Fun With Pot (well, really - Opening up a Potentiometer)

I recently received a new CTS/Fender 250kOhm potentiometer via online purchase through the mail. Unfortunately one of the ears was broken completely off and was nowhere in the package. This particular pot would have been of no use to me. (Customer service sent me a new one right away, with no fuss. It was a wonderful experience.)

P.S. Don't try this at home with a good potentiometer, it might not work when you put it back together - disclaimer and all that.

So, just for fun and to show everyone what's inside, I tore it open and took some pictures - I thought the parts were very interesting.

First, pull back the little ears on the pot body to allow the potentiometer to come apart:




Now pull off the top bezel and the ear contact plate:




Now with most of the inside assemblies pulled apart:




And now a look at the insides and the back of the pot (with manufacturer, and date code):





I really like CTS pots for guitar and bass work. There are other good ones, too, but CTS seems to be very reliable and even supplies some pretty great guitar manufacturers with OEM pots.

I hope you enjoyed this little voyage into tone and volume control. More to come...

Welcome to Mod-Guitar Dot Com!

Welcome to Mod-Guitar.com!

This site will be a place where I can share experience, ideas, pictures, and results of guitar modifications (and bass modifications, too!). I hope you find something that helps you or makes your sound-life richer.

For great commonly-used electronic modification diagrams, I love sites like the Seymour Duncan Wiring Diagram site, the Guitar Electronics site, and even neat places like Stewart MacDonald. (I'll provide links in other posts another time).

Parts: there are SO many great sites out there. eBay supplies almost all my used stuff (host guitars, used pickups, great used necks, bridges and other important bits and pieces. But, there are many sites which I happily use to find new electronics pieces, and even guitar sites. I also have a great deal of respect for Mike Z. (an eBay seller - banjomikez) for new electronics and parts.

Locally, there's an awesome luthier named Darren Riley. Darren Riley's Internet site. Look him up if you're in town. He does magic with instruments and amplifiers. An instrument worked on by Darren is a happy instrument.



Please stop by or get the RSS feed to my site. I'll be here as often as I can as I walk through my guitar and bass sound-quest journey.

If I can, I will be glad to answer questions. I am not as experienced as people like Darren Riley (by a long shot), but I have had dozens of very successful and sonically rich projects work out to be awesome instruments. My local musical community is full of Jim Pearson customized guitars.

Drop me a note at my contact page if you need to send me a letter or two.

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Now for some fine print.
What I write here is fine to share among friends. I do, however, retain all copyrights to my words, observations, uber-cool made-up words, and my pictures. ANY kind of rebroadcast or re-issue of what's here needs to be cleared with me.

It does make me happy when someone listens to my music. Watch my links and enjoy!

Disclaimer and an observation: This site is not an advertisement-driven site or one of those "trick-you-into-coming-to-the-site-to-get-pageviews" things! - it is something I enjoy doing: writing, guitars, reviewing, sharing...
As with my guitar review site, I do have an affiliation with a musician's online store. I don't blare Zillions of ads at my readers. However, there are discreet links and usually a small graphic leading to my affiliate. You can use my site without jumping around huge ads, and you don't have to click to links to see ads - just links to relevant information and places to purchase things I use.

It does help when someone clicks through my little links and makes a purchase or two to Music123. Although I do a LOT of business with local shops and lots of online retailers, Musician's Friend has ALWAYS been awesome in their selection, general price, and most importantly their customer service. It has been my personal experience that they always want me to be happy with my purchase. That's why they're the only musical affiliate in my (current) site portfolio. I've been losing money on my blog, guitar review, and home page since the beginning... These sites are labors of love. (If it eventually pays for some fun stuff for my family, then we'll all be in plus-business. If it buys me a kewl guitar or something someday, then great! I'll share lots of drool-o-matic pictures with my readers on that, too.)

Peas, everyone. Find time and people for happiness, joy, and light.