Best quality pots and toggle?

Last Triumph

Senior Member
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Please can people advise what brand / type of part I need?

1) Les Paul type 3 way toggle - looking for the most solid, precise, beautiful action feeling, wobble, play and rattle free switch I can get - what is the best - brand and model?

2) Volume and tone pots - looking for the smoothest, normal friction, absolute linear where 1 = 10%, 5 = 50% and 9 = 90% etc = something that wouldn't feel out of place on a quality hi-fi unit - brand and model?

Also, I see 250k, 500k, 1,000k - what impact does this have on operation and sound?

My goal is to not suffer treble loss by inclusion in the circuit unless I wind the tone back from 10.

I read I want a CTS pot, but this is a design, not a brand I believe, therefore there will be different qualities of CTS pot?

I really am looking for the best in terms of feel and function.

Thanks in advance.

(Les Paul style controls, 3 way toggle, 2 tone, 2 volume)

 
1. Look for a switchcraft toggle suitable for Les Paul.
2. 500K is normally used for humbuckers and 250K for single coils. I assume you will be using humbuckers with a Les Paul type toggle and the controls you describe so use 500K.
You can also wire up on a volume pot a treble bleed circuit to prevent the loss of treble when turning down the volume.
CTS is most certainly a brand which produces many products not just pots suitable for guitars. Their pots are very good also Emerson Pro are worth checking out. It is more usual to look for precision audio taper for guitars although some do use linear pots.

 
Last Triumph said:
My goal is to not suffer treble loss by inclusion in the circuit unless I wind the tone back from 10.

You could try a No-Load Tone pot, I like 'em, but I like my things sparkly.  :cool01:

http://www.wiredguitarist.com/2017/05/08/what-is-a-no-load-tone-pot/

 
I like Bourns, some folks don't, because they're lower friction than CTS. The guitar I play most has 2 CTS volume pots (magnetic pickups and piezo), also a Bourns tone pot that rarely gets engaged, except to split the bridge HB.

I can feel the difference, but only if I'm thinking about it.

250k for most single coil, 500k for most HB, a very few HB pickups call for 1M pots.
 
Thanks, that all makes sense - speaking to an electrical engineer friend of mine who knows nothing of guitars but is up on audio stuff in general said for perceived linear, I'll likely want a log pot or audio taper as suggested above,

He also said that if the BEST is required in terms of quality, feel and low noise, I should look for sealed ceramic pots rather than carbon track - especially if I want it to feel like the volume knob on a very expensive hi-fi audio amp - i.e buttery smooth resistance without any perceptible 'un-stick' before movement - "ice-on-ice-in-oil" is how he described it.
 
Bourns pots like Sadie said.
They’re not open like most pots and therefore not prone to problems caused by dirt and oxidation.
They’re also more expensive, but they’ll also last many years more than others.
They don’t use ceramic tracks either.
They’re very very smooth. If you put such pots in your guitar you won’t have to worry about replacements for the next forty, fifty years.
 
Oh, and toggle switch - you need to get Dimarzios EP1111, https://www.dimarzio.com/hardware/switches/4pdt-pickup-selector-switch-3-position-ononon

EP1111_XL.png


This is a 4PDT switch that will allow you to do basic - or - fancy switching. It’s also not an open flimsy switch like Switchcraft toggles and will last forever. 
 
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