"Any one can make the simple complicated ..Intelligence/Creativity is making the complicated simple" You have definitely achieved the latter....Thank you for this video!
Another important thing to take from this video is that huge difference in the values of the two pots. One pot had almost 20% more resistance than the other. That's probably enough to make an audible difference in the circuit. If somebody swapped those out thinking "500k is 500k" they might end up saying the taper changed the tone, when it was really the value of the pot.
I got sent a 250k pot for a left handed guitar by mistake and I did'nt realise till I hooked it up for tone on a Strat bridge, all I had was a .0022mf cap ripped out of a 70s TV, wired it all up and realised as I turned it down it got really bright but in max it sounded fantastic. The Linear workes well with tone control with small capacitors on single coils. Worth trying a Linear 250k on a stratocaster Volume control, to my ears it gives a "usable" level on every stage from 0 to 10. Found out by error when replacing a faulty Alpha 250k Audio, those days did'nt even know what A and B taper was. Do check the readings if poss with a multimeter as out of 3 I got ; 220k, 259k and 279k, tried them all and decided the 259k was best. Don't be afraid to experiment as it helps you bind with the instrument, just take it in small steps and follow all the safety instructions. I bought a tiny battery amp so I could check the the wiring worked properly before soldering and screwing the scratchplate back on. Felt safer with a battery amp cos a mains combo can make horrid noises which can alarm the neighbours.
Best video discription on the subject, clear and concise, I use a linear for volume and audio for tone but probably just going with the linear from now on
I see some reactions here saying linear for volume. The reason audio taper (logarithmic) pots are used is because our ears experience a bigger change in perceived volume at lower volumes than at higher volumes. So, using a audio taper you get a more perceived linear volume change. Audio taper pots are generally not actually made logarithmic, but are a approximation of it using 2 linear tracks that overlap in the middle, a slow rising change in resistance for the first track and a fast rising change in resistance in the other. (true logarithmic pots exist but are only used in special applications). This approximation simplifies the manufacturing process. As shown in the video, for a audio pot the midpoint is lower than half of the total resistance value because that's part of the first slow changing track. This midpoint is qualified as a percentage less than 50% (a linear pot would be 50% at the midpoint). There are different types of audio tapers defined by this percentage. A 10% pot will have a very slow change in the beginning of the rotation, and very rapid at the end of the rotation. Useful for people who like swells by using little travel. A 30% pot will have a more gradual change and good for those who like fine control over the volume. Hope that explains audio taper a bit better :) Seymour Duncan has normal pots and high speed pots (yngwie model). Bare Knuckle pickups also has pots with different tapers.
Although you would think it would be perfect for every application unfortunately it's not, this is why audio taper pots exist....Because of the way an audio gain structure works
Power increases as the square of voltage. An audio pot tries to mimic that so that when you increase the volume pot, the sound level appears to increase smoothly. A linear pot would cause a sudden increase in volume as you move from 0 to 2 or 1 to 2, but would have almost no impact when you moved the pot from 8 to 9 or 9 to 10.
If you use a lefty guitar and want to use an Audio (Log) pot, you need a reverse taper pot. The pot will be marked C250K Ordinary Log pots will be marked A250K. You can't just reverse the wires as the taper will be the wrong way round.
just measured 2 pots, both XGP, A330k 811's they gradually started ramping up almost from the very moment or position I began turning them? also liner taper isn't about ohms, it's about how it swells the volume in relation to the position its in so the only REAL way to do this is connected to a constant signal and slowly turning the pot up... also I have one very very good volume pot in all my collection, dunno what it is but the very second you crack it it leaks a little volume then goes up and up from there, no dead spots or increments in which nothing happens, form 0 to 11 ... IMHO they should all be like this save for live conditions where a guy just wants a full on full off or close to it, like with the half turn or close ratio linear style, for doing volume swells and so forth.. its crazy tho, different websites explain it differently, and some the same they just flip the Audio or Linear as in one website will explain a linear being the exact same as an Audio, so its prolly best to solder it up and test it IMHO they should ALL perform like that one in my older strat.. I really like that pot I think this test should be performed on a keyboard synthesiser or a tone generator exact same input all the way, then solder em in and slowly turn them up, see how they behave how they're actually used .. mo betta
Ok, you’ve explained what the physical/structural differences are but, as a complete NOOB, I want to know what the difference between the linear and the audio pot is sonically, like what are the pros and cons, of both? Please let me know. I’m trying to learn. Thank you kindly
Linear is great, specialy if you play at home, you can adjust the sound of your guitar, not to be harsh. Audio taper is for people who play live shows and have to get trough the mix. I have had linear and audio taper, love linear, hate taper.
@@CoomerGremlinDGGfan You can of course use any combination and they will work but on high output pickups it's good to be able to have some kind of linear range 0 - 10, instead of having the total range from say 0 - 2.
I'm gonna change my potentiometer for my speaker volume controller.. the original model is A103 but i accidentally buy B103 model..the design is same..just different on model number..if the comparison just amount of output,which is A type is greatly increase after passing 100k value.. i think B type also no problem if i use..am i right??
Generally you use audio ( logarithmic taper)potentiometer with audio projects such as for volume control. Use Linear taper for precise even distribution of resistance for projects such as microcontroller analog inputs and digital outputs. This is due to the principles of how the human ear perceives loudness/volume. However if you want to control the gain/crunch of your sound in one knob you may want to use a linear taper. Usually the default is audio taper But gear heads will switch out to linear for a specific result such as volume with gain. If you want to get more precise you can add capacitors into the equation. Usually very low value caps.
What you didn't explain is that our hearing, apparently, is logarithmic, not linear...in that you can think of our brains as amplifiers so that we hear half volume as higher than that. Hence, the justification for log pots.
I totally dislike audio taper pots, specially for humbuckers with distortion, the type that after about 8 start to break up, with a linear pot you can turn down to 7 or so and they clean up but if you use the right cap you can maintain volume levels.., plus have the ability to simply turn down your guitar to different levels, audio is full on or nothing, very horrible for tone or volume, some will say linear in volume and audio on tone, fugg that it's the same thing you either have bass or treble, may as well use an on/off switch, I want to be able to blend or mix my tone so linear is a must or its just on and off, ridiculous IMHO
Audio pots make no sense to me. When I want volume I want to turn knob up, when I want less I want to turn knob down, and same for tone, end of story. This audio taper business is a complete waste of time and energy, anyone reading this just get all linear pots, no more faffing about with nonsense.
Almost every guitar comes with audio taper volume pots and linear tone pots for ever and and ever since day 1 so that's fine for myself and tons of other guitar players for ever now so what's the big deal ? I don't see it for myself.
You have no clue what you're talking about. Our ears don't respond to sound linearly. Audio taper more closely matches how our ears respond, so it gives a smoother transition.
"Any one can make the simple complicated ..Intelligence/Creativity is making the complicated simple" You have definitely achieved the latter....Thank you for this video!
Another important thing to take from this video is that huge difference in the values of the two pots. One pot had almost 20% more resistance than the other. That's probably enough to make an audible difference in the circuit. If somebody swapped those out thinking "500k is 500k" they might end up saying the taper changed the tone, when it was really the value of the pot.
I agree, plus the one POT was over the rated 500K which may be the + or - 10 % ?
I got sent a 250k pot for a left handed guitar by mistake and I did'nt realise till I hooked it up for tone on a Strat bridge, all I had was a .0022mf cap ripped out of a 70s TV, wired it all up and realised as I turned it down it got really bright but in max it sounded fantastic. The Linear workes well with tone control with small capacitors on single coils. Worth trying a Linear 250k on a stratocaster Volume control, to my ears it gives a "usable" level on every stage from 0 to 10. Found out by error when replacing a faulty Alpha 250k Audio, those days did'nt even know what A and B taper was. Do check the readings if poss with a multimeter as out of 3 I got ; 220k, 259k and 279k, tried them all and decided the 259k was best. Don't be afraid to experiment as it helps you bind with the instrument, just take it in small steps and follow all the safety instructions. I bought a tiny battery amp so I could check the the wiring worked properly before soldering and screwing the scratchplate back on. Felt safer with a battery amp cos a mains combo can make horrid noises which can alarm the neighbours.
Best video discription on the subject, clear and concise, I use a linear for volume and audio for tone but probably just going with the linear from now on
I’, thinking of switching to linker with a treble bleed. I kinda figure going from gain sound to clean sound might be easier this way?
I like linear for volume, audio for tone.
Perfect video I was looking for. Thank you!
I see some reactions here saying linear for volume.
The reason audio taper (logarithmic) pots are used is because our ears experience a bigger change in perceived volume at lower volumes than at higher volumes. So, using a audio taper you get a more perceived linear volume change.
Audio taper pots are generally not actually made logarithmic, but are a approximation of it using 2 linear tracks that overlap in the middle, a slow rising change in resistance for the first track and a fast rising change in resistance in the other. (true logarithmic pots exist but are only used in special applications). This approximation simplifies the manufacturing process.
As shown in the video, for a audio pot the midpoint is lower than half of the total resistance value because that's part of the first slow changing track.
This midpoint is qualified as a percentage less than 50% (a linear pot would be 50% at the midpoint).
There are different types of audio tapers defined by this percentage.
A 10% pot will have a very slow change in the beginning of the rotation, and very rapid at the end of the rotation. Useful for people who like swells by using little travel.
A 30% pot will have a more gradual change and good for those who like fine control over the volume.
Hope that explains audio taper a bit better :)
Seymour Duncan has normal pots and high speed pots (yngwie model).
Bare Knuckle pickups also has pots with different tapers.
;
the Linear pot makes more sense to me.
Although you would think it would be perfect for every application unfortunately it's not, this is why audio taper pots exist....Because of the way an audio gain structure works
Power increases as the square of voltage. An audio pot tries to mimic that so that when you increase the volume pot, the sound level appears to increase smoothly. A linear pot would cause a sudden increase in volume as you move from 0 to 2 or 1 to 2, but would have almost no impact when you moved the pot from 8 to 9 or 9 to 10.
@@carlosanvito well, this video claims the opposite to be true.
@@milankotevski1663it is not about how the pot value moves, it is about how you hear that change in value.
perfect sir! Exactly the info that I needed. Thanks
EXCELLENT EXCELLENT VIDEO! GLAD I FOUND YOUR CHANNEL I SUBSCRIBED!
If you use a lefty guitar and want to use an Audio (Log) pot, you need a reverse taper pot. The pot will be marked C250K Ordinary Log pots will be marked A250K. You can't just reverse the wires as the taper will be the wrong way round.
Great job Tim.....thanks very much. V informative.
Well done.
just measured 2 pots, both XGP, A330k 811's they gradually started ramping up almost from the very moment or position I began turning them? also liner taper isn't about ohms, it's about how it swells the volume in relation to the position its in so the only REAL way to do this is connected to a constant signal and slowly turning the pot up...
also I have one very very good volume pot in all my collection, dunno what it is but the very second you crack it it leaks a little volume then goes up and up from there, no dead spots or increments in which nothing happens, form 0 to 11 ... IMHO they should all be like this save for live conditions where a guy just wants a full on full off or close to it, like with the half turn or close ratio linear style, for doing volume swells and so forth..
its crazy tho, different websites explain it differently, and some the same they just flip the Audio or Linear as in one website will explain a linear being the exact same as an Audio, so its prolly best to solder it up and test it
IMHO they should ALL perform like that one in my older strat.. I really like that pot
I think this test should be performed on a keyboard synthesiser or a tone generator exact same input all the way, then solder em in and slowly turn them up, see how they behave how they're actually used .. mo betta
Ok, you’ve explained what the physical/structural differences are but, as a complete NOOB, I want to know what the difference between the linear and the audio pot is sonically, like what are the pros and cons, of both? Please let me know. I’m trying to learn. Thank you kindly
Linear is great, specialy if you play at home, you can adjust the sound of your guitar, not to be harsh. Audio taper is for people who play live shows and have to get trough the mix. I have had linear and audio taper, love linear, hate taper.
Linear is for volume and audio is for tone, generally.
For volume sweels linear.
This was killer! Thank you!
Do they not mark them A and B?
B for linear?
yeah, the pots are marked either A or B
Great explanation, What would you recommend for the guitar?
Linear for Volume, Audio for tone.
@@steve_one so a linear is a B and audio is an A
@@steve_one that's the total opposite of what the general consensus suggests
@@jwilkinson341 Usually, depends on the manufacturer and how they tag them.
@@CoomerGremlinDGGfan You can of course use any combination and they will work but on high output pickups it's good to be able to have some kind of linear range 0 - 10, instead of having the total range from say 0 - 2.
I'm gonna change my potentiometer for my speaker volume controller.. the original model is A103 but i accidentally buy B103 model..the design is same..just different on model number..if the comparison just amount of output,which is A type is greatly increase after passing 100k value.. i think B type also no problem if i use..am i right??
Generally you use audio ( logarithmic taper)potentiometer with audio projects such as for volume control. Use Linear taper for precise even distribution of resistance for projects such as microcontroller analog inputs and digital outputs. This is due to the principles of how the human ear perceives loudness/volume. However if you want to control the gain/crunch of your sound in one knob you may want to use a linear taper. Usually the default is audio taper But gear heads will switch out to linear for a specific result such as volume with gain. If you want to get more precise you can add capacitors into the equation. Usually very low value caps.
@@mikelee1906 But don't you get a sudden jump at the higher volume with linear pots? As a relative noob, that sounds problematic to me. Confused!
@@LostSpringBand Love your band!!! That is a cool room/studio you play in!!
What you didn't explain is that our hearing, apparently, is logarithmic, not linear...in that you can think of our brains as amplifiers so that we hear half volume as higher than that. Hence, the justification for log pots.
Love the T-shirt!
How does it sound?
They “sound” the same. It just delivers the tone or volume at different levels depending on where it’s turned
They will both sound the same at 100%
hummm I know that for volume the audio taper is way better feeling but what about the Tone. I dont know
Great video! Thanks!
unfortunately we can't hear the difference by looking at a dvm
So ur saying there basicly the same
I totally dislike audio taper pots, specially for humbuckers with distortion, the type that after about 8 start to break up, with a linear pot you can turn down to 7 or so and they clean up but if you use the right cap you can maintain volume levels.., plus have the ability to simply turn down your guitar to different levels, audio is full on or nothing, very horrible for tone or volume, some will say linear in volume and audio on tone, fugg that it's the same thing you either have bass or treble, may as well use an on/off switch, I want to be able to blend or mix my tone so linear is a must or its just on and off, ridiculous IMHO
Лайк!
You never check audio pots with a digital meter.
That's a statement !?
It's seems we just watched some one so exactly that.
Audio pots make no sense to me. When I want volume I want to turn knob up, when I want less I want to turn knob down, and same for tone, end of story. This audio taper business is a complete waste of time and energy, anyone reading this just get all linear pots, no more faffing about with nonsense.
Almost every guitar comes with audio taper volume pots and linear tone pots for ever and and ever since day 1 so that's fine for myself and tons of other guitar players for ever now so what's the big deal ?
I don't see it for myself.
Audio taper works really well for volume swells, and tone wah wah swells using on board hands only techniques.
You have no clue what you're talking about. Our ears don't respond to sound linearly. Audio taper more closely matches how our ears respond, so it gives a smoother transition.