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I am thinking about getting one of the DeArmond Rhythm Chief reissues to put on my Loar LH300. I was thinking about using the thumb wheel controls that mount on to the underside of a pick guard. Does anyone have any experience with these? Are there any better options that I should consider?
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05-26-2015 08:38 PM
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Do you know if there is a big difference in terms of quality or performance between these Schatten at StewMac ($36) and the Stealth control kit at archtop.com ($69)? I will probably need a kit soon. Thanks!
Originally Posted by Spook410
ac accessories
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Hmm.. I would rather buy something advertised as being a Schatten product. I've found them to be easy to install and they have held up well. I think the kit at Archtop may very well be Schatten but it doesn't say so. Also the Archtop price seems a bit high.
Stewmac used to have these as separate pots. Also I think they were offered with a 250K value at one time but not seeing those now. Too bad. About to install an Armstrong single coil floater and could use them.
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Thanks!
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I used a set of those for a few years but I prefer traditional pots and knobs, it turned out.
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I am probably wrong but I seem to recall the stew mac ones were pretty easy to separate..
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I can't remember where I bought my Schatten thumb wheels from it was somewhere in Europe they did volume and tone or just volume and 250k or 500k pots.
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So I ordered a pair of the $4.50 thumbwheel pots from WD Music. They haven't arrived yet so I can't report on the quality but at the price my expectations aren't all that high. At least they have 250K versions. I'll likely use mini-CTS pots mounted on the pickguard instead.
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Here's one source in Europe (Germany):
http://www.cuntz-guitars.info/index....id=6&Itemid=89
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The Schattens are the way to go, got one on my John Pisano copy, got another for a mahogany John Pisano copy ready to go... They're wonderful. Spend the money... You'll never have to worry or deal with problems with the Schattens.
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I was wondering what you may have improved on an Eastman by swapping out to the Schattens.
Some detail would be appreciated. (e.g. electrical noise when moving the pot, mechanical vibration noise, ease of turning, a different taper)
Thanks
Danielle
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It's electrical noise from moving the pot. That's typically how cheap pots fail. The get 'scratchy'. Quality pots will last longer and will also have a smoother feel.
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Smooth control of volume or adjust of tone, no scratchiness or noise when adjusting. My guitar photos are not an Eastman, but a Yunzhi (former partner of founder) John Pisano copy. It's dead quiet and an improvement worth the investment.
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i stepped up to the schattens after having used the cheaper stew macs for a while. i change was needed because the screw was loose and the wheel (and screw) fell off, rendering it useless. i didn't realize that was a thing. i suppose it worked ok when it was there, but it never felt like a solid, quality piece of kit. hope the schattens are different. bought them months ago but never installed it. i'll get there one day.
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I asked an Eastman rep for advice on adding a tone control to my 810. He recommended the dual Schatten pots. They have a better audio taper than the stock thumbwheels. At that time (a couple years ago) there were no Chinese thumbwheels of that quality.
I haven't done it yet, but I should. I find it annoying that with the stock pots most of the volume rolloff occurs in a small range of rotation, making it difficult to make fine volume adjustments on the bandstand. Fortunately, the stock thumbwheel has never been scratchy.
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The Schatten thumbwheels are made by Alpha so the quality is not as good as CTS or Bournes for example but I've used them a few times and they have been fine.
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I think it's the input impedance of the device you plug your guitar into that makes a big difference regarding any scratchy noise. I used run into that a lot at open mics with my AR805CE. I started using my K&K belt preamp all of the time and that eliminated the problem. (With a higher input impedance less of your signal is dropped across any wiper resistance in the pot.) I often run into hosts at open mics that have not got a clue about input impedance and that will not hesitate to plug a guitar into a line input.
Danielle
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So I thought that I might turn this install over to a pro. I emailed him for a sense of what he might charge. He told me $250. That seems a bit high to me, so, I will try this my self.
So, does anyone know, do I just connect the pick up to the thumb wheel then the end pin? is there a ground somewhere in there?
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Just a volume control, or volume and treble? Originally Posted by miken
Watch a video on good solder technique.
Try to star ground -- all grounds soldered at a single point rather than daisy-chained.
*Edit* The drawing I linked to seems to have reversed the connections on the jack. Make sure the ground wire is connected to the sleeve, not the tip on the jack.Last edited by KirkP; 08-03-2015 at 11:53 AM.
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The Schatten volume has 3 solder points the left is the pickup hot, the right is the ground and the middle (wiper) is the output to the jack, they come with a length of cable already soldered to the circuit board so if you don't want to redo the solder points you can cut the cable shorter and attach the pickup and jack to it, at least that way you could test it before making it permanent. The thumbwheel attaches to the pickguard with adhesive foam tape already attached to the circuit board and believe me from experience it sticks almost as good as glue and is not easy to remove.
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Hey Para.. I'm a big fan of CTS pots as well. I get some hits when I search for CTS thumbwheels but it's typically specialized non-guitar gear. Do you know a source for something made by CTS in a 250K and format suitable for guitar?
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I'm afraid I don't Spook I've searched myself without any luck, for general guitar work I use CTS 9% pots. They now do them in minipot size.
Audio taper 9% tolerance.
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