Volume question

Ludger

On my CIJ Jag there is very little volume range. It's either on full, barely audible or off. Turning the pot halfway down is almost like it's been turned all the way down. I tried to search past posts but was unable to find much on reasons/remedies for this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

robertoriginal

one of my serviceman jaguars has a problem with this. and the other serviceman a lil bit but not nearly as much, i believe for me it is becuz the pots are so old and so shotty and probly really really dirty inside, but i have not gone inside to check them out. on my AV jag i do not have that problem. how old is yours and has it always done this or is it fairly new?

Aug

the good news is, this isn't a vintage instrument, so we don't have to worry about devalueing the guitar. If you can solder a joint, then you should replace the pot...any Radio Shack should have them for around $4. If you think you'd rather try cleaning it, let me know...I posted a thread on this with pics awhile back.

Ludger

It's brand new. I just got it in October from Ishibashi. I'm guessing the problem is cheap pots but I figured with all the experience on this board I'd get a definite answer. Thanks for responding.

Ludger

Thanks a lot for that Augustus_McCrae. If you could answer another question for an inexperienced jag owner...How do I know what type to buy? 500 K?

Aug

good question.

Rick or johnniespring are the guys to ask, but, personally, I'd open her up and see what's in there. Odds are, it's a 250k, and at $4 a pot, I'd buy a 250, 500 and a 1mg and try em all. The ones you don't use get tossed in the tool box and saved for when one of the other guitars gets wonky.

deadonkey

do CIJ jags not get 1meg pots stock?

I would replace it with a good quality audio taper (log) 250k pot and see if that makes a difference.

Aug

Either way, it doesn't really matter...once he opens it up, he'll know. Also, everyone one us should be keeping half a dozen pots lying around...

deadonkey

I have 2 lying around, is that good enough?

Aug

deadonkey said: I have 2 lying around, is that good enough?

for now...but, you better get cracking! By this time next year, I expect you to become a zen-like god on the how-to's of pot repair and replacement. 😆

timhulio

I've got tons of the buggers lying around, all either 250 or 500k. However, I'm about to find out what happens when I use an audio taper (😎 50k pot when the schematic asks for a linear (a) pot on my roland synth thingy. My guess is... not much difference.

Spitfire

Sounds like it's the pot's taper you are not liking. Your Jag will have a 1Meg linear taper pot - installing a 1Meg audio (log) taper pot should do the trick. The log pots have a resistance curve which closely matches your ears interpretation of a smooth volume fade.

I would advise changing the pot's resistance value unless you are unhappy with the actual tone of the guitar - a lower value will sap the high frequencies. You can lower the resistance of your existing pot by wiring a 1M resistor in parallel with the pot - a resistor is much cheaper than a new pot and easy to remove if you don't like the change in tone.

Ludger

The writing on the volume pot has been soldered over so before I go out and buy a meter does anyone know what type of pot it is by looking?

Volume pot:

Tone pot:

Nevermind everyone, I just found this post:

http://www.jag-stang.com/forum/viewtopi ... +schematic

Thanks for all your help!

Aug

Vol: 1M. definetely.

Ludger

Spitfire said: Sounds like it's the pot's taper you are not liking. Your Jag will have a 1Meg linear taper pot - installing a 1Meg audio (log) taper pot should do the trick. The log pots have a resistance curve which closely matches your ears interpretation of a smooth volume fade.

This is what I will do. Thanks a lot Spitfire.

Ludger

Augustus_McCrae said: Vol: 1M. definetely.

Thanks Augustus

Ludger

deadonkey said: do CIJ jags not get 1meg pots stock?
I would replace it with a good quality audio taper (log) 250k pot and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks to you too DD

deadonkey

timhulio said: I've got tons of the buggers lying around, all either 250 or 500k. However, I'm about to find out what happens when I use an audio taper (😎 50k pot when the schematic asks for a linear (a) pot on my roland synth thingy. My guess is... not much difference.

It'll control a greater amount of the variable in a smaller range basically...

so you'll get all the volume change in the 1-3 positions and then not much change from 3 to 10. (for example)

That's what happens with amps anyway.

timhulio

Okay, that's not the end of the world is it? If it bugs me I'll change it later.

robertoriginal

hey aug, c ould you post the thing about cleaning pots. i would like to back and clean out one of the servicemans but a step by step would be to my liking,

peace