Potentiometers

**Marcis** · 11-13-2012, 02:55 PM

Can someone tell me which potentiometers I must choose for Gibson Herb Ellis ES - 165 ( I need replacement for both of them Volume and Tone).

Thank you in advance for your answer.....

**disco~juice** · 11-13-2012, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by Marcis

Can someone tell me which potentiometers I must choose for Gibson Herb Ellis ES - 165 ( I need replacement for both of them Volume and Tone).

Thank you in advance for your answer.....

500k for volume, 250k for tone

**Marcis** · 11-13-2012, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by disco~juice

500k for volume, 250k for tone

Thanks man

**Marcis** · 11-13-2012, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by disco~juice

500k for volume, 250k for tone

Short or long shaft?

**SamBooka** · 11-13-2012, 05:27 PM

I "think" the pots in mine are original (they are oxidized to hell and have the gibson logo on them)

I can check at home but IIRC it was a 300 for vol and 500 for tone. (was a little surprised by the 300)

I am replacing them anyway going 500 across the board but will let you know tonight when I get home.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 11-13-2012, 05:38 PM

I can never keep these two straight, but don't you also have to choose between linear taper and logarithmic (audio) taper? I seem to remember volume is log and tone is linear, but feel free to disabuse me.

**jorgemg1984** · 11-13-2012, 07:20 PM

Gibson sometimes uses 300k pots I think.

**SamBooka** · 11-13-2012, 07:51 PM

yep... 300K (mine measure 339K) LINEAR
Tone is a 500k (537K ) log pot.
.02 ceramic disk cap
I have a couple of replacement pots here new in package that meet those vol specs. PPAT-310 (short shaft)

EDIT: Confirmed

http://www.gibson.com/Files/schemati...is%20ES165.pdf

**Gabe** · 11-14-2012, 04:45 AM

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

I can never keep these two straight, but don't you also have to choose between linear taper and logarithmic (audio) taper? I seem to remember volume is log and tone is linear, but feel free to disabuse me.

It's more a personal preference thing, I've always preferred linear pots for both volume and tone.

**Little Jay** · 11-14-2012, 05:01 AM

Traditionally Gibson uses 300k linear for volume and 500k audio for tone with a .02uF cap (the same for all models with humbuckers: ES335, Les Paul, ES175).

http://images.gibson.com/Lifestyle/S...S335-ES175.pdf

If you use a 500k for volume then it's also fine. Some prefer that, it yields slightly more treble I think.

**Marcis** · 11-14-2012, 07:37 AM

If i look for them on e- bay i should look for long or short shaft Gibson pot?

**SamBooka** · 11-14-2012, 09:49 AM

Short is fine... I can measure when I get home tonight but yeah..
IF you want the original pot it is still available (see my part number above).

Gibson Short Shaft 300K Linear Taper Pot (1) PPAT-310 | eBay

300K Linear pots are not something you will see every day but they are out there if you digg.

CTS make them and they are cheaper than gibson branded ones... important that you get the split shaft

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/e...al_ctspots.htm

**reedy** · 11-22-2012, 04:01 PM

I replaced the original harness in my ES-165 when I changed out the pickup. I went with a CTS vintage taper 500K volume and a regular CTS 500k for the tone (both short shaft). I also used a sprague .015uf PIO capacitor. I found the smaller rated capacitor gave a little more 'useable' range in the tone control. I got everything from a place called Tundra Tone (www.tundratone.com). Good prices and realy helpful.

**SamBooka** · 11-22-2012, 05:09 PM

I thought I was the only one who liked caps less than .022!!
I put a seth lover in my 165 last week and stuck with a 300K Linear.
No issues with the taper but I find it still kinda dark. 500K are in the mail

**reedy** · 11-22-2012, 05:21 PM

Now that I'm used to it I really like the smaller value cap. 500K are the way to go for sure, I find the 250 or 300K pots are fine with P90 just not humbuckers. You'll have to let me know what you think of the Seth Lover, I've always been curious about those pickups. I ended up putting a Sheptone in mine. It was about the same price.

Originally Posted by SamBooka

I thought I was the only one who liked caps less than .022!!
I put a seth lover in my 165 last week and stuck with a 300K Linear.
No issues with the taper but I find it still kinda dark. 500K are in the mail

**Spook410** · 11-22-2012, 08:32 PM

Handy place to look for factory Gibson sorts of things:

Schematics

More specifically: http://www.gibson.com/Files/schemati...is%20ES165.pdf

It says.. 300K Volume, 500K Tone, .22uf cap

**reedy** · 11-22-2012, 08:38 PM

Strange, I just checked my old (original) 165 harness and it has two 500K pots.

Originally Posted by Spook410

Handy place to look for factory Gibson sorts of things:

Schematics

More specifically: http://www.gibson.com/Files/schemati...is%20ES165.pdf

It says.. 300K Volume, 500K Tone, .22uf cap

**SamBooka** · 11-22-2012, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by reedy

Strange, I just checked my old (original) 165 harness and it has two 500K pots.

What year?
My 96 had the original pots and were 300k linears
Use 500k pots in everything , even my esquire

**reedy** · 11-22-2012, 10:46 PM

'94. But my ES-165 is unusual, it has gibson klusons, not grovers and has a MOP logo. So it's a strange one to say the least.

Originally Posted by SamBooka

What year?
My 96 had the original pots and were 300k linears
Use 500k pots in everything , even my esquire

**SamBooka** · 11-23-2012, 10:59 AM

Originally Posted by reedy

'94. But my ES-165 is unusual, it has gibson klusons, not grovers and has a MOP logo. So it's a strange one to say the least.

Sounds like one of the earliest ones but they came out in 91.
At least you got good tuners off the bat. How is the guitar for dead spots? When I went to the lighter tuners the C on high E was sucked out of the guitar POOF!

**reedy** · 11-23-2012, 01:34 PM

I actually didn't think that the gibson tuners were that light weight. I removed one to see if they were the originals (they are) and noticed they were pretty heavy. They are Schallers I think since they say made in germeny on the underside.I can't say I've noticed any dead spots. I did make one change that helped a lot. I changed the wooden base the TOM bridge sits on. The original was a thin poor quality base with the separate feet. I put on an ebony one that contacts the soundboard all the way across. to my ears it gave the guitar a little more umph acoustically.Another thought about the dead spot is check that fret. It may not be seated properly in the fret board. If you tap it and you hear a hollow sound it might need some attention. I found that on my 165 the fretboard/frets weren't the best. I'm also using 12s on her and that made a big difference too.

**SamBooka** · 11-23-2012, 03:43 PM

Cool. I think the knobs on my 165 are original.. I have changed everything else .. or will have changed them shortly.
New tuners.. ebony bridge and base (hated the tom)
new tailpiece... seth lover.. grover kluson style tuners.. oh trussrod cover is original too.. took off the fingerrest.

Not a bad fret .. dead spot... there was a thread about it a few months ago.

**reedy** · 11-23-2012, 04:02 PM

Fire me photo of yours...Here are a couple of shots of mine

**SamBooka** · 11-23-2012, 05:10 PM

as it was when I got it two years ago and is it was last week..
I have a seth lover in there for now.. but the p90 had its charms too.

**reedy** · 11-23-2012, 05:20 PM

Nice. Couple of questions: did it take much to fit the P90 into the body and where did you find a gold 175 tailpiece. I've often thought about changing mine if I could find one. Did the holes line up with the original?