new tone pot

Generally speaking, use 500k pots on guitars with humbuckers like your SG, 250k on guitars with single-coils like a Stratocaster.

The difference is how much of the frequency is attenuated. A higher number on the pot means less frequency is cut off (or conversely, more is allowed to pass through.) Humbuckers need to let more highs pass through or they'll sound muddy. But a higher pot value paired with a single coil can make it sound excessively bright.

What's also important is the capacitor value. A 4.7k-ohm tone cap will roll off the frequencies faster than a 2.2k-ohm cap as you turn the tone pot knob. Again, speaking generally, you'll often find a 4.7k cap paired with a 500k pot, and a 2.2k cap paired with a 250k pot. But you can experiment with that, according to your own preference.

thanks for the quick reply,i will keep the 250k for future use 8)

What's also important is the capacitor value. A 4.7k-ohm tone cap will roll off the frequencies faster than a 2.2k-ohm cap as you turn the tone pot knob. Again, speaking generally, you'll often find a 4.7k cap paired with a 500k pot, and a 2.2k cap paired with a 250k pot. But you can experiment with that, according to your own preference.Ahem.
Mitch meant to say "micro-Farads" in all those places where he wrote "kilo-Ohms." He was just seeing who was really paying attention. :wink:
To get all the decimal points in the right places, I try to standardize on writing it as ".015 µF" or whatever when referring to caps. The .015 µF is what some vendors sell as the "Woman Tone" cap, .022 and .033 are a couple of other common choices, and .047 is generally considered the "darkest."
Something posted by Dirk at Singlecoil.com: http://singlecoil.com/docs/rotary.pdf . I might use a variation of the rotary switch idea some day, but what I also found interesting was the comment in the first paragraph, about what values are used in Fenders and Gibsons. (I don't own a guitar made by either brand, so I can't take one apart to confirm or deny this.)

Mitch meant to say "micro-Farads" in all those places where he wrote "kilo-Ohms." He was just seeing who was really paying attention. :wink:

ROFLMAO!!! Hey Doug, haven't seen you in a while! I knew my "typos" would bring you out of the woodwork. Intentional, of course. :D

k-ohms, microfarads - jeez, man, it's a guitar we're talking about, not electrical engineering! :lol:

My experience is that 500K pots are on the majority of humbuckers and 250K on single coils, there are exceptions though, P-90's use 500K and some early 70's telecasters used 1 Meg pots (1Meg= 1000K).

What you can do to see what you need to replace with original specs is to connect an ohmmeter to the outside terminals of the bad pot, this will give you the total resistance reading of the pot in question, the center terminal is the wiping blade, or the variable resistor part of the pot, this is what usually goes bad with them.

There is one other spec on pots, it's called taper and has to do with how the variance of resistance is applied as the pot is turned, but mostly all guitar and amp applications call for an "Audio taper". I believe that it actually is set up so that we can hear a change faster than if a "Linear taper" pot is used.

There is one other spec on pots, it's called taper and has to do with how the variance of resistance is applied as the pot is turned, but mostly all guitar and amp applications call for an "Audio taper". I believe that it actually is set up so that we can hear a change faster than if a "Linear taper" pot is used.What you want is an "audio taper" or "log taper" on the volume, and a linear taper on the tone control. We hear volume logarithmically, and if you use a linear taper pot, the response seems to be crowded up in one end of the knob travel. Tone is a linear function, though.

Excellent info, guys. I've considered upgrading the electronics on my SX LP copy at some point (after getting another guitar), but had no idea what to expect. You have all clairified things greatly!

does anyone have a schematic for gibson double humbuck set up,after reading single coil.com i might try a lower cap.i haven't heard someone mention woman tone in a long time,it always reminds me of an old eric clapton interview were he explains the controls on his SG its a classic i've been searching you-tube for it 8)

Good schematics resources:

http://guitarelectronics.com/category/wiringresources.22pickupdiagrams/

and

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schematics.shtml

thanks for the link the seymour duncan site has great diagrams,thank you again 8)

Hey Ricochet, Thanks for the info on taper, I never realized that a linear taper was used on tone, I don't think I've ever replaced a tone pot in all the years I've been playing, I actually don't think I've ever even used one either! Hmmm..... What does that say about me? :oops:

Come to think of it, I rarely turn down my tone pots, either.

...and a linear taper on the tone control....

I like to view this forum from time to time.

I'm amazed at how much common sense some of the members, without high level technical backgrounds (Wes Inman for one) can apply, and consistently come up with good advice.

SoundsGood,

Do NOT waste your money buying a linear taper pot for your tone control.
If you do, it will have almost no effect until you get near minimum.
Fortuntely, many people use their tone controls in a 'binary' fashion (full-on or full-off) , for them, it won't really make a difference.
For those who actually dial-in the amount of treble-cut they want, it will make a BIG difference.

Comment by nj&ear:
This post has been altered by Admin and does not represent the entirety of the original post.

Indeed there is a responsibility to post accurate information, nj&ear. And I did.

If you will Google on the terms "tone pot" and taper, you will find many recommendations on reputable sites for linear pots for tone controls. I am not making this up, nor am I grossly ignorant of how tone controls work.

The passive tone control found in most electric guitars is a simple treble-cutting series RC filter. A resistor (variable, the pot in question) is in series with a capacitor, shunted across the output of the pickup. This is a low-pass filter, the cutoff frequency of which is varied by the resistance.

I will refer to the Radiotron Designer's Handbook, 4th edition, pp. 174-5, where such a circuit is diagrammed, the equations governing its function are listed, and an example is given showing graphed attenuation characteristics for a set of varying resistance and capacitance values. The take-home point is that the equation is linear. The cutoff frequency is 1/(2piRC). There are no exponential or logarithmic terms. The cutoff frequency above which the signal level rolls off varies directly with the varying resistance of the pot.

A guitar's tone control isn't the only factor in the sound chain affecting the perceived tone, of course. If the amp's set to cut off frequencies above a level below the tone control's upper response range, the tone control will appear to have no effect until its cutoff frequency drops below the amp's. Same with the response of the speaker. Or the hearer's sound perception, if he suffers from high frequency hearing loss.

The above being your first post on GuitarNoise, I'd like to welcome you to contribute your knowledge to our discussions. If you have references or data contradicting my explanation, please provide them.