-
I am struggling to solve an issue with how the volume pot behaves on a guitar and could use some insight. The guitar in question is a 2022 Gibson ES-335. The stock volume pots had a very abrupt taper where the guitar produced very little volume until around 8 on the knob, then suddenly there was an enormous leap, then very minor gradient up to 10 which is too loud/hot for my needs. I hate this behavior. I have owned several guitars that exhibit the behavior I am seeking which is a very gradual and even increase/decrease in volume from 1-10 on the knob. I currently have an early 90s Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III that does this beautifully. I have owned a 1949 Gibson ES-125 that did this better than any other guitar I've played. I had a 1967 Guild X-175 that did this very well.
I tried to fix this last year by replacing the stock ES-335 pots (which I believe were audio taper) with Mojotone vintage linear taper pots. This solved nothing and the guitar exhibits the same behavior. Reading various forums about peoples preferences is no help as it seems most modern players like the sudden jump because it helps them switch between clean and dirty tones quickly and no one seems to have consensus on what kind of pot does what and why. One solution that piqued my interest was installing a cap on the pot. Apparently the Howard Roberts that I love so much has a treble bleed cap of some kind which may change the taper of the pot?
Anyways, any and all insight and discussion is welcome. Please hit me with some knowledge.
-
04-01-2026 05:55 PM
-
Several years ago, I bought a 2013 VOS 50th Anniversary/‘63 reissue. It was a beautiful guitar with the look and feel of a real vintage model. I loved everything about it, except for the exact same issue you have described. I found it very difficult to work with the volume pot. Not only did it drop off drastically below about 8, it also killed the tone when you turned the volume down. I contemplated having work done of the electronics, but decided to just sell it instead. I probably should have tried to have something done about this issue, because the guitar was fantastic in every other way. I don’t understand why it was like this. I have owned many other Gibsons, including a real 1960’s ES-335 and never experienced this before or since.
Keith
-
I fixed it on my 2023 es 335 satin which has T-type gibson pickup: my luthier switched off the original volume pot which is “logarithmic” (big jump at about 8) with a linear one (normal behaviour).
I also switched the neck pickup with a 57classic which I prefer to t-type.
-
I have a gloss red 2024 and haven't noticed anything resembling this. Maybe the satin is different than the gloss? That seems weird but also not out of the realm of some of Gibsons weird past decisions, like 300k pots. Anyways, mines got a smooth volume taper up and down. I love the T-Types but I love the 57 classics too. Gibson pickups rule.
Originally Posted by gianluca
-
MY 2023 335, gloss red, has a nice smooth taper on the volume pots, not the best I ever had. I like the tone I get when dropping down from 10, so I am usually between 7 and 9.5.
On my Epiphone 335 Pro, the tone stays pretty much the same all the way up and down, and I do appreciate that. Maybe it has 50'style wiring.
A shame to sell a fine guitar because of pots esp. when so many others are available. You have great reading material on the internet re: pots and tapers. Check out the Seymour Duncan reading library, then Lindy Fralin, RS Guitar Works, DiMarzio, who I believe has a line of pots like the aforementioned guys. Stewart MacDonald too.
-
Mine are as good as any CTS pots I've ever had but I've never had a vintage Gibson and I know old school pots are vastly superior to anything made in the last 30-40 years. I usually run them between 5 and 8 most of the night. Originally Posted by Jimmy Mack
I would def say it's worth rewiring if he likes the axe but isn't happy with the pots. I put CTS 500k and 57 classics in my ES333 and it sounded great. It had some strange taper like he is describing when I got it but I just learned to work around it. I had the 57's put in and just figured I'd have it all redone. It was definitely an overall improvement.
-
My ES 335 has 50s wiring. With the tone rolled off the response from the volume control becomes quite erratic. With the tone on 10 it works normally. I'd change it over to 60s or 'modern' wiring, as that's an easy fix on most solid body instruments.... but that's not all that easy to do on an ES 335.
My ES 335 is from 2018, I'm not sure if Gibson has changed their wiring since then, but potentially that might be what is going on with your guitar.
-
Oh, the pots...
Analog potentiometers are variable resistors that come in many forms. Those "pots" are used for volume and tone control in guitars and amps ever since the introduction of the electric guitar and not much has happened; Gibson and Fender got their respective "standards" subject to pickups and wiring/electronics. Players got used to these standards a long time ago and don't want things to change...as a matter of fact, most people would prefer if they didn't change anything, ever, and that new guitars would be built exactly like they were built in the golden era (mid 50s to mid 60s).
Your guitar was introduced in 1958. It's an antique design and this is what we love, this is what we want! -But why, oh why? Because this is what we're used to...(Human nature is highly capable to adapt to new situations when we have to, but we are typically most unwilling to change when there's no need...)
It must be understood that an analog electric guitar was originally developed and designed to plug into an analog tube amplifier. And it must be understood that there was never perfect linearity, but that this also never was a big deal, on the contrary players learned how to make use of these idiosyncrasies to their advantage. There are however a few issues here that could be highlighted:
* There's more than one way to wire volume and tone pots together. As tube amp technology evolved so did guitar electronics/wiring. The typical schemes are referred to as 50s wiring, 60s wiring or modern wiring, which is going to alter the behavior of the pots.
* Since the introduction of the electric guitar, beginners are struggling to overcome the same old obstacles; we have to learn how to replace strings, how to tune, how to play, how to adjust the guitar and how to maintain it...and we have to learn how to operate an amp. It's a life long journey, that fortunately got shortcuts for the beginner; just plug and play! turn the knobs 'till it sounds good! Guitar manufacturers have many times tried to improve user friendliness, responding to beginner FAQs, but not only were they met by criticism from established players, but there's also the fact that can't be ignored; one must first learn how to use the instrument and accept that it takes some time. 10 000 hours perhaps. In a Gibson style guitar, 300k pots are easy to use with improved perceived linearity, still most experienced players prefer 500k pots.
*In the age of the computer we got a myriad of options to play our electric guitars through all kind of digital "sound cards", amp modelers and DAWs while listening through headphones or studio monitors. Obsolete analog technology meets state of the art digital equipment...new problems arise. -Why not use state of the art digitial guitar electronics? (there are such guitars, you know). Because most people don't want it. Remember this; the default amplifier is an analog guitar amp with a guitar speaker and this is not going to change. The digital stuff is just another secondary option. If you want to pair a vintage guitar with a digital amp, think twice before you rewire the guitar.
For reference, I got a few guitars from different eras; 50s, 60s, 70s...up till present time. And I got a few amps from different eras; tube amps from the 50s and 60s, solid state amps from the 70s, tube amps from the 90s, digital guitar amps from today as well as digital modelers. And I got guitar speakers from different eras (my oldest speaker was made in 1947). Some of my guitars got 500k pots in 50s wiring, others got 60s wiring, other's got 300k pots in modern wiring, others got 500k pots in modern wiring. Some guitars got P-90 pickups, some got PAFs, some got modern humbuckers, some got various Fender single coils in Fender vintage wiring, some got modern Fender wiring...All those guitars and most amps got analog pots, and you know what; they never behave exactly the same and most of the time it doesn't matter! But sometimes it does and then we may have to do something about it. Then remember that electronics optimization is a question about pickups, amps and speakers. This includes, but is not limited to the perceived linearity of the pot.
-
Try reverse log if linear didn't help.
That's still odd af that you put linear taper in and it didn't help anything.
That sounds wrong since log are the ones that stay low turning up until 7 or 8 like you said and then jump up. The purpose of this is for rockers who play with distortion, it changes the sweep of the pot and the pot won't turn down barely at all until 2 if linear is used. For clean jazzers you don't want log.
You can use a multimeter to check to make sure those old linear pots are actually linear.Last edited by Strat-itis; 04-02-2026 at 01:49 PM.
-
Yeah. I've had guitar pots to turn since 1966 and never felt the need to change any because of their sweep.
-
Good thing it's a free country.
-
Set the gain on your amp higher and see if the guitar volume control is easier to get into your comfort zone.
-
This doesn’t change anything. The guitar is very quiet and weak until 8 on the volume knob then there is a sudden and shocking increase in loudness/fullness. Then from 8-10 on the knob it acts like I would expect. Audio or linear taper pots make no difference. Here is a list of things I have considered trying next in case anyone has had success with them: Originally Posted by Chezdeluxe
1. Change to 300k pots
2. Add a treble bleed circuit
3. Copy the entire wiring harness from the Howard Roberts or any other guitar I have that works properly.
-
The pots Eastman uses/used do that too. I find it irritating but since I play at home its not a big deal. For the life of me I cant see how it can be helpful to anyone. It requires a fine touch to get it where you want it. I cant imagine making those adjustments on the fly. Most the time I use the volume as a tone knob. Using it that way the early adjustments do make a difference and little with volume. The tone knob is close to useless. I tend to just use the amp.
One of these days I may change them. If I gigged they would already be gone. Im not sure who told guitar compaines that was a good idea.
-
Yes exactly! It makes the tone knob very touchy as well. From reading and asking around it seems the sudden jump is actually desirable for rock players who want to go from clean to dirty without much travel on the knob. I had an Eric Johnson Strat that did this same thing probably for that reason. I’m like you in that I want the volume knob to also change the tone over the length of its travel. Later today I will try to make a comparison video between the two guitars. Originally Posted by Sigmund451
-
Something to share on this subject. I recently purchased a used L5 wesmo (absolutely love it) and my luthier worked on it. The volume pot has a short range, comes on at 5 but is smoothly linear to 10 allowing me to get what I want. My luthier who is extremely expert and familiar with Gibsons told me it’s not uncommon which surprised me. But since it delivers the entire dynamic range not worth addressing.
-
Pots are so simple yet so confusing. And they aren't all created equal. I suggest using 30% audio taper pots. That is not the same as the % of spec tolerance. 30% taper results in more rotational distance of the wiper to give you more variation. Bartolini sells them. A few others do as well. But the most common pots available don't state what the taper % is. I believe they are more like 10%.
And it is common to say that humans don't hear how linear taper pots work. I think we hear just fine. It is just that the nature of these types of passive circuits make them sound more like on/off switches. In other words, many passive pickups will sound the same allowing 50% of their volume flowing through the circuit as they will with 100% of their volume flowing through it. They are firehoses.
https://bartolini.net/product/250k-30a-kp/
My 2 cents.
-
You might just have a defective pot with a dirty, worn, or burned out trace. You may also have a cold solder or cracked solder joint somewhere in the wiring connected to that pot. I would start with the most simple, obvious things and go from there. Originally Posted by zbingham
-
Both pots are brand new Mojotone Vintage Taper. Both pots behave the same with no signs of faulty wiring. Originally Posted by DawgBone
-
So as I understand it, you are using Mojotone Vintage taper linear pots. Have you tried their audio taper pots? From my experience linear taper pots are mostly on/off switches for these types of passive circuits. Originally Posted by zbingham
-
Maybe this gentleman can help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8SHJvmpNZE#t=455
-
I have always purchased audio taper for all my guitars, never had problems. My ES333 had linear taper pots and def required fine adjustments at the jump off point between too quiet and full blast. Originally Posted by lammie200
-
Thanks to everyone who is following along and submitting solutions. I did some reading and then sat down to experiment and discovered that when the tone pot is on 10 the volume pot does what I want it to do. Whenever the tone pot is turned down below 10 the volume pot suddenly has an erratic jump at around 8. Why is this and what can be done to remedy it?
-
Thanks, this guy has the clearest explanation yet. It turns out the volume pot I am using is interacting with the tone pot somehow. Now the question is, do I change the tone pots or modify the wiring in some other way to fix it? Originally Posted by Herbie
-
I've not had much admiration for the pots in my Gibson guitars. Some of them died, broke or were just the wrong match. So I guess it's not just Gibson. But replacing them always made the guitars better.
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos