Real good volume pots?

[69strat]

I recently bought a few Fender 250K (CTS) pots, and they're both reading low around 215K. I'm replacing my nocaster's pot which measures 272K ohms.

So I bought a CTS 300K audio pot and it read 282K. Perfect! I stuck it in and it was great for four days and then it started feeling real scratchy and then froze up completely. I could not turn it at all.

I ruined an old Dimarzio pot, figuring out how I could scrape some carbon to get it to read hotter and also loosen it up a bit. I put it in and accidentally broke the shaft! I'm having bad luck with these pots!

I'm picky about a smooth audio taper and a very low friction pot. CTS is a little too tight. I've read good stuff about Dimarzio's special taper pot, then there's Glendales and mojotone which are custom made. Then there's Bourns...

I don't care for the RS pots, as they are very stiff and ramped up too quick for me. They didn't seem like audio taper.

What are some good ones to get?

[Cygnus X1]

Yikes.
Although I don't like the price, the RS have been nice on the taper.
Perhaps you have a grounding issue?
That is where the reference is after all.

[sting7777]

Bourns are nice. I have always used CTS split shaft in guitars without issue. In amps - I stick with Alpha and Bourns now (after some recent CTS experiments that didn't go so well).

[hippiebob01]

Alpha pots are good.

[69strat]

Well the RS has a bit of a linear taper to me. It was too much and didn't have a good taper with good gain tones. I found it was suited better for clean tones, like some linear can be, where it's even.

I really like this broken Dimarizio pot I've been using, has good taper for clean or dirt. It's an old one though. Hopefully the new (CTS made) ones will have as nice of taper and smooth feel. I didn't know you can bend the little thingamjig that rides against the carbon track and get the pot to turn easier. Cool! so many pots I junked because they were stiff. I may have had to go through a few pots, but I learned some stuff from these experiments.

If the Dimarzios aren't as good, anyone using the Bourns premiums? S'posed to have a silky feel, ultra low noise, and it's sealed. Might seem like no biggie to some, but I use the knob a lot. Ride it while playing, use it as a gate, constantly. Also do a lot of pedal steel, swell effects.

[Don]

Most stiffer pots are that way because they have been packed with a viscous grease between the wiper and the case. If you disassemble the pot and remove the grease (this is not rcommended by the manufacturer) the pot will become lighter to turn.

I prefer RS Superpots in guitars with humbuckers and dual volume controls. It gives me the control that I want, especially if I have a phase switch on the guitar.

RS Superpots are between linear and log taper.

I prefer regular CTS audio taper pots with a value between 250 and 300k on Strats and Teles.

[DanD]

I 2d the Dimarzio's.

I just installed a set of the newer Dimarzio CTS recently on a Virtual Vintage loaded guard.

For the price, around $6, they are very hard to beat.

[5er Driver]

Most stiffer pots are that way because they have been packed with a viscous grease between the wiper and the case. If you disassemble the pot and remove the grease.......

I just squirt a tiny bit of Deoxit where the shaft meets the case, it loosens right up. If you overdo it, it gets too loose. Then you can blow the knob from 0 to 10.

[Don]

I just squirt a tiny bit of Deoxit where the shaft meets the case, it loosens right up. If you overdo it, it gets too loose. Then you can blow the knob from 0 to 10.

That works too, though I've had pots get noisy after doing that. I think the grease gets on the track and attracts dirt.

[69strat]

I 2d the Dimarzio's.

I just installed a set of the newer Dimarzio CTS recently on a Virtual Vintage loaded guard.

For the price, around $6, they are very hard to beat.

Hmmm...I just got my Dimarzio pots. They look nice, long, brass shaft. Like Hamer CTS pots. But everyone was saying they're smooth. They feel like a regular CTS pot. But what's bad is when you turn them, you hear the friction sound as the wiper goes back and forth, I always hear that sound with those cheap import guitars and the junky pots. I was expecting these to have a silkier feel and no noise, like PRS or Hamer stuff.

The old Dimarzio pot I had, didn't have that noise. I'm hoping I can loosen them up a bit inside.

They have the dished back, or the dimple. Do they come apart easily for modding?