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Where to buy rs guitarworks super pots in the UK


tremblap
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I don't think anyone sells them here.
WD Music sell a few of the RS Guitarworks caps:[url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/manufacturer/RS+Guitarworks,b.html"]CLICK HERE[/url]

When I was after a kit I had to order direct. Be warned their P+P charges are quite a lot too - About $30 IIRC...
Great stuff though, got the P bass kits in 2 of my basses now!

Regards,
Jon

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Actually cancel all that!
Bareknuckle pickups now sell CTS 'super pots' and Jensen caps at a good bit cheaper!

Here's the pots: [url="http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=24_71&zenid=6adcdaee7d36df737cfce9bb0aa44218"]POTS[/url]
Here's the caps: [url="http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=24_70"]CAPS[/url]

Cheers

Edited by jonthebass
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I don't know about the caps, but I can tell you that the pots make a difference (mostly the taper that is much more smooth and musically useable)

thanks for your hints - I've sent them a message to check if they are the same thing (casing, trace, taper, etc)

p

Edited by tremblap
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I've received a very polite and swift reply from a certain Tim Mills

[quote]our pots are made specially for us by CTS to a similar spec as the RS pots although I had the toque adjusted to be smoother and the taper made to vintage spec.[/quote]

and he said in a further email that he would use the same pot for tone and volume (contrary to what RS people say about their superpot)

I think I'm going to give it a go, I'll keep you posted

p

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  • 3 weeks later...

ok got the pots via mail, they read correctly on the meter, the only difference to the superpots so far is the aluminium shaft (instead of a brass one like the SP)

I'll solder that tomorrow and keep you posted

pa

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ok soldered them and no change what-so-ever... then tried american 250k audio ones and was a little smoother but darker... but nothing like the smoothness I heard the RS guitarworks superpot give my friend's guitar...

So it mean that either my pickup config is not reacting well to these pots or that the specs are not the same at all... I think it is time to write to Manchester Guitar Tech and cry about my problem and see what he says...

If there is interest, I'll keep you all posted

pa

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FWIW I've always had good results using audio taper pots in both volume and tone positions. Changing pots doesn't always make a difference though - even some of the cheapest-looking ones work fine, although certainly not always! I suspect if you've swapped out your existing pots and the sound hasn't changed then that's how it really is, and further changes will only alter the roll off points, rather than opening up the instrument like replacing bad pots with good does.

BTW caps make a difference to tone - for my ears at any rate. However I also like to tweak cap values for guitar, usually to lower values than standard, because a cap is never truly out of the circuit unless you mod your tone pots to create an infinite resistance area (some guys paint nail varnish on the track at the max end of travel). In amps, the type and make of cap can make a very substantial difference to tone, and there's no reason why it should also make a subtle difference to bass & guitar tone too, provided you actually *use* the tone controls.

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[quote name='tremblap' post='1256673' date='Jun 4 2011, 05:38 PM']... but nothing like the smoothness I heard the RS guitarworks superpot give my friend's guitar...[/quote]

IMO your friend's guitar most likely had crap pots replaced by good quality pots - which can make all the difference & you are not making the same 'level of change' with your trials, therefore not getting what you hoped for.

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It was a PRS McCarthy... with CTS in it IIRC... but hey, I'm soldering this week as soon as I have a chance, I'll keep you all posted. The pickup being a load, the system is far from linear so I am not surprised that voodoo is needed here!

I just wish I had the same smooth, linear VVT controls that I have with my active EMG pickups passive VVT...

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  • 9 months later...

ok a couple of months later, now I had the 3 hours of luxury time to open the bass... and I used the cardboard-holding-the-pots to compare sounds and taper...

250k audio
500k audio
500k linear

all cts

with 2x Barto M4 quad coil with the double switching (serial-parallel and P-hb-revP) in Vol-Vol-Tone

first conclusion: 500k gives more top even at full (which does not make sense to my little electronic knowledge as the pot is shorted completely in that situation but there was an obvious difference)

second conclusion: the linear pot gives more musical taper (more smooth) than the exponential audio one, from full to 95% empty, then it is very steep. Again it does not make sense to my electronics limited knowledge (RC filters interact with the coil of the pickup to but I don't get it - I only get why the last 5% of the torque is very steep)

So I put linear taper to both volume and the tone. For the latter, it makes it even more useless than the audio taper, but for both volume I get much more subtle useable adjustments.

So I presume I'd like a linear for the 1st half, and exponential for the rest, but custom tapers are not really an option. I know that high end mixing desks do this so I presume this is where my bias comes from... my EMG active pickups with passive VVT is also so continuous and beautiful that I suspect there is a custom taper there too...

Anyway, I've lost enough money/time with this, and since I use only the tone to both extremes I will be fine ;-)

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  • 1 month later...

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