Clarification on long shaft pots

[teleme01]

I have read on the internets that you need long shaft pots for archtops... the thinline...The Fender Telecaster Thinline is a semi-hollow guitar with a body thickness of 1.75 inches. The top of the guitar is 6.35 mm thick.

Question being do you need long shaft with rear mount flat tops?

 

[stratamania]

Yes.

 

[TBurst Std]

Here’s the rule of thumb, use short shaft when mounting to a pick guard then mounting that pick guard to the body, else-wise use long shaft.

 

[supertruper1988]

There are 3 pot shaft lengths commonly available.

There are 1/4" long for mounting on pickguards. Allparts calls them "vintage pots"

EP-4385 CTS 250K Vintage-style Split Audio Pot

250K ohm audio pot, CTS, vintage style, split knurled shaft with nut, lock and dress washer.

www.allparts.com

Then there are the more common 3/8" long shafts. This is what most pots available are including push/pull pots. These will fit Warmoth rear routed bodies. Sometimes on finished bodies a little cleanup inside the cavity is needed but usually eliminating the washer and/or lock washer will be enough

EP-0085 CTS 250K Split Shaft Audio Pot

CTS 250K SPLIT SHAFT AUDIO POT Specifications: Ohm rating: 250k - 15% tolerance Split, and knurled 1/4” shaft with nut Lock & Dress Washer Aluminum bushing and shaft Suitable for either volume or tone controls Threaded shaft is 3/8" in length and 3/8" in diameter Overall Dimensions. 1-1/4" x...

www.allparts.com

Then you have 3/4" "long shaft" pots which are used in Les Pauls and such.

EP-0686 CTS 500K Long Split Shaft Audio Pot

CTS 500K SPLIT SHAFT AUDIO POT Specifications: Ohm rating: 500k - 15% tolerance Split, and knurled 1/4” shaft with nut Lock & Dress Washer Brass bushing w/ aluminum shaft Suitable for either volume or tone controls - 15% Tolerance Threaded shaft is 3/4" in length and 3/8" in diameter Overall...

www.allparts.com

I have a carved top soloist and many flat top soloists, all rear routed and I have only ever used the 3/8" length pots.

Hope this helps.

 

[stratamania]

A lot of the information asked about including this is available on the Warmoth site. This is the information from Warmoth regarding the pots they sell.

"These pots have a long thread shaft, and can be used on both rear-routed bodies and pickguards, by simply adjusting the hex nuts on the shaft for correct height."

250K Audio Pot

This smooth-sweeping CTS pot is typically used with single coil and low output pickups.

warmoth.com

500K Audio Pot

This smooth-sweeping CTS pot is typically used with humbucker or high output pickups.

warmoth.com

 

[Rick]

more dimensions ...

Individual CTS Pots Available From ToneShapers

This is is a collection of all of the CTS pots we stock.

toneshapers.com