250k Vs 500k Pots For Humbuckers

Most hss strats use a 250k so the singles see the correct ohm but the humbucker suffers.

250k vs 500k pots for humbuckers. Tone cap s generally speaking the higher the value the more bass you have at zero. It s a rule for a reason. Therefore a 500k pot will result in a brighter tone than a 250k pot used on the same pickup. Finally threw in a 500k volume and it s my favorite humbucker tone right now.

Typically it s 250k for single coils and 500k for humbuckers. So let s get to the bottom of it. 500k control pots are the usual choice for humbuckers. An audio taper travels from zero to max in a logarithmic way similar to the way the human ear works.

We use 250k pots for the single coils because these pickups are often very bright. There is no perfect solution to this combination pickup scheme but there are a number of very good ones. I just tried a bunch of humbuckers with my 250k strat trying to find one that didn t sound muddy. Generally speaking to control volume humbuckers should be paired to 500k pots while single coil pickups should be paired with 250k pots.

K is the abbreviation for kilo or 1 000. This type of pot will cause the volume to seem to change the most right when it is almost all the way up. Halfway through a 500k pot should have a resistance of around 250k. While there are 1 meg potsout there the vast majority of electrics use either 250 or 500.

Why does the value of the pot matter. Just had to get this one off my chest. Gibson has also been known to use around 300k for their humbucking equipped guitars volume pots. Allowing some of the highs to slip away can reduce the shrill and warm up the high notes.

Yes it is typical you will find 250k pots used on nearly all traditional strat 3 single coil sss configurations and 500k pots used on nearly all 2 humbucker hh configurations. Humbuckers sound better with 500k pots. Mixing humbuckers and single coil pickups should i use 500k ohm or 250k ohm pots. First i wanted to make something really clear up front.

These k numbers are the resistance ratings kohms. When to use 500k pots. 250k control pots are the usual choice for single coil pickups. Whilst there are many variables to consider the traditional volume pot values appear to be the best choice in most sc.

1meg ohm is 1 000k or 1 million ohms. We use the 500k pots for the humbuckers because they are warm and dark sounding so we want to preserve as much high end as we can. Mixing humbuchers and single coil pickups. A linear taper goes from zero to max in a linear fashion.

Pots generally speaking the higher the value the brighter the tone. But the why remains a cloudy subject. It is also known that a 500k pot will give you more highs than a 250k pot.