Pots in Korean Epi guitars

[Suhnton]

I have a MIK Epiphone SG-400 (the one in my avatar), and was making some wiring changes, when I noticed the labels on the underside of the pots.
There are 3 volume controls and 1 tone control. All are 500K, however, the volume pots are labelled "B". The tone pots is an "A" type pot. This would suggest that the volume pots are linear and the tone logarithmic. The volume pots should be log pots.

I did a Google on pots and did find some info regarding the labelling convention, and it seems they differ between countries (so much for industry standardization), so I'm not sure whether log pots are "B" in Korea, or whether it is just poor QC, but there were filter caps across the vol pots as well, which I've never seen before. (I took them out).

For other Epiphone owners out there, I'd be really keen to hear what kind of pots are installed in your guitar/s.

Cheers.

[markb]

The caps across the volume pots will be "treble bleed" caps. They act as a high pass filter as you roll the volume down preserving the high end. Some swear by them but I find them artificial sounding and usually snip them out. I've no idea what the A and B designations mean.

[Ch0jin]

Ah the age old pot code mystery

The confusion arises because for some inexplicable reason, over the course of history the codes changed in a stupidly confusing manner where "A" pots used to mean "Linear Taper", but now mean "Log Taper".

Unless it's a -really- old guitar though, I'd say you were right and you have lin volumes and log tones.

Taper Old Code New Code Alternate
Linear A B LIN
Log (Audio) C A LOG
Antilog F N/A N/A

I expect someone else here who knows more about pots as they pertain to guitars will be able to explain why yours has been wired like that, because I was also raised to believe volume pots should be log taper.

[Suhnton]

Thanks for your replies.

I think I bought a "Made-On-Friday-At-4:55" guitar
What I've done is rewired it so that it has 3 independent volume controls for each pickup, and a master volume (I used the existing tone control pot for that). I prefer to alter tone through pickup selection, so this configuration gives me finer control over the sound.

I've noticed that adjusting the master volume (the old "A" tone pot), it tapers off and increases naturally. However, the independent volume controls don't have that natural-sounding response (they kind of get pretty loud at about 2-3). This suggests my assumption is correct and the wrong pots have been installed at the factory.

I was planning to completely rewire the guitar again with sturdier wire, so at the same time I think I'll change out those pots and see how it goes.

[wingsdad]

I don't know what pots were in my MIK (Samick) Sheraton II when I got it, but they (Volume and Tone) weren't smooth/precise enough for me so at the recommendation of the guitar tech at my Local GAS Station, I had these Audio Taper pots installed and they made for a vast improvement:

DiMarzio 500K Custom Taper Pots

I have no idea what pots are in my MIK (Peerless) Casino but they suck just as bad as the Sheraton's did, and someday, I'll replace them, but I'm thinking I should go with 250K's for the single coil P-90's.

Had I been more patient, I should've had the store order these for the Sheraton so I could've had the tech wire for coil splitting/tapping. Ahhh....next time...Perhaps you might want to milk the possibilites out of those 3 pickups?

DiMarzio 500K Push-Pull Audio Taper Pots

And top off the mod with these...just in case you get the urge to do Spinal Tap covers:

DiMarzio "ST" Bell Knobs

or, if you prefer a more 'vintage' look, these...

DiMarzio "ST" Speed Knobs

BTW: I'd never buy so much as a pick from Musician's Fiend, but their site is convenient for reference.

[Suhnton]

Nearly 7 bucks for 1 pot, that's a bit steep. I'll order mine from my trusted BYOC Stompbox geek place.
Now that you mention coil splitting/tapping, my pickups each have only a single wire pair. Thanks for the info though, it's very helpful.