Tone control potentiometer for emmons guitar

[Robert Rogers]

Does anybody know if the pot for the tone control for a emmons guitar is a 500K or 250k? Any help would be greatly appreciated guys thanks and God bless

[Chris Lucker]

I have never seen an Emmons with a .250 pot.

You are probably looking for a .5 meg 1/2 watt pot.

But is it is an early guitar? Emmons started using 100k 1/2 watt pots in 1964 and I have seen these dated 1964 100k pots in guitars as late as 1969. I assume Emmons had 100 or 144 of these pots and after a while they got mixed in with the batches of 500k (or .5meg) pots.

[Robert Rogers]

My emmons is a 1974 d10

[Chris Lucker]

Then look for a .5 meg 1/2 watt pot. They were just $1.65 from Emmons when your guitar was built.

[Robert Rogers]

Thanks for the input Chris

[Dave Magram]

From 1973 Emmons catalog:
Tone control potentiometer, 0.5 meg ohms (500K ohms); 1/2 watt
[1/4” diameter round shaft, 1/2” long; log/audio taper]

Capacitor: 0.05 mfd, 200 v.d.c.
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It took a lot of Google searching, but I found a perfect match about a year ago at:
https://www.angela.com/fender500ksolids ... 35000.aspx

Fender 500K Solid Shaft Audio Taper Pot 0990835000
Price: $6.99
Item Number: 0990835000
Manufacturer: Fender
Manufacturer Part No: 0990835000 UPC 717669511890

The 500K value is typically used with Teles with humbuckers or other hum cancelling pickups. Fits USA Fender Telecasters from the early '50s to the present. Solid 1/4" shaft set screw knobs. Same pot used on some USA Vintage Series and USA Custom Shop Teles with humbuckers, Tele Custom, Tele Deluxe, Tele Thinline, 'heavy metal' Strats, etc. Also a good choice for Rickenbacker guitar and basses, Hamer guitars, guitar amps, even radio repairs. The same 500K audio taper solid shaft pot can be used for either Volume or Tone control. Brand New. Genuine Fender 0990835000. UPC 717669511890. Mounting hardware and .022mf 250V tone capacitor included. Fits nearly all Fender instruments (U.S. and Mexico) requiring a solid-shaft potentiometer.
........................................

- Dave

[Donny Hinson]

There is no need to use audio (logarithmic taper) pots in a tone control circuit. Using linear taper pots expands the available options dramatically, and it also makes the tone shift more even. The optimum value will depend on the pickup, as well as the value of the capacitor, but values anywhere between 100k and 500k are common.

[Brad Sarno]

There is no need to use audio (logarithmic taper) pots in a tone control circuit. Using linear taper pots expands the available options dramatically, and it also makes the tone shift more even. The optimum value will depend on the pickup, as well as the value of the capacitor, but values anywhere between 100k and 500k are common.

Donny, isn't it the opposite? I find that with linear taper tone pots, ALL the tone control actions happens in the bottom 5% of rotation but with log or audio taper, the entire range of the knob evenly spreads out the tone control action. Linear taper feels more like a tone on/off switch where audio-taper is very easy to fine tune.

B

[Donny Hinson]

Well Brad, it all depends on the other values in the circuit, namely the pickup, capacitor, and tone pot. Sound intensity varies according to the inverse square principle, and that's why we normally use logarithmic-taper controls for volume to compensate. But with tone, there is no such logarithmic variance. In guitar player circles, the opinion of linear vs. log for tone pots is mixed. But if a tone control operates only in a small portion of it's range, then the proper way to make it right is to change the value of the cap or the pot. I find that most guitars using log pots for tone have a very uneven range, especially Fender guitars. You really have to crank the control to get away from the trebly sounds, and any quick "doo-wah" effect is fairly difficult.

[Bill Fisher]

Linear is uniform for tone. I've never used audio taper for tone. Try each one, and hear what you like, I guess.

Bill