Guitar volume and tone pot, 250k (275k).

Ideal as a high-quality replacement for a Fender Strat or any other guitar that has singlecoil pickups- the top-of-the-range 450 series CTS Premium 275k split shaft pot. Sold individually.

Our CTS pots are the top-of-the-line 450 series

A lot of the competition that stock CTS tend not to carry the top-spec. ones that we have. The 450 Series feature a brass bushing and shaft, a custom audio taper for greater accuracy, a graphite wiper and +/- 9% tolerance for greater consistency. These are developed using ±9% tolerances and a value at 10% over the standard ohms rating (275 kohms instead of 250 kohms). This ensures not only optimum performance, but guarantees your potentiometers will always be at least the value stated. Come complete with two nuts and washers.

Here's what one happy customer had to say about our CTS pots - " I have to say that the CTS pots that I have received have been a revelation to the guitars tone. It is now clearer than ever as well as being less susceptible to background noise. On top of this the smoothness of the tapers exudes quality and they are well worth the asking price."

Important measurements

Total pot depth - 30mm

Length of threaded shaft - 9mm

Shaft diameter - 9.5mm (please ensure that the pickguard / control plate that the pot is mounting onto has a 9.6mm diameter hole)

Base of pot diameter - 23.5mm

Guitarists are notorious for their “do-it-yourself” attitude towards instrument maintenance and customisation. Most of us won’t hesitate to take our guitar apart at the first opportunity if it means avoiding prohibitive bench fees at the local repair shop. There are definitely conditions that call for professional intervention, but with a little bit of knowledge there’s no reason that many of us can’t handle some of the simpler tasks involved in maintaining, repairing, and customising our guitars.

Replacing guitar electronics is a fairly straightforward task that can be successfully handled with minimal effort. All you really need are some basic soldering skills and you’re ready to go. Most conventional guitar circuits consist of pickups, switches, guitar pots, capacitors and a jack. The hardest part is determining what value of potentiometer you need for your instrument. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the determining factors that will help you make an informed decision when it comes time to replace a volume or tone pot.

Basic rule of thumb goes like this: single coil pickups get a 250k (275k) guitar pot, humbuckers get a 500k (550k) guitar pot. Why is this? The higher the value of the pot, the brighter the sound, so higher value pots are used with humbuckers to allow a bit more high end to get through with what is, by design, a warmer sounding pickup. Lower value pots are used with brighter sounding pickups to tame some of the extended high end that is associated with single coils.

The Effect Of Guitar Potentiometer Values In Relation To Output And Tone

As a potentiometer is turned fully down, all of the signal from the pickup(s)is diverted to ground, resulting in no output from the instrument. When the guitar pot is turned up to full volume, the resistance of the potentiometer theoretically prevents any of the output signal leaking to ground, and weakening the output signal. Lower value guitar pots, however, do not completely block the signal from leaking to ground even when turned up all the way, so using a 250k potentiometer will result in a slight loss of high frequency, as well as volume. This may please some musicians who want a mellower tone, but for those seeking ultimate purity of signal, a higher value guitar pot may be just what is needed. The higher the value, the more leakage is blocked from ground, which allows more of the signal to be sent to the output. A 500k guitar pot may be just right, but a 1meg ohm pot will provide an all out sonic assault. Higher highs; lower lows; more volume – a rocker’s dream! The only drawback of going to this higher value is the perceived range and sweep of the control. It’s like going from 0 to 10 without the fine increments of control in between.

The Telecaster is a good example of guitar potentiometers determining the overall sound of an electric instrument. The earliest Telecasters utilized 1meg ohm guitar potentiometers. They were deemed too bright to be practical for a wide range of musical styles. As a result, the potentiometers were changed to 250k to “bleed off” some of the extreme treble “twang” that the early versions were known and loved for (Stratocasters also use 250k guitar pots for the same reason). Some Gibson laptop guitars had 5 meg ohm pots. Talk about bright!

Exploring Your Options…

To find out if switching to a higher value pot might benefit you, try this simple test: Disconnect your pickup(s) from the circuit, and use some “jumper” wires to connect them directly to the output jack. If the pickups sound louder and fuller, then you will benefit from a higher value potentiometer. If, however, your pickups still aren’t sounding the way you’d like them to, maybe you should take a look at our Kent Armstrong replacement pickups!

Log? Audio Taper? Linear….?

A question that we are always being asked is what is the difference between Linear and Log pots? Linear pots increase the impedance evenly as you turn them up. So, if you were to turn a Linear pot from 0 up to 5 (in other words from off position up to mid way) then the impedance is increased by half. However, the human ear doesn’t actually hear this as a gradual volume increase, instead it sounds like nothing much happens for most of the sweep and then all of a sudden there is a huge jump in volume. This is where Log guitar pots come in. Log is short for Logarithmic and is quite often referred to as Audio Taper or A Taper. Log guitar pots are used specifically for audio applications and are adapted to the human ear so that the entire sweep of the pot sounds like a gradual increase, offering a greater degree of control and accuracy when used on a guitar or bass. Most guitar manufacturers use Log pots for both volume and tone controls on their instruments and they are by far the most popular choice amongst musicians when purchasing replacements. This is the reason why most of the guitar pots you see on our site are labelled as having a logarithmic taper.

Delivery:

Any order placed before 2.30pm on a working day will generally be sent the same day. If the order is placed after 2.30pm on a weekday or anytime during the weekend or a public holiday we will send the order the next working day.

UK Orders: 

• Royal Mail First Class - this costs £1.95 per order but becomes free if your order value is £30.00 or higher. Royal Mail typically aims to deliver First Class parcels for the next working day although can sometimes take up to 5 days. No signature is required upon delivery.
• DPD Courier - this service costs £6.50 per order but becomes free if your order value is £90.00 or higher. This is usually a next-working day service and DPD will send an email or text on the day of the delivery with a timed 1 hour delivery slot. (However DPD doesn't guarantee this) (If urgent please use RM Special Delivery) This service is only available for UK mainland addresses. A signature is required upon receipt of the parcel and deliveries can be made anytime up until 6.00pm on the day of the delivery. 
• Royal Mail Special Delivery - this service costs £9.95 and Royal Mail guarantee that the delivery will be made the next working day before 1.00pm. Royal Mail will email or text you with delivery updates and a signature is required upon receipt of the parcel.

 

 

International Orders:

We are pleased to announce that any EU orders placed on our website that amounts to a total of €150.00 or less will be inclusive of VAT and fees. Therefore, the price that you pay at our checkout is final pricing - no additional handling fees or import fees.  Any order that is above €150.00 will not be inclusive of VAT or import fees and these additional fees will need to be paid to your local postal service, once the goods arrive at your local customs. (Please note, the all-fee-inclusive scheme is only applicable to business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions and cannot be applied to any business-to-business (B2B) transactions)

 

• European Registered Post - for any address in Europe, this service costs £9.95 per order and is sent using Royal Mail Tracked service. In most cases, the parcel is handed over to the local postal service to deliver it. A signature is generally not required but will be tracked to ensure a safe delivery. Most parcels take an average of 3 - 7 working days to deliver.
• European Registered Courier - for any address in Europe, this service costs £30.00 per order and we will select a courier to deliver the parcel. A signature is required upon receipt of the parcel. Delivery times vary but typically take 2 - 5 working days.

 

• International Registered Post - for any address outside of Europe, this service costs £12.95 per order and is sent using the Royal Mail Tracked service. In most cases, the parcel is handed over to the local postal service to deliver it. A signature is generally not required but will be tracked to ensure a safe delivery. Most parcels take an average of 4 - 10 working days to deliver.
• International Registered Courier - for any address outside of Europe, this service costs £30.00 per order and we will select a courier to deliver the parcel. A signature is required upon receipt of the parcel. Delivery times vary but typically take 3 - 7 working days.

If you have not received your order after the stated times above, please email us requesting a tracking number and we will be able to tell you more information. It is best to check the status with us as after a few weeks because most local sorting offices will end up returning it back to us if they have had no contact with the customer.

Returns:

At Armstrong Music, we believe in providing our customers with the utmost satisfaction and peace of mind. That's why we proudly offer a 30-day, no quibble returns policy. We understand that sometimes a product may not meet your expectations or requirements and we want you to be completely confident in your purchase. If for any reason you're not fully satisfied with your order, simply return it to us within 30 days of purchase and we'll gladly provide a refund (minus original postage fees) or exchange. Our commitment to exceptional customer service extends to hassle-free returns, ensuring that you can shop with confidence knowing that we stand behind the quality and value of our products. We kindly request that the returned goods must be in their original state (no damage) and any goods or accessories that accompany the returned product must also come back to us. The goods should also be returned with their original box, packing and accessories.

If the return is due to missing or faulty parts then we will offer a full refund or replacement provided we are aware of this within 30 days. Any refund, which is due to a fault, other defect or a mistake on our part, will include a refund of the applicable delivery charge.

PICKGUARDS: Do not remove the protective cover or place any components on this pickguard until you have made a "dry run" on the instrument. Make sure all mounting holes and pickup cuts are positioned correctly. Pickguard replacement warranty will be void if the protective cover has been removed. Removing the protective film means that the item is not in a re-saleable condition and therefore we cannot accept it back for a refund. 

Please ensure that any returns are sent using a registered postal or courier service as we cannot be responsible for undelivered parcels being sent to us. Please post returns to the following address:

Armstrong Music
Woodreeve Farm
Capel Road
Ruckinge
Ashford
Kent
TN26 2EJ

This returns policy does not affect your legal rights.

We offer Paypal as the payment gateway on our website. 

PayPal accepts all major credit and debit cards and no cardholder information is ever passed unencrypted and any messages sent to our servers from PayPal are signed using MD5 hashing to prevent tampering. You can be completely assured that nothing you pass to PayPal's servers can be examined, used or modified by any third parties attempting to gain access to sensitive information.

When you pay with Paypal, all information is protected by SSL with an encryption key length of 168 bits (the highest level commercially available). Your personal information is stored on Paypal's servers and heavily guarded, both physically and electronically. To further shield your credit card and bank numbers, Paypal do not directly connect their firewall-protected servers to the internet.