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Thread: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

  1. #1
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    eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    I had my EJ apart the other day and measured all the pots, they all read 200K? I thought the ej came with 300k pots? It seems weird to have all three stk CTS pots read low (200K) the pots are marked 250K. anyone else have this?

  2. #2
    Forum Member curtisstetka's Avatar
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    I haven't experienced this, but it doesn't strike me as all that odd. From what I've read and seen, CTS pots can be pretty wildly off. It does stand to reason that if these pots all came from the same batch (since they ended up in the same guitar), they might all be off spec to the same degree and in the same direction.

    Is this something that you were just curious about or was there something in the sound that made you suspect the pots weren't right?

    If you can hear the difference between a 200k and a 250k pot, then you're a better man than I.
    s'all goof.

  3. #3
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    I thought that fender did it on purpose, because EJ is so particular about sound and three reading 200k, was odd IMHO. as to hearing the difference, I'm with you, I can't hear it but, at 50, I can't hear a lot of things. Thanks

  4. #4
    Formerly joe mama
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    Yes, lots of crappy tolerances for CTS. So many seem to run very low. I sometimes buy 300K and then get around 275K a lot of times. I don't know why it's almost always low.

    But I really like the pots used by Fender, as they usually have a nice taper. What you can do is take it apart, and scrape the track which will increase resistnance. I've turned 230K pots into 270K. I also lift the wiper to get a quick, friction free turn.

    If at least 30K difference, it does make a noticeable difference to me, moreso on distorted sounds. If low, it feels like the knob isnt full up and I'm not getting all the crunch. You know it's like 9.5 instead of 10, on the guitar knob. More presence and grunt with the higher read. I like them up over 250K ohm.

  5. #5
    Formerly joe mama
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    Quote Originally Posted by jamme61 View Post
    I thought that fender did it on purpose, because EJ is so particular about sound and three reading 200k, was odd IMHO. as to hearing the difference, I'm with you, I can't hear it but, at 50, I can't hear a lot of things. Thanks
    If Fender did something like that, buyers would pay through the nose for that, and they'd market the heck out of it. They slap these things together so fast and out the door.

    I bet they wouldn't even go to that extent (measureing and gauging pots) for those $20K replicas they made!

  6. #6
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    My signature model will have 226.34456 Ohm pots on the volume and 261.94355 Ohms on the tones. 'Course, those are +/- .01 percent.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    this is the first strat that dosen't sound brittle on the bridge p/u and sounds pretty good with dirty sounds too. I do feel like I'm missing out on some of those great strat highs, on my clean tones? See this where your mind starts to fu$% with you and make you want to change something. I'm trying to be happy with it, I wish I never measured the stupid pots.

  8. #8
    Forum Member JM3's Avatar
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    The EJ has some pretty weird pickups

    the lead is high output, whatever that really means
    the middle supposed to be equal to a 63 and the rythem (SIC) has over sized magnets and is supposed to be a 54 or 56 I forget Took me awhile to dial em in but I really love the guitar

  9. #9
    Forum Member deepblue1963's Avatar
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    EJ Pups...

    Bridge...Alnico 5/slightly overwound.(7.0k)
    Middle...Alnico 3/copied from a '63 Stratocaster(6.3k)
    Neck ...Alnico 3/copied from a '54 Stratocaster(6.1k)

  10. #10
    Forum Member ES345's Avatar
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    Best playing, sounding strat I have, I don't know what pots are in it, but they sound just right to me.
    Peace


    AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

  11. #11
    Forum Member JM3's Avatar
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    It plays like an old vintage the body is a dead on 56 Adler

  12. #12
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    Re: eric johnson strat 200K pots?

    My EJ Strat came with 250K pots.

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