Tone Pot Tapers
This is a quick video comparing linear and audio/log tapers for a tone control. I’m comparing a Bourns 500k audio taper pot (PDB241-GTR01-504A2) with a Philmore PC27 500k linear taper pot. The capacitor is a .022uF Orange Drop (225P100V 223K). I’ve wired the neck pickup directly to the jack with the tone pot in parallel, just like a normal guitar circuit, but with no volume pot.
It’s pretty clear to me that the audio/log taper pot results in a smoother transition in brightness through the entire range of the pot.
The linear pot seems to reach full brightness in the first quarter turn of the pot, and then doesn’t change much for the rest of the pot range.
November 13, 2009 @ 7:31 pm
well. Much more control and I would think more tone options.
November 13, 2009 @ 8:28 pm
Hey, John.
Liked the video and sent it to a buddy of mine who is into all things guitar-related (favorite guitar of his for me is a hollow-body Telecaster with f-holes on it from the 60’s…)
A quick question (and I apologize for it not being on topic)…
What camera do you use for these videos as the image quality is great.
I am looking to add live streaming video to our web site for technical support purposes and am currently playing with the new Microsoft Lifecam Cinema HD (I left it up and running streaming through the VidBlaster switcher, to FME then up the data half of our T1 to OnStreamMedia.com):
http://www.TonerRefillKits.com/video.php
(That image is of a customer LANC controller for Sony/Canon camcorders with the ctrl-L port)
Thanks,
Duane
November 13, 2009 @ 9:17 pm
Hey Duane,
I like those hollow-body telecasters too. Nice guitars!
I’ve been experimenting with cameras. If you watch some of my other video posts, you can see a progression in quality from total crap (MS Lifecam VX-5000), to better (Logitech Pro-9000), to a little bit better (Microsoft Cinema HD, same as yours), and finally I’m now experimenting with a Canon HF-200 flash camcorder (awesome). (I put the camera I used in the keywords of the youtube video, so you can tell which ones are which).
The webcams all have issues, but are acceptable for general use. The mics all have problems. The video clarity suffers especially at the edges of the frame, etc. The Canon camcorder is a joy to work with, but it’s 10x the price of the webcams.
Maybe I’ll do a blog post to describe my experiences with these. Of the webcams, the new MS Cinema HD looks the best, but if you have to use its mic, you’ll hear it has an annoying high pitched whine. Also it tends to zip in and out of focus a lot, forcing me to switch to all manual WB, focus and exposure when recording. The logitech Pro-9000’s mic was excessively sensitive and sounded horrible when clipping.
Your live MS Cinema HD video there of the controller chip looks great. I’d say for your purposes, it’s probably the best of the bunch – maybe also take a look at the pro-9000.
Hope this helps,
-John
November 14, 2009 @ 7:35 am
Thanks for the quick and detailed reply, John.
A quick question on the HF200 (it really does look great).
Can you use it as a streaming web cam (either via firewire or USB)?
For our technical support videos on YouTube we use the Canon XH-A1, but the thought of using a $4000 camera (suspended in mid-air via an upside down P.O.V. tripod) for this purpose is not appealing (if we totally destroy the Lifecam somehow, life goes on… if we accidentally toast the XH A1 by leaving it on 24/7, I’m not going to be a happy camper).
Plus, it appears that the PC accepting true uncompressed HD input from the XH A1 (I think it is uncompressed, even if it is, the data stream is enormous) really taxes the CPU of the PC we are doing the video switching on.
The VidBlaster.com switching software has a CPU monitor and two or three of the HD Lifecams doesn’t push CPU usage over 40%.
Even if the XH A1 isn’t taken live and only the output from it is monitored in one of the camera windows, CPU usage is up over 85% and higher.
Since the PC is being called upon to do the camera switching, Flash Media Encoding and the streaming, that excessive CPU load then makes for other problems (dropped frames, etc.).
My thought is, since the HF200 has such great video quality, if it had a built-in facility to use it as a streaming camera, it might be the perfect mid-point.
(Nuts… I just checked the specs on it and it doesn’t have a LANC/ctrl-l remote port on it. That Ctrl-L port that Sony and Canon came up with allows for a wired remoted that can do all sorts of extra stuff like manual focusing, manual toggling of auto/manual exposure, remote access of the menus so you can sit in your comfy chair and watch the on-screen preview output and change white balance, auto-exposure, etc.)
So as not to bore you further with this, I’ll thank you, again, for the quick and detailed reply.
Duane
November 14, 2009 @ 10:50 am
Unfortunately, the HF-200 doesn’t have the ability to live-stream over usb. I record to flash, then transfer the files over usb to the PC for editing in Sony Vegas.
That XH-A1 is a thing of beauty! I guess the LANC/Control-L remote is reserved for the pro cams. The HF-200 has a wireless remote which can zoom, start/stop, and use menus – but it’s pretty simple.
-John
November 14, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
question regarding tone pots, cause some people on this forum were like
“use linear for tone because your ears hear in log for volume only, not for
tone/frequency, differentiation…” but i was thinking, isnt the tone pot
controlling the volume of the high frequencies, not actually changing
frequencies, at least thats what i thought, well, thanks for the good demo
man
November 17, 2009 @ 10:51 pm
November 19, 2009 @ 11:18 am
November 23, 2009 @ 10:03 pm
November 28, 2009 @ 11:45 am
been watching. Again thanks for all the help!
December 25, 2009 @ 12:29 pm
I would like to split them to a single coils. What are the best pots to do
that? my preferences are to fade in slowly like the logaritmics. Thank you
January 6, 2010 @ 1:32 pm
was true. On paper it seems to make sense – linear pots have a linear slope
which should result in a more consistent sweep over the range of the pot.
On a graph of a linear pot, 1 is 10 percent, 3 is 30 percent, 7 is 70 etc.
– can you shed light on this? Thanks!
January 8, 2010 @ 11:10 am
complicated. The ear has an enormous dynamic range (from very quiet to very
loud), and loudness is perceived differently at different pitches.
Generally, using audio taper for a volume pot is the best match for how
your ear perceives loudness.
January 11, 2010 @ 7:44 am
I’m going to use audio taper for volume and tone in my next project. Thanks
again!
January 21, 2010 @ 7:24 am
from ebay to put in my 58 vos..do you know if they are easy to install and
what things to look out for? cheers..
January 21, 2010 @ 10:31 am
showing your use of the clips,,that should be an intersting video with the
tone caps, many people remark how their tone got more creamy and mellow
after upgrading the caps this will be the first time ive ever modded a
guitar..cheers for the reply:)
June 24, 2010 @ 7:37 am
November 13, 2010 @ 3:43 pm
November 24, 2010 @ 9:03 am
February 1, 2011 @ 8:04 am
Difficult Decisions - Planet Z
February 3, 2011 @ 6:19 pm
[…] loudness is extremely dependent on the particular ear and brain of the listener. When I suggested that audio-taper works well for both volume and tone controls, I got some very bizarre responses […]
March 6, 2011 @ 1:31 am
March 19, 2011 @ 2:07 pm
March 19, 2011 @ 2:12 pm
March 23, 2011 @ 10:09 am
March 23, 2011 @ 10:11 am
March 26, 2011 @ 1:11 pm
I have two fender strats that were SSS and sounded so much alike, that I never played one. I decided to change the pups, and bought a book on how to do setups yourself, and I got brave enough to give it a try. Right now my 2006 MIM strat sounds so fantastic I really love it….and I hooked it up wrong and its not in phase. I have not opened up to change the black and green wires yet, as I just ordered a 500K Blend pot, and it will come in on April 1st or 2nd.
Before then, I have a lot of wiring diagrams to study and I admit I am confused because of what I want to do. I thought I could just take one of my tone pots and make that a blend pot, but when I found out I could not, I ordered one.
I bought a model 59 SD and that has only a hot wire and a braided ground wire. It is my Bridge Pup. The original Tex Mex is in the middle position, and a 4 wire SD Hotrail is my neck pup.
I bought a 500 K push pull so that I could split the neck pup for the push pull to have two tones. I bought a SD liberator so that I
can change the pups around in the future and not have to re-soldier anything.
I switched two wires, and now I dont know if it was the 3 or 4 wire, but my number 3 position on my 5 pos fender switch gives me
neck and bridge at same time, instead of just the middle pup. I like that alot…as it sounds really nice.
Ive gone on the SD website and they have tons of options for wiring, but im not seeing what I want to do, so Im just going nuts, and know better then to take my strings off the guitar and not be ready to put everything the way I want. Im not going to let it sit for days with no pressure from strings, and mess up the neck.
So blend the neck and bridge
Split the 4 wire humbucker with the 500k Dimarzio pot (just noticed it said it could be a taper too)
Switch the green and black so the two hums are in phase with fender middle pup.
maintain middle 3 pos on 5 way sw so that neck and bridge are same time.
If you could point me in the right direction to what diagrams I would need, I would appreciate it very very much.
Mike Kelly Sr
March 31, 2011 @ 7:27 pm
I’m not totally clear on your setup. But I generally find that it really helps to look at the diagrams here:
http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiringresources/
Even if you can’t find exactly what you need, you’re bound to get some good ideas there.
The other thing I recommend (as I describe in my FAQ) is to get some alligator clip leads, and experiment with your circuit using those before you solder anything. That way, you can be sure you understand your circuit, and that it all works, before you commit with solder.
Good luck!
-John
March 31, 2011 @ 7:38 pm
http://s968.photobucket.com/albums/ae168/CTguy1955/wires003.jpg
What you suggested is exactly what I have done. I will use a multimeter to test using ohms and continuity and
be able to figure this thing out. I bet a Luther at Guitar Center would charge me a hundred bucks for this.
March 31, 2011 @ 7:48 pm
Congratulations! Feels good to work through a project like this. Seems impossible at first, but you learn a lot along the way. And at the end, when you’ve nailed it, you can feel proud to have learned a new skill, and saved some money as well 🙂
-John
March 31, 2011 @ 7:59 pm
Oh Darn John, I sent the wrong picture…..That was the wifes spaghetti dinner I had tonight and I thought it looked so good
I took a picture of it and got it mixed up with the guitar stuff.
LOL…….It does feel very good to not just save money and feel like Ive accomplished something…..it feel better to have gotten past my fear of taking a strat apart and learning how to do the work
for setups and other things without having to run to GC every two minutes, like I did at first. The internet and wonderful, helpful
people like you make this hobby a interesting and fun thing to do !!!
March 31, 2011 @ 8:04 pm
🙂
April 2, 2011 @ 5:57 am
May 1, 2011 @ 6:33 am
May 2, 2011 @ 10:34 pm
July 2, 2011 @ 7:12 am
July 31, 2011 @ 2:27 pm
January 8, 2012 @ 3:02 am
January 8, 2012 @ 3:06 am
January 10, 2012 @ 9:43 am
January 10, 2012 @ 11:37 pm
July 29, 2011 @ 1:20 am
July 31, 2011 @ 2:29 pm
August 1, 2011 @ 11:03 am
Thanks for the advice and for your very useful videos 😀
September 29, 2011 @ 1:03 pm
September 29, 2011 @ 5:56 pm
September 29, 2011 @ 7:31 pm
December 28, 2011 @ 11:19 am
December 30, 2011 @ 4:03 am
January 23, 2012 @ 4:45 am
I noticed that difference in both 250,500,A,B pots.
January 23, 2012 @ 12:03 pm
January 23, 2012 @ 12:22 pm
January 23, 2012 @ 12:33 pm
only 250 or 500k Ohm
January 23, 2012 @ 12:40 pm
January 23, 2012 @ 12:41 pm
March 18, 2012 @ 9:47 pm
I’m working on installing a humbucker and piezo (connected via 3 way toggle) in my accoustic. Any thoughts on how i can match the signals ‘loudness’ im guessing i’ll need to add a resistor to the humbucker/s but I thought you or someone else may know the best way to blend and match passive and active signals…
its open to the crowd ;P
March 25, 2012 @ 10:33 pm
April 1, 2012 @ 2:26 pm
April 8, 2012 @ 8:40 pm
May 12, 2012 @ 5:14 am
June 20, 2012 @ 5:40 pm
June 24, 2012 @ 9:19 pm
August 27, 2012 @ 7:19 am
August 30, 2012 @ 3:10 pm
January 15, 2013 @ 4:40 am
I plan to get me a Kinman Strat Blues set of pickups and make a custom pickguard for my Ibanez RG350DX to hold them. With all 3 pickups having their own Volume & tone. Thinking about adding a 2-way switch to select between 0.22 & 0.47 uf Cap.
January 15, 2013 @ 5:15 pm
January 16, 2013 @ 4:27 am
I was thinking about wiring trying to find the best way to wire it where each pickup has its own volume and tone, but also i would like a mode switch for 0.22/0.47 capi. Maybe even make it a 3-way and add 0.35capi to give more tone adjustment.
January 16, 2013 @ 4:33 am
April 7, 2013 @ 6:42 pm
January 18, 2014 @ 2:42 am
January 24, 2014 @ 6:07 pm
January 27, 2014 @ 7:20 pm
topic, but nothing substitutes for actually hearing. You saved me the
trouble of doing it myself. Major thanks!
February 19, 2014 @ 1:07 pm
March 22, 2014 @ 9:06 am
straight path a diagonal from 0 to 100 smooth straight where as an audio
taper changes drastically as you can see in the charts in your other video.
Now you’re saying it’s backwards? I always thought the linear is what you
want to increase the sound evenly all the way up that’s why I understood
from your the video was more correct than this video here.
April 17, 2014 @ 1:33 am
June 7, 2014 @ 6:27 pm
with the quickest taper we can find. If you like doing volume swells with
your pinky (ala Phil Keaggy etc.), a pot with a very fast taper where you
only have to turn the pot a short distance to get a big swell is the only
way to go. Also, the same quick linear taper on a tone pot with a .047uF
cap is what allows Tele players like Roy Buchanan to get those wah-wah
effects with the tone knob. Thanks for the videos.
July 11, 2014 @ 1:46 pm
July 18, 2014 @ 8:35 am
more subtlety to the control. Seems like an obivious choice to me. I wonder
why Fenders tend to come with linear tone pots. Oh well! I also like to add
a treble bleed mod to all my volume pots.
July 28, 2014 @ 10:57 pm
all your videos, they have helped me a lot.
July 31, 2014 @ 9:21 pm
August 10, 2014 @ 11:28 am
to use an anti-log/reverse log/”C” taper potentiometer to replicate the
same smooth swell as a logarithmic/audio/”A” since we turn our knobs in the
opposite direction (volume/treble go up when you turn the pot
COUNTER-clockwise)
August 26, 2014 @ 1:50 pm
no-load pots?
August 27, 2014 @ 10:24 am
October 8, 2014 @ 6:09 am
Are there internally inverted curve audio taper pot on the market?
What happens if i use a normal audio taper on a left handed guitar?
You surely know, to have the same rotation sense of a right handed you have
to connect the pot inverted.
Thank you
July 12, 2015 @ 8:35 am