Need advice re potentiometers for floaters

[jhbpa]

Are these a good choice for floating pick ups with both pick up and pot mounted to pick-guard?

EP-5186-000 (1) Bourns 500k Audio Taper 6mm Split Mini | Reverb

Are there better choices.

Thanks

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I’d use thumb wheel pots like these from Stew-Mac :

[jhbpa]

thanks, I don't care for thumbwheels, just one volume pot, with knob mounted on pick-guard.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

thanks, I don't care for thumbwheels, just one volume pot, with knob mounted on pick-guard.

Then the determining factor is how much clearance there is between the bottom of your pickguard and the top of your guitar. That audio taper pot should be fine, as long as it fits in the space with enough clearance to keep it from touching / marking the top under it.

Choose the pot’s value to get the sound you want and to complement the kind of pickup you use. A 500k pot will give a slightly brighter sound than a 250k. You can even go to a 100k if you want a really dark tone. If your floater is a HB, most would use a 500k. In general, most also think that higher output pickups sound more natural with higher value pots and low output pickups sound better with lower value pots. YMMV.

You can also add a tone capacitor to the volume pot to further tailor your tone.

[jhbpa]

Thanks, good info. What about brands?

[icr]

If you remove the thumbwheels from the pots, you can put knobs on the pots and mount them on top, rather than underneath the pickguard.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Thanks, good info. What about brands?

Bourns and CTS are the market leaders in good guitar pots. The only difference I’ve ever noticed is that Bourns pots are much easier to turn than CTS, which is by design. I prefer the feel of a CTS, but I can’t offer a reason other than that it feels “better” to me and it’s harder to accidentally change the setting.

Duncan and Dunlop market pots too. But I don’t know who makes them and I’ve never used either one. All of the standard pots in my current guitars and most of those I’ve had are CTS.

[Cunamara]

If all you were wondering about is brand quality, then Bourns is an excellent potentiometer. CTS is also the standard. There are other brands, many of which are actually made by CTS and rebranded. The third major brand is Alpha. The other question is whether your knobs are for 6 mm split shaft, 1/4" split shaft, 1/4" solid shaft, etc.

[jhbpa]

If all you were wondering about is brand quality, then Bourns is an excellent potentiometer. CTS is also the standard. There are other brands, many of which are actually made by CTS and rebranded. The third major brand is Alpha. The other question is whether your knobs are for 6 mm split shaft, 1/4" split shaft, 1/4" solid shaft, etc.

That was original concern, trying to correct earlier mistakes on a DIY project.