Moderators: pompeiisneaks, Colossal
I usually purchase Alpha.....seems like "everybody" sells them, including Mouser.M Fowler wrote:I do like the mojo custom CTS and matching mojo custom Alpha pots the best.
Mark
rotational torque of the pots is solely a function of the application that the pot is intended for.hired hand wrote:Is there ANY difference.? .....as far as "quality" and longevity.?diagrammatiks wrote:there's like barely any difference between all of the 2 dollar pots being made.
Some of the Bourns have a shaft so long that I have to take a Dremel to them.....or the knobs stick up off the face plate a long way.
What accounts for the nice torque (stiff) on some of the pots.? Is it just some lube on the shaft.?
Thank You
A word of caution with Bourns pots. The spec sheet showsyurka wrote:Anyone try the PDA24 series? They look nice, specifically designed for guitars and amps. They are a step above the solid shaft bourns pots from AES. Also very affordable, 2-3 bucks a pot on Mouser.
http://www.bourns.com/data/global/pdfs/PDA24.pdf
Where are you getting these?brentm wrote:Has anyone tried the Clarostat pots?
http://www.bitechnologies.com/pdfs/p230.pdf
Also, do you typically snip off or drill a hole for the mounting tabs?
I haven't ordered any but was curious if anyone had seen or used them? I'd read good reviews about the 16MM used in pedals and thought they might be good in an amplifier?ChrisM wrote:Where are you getting these?brentm wrote:Has anyone tried the Clarostat pots?
http://www.bitechnologies.com/pdfs/p230.pdf
Also, do you typically snip off or drill a hole for the mounting tabs?
Yeah, that's one of my issues with Mouser too. Another one is that you'll be researchig the hell out of one component, and find what you think you need, only to find out the part isn't what you thought it was. I had this happen with some Alpha pots. But I did learn what a detent wasStructo wrote:Strange that BI doesn't make a 250K pot.
Something I really hate about Mouser is that when you find a brand of component you want to use, they don't carry all the common values in that size or they just carry one or two values.
I realize very few places stock parts for tube amps anymore so it's difficult to find the voltage and power rating we need.
Alpha pots work fine for me.
They are "ok" the Audio taper is 2 lines not very smooth but compared to a CTS it starts working at about .5, a big improvement over the CTS starting at about 1.5. For my money the PEC military have the best smoothest taper and is about 4 or 5 lines plotted. CTS is next best. with 3. The Alphas and this are 2yurka wrote:Anyone try the PDA24 series? They look nice, specifically designed for guitars and amps. They are a step above the solid shaft bourns pots from AES. Also very affordable, 2-3 bucks a pot on Mouser.
http://www.bourns.com/data/global/pdfs/PDA24.pdf
As far as the bourns pots go I've only used the square tab pots from apex jr. but I've found them to be quite good at handling repeated soldering and de-soldering while tweaking a design. I've had much better luck with these than alphas and strangely pec pots. I'm very careful to be fast and let them cool before hitting them with the heat again across all brands. The pec and alpha pots seem to not like repeated heat cycling like that, but the pec are darned nice for doing it once and doing it right. The only problem I have had with the bourns pots are the tabs becoming physically loose after after being beat on by repeatedly wrapping and removing soldered wires from them. The tabs still seem to make good electrical contact though and that's hardly a fault in the part, none of them are made for that sort of craziness.roknroll wrote:A word of caution with Bourns pots. The spec sheet showsyurka wrote:Anyone try the PDA24 series? They look nice, specifically designed for guitars and amps. They are a step above the solid shaft bourns pots from AES. Also very affordable, 2-3 bucks a pot on Mouser.
http://www.bourns.com/data/global/pdfs/PDA24.pdf
Manual Soldering
.....................300 °C within 3 seconds which is 572 degrees F. So set your soldering iron accordingly or you will burn out the pots.
I learned this the hard way after years of using CTS and Alpha pots which tolerate heat much better.
Hey John, I'd love to see the plots of all of the the above if you have the time to post them. I'm a sucker for that stuff. Thanks in advance!husky wrote:They are "ok" the Audio taper is 2 lines not very smooth but compared to a CTS it starts working at about .5, a big improvement over the CTS starting at about 1.5. For my money the PEC military have the best smoothest taper and is about 4 or 5 lines plotted. CTS is next best. with 3. The Alphas and this are 2yurka wrote:Anyone try the PDA24 series? They look nice, specifically designed for guitars and amps. They are a step above the solid shaft bourns pots from AES. Also very affordable, 2-3 bucks a pot on Mouser.
http://www.bourns.com/data/global/pdfs/PDA24.pdf
I can post a plot if it sounds confusing, basically there is not a real curve but a real knee in the Bourns and the Alphas. I just got done plotting a bunch of audio tapers.
Here you go, any questions just scream. I only did 250KA for comparisonNigel Tufnel wrote: Hey John, I'd love to see the plots of all of the the above if you have the time to post them. I'm a sucker for that stuff. Thanks in advance!
Here you go, any questions just scream. I only did 250KA for comparisonNigel Tufnel wrote: Hey John, I'd love to see the plots of all of the the above if you have the time to post them. I'm a sucker for that stuff. Thanks in advance!
Very cool. Thanks!husky wrote:Here you go, any questions just scream. I only did 250KA for comparisonNigel Tufnel wrote: Hey John, I'd love to see the plots of all of the the above if you have the time to post them. I'm a sucker for that stuff. Thanks in advance!
