience. And Japanese necks are usually of better spec and equal materials to anything else, so...

Most guys use 250k pots with single coil pickups. I actually use 500k on my humbucker/single/single strat because it's a little dark sounding as strats go so the greater resonant peak helps. If your guitar is typical or if it seems too bright you could try using 250k pots.

Doesn't mean I wired it up as a texas special one tho. Anyway, after finding a B500k mini pot crappo thing as my vol.. I've just got a normal sized Alpha A500k to replace it. Which seems to counter your notion that 250k pots found in a single coil.

But if you say 'use 250k pots if your gtr sounds bright'.. & neither any gtr or amp has ever sounded anything but dark/dark/dark, to me.. then 500k should be ok then-?

[Chuck H]

But if you say 'use 250k pots if your gtr sounds bright'.. & neither any gtr or amp has ever sounded anything but dark/dark/dark, to me.. then 500k should be ok then-?

Yes. If you like it bright then the 500k is the way to go.

As to Alpha pots... Their standard "A" pot has a 15% taper. I think they're fine as guitar volumes though the vintage standard for this spec is a 10% taper. That said, there are many examples of other tapers being used in vintage gear regardless of this "standard".

To make it clear, a 15% taper will still be less gradual than a 10% taper. Bourns and CTS offer 10% taper pots. The Bourns pots are available in 16mm and that would surely fit in your guitar. This because you mentioned that the full size pots are a tight fit.

But really, the Alpha is fine. I used one in my guitar for years. Sometimes I play with pretty high gain and the Alpha pot was a little touchy getting the guitar cleaned up. With the appropriate volume knob setting being somewhere between .8 and 1.2 or so. I'm using a 10% taper now and that does give me noticeably more control when turned down.

[Delta362]

I prefer linear tapered pots for my volumes pots. I have better control when I roll the volume knob back to clean up the signal without losing noticeable volume. I do not do volume swells. As an FYI, most guitars use audio (log) taper for volume pots.