Old Ibanez new Pots?

[Rolf Field]

Hey there fellow guitarists,

I am wondering. I own an Ibanez 2616 pre serial. Imo a nice guitar. Suits al my needs.
I like the tone. The buckers (super 70's) are nice but a little low on output compared to the super 78 in the jp20 or as120 that i own. But that's oké.
The thing that's wondering me are the pots. I find the volume knobs effect the tone when dialing it a bit down. And the tone pots are effecting volume when dialing down. Maybe it's just my ears. I guess electronics are original. Had them cleaned by a master luthier. Wanted to swap them but he said they're fine after the cleaning.

Is there someone out there with the same questions and had swapped the pots in their japanese guitar from that era?
I like to hear from you?
In what way do new pots effect the sound of my guitar? I'm not much of a tech so...... advice is welcome.
Maybe some advise on new pots when i decide to swap them. CTS? or is there anything out there that suits my needs better?

[bluenote61]

Hi,
Could you describe a little bit more precise what you mean by " affecting the tone". Is it getting darker when rolling back the volume which is typically for todays wiring or what else?
And rolling back the tone may affect the volume also, especially when the tone pot is connected to the output of the volume pot (" 50s wiring").
And, personally I change the pots in my japanese guitars only when they are defect.

[Bobby Timmons]

It's not a defect, that's normal performance. If you want to keep the same eq while rolling back the volume you install a treble bleed. If you want to keep the same volume while rolling back the tone you connect the tone to the volume pot input rather than output. Treble bleed is just a cap in the 100-300 pf range that bridges the volume input and output.

[sgosnell]

Pots can be wired in multiple ways and still work, more or less. But different wiring methods affects the tone and volume differently. Some people like having the tone changed when the volume is reduced, others don't. It's a matter of personal preference. My preference is the Benedetto wiring scheme, which affects the tone minimally when the volume control is changed, and the volume affected minimally when the tone is changed. In that scheme, the positive wire from the pickup goes to the outer lug on the volume pot, then to the center lug of the tone pot. The center lug of the volume pot goes to the positive lug of the output jack. The outer lug of the tone control goes through a .022 capacitor to ground. The value of the capacitor can be changed as desired. Any search engine will return several different wiring methods, and you can pick the one you prefer, or try them all and see which sounds best to you.

Bravo wiring diagram.pdf - Google Drive

I tried embedding the image, but the forum refuses to allow .pdf files to be embedded.

[Rolf Field]

Thnx sgnosnell. So it might not be the pots but the wiring. Hmm something to think about. In my ears it's quite noticible that tone is being effected by rolling the volume pot and volume affects the tone.
Thething is i use the volume quite a bit while playing. Now theres the need of adjusting tone as well. Never knew that it could be the wiring. I guess it's the Benedetto wiring you mentioned. Something to learn every day i guess. Maybe i'll just cope with it. The pots feel robust and are silent so there's no need.

At you other guys, thnx for replying but i allready own the guitar for about 8 years now. Like it a lot. Just need(ed) advise on swapping pots.

[sgosnell]

The Benedetto wiring scheme is, for me, the best I've found because it has little or no effect on tone when the volume is changed.

[Bobby Timmons]

So it might not be the pots but the wiring.

I already told you it's not the pots. Do you have to disregard me for some reason? That's normal performance. Changing the pots but keeping the same wiring scheme will do absolutely nothing. It also doesn't mean they're broken and there's no reason to change them unless you want to use different types of pots (taper, value, knob resistance).

Volume performance: A volume pot functions by diverting a proportion of the signal to ground and letting some pass. As the signal is grounded, highs get bled off first because of how electrical circuits naturally function. If you want to correct this you install a treble bleed which bridges the input and output for highs only and pumps some more highs through.

Tone performance: 50s wiring of connecting the tone after the volume pot allows the volume to naturally darken less without a treble bleed as its turned down. The trade off is having the tone after the volume pot, some volume is lost when you turn down the tone. This is because to darken the tone, you're removing some signal. Since the tone is after the volume pot, there is nothing to compensate so the volume drops. To correct this, you use standard tone wiring where you connect the tone to the input of the volume pot. The trade off is the tone gets darker when you turn down the volume. But that doesn't matter if you're using a treble bleed.

[Rolf Field]

Well that's a bit defensive. My apolagies. Never ment to disregard you. I see my reply is a bit odd. I was reading two topics at the same time. Must have mixed them up. No need to get irritated. Let's keep a little decency. If this is te response on a minor mistake, i will hesitate the next time to ask for some advice from you fellow guitarists.
I see you mentioned the wiring. Thank you for that. I wasn't aware it could be the wiring. As you say, the pots seem oké. I'm not much of a tech guy. so i value all the input from ALL you guys.

[Bobby Timmons]

It's ok, I'm not mad. I just told you more forcefully because your reply was to choose to continue to be ignorant about the topic rather than simply acknowledge the correct answer that I gave you (which fits with sgosnell's advice).