I built a Strat around Xmas last year and I made a silly rookie mistake. It was my first time building a guitar, but the main reason was that I had never played a Strat before.
I normally play a Tele. I didnāt know that itās quite easy on a Strat to accidentally knock the volume knob while strumming. The problem is that the pots (all 3) have very little resistance when you turn them, so that I slight accidental touch allows the knob to turn a lot. On my Teleās the volume and tone knobs have a lot more resistance. Iāve seen guitar players in videos reaching down to the volume knob and turning it with their little (pinkie) finger which would be difficult with my Tele. But on the Strat itās the opposite. So it means that I can easily turn the volume knob with my little finger but its also very easy to accidentally hit the volume knob and greatly reduce the volume (even to nothing).
So Iām probably going to have to change at least one of the pots. itās a shame because the tone of the guitar is very good and so ideally I wouldnāt change any parts. What Iām surprised about is that I bought a wiring kit from Tube Amp Doctor in Germany specifically for Strat wiring upgrades and I think that many people would have the same problem as me, so IMO the pots are not ideal for Strat.
If I replace the pots, the current ones are Ā« CTS 250k Vintage Audio Taper (30% LOG) Dimple Guitar-Potentiometer, knurled 24 teeth shaft Ā» What does that mean, Vintage audio taper (30% LOG)?
Try a piece of thick felt or something under the pot to give you the tactile resistance you want. Might like that better than a different pot.
An audio taper is a log change in the resistance referenced to the % rotation. Iāve never heard of a 30% log.
Our ears are close to log when we sense how volume changes. For that reason, we use log tapers for volume pots in audio gear - the expectation of how much we spin the knob better matches what our ears are telling us.
This is how many teeth are in the shaft so you can get a matching knob for it. I doubt it is knurled. My guess is someone doesnāt know what that means and it sounded cool so made it into the marketing description. Knurling will remove the individual teeth on the shaft and instead turn it into diamond shapes. Makes for nice non-slip surfaces, but knobs will eventually wear and slip. I cannot think of a knurled pot shaft I have seen.
Look at the wikipedia picture and youāll recognize it:
CTS = manufacturer
250k = pot value across the outer terminals
Vintage = coolness factor speak to charge more money from guitarists (ok, maybe this is part of the 30% thing? - My current guess is where they put the knee. The article I read had some information I donāt think is accurate, so even this graph seems suspect. I did not link it because if this.)
Resellers get a lot of money for pots and caps. They re-market these as special when they are not any different than what youāll get going straight to a standard parts reseller like Mouser or DigiKey.
if you like your tone, and still want to change your pot, then going with the same value will not change your guitarās sound. You are safe there. If you change the value of the cap or pot, that is when you will hear a difference.
Thanks so much @sequences. Iām going to try the felt under the pot. Didnāt think of that! That could solve my problem.
Thanks for the long explanation about the different features of the pots. I should have been more specific - it was just the 30% Log part I didnāt understand.
I just had a quick browse, and came across a reference to a CTS 30% taper - it is a slightly different logarithmic pot, blending (apparently) a linear and log together.
The rotational resistance (Torque) does seem to vary on pots.
I specifically ordered some from Mouser (Bourns) because they were low torque, but they were reverse log for lefties like me.
I initially thought ānoā but now that I think of it, maybe you do need to get the reverse log taper because you will be swapping terminals around as well.
Didnāt know you did that for lefty, but i guess the mirror image of the motion might be handy.
I got the 500Ks to replace the Jazzmaster style pickups with humbuckers in my offset guitar, and got the 250Ks in case I want something else.
Ordering these and the snap on ferrite cores from Mouser was cheaper than trying to source anything from the UK.
ā¦Of course, I havenāt actually got round to replacing the pickups yet, but thatās a different story.
