Best potentiometer

[CheapSuitG]

Hi!

Still a new builder, wrapped up my first 4 pedals the last 2 weeks.

Just sold off a Way Huge Green Rhino and the pots felt so smooth. My builds some are stiff, loose or binding. They are alpha from tayda and stomp box parts. Also have a tayda house brand that is actually one of the better feeling pots.

Did a Plaid and all 6 pots feel different.

Is the a better pot I should be using? Am I installing them wrong to feel like they bind, are sluggish or super loose?

Thanks!

 

[Nostradoomus]

Get some contact cleaner that has silicone lubricant in it, like MG Chemicals 404B. Give em a spritz in the opening by the lugs and a few turns, they smooth out.

 

[CheapSuitG]

That help the loose ones as well?

Get some contact cleaner that has silicone lubricant in it, like MG Chemicals 404B. Give em a spritz in the opening by the lugs and a few turns, they smooth out.

 

[Nostradoomus]

Probably not, I didn't see that part lol

 

[RetiredUnit1]

I've been using Alpha pots on amps for over 20 years and have had no problems. Great pots, just as good as CTS in my opinion. Just wondering if Tayda is really selling Alpha, or fake Alphas......?

Tightening a pot is only on the exterior housing, it will not affect the tension of the knob.

 

[CheapSuitG]

I got alphas from tayda and stomp box parts, so assume they are real from SBP, both are sluggish and feel like they are binding.

I've been using Alpha pots on amps for over 20 years and have had no problems. Great pots, just as good as CTS in my opinion. Just wondering if Tayda is really selling Alpha, or fake Alphas......?

Tightening a pot is only on the exterior housing, it will not affect the tension of the knob.

 

[RetiredUnit1]

I got alphas from tayda and stomp box parts, so assume they are real from SBP, both are sluggish and feel like they are binding.

Well you do want to keep them from wandering around on their own. A easily turned knob is not good. They do have an almost hydraulic feeling.

Especially on high wattage combo tube amps, where vibration will move them around if they are not tight. But I wouldn't call it binding. Dampened I believe is the proper adverb....

 

[Stickman393]

Stompbox parts line of pots is damned decent and reasonably priced.

Alphas are good, but they offer a lot of different varieties that may not be as consistent as just sticking with the one type of 1/4" shaft pots that stompbox parts sells.

Pots are only half the feel though: knobs matter too. A Davies is going to feel different from a knockoff. Slightly. Aluminum will feel different than plastic, narrower knobs will be the slightest bit more difficult to turn than wider knobs.

But honestly: I say it's a part that, unless the pots are an integral performance piece of how the pedal is meant to be used, or if one is going for the maximum of vintage correctitude, this part can largely be handled by the many, many "good enough" varieties on offer out there.

 

[Nostradoomus]

Stompbox parts line of pots is damned decent and reasonably priced.

Alphas are good, but they offer a lot of different varieties that may not be as consistent as just sticking with the one type of 1/4" shaft pots that stompbox parts sells.

Pots are only half the feel though: knobs matter too. A Davies is going to feel different from a knockoff. Slightly. Aluminum will feel different than plastic, narrower knobs will be the slightest bit more difficult to turn than wider knobs.

But honestly: I say it's a part that, unless the pots are an integral performance piece of how the pedal is meant to be used, or if one is going for the maximum of vintage correctitude, this part can largely be handled by the many, many "good enough" varieties on offer out there.

Also you must account for the height at which you've place the knob, they will drag if they're making even the slightest contact with your finished enclosure.

 

[jesuscrisp]

Are they really that different before you put the knobs on though?
If the knob is sitting too low, it can cause the stiffness. Always slightly raise them away from the enclosure before screwing them tight.

 

[Nostradoomus]

If the knob is sitting too low, it can cause the stiffness.

 

[jwin615]

If the knob is too low, it can cause the stiffness.

 

[CheapSuitG]

So from what I am gathering, there is nothing inherently wrong, they are just a different level of pots from my Way Huge pedal.

Well you do want to keep them from wandering around on their own. A easily turned knob is not good. They do have an almost hydraulic feeling.

Especially on high wattage combo tube amps, where vibration will move them around if they are not tight. But I wouldn't call it binding. Dampened I believe is the proper adverb....

Are they really that different before you put the knobs on though?
If the knob is sitting too low, it can cause the stiffness. Always slightly raise them away from the enclosure before screwing them tight.

 

[Stickman393]

Get up, come on, go down on the stiffness. Huh. Never knew that song was about potentiometers.

As to what way huge uses, I'd be surprised if it's outside of the norm. Pedals tend to use 9mm or 16mm pots, and while there will be some variation between manufacturers (as well as minor variations between pots made by the same manufacturer)...ultimately these are mass produced components. It's possible that way huge orders in bulk to their specs, but they're likely just using pots from the same handful of factories that produce the same ones us DIYers use.

Now...you can go to things that are meant more for the hifi crowd. This is a bit of where some wah potentiometers are sourced from, but that's mostly because those tend to have much longer lifespans. Vintage Allen-bradley pots, clarostat, alps, etc. But at that point the pots will be *huge* and cost like 15 bucks a pop or more.

There are also vintage-correct pots from the likes of omeg: those are meant to be used in fuzz face clones for the purist crowd.

Honestly, though, I recommend the stuff stompboxparts sells. The Cusack/Stomp branded stuff. That there pot is like...uh...Skittles. Or something.

Gotta ask my stoner stick father-in-law what all the cool kids are smoking these days.

 

[CheapSuitG]

The Google machine tells me that they use Dunlop Super Pots, only $19.99 each! A bargain!

Think I’ll live with the alphas and the like,

 

[jwin615]

The Google machine tells me that they use Dunlop Super Pots, only $19.99 each! A bargain!

Think I’ll live with the alphas and the like,

Doesnt Dunlop own Way Huge?

 

[CheapSuitG]

Seems like they do!

Doesnt Dunlop own Way Huge?