Regular pots vs thumb wheel pots

[Dioxic]

Hey everybody,

Luthier is modifying my floating pickup guitar and can’t decide between regular pots va thumb wheel pots. I was wondering if any of you had a preference based on your experience and if so, why?

I unfortunately haven’t had the opportunity to try thumbwheel pots, but I’m curious how they compare.

[jads57]

I have a floating pickup archtop with thumbwheels, what A PAIN!

[telephone]

Thumb wheels have never worked for me. I have more control with the old school knob. I believe Barney Kessel would agree.

[iim7V7IM7]

I think it depends on how much you are changing the volume and or tone when you play. I control volume at the preamp and once I have the tone where I want it, I don’t mess with it. If I was a player who was constantly adjusting them, I’d get regular pots.

[Jonathan0996]

One of my guitars has a thumbwheel tone pot and a conventional volume pot. It works fine for me, but I don't think I'd like a thumbwheel volume pot.

[feet]

I have a guitar with the same deal as his, but I had it reversed. It started out with a single volume on the pickguard, and I changed that to a tone knob, while adding a thumb wheel to control the volume. Love it. Works great.

The reason the big knob is the tone is simple; I use it more. The volume is pretty much on or off, but the tone is vital for smoothing out the brightness so I don't have to dial in my amps just for that one guitar. So now I can access a couple of tones on the fly, and let my picking do the rest.

But truth be told, I probably prefer the plain old holes in the body method. Gibson configuration is fine, but I don't mind the gretsch one, either.

[sgosnell]

I like thumbwheels. I don't do a lot of adjustment, but it's easy enough to do. I put my thumbwheels inside the treble f hole, and it's convenient I don't like having a pickguard on an archtop, it's just in the way and muffles the acoustic sound. Even on a mostly electric, I prefer no pickguard. And fullsize pots with knobs in holes cut into the top are fine if you want to prevent feedback, but not great for free top vibration. YMMV.

[bluejaybill]

I like thumbwheels. I don't do a lot of adjustment, but it's easy enough to do. I put my thumbwheels inside the treble f hole, and it's convenient I don't like having a pickguard on an archtop, it's just in the way and muffles the acoustic sound. Even on a mostly electric, I prefer no pickguard. And fullsize pots with knobs in holes cut into the top are fine if you want to prevent feedback, but not great for free top vibration. YMMV.

Muffles the acoustic sound? Seriously? I've never noticed that. I can see not wanting one if it affects your picking though.

As for floating pickups, I just received a custom made guitar with the thumbwheels under the pickguard and it works great, but I don't adjust them very often.

[rlrhett]

Rolling a traditional pot with the palm of you hand is definitely easier than hunting for a thumb wheel in a sound hole. But it depends on your need.

In my acoustic archtop that I plug in to fill in the volume and give it more presence the thumb wheels look great and do what I need. When I’m playing my semi that is 99% an electric guitar I find that for turning the volume off quickly, or adjusting the tone quickly while playing, having a surface mounted knob is essential.

Oh, and I never have a pick guard because I’m not used to it and it interferes with my picking hand.


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[bmw2002]

Mark Campellone accommodated my request to use thumbwheel controls (vol. and tone) on my 16” standard thin line with a built-in pickup; normally only his guitars with floating pickups use these — his built-in pickup guitars use top mounted pots. On my guitar, the thumbwheels are mounted on the pickguard. Mine was a purely aesthetic decision, although they function fine and are easy to find/adjust on the fly.

[Spook410]

Thumbwheels on the pick guard for guitars with floating pickups.

Regular knobs in the regular places for guitars with built in pickups.

Or you can skip it all together and have no controls on the guitar. Just do everything at the preamp. A settable boost on the preamp is especially nice for solo volume.

[sgosnell]

There are multiple ways of mounting a pickguard. Some are better than others. I've seen large pickguards with hard foam, leather, cork, etc underneath, between the pickguard and the top, supporting the pickguard, and I think these definitely affect the acoustic volume. Others affect it less. I just don't like pickguards in general on an archtop. And if you want to muffle acoustic volume, consider the glued-on monstrosities on the Everly Brothers' flat-tops. Different situation, of course.

[chasranney]

To illustrate sgosnel's last point.

[Cunamara]

I have had both thumbwheels and regular potentiometers mounted on the pickguard of my archtop at different times. I preferred the aesthetics of the former but the functionality of the latter. I have settled on functionality as the priority.

I have found that normal-size pots are a little too big for the space between the pickguard and the top of the instrument, so I use Alpha mini pots. They don't sound quite as good to my ears as a full-size CTS, though.

[floatingpickup]

I have had both. I prefer regular pots. They are easier to grab and just feel more solid to me.
Keith

[sgosnell]

Regular knobs are certainly easier to adjust quickly, especially if you do it often. And especially if you use the volume knob as a wah-wah device. Me, I'm more of a Ronco guy. I mostly just set it and forget it. But they sell lots of types of pots for a reason. Different people prefer different things.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Regular knobs are certainly easier to adjust quickly, especially if you do it often. And especially if you use the volume knob as a wah-wah device. Me, I'm more of a Ronco guy. I mostly just set it and forget it. But they sell lots of types of pots for a reason. Different people prefer different things.

For those who want to try it, the tone knob is the one that wahs. Unfortunately, most standard tone pots are too far from the picking hand to reach for simultaneous plucking and wah-ing. The volume pot on many guitars can be moved with your pinkie while plucking, closing it just before the stroke and immediately opening it on the beat to remove the attack from the note and give it a steel guitar quality (a “volume swell”, for those who don’t know about it).

When I played regular Teles, I turned the control plate around so I could do volume swells easily. But I can barely reach the volume knob on any of the guitars I have now. To pretend I’m Lloyd Maines, I have to pluck close to the saddle with my thumb, lead the beat a bit, and stretch the pinkie as far as it will go to turn up the knob on the beat.

I never thought about using the thumb wheels on my Eastman for swells and wahs, but they’re in position - I can probably use a pick and control the pots with my pinkie. I’ll take it out this afternoon and give it a try. I don’t gig with the Eastman, so I’ll probably never get to do this in public. But if it works, I’ll make a video.

[Mark M.]

I have thumbwheels on my Trenier Model E. It’s the first guitar I have owned with thumbwheels, and I like them a lot. I can access them without looking and they provide easy control. The look is cleaner and it eliminates the need for two unnecessary holes in the top.

[sgosnell]

I don't want to put holes in the top of my guitars. I don't want heavy pots hanging in those holes. I don't want a pickguard. Thumbwheels in the f hole are the only acceptable solution I've found. Others have different preferences.