Reviews of Upgrades and Modifications

[wazkelly]

Great stuff Marcel. You have saved me writing lots as you have covered it all.

One big question for those more knowledgeable than myself.....

Can anyone explain the differences between CTS, Bourns & Alpha pots and a sensible argument as to which is best.

We should all have a basic understanding of difference between A (Audio taper) & B (Linear taper) plus the 250k vs 500k requirements by now.

Other than price point and the unique way CTS pots look, why would someone overlook Alpha which seem to be the cheapest, Bourns somewhere in the middle, and CTS at the upper end?

I have used mostly Bourns minis as all my guitar builds have had very tight & cramped control cavities or F holes to contend with. On one Tele I chose CTS minis and really liked how easy they were to solder up and on the recently finished ES1 Alphas were used purely based on cost and trying something different to see if in fact there was any discernible difference at all (I couldn't pick any).

On both explorers I used Bourns Push/Pulls and from memory they are minis or maybe only come in the one size, can't remember. Seem to recall one played up and swapped it out only to discover the pickup was faulty instead. If space is tight in the control cavity and you want to do coil splitting I highly recommend the Bourns. They work well, are easy to wire up, and not noisy when switching between HB mode and split. An alternative is mini DPDT switches but that can end up looking messy if there are too many of them.

[Marcel]

Can anyone explain the differences between CTS, Bourns & Alpha pots and a sensible argument as to which is best.

Some would argue the "you get what you pay for" theme, and to some extent they would be correct... but it's not the full story.

Firstly, Predominately both Bourns and CTS come out of the USA whereas Alpha mostly comes from Asia, so there will be a price disparity immediately simply because of that.

And secondly, there is slight differences in Q&A and 'purity of materials' which have some effect on the wear and longevity of the parts.

However I think the largest factor in any pots life is its use and environment. How often it is used and the conditions it needs to survive in. I've seen Alpha pots last many years as a main volume fader in an air conditioned studio on a commercial radio station mix console as opposed to $85 ABB pots lasting 3 months as a throttle control in an ocean going boat. Inside a guitar is a relatively tame environment so even with regular use most of the cheaper pots should last quite a few years of reasonable use.

The one big difference between all the pots and that is very important to guitarists is how they feel when you turn them. Does it feel stiff or firm or free and loose? Easy to turn or snug and stays in place? It is on this point that most prefer one way or the other (or don't care)... This is where CTS seems to be the default favourite between guitarists being a pot that's firm and definitive yet reasonably easy to turn with the edge of the palm. Alpha and Bourns feel noticeably looser, turn easier but can leave you wondering if you turned it or not causing that (often annoying) momentary visual check.

Where you would notice the most is having a volume that's one brand and a tone that's another. Worse is when you discover that you'd prefer the combo the other way round... And having one combo in a Tele and a different combo in a LP and yet another combo in a Strat is not as scarce or as sacrilegious as you may think,...