Am I On The Rigth Track With This Pot Choice?

[drpossehl]

This is my first build (other than saga kits) I am building a double cut away out of swamp ash with quilted maple cap. My pick ups are SD's - SH2 and a SH5. I am planing to split them with a push pull pot. I am planing to have one volume, one tone pot, and a three way switch. As you can tell by my choices I am looking for something versatile. I was leaning tword two 500k pots and a .047 cap. This is what the schematic on the SD site had. Does this seem to fit the rest of my combo? I'm looking for ball park here.

PS I've done searches on "tone pot" and didn't come up with alot. I read Melvyn Hiscock's book and he recomends 250k tone pots as a rule of thumb. I read the pinned thread on tone caps but it seemed to be more about matching the cap to the pot. I need to get the pots ordered and and I'm not sure wich way to go. I can play with the cap later, but I dont want to experiment with push pull pots. Thank you, Dave

[crafty]

Use 500k, just as recommended by Duncan. 250k's are more suitable for single-coils.

[bugman96]

Use 500k, just as recommended by Duncan. 250k's are more suitable for single-coils.

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How about if you're going use a single coil and a humbucker with one volume and one tone knob? Still use 500k's?

[drpossehl]

I'll probably be using them in the humbucking mode most of the time, but how will 500k pots work when I play in the split (single coil) mode? Or is this just a compromise anyway? It would be great to hear from some one with a simular setup.

[crafty]

How about if you're going use a single coil and a humbucker with one volume and one tone knob? Still use 500k's?

Use 250k or 300k. The humbucker will sound a little darker and the output will come down, but the singles won't sound too shrill on 300k.

I'll probably be using them in the humbucking mode most of the time, but how will 500k pots work when I play in the split (single coil) mode? Or is this just a compromise anyway? It would be great to hear from some one with a simular setup.

I use to have a similar setup and I used 500k for everything anyway. Splitting is a compromise, as you said, and you'll want to focus on getting the best sound out of the non-split mode.

[drpossehl]

Thanks a bunch Crafty! Thats kinda what I was thinking too, but with out any previous experience I didn,t know if I was on the right track.

[lovekraft]

Just a personal preference, but I'd use the 500K pots, period - after all, if it's too bright when split, you've always got the tone control to pull it back a bit, but you don't have a knob that'll give you back the lost high end if you need it. Just my two cents - YMMV

[drpossehl]

Say now, thats a good point you make. I'm feeling better about ordering 500k pots all the time.