5. Pots and Knobs

Let's dive into the world of pots and knobs:

Potentiometers or pots are your guitar's tone and volume adjusters. Most guitars feature a volume potentiometer and often tone controls to tame the sound, particularly the high frequencies.

There are two key potentiometer values to note:

• 500k (Ohm) – ideal for passive Humbucker Pickups
• 250k (Ohm) – deal for passive Single Coil Pickups.

This difference caters to treble control. Single-coil pickups naturally carry more highs, hence the preference for potentiometers that attenuate these frequencies (250k). The opposite holds for humbuckers. Another factor is the potentiometer's taper—linear or logarithmic.

Typically, logarithmic pots handle volume, while linear ones handle tone. Look for these values on the housing.

Remember to consider the original measurements (metric or imperial) for installation compatibility with your guitar's knobs. Otherwise, the old knobs may not fit the shaft.

Speaking of knobs, there are variations in length and style:

• Asian (metric): 8mm threaded diameter
  18 teeth (if splined shaft),
  6 mm shaft diameter

• American (imperial): 9.35 mm threaded diameter
  US CTS Solid Shaft: 6.35 mm shaft diameter.
  24 teeth (if splined shaft)
  6 mm shaft diameter.
  
  

Both Asian/Metric and American/Imperial versions offer "long shaft" options. These have an extra-long threaded shaft, suitable for guitars with a thick or arched body, such as Les Paul models.

Now, let's match knobs with pots:

Push-On Knobs

These vary in the number of teeth/splines and shaft diameter, but most have a 6mm shaft diameter. To ensure the knobs fit snugly on the 6mm shaft, the inside diameter of the knob needs to be slightly larger, ideally around 6 - 6.35 mm.

Screw-On Knobs

Knobs with a small set screw are used for solid (smooth or flattened) shaft potentiometers. Again, the shaft size is typically around 6mm, and the inside diameter of the screw-on knob is about 6.35 mm.