hamerican gigolo
Well-known member
I need two volume pots for my '95 Hamer Studio. Does anyone have any? If not, where can
i find them? I assume they are 500k.
Thanks.
i find them? I assume they are 500k.
Thanks.
Hamer pots?
- Thread starter hamerican gigolo
- Start date
morningstar
New member
I bought some CTS from Greggy/BCR. Extremely nice quality. I assume he would still have them.
morningstar
morningstar
hamerican gigolo
Well-known member
proxmax
New member
the potis are wide spread in range.
my three potis 500k are ranged between 386k and 496 kOhm.
with the lower ones you can cut too sharp trebles, over 500k you
add a very nice clack to the tone.
does anyone know the resistance of the volumepoti in calis?
are they normally lower leveled to smooth the sound?
P
pirateflynn
Guest
proxmax
New member
This could be an interesting option.
http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29136
of course interesting - thanks.
but i have the original hamer pots and at a cali i don't need a cap
'cause i don't have a tone poti.
http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29136
of course interesting - thanks.
but i have the original hamer pots and at a cali i don't need a cap
'cause i don't have a tone poti.
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P
pirateflynn
Guest
Well, just call me the Cali expert!
/emoticons/default_smile.png
/emoticons/default_smile.png
proxmax
New member
ok, Cali expert
can you tell me what value in kOhm is normal or usual
for the volume pot in maple calis?
P
pirateflynn
Guest
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proxmax
New member
RoyB
New member
Hamer has a custom taper just like we do on the RS Super-Pots, but past that there is nothing premium about them. they are stock parts and + or - 20% tolerance pots. I'm not trashing them because I like their taper, but pots can be made much better if you want to pay the premium price to CTS like we do.
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proxmax
New member
there is a big advantage you can reach.
with higher values you can make a dull sound getting brighter, adds some knack.
with lower levels you cut trebles or sounds bluesier or jazzy.
to affect sound it is better to change the pot value that to work with caps.
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'nuff said.
Different pot values and how they affect you!
Humbucker graph shown.
Humbuckers traditionally come with 500k volume and tone pots, wth .022 caps. Single coils traditionally use 250k pots. Remember, pickups were voiced/made to run at these values, changing the value changes their intended tone, (good or bad is an opinion), as well as their output.
The top curve indicates virtually no load, the second curve down indicates a 1meg pot, the third down is a 500k pot, the fourth is a 250k pot and the bottom curve represents a 100k pot. As you can see, higher pots give you more output and raise the resonant peaks output. The resonant peak doesn't shift in frequency, but it does shift in amplitude. The resonant peak frequency of most HBs is around 5k to 7k.
With tone controls (they react differently then volume pots because of the way they're wired in the circuit), a 250k pot is the same as turning your 500k tone pot down to it's resistive mid point (5 on a linear taper pot). Even on 10, a tone pot bleeds high end to ground, but pickups were designed in this circuit in mind, and some people think they sound cold and glassy without a tone pot in the circuit.
If you want to see what it's like to use different value pots, without pulling breakable knobs and changing out your pots, here's a temporary way to see what it's like.
This is how you can hear what going from a 250k to 500k (or even 500k to 1 Meg) volume pot sounds like. Just disconnect the pickups output wire to the pot and put a 250k (or close 240k or 270k), (or to try 1 Meg, 500k or close), resistor in series. It'll sound the same, but you CAN'T turn the volume all the way off, remember this is just a test function. If you like it, go buy the pot.
You can also try doing it to your tone pot as shown. In many guitars with 250k tone pots, I've just left the resistor in permanently; you just can't turn it down as much.
This is how you can hear what going from a 500k pot down to a 250k volume and tone pot sounds like. Just put a 500k (or close, e.g. 510k or 470k) resistor in parallel with the pots outer lugs. You can actually even leave it this way, the only difference will be the volume and tone pots taper (i.e. 10 will be 10, 0 will be 0, but it'll be half as loud at a different place on the knob).
Most people prefer audio pots for volume, and linear pots for tone. Most manufacturers just use audio for all... You use an audio taper for volume because the ear isn't linear with volume.
Expensive pots sound the same as cheap pots as long as they're the correct value. The problem is, is cheap pots have a wider error tollerance then quality pots, and there's more of the bad ones, and cheap ones wear out quickly and get noisy.
P.S. if your "or close" value is slightly higher then the pot, the value will be slightly higher on 10 then the actual double, (or halved value) in these circuits. If lower, it'll be slightly lower.
This is how you can hear what going from a 500k pot down to a 250k volume and tone pot sounds like. Just put a 500k (or close, e.g. 510k or 470k) resistor in parallel with the pots outer lugs. You can even leave it this way, the only difference will be the volume and tone pots taper (i.e. 10 will be 10, 0 will be 0, but it'll be half as loud at a different place on the knob).
Most people prefer audio pots for volume, and linear pots for tone. Most manufacturers just use audio for all.
You use an audio for volume because the ear isn't linear with volume.
Expensive pots sound the same as cheap pots as long as they're the correct value. The problem is, is cheap pots have a wider error tollerance then quality pots though, and there's more of the bad ones, and they wear out quickly and get noisy.
P.S. if your "or close" value is slightly higher then the pot, the value will be slightly higher on 10 then the actual double, (or halved value) in these circuits. If lower, it'll be slightly lower.
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RoyB
New member
Electrical theory kills me because I know it and theory has not one single time matched what my ears hear (guess they never listened in all those electronics classes /emoticons/default_smile.png ). I've lost count of how many well known builders and players have told me that a 500k pot is a 500k pot and that a .022uf cap is a .022uf cap, so the value is all that matters. I have designed the taper of our pots and the specs of our caps by knowing theory, but making the final refinements based on how the parts really should and function in a guitar not just on paper. That's the reason why in almost every case the skeptics have had to admit that our stuff just works better than they expected it to. I can send out three different electronics kits all with the same value parts and all three kits will sound and and work differently because of the type of parts being used and how they are wired, so there is a lot more than just values at work.
proxmax
New member
A 500k (measured) resistor is a 500k resistor.
That's all. There is no difference.
On a pot, the taper can be different, but considering 99% of guitarists seem to leave them on 10 or 0.... it'll make no difference to them. Sure quality pots can last longer, but if it's not broke, and the value is correct...
Capacitors, different types but even the same value... can be different. They each respond differently to different voltages, rise times and frequencies. This isn't Mo-Jo (imagination) it's a measureable phenomena. Yet even then, it's pretty small as far as just one item in the audio chain goes. Going from a ceramic disk to an orange cap, is a big leap (and even then the vast majority of guitarists can't hear a difference). If Hamer, Gibson, PRS or whoever thought people would hear a difference, they'd spend the extra pennies. I'm actually suprised they don't, just to claim they use them!
That's all. There is no difference.
On a pot, the taper can be different, but considering 99% of guitarists seem to leave them on 10 or 0.... it'll make no difference to them. Sure quality pots can last longer, but if it's not broke, and the value is correct...
Capacitors, different types but even the same value... can be different. They each respond differently to different voltages, rise times and frequencies. This isn't Mo-Jo (imagination) it's a measureable phenomena. Yet even then, it's pretty small as far as just one item in the audio chain goes. Going from a ceramic disk to an orange cap, is a big leap (and even then the vast majority of guitarists can't hear a difference). If Hamer, Gibson, PRS or whoever thought people would hear a difference, they'd spend the extra pennies. I'm actually suprised they don't, just to claim they use them!
RoyB
New member
Jol used a Jensen cap in one of the limited run guitars and said it sounded great, Gibson uses upgrade caps and pots in guitars done for stars all the time as does Fender, but they won't do it for the general public because it's about the bottom dollar, so why would you use a $6 cap when a forty cent ceramic will work for 90% of the people (or so they and most people think). It has always been my opinion that far more people can hear the difference than any one would think and far more people will use there controls to achieve classic tone if there controls actually worked worth a shit like they did back when all the guitar legends were using them. I firmly believe that the fact that we are selling over 15,000 pots a year and over 5,000 caps a year for the last 5 years (many of them are being sold to some of the best players and custom builders in the industry) proves than most people want to use there controls and can hear the difference. As I said before I know theory and it's just that theory, so figure things out on paper, but let your ears tell you if something sounds good not numbers on a piece of paper. As with everything else there is no magic bullet and as they say your milage may very, so try stuff for your self if you are not happy with what you have and don't let other people tell you what you should or should not try.
Enough said.
