I’m just beginning to look into these things and I agree. Thank you John Cooper and thank you chuck for saying the same thing that I was going to say. This video is extremely helpful.
Natural teacher at work here. I came here knowing what a potentiometer does ....always wondered the what & how? In ten minutes I learned so much targeted information! Wow, thank you, johnplanetz
Thanks for the accurate, and well presented video on potentiometers. This video is SO MUCH BETTER than most of the others! The great thing about CTS pots is that they can dissipate more power than most of the other audio pots (except PEC) and they can be disassembled, and reassembled to to change shaft length or style and also change resistance elements of double ganged pots.
Thanks for the video. I had problems with my cts pot but your video gave me confidence to open it up and fix it. Many thanks. I was nearly ordering new.
dude...you are really good at explaining things...normally, I'll watch a video like this and the person doing it is so steeped in the subject that they just cant or don't bother to explain it in a way that's easily digestible...awesome video
My physics teacher threw a potentiometer on the speakers for the announcements. Turns the volume down to minimum and continues lessons... best hack ever.
Thanks John. I went for a new push/push pot (might as well do a Gilmour mod if I've got to change the pot). Not put it on yet but the flow tests are completely different to my old pot, ie they're correct! What a relief, but interesting to know that a pot can die just like that. Love the idea of a troubleshooter vid if you're up for it. It'll save the world from restless nights and brain ache.
Thanks for your thorough explanation on those potentiometers! I need them to build my own home-made racing wheel, hadn't a clue what they were. Now this solves half of the problem already!
Your videos have been SO helpful. I've learned a lot about the technical and physical stuff that I thought I'd never learn. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom! I've been enjoying geeking out on these videos!
Thank You Sir! Bass guitar stopped working, checked everything with multimeter couldn't figure it out. Watched your vid, took mine apart and back together, tighter with the clips. I assume it just was a bad connection inside, works now and I understand pots!
Ahhh very cool man!! TY for that video. I have a 16 watt tube amp I bought from Tube Depot and I'm on my 3rd Potentiometer. I keep getting the ones from Parts Express and they are total crap!! After watching your video now I have a better idea of where to look for a better POT . Thanks again!! Looking forward to watching more of your videos. Take care
Encoders and potentiometers are not the same. Unlike the pots explained in this video, encoders rotate continuously and generate pulses that are used with digital circuits that count pulses and velocity to do some work. Here’s a good article: www.arrow.com/en/research-and-events/articles/encoder-vs-potentiometer-how-to-choose
I agree with the nice things already said about this video but I sincerly hoped for some advise on really disassembling different pots completely and even harder things like putting them back together without killing them. I have a few different methods and they work well enough to be 80% certain not to totally destroy it but I didnt come up with something that makes it easier and less of a pain in the a.. so far... any ideas? What I do is either drilling a tiny hole in the shaft and put a screw and a washer instead of the flanged end of the shaft or I re - flange the end while pressing down the pot, the ring with the wiper and sometimes also the disc that makes the whole thing somewhat stepped (dont know the exact expression for that, sorry)...I'd love to make a tool for fixing the pot etc in place before hitting the end to flange it, but I have no idea how...or what...I only know two hand are not enough to make it an easy operation and I hate assembling pots very very much...not as much as a dirty pot but still...a lot!!
Very good videos. In one of your other videos showing an epiphone circuit being request, you have actually removed the pots and poked them through some aerated cardboard... But you didn't mention it ... That's actually a fantastically useful approach when wiring without a scratchplate... Keeps the work still and even allows you to draw the wiring between the lugs... The latter might help if you are just starting soldering.
This is very usefull, Thanks. Ive got a fairly old Sony AV amp that has a bad volume control, it loses a channel and crackles when you turn the volume control. Would it be a similar potentiometer? I didnt know they were this simple. Think after watching this il give it a go and see if it'l clean up. Cant afford to lose the amp as it'l cost me a fortune to replace, its a great amp.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video John. Thank you for making it. It was VERY well done. I've got a rheostat on a ceiling fan that only has two lugs. I think it's bad because the fan spins very slowly across the whole range of the rheostat. It's soldered into place so I'm going to take it out of the fan (circuit) and test it with my VOM. If I can tell it's bad I'll go to the local lighting store to see about a replacement. It should work much like the ones you tested in the video, correct?
You are awesome. Thorough. At 6:07, when introducing the audio/log taper, I found my mind starting to ask questions that this video wasn't necessarily covering...(jsut imagine showing a class this and imagining wehre some of the minds are going at this point. You might want to experiment with the video by having a complete novice sitting there while you rehearse the video, and getting their feedback. I realize that feedback comes here...of course.
What an excellent video. Yeah, I caught the 2 mistakes, but so did you. I've never had a clearer explanation of potentiometers. The video is high quality, too. Do you have a Udemy course? If not, you should. Thanks. -Rodi
other than the conceptual mistake pointed out in the video & by other commenters, this was very helpful in understanding how to properly use pots. If this had been explained before, my EE labs may have gone a little quicker!
Thankyou for a great video and your nice teaching. How would i use one for a balance control on a hifi amp ? Would the balance pots be different from one used as a volume control ? Or would you wire it up different i mean the pins ? Thank you very much again Great Work !!! Steve Rickards England ...Have a great day to all...
Awesome vid,I had a super smooth 250k Volume pot in a Left Handed Ibanez RS135 that guitar did[very soon after buying] became sort of strat-like in looks,but not-before I stripped the 2mm resin[joking] and reshaped the body.I re-used the stock 250K volume pot.even after hacking a Seymour Duncan JB Humbucker-tilted,sounded superb,but that wonderful Vol. Pot. Wore Out 24 years later [great run!]In 2009 I eventually got from the US some 500k CTS Left Handed potentiometers-anyway man they're all irritatingly STIFF[no more"Cathedral"attempts since!],so Thank You for confirming why they is so!
@johnplanetz Well, I just watched the video again and the the cts pot you disassembled has the copper tabs I am takling about! They clearly extend out from each outside lug onto the carbon trace. The older cts pots do not have this copper pad or tab or whatever you could call it at each end of the trace. I don't know if it makes any difference, I just noticed the change a few years ago. Thanks for your very neat posts!
Thanks for a very informative video. I have an old Creek headphone amplifier, and the pot is very noisy when I turn it, so I contacted Creek about it, and they are willing to sell me a replacement if I want swap it myself, which seems like an interesting thing to do,but seeinh your video, I'll have a closer look at it to see if I can clean it up or if it's just broken or worn down first. I tried to clean it with some fluid I saw recommended somewhere online, but it didn't do the trick. This was a few years ago, so I don't recall what it was :P I will have a look at the other video you mentioned as well :)
Really interesting and well explained ! congrats ! I am into vintage pots for a 52-59 LP conversion and wonder how much they have an effect on the sound. Bonamassa, highly knowledgeable on 59 bursts says that the central lab pots play a major role (50%) in the sound of these guitars. Do you believe the quality of a pot can be that important into the sound ? Same question on old bumble bees...If you have ideas, or opinions, I'd be interested. thanks a lot.
Thanks for sharing this info. I am currently researching for a project. I am going to update an antique radio and am looking for details about how to choose the right parts for volume control, and radio dial. the radio dial i want it to still show the pin pointing at frequency but also send a digital signal to the raspberry pi, i believe that part is a rotary encoder. any suggestions on parts or similar projects would be greatly appreciated. thanks
John, I am really pleased to have found your videos. I've built a couple of guitars; but, always find myself wondering about the "hype" when it comes to pickups and electronics. I believe watching your videos will teach me to make the correct decisions. In the meantime, while I'm learning, I have a 1988 G & L Invader H-S-S that seems to be crackling a little. Any suggestions on what to replace and a good source for the parts? I would keep the original sound; but, if I can gain some tone???
I have a '78 Lincoln Continental with a dimming headlight switch. The pot that you can turn on the dashboard will dim all the clock and gauge cluster lighting. There is a "dead" spot on the pot where if I turn to that position (happens to be the max brightness). Now, if the original Ford part was like the CTS design and had the stiff bent contacts, do you think the reason there is a dead spot and slight intermittency in that area of the pot is because those stiff contacts are a little word out? I would like to replace it, but my car has an auto headlight dimmer and the headlight switch is built into the gauge cluster dimmer, so it is a hard part to find since not all models had autodim.
great video: does the pot need to be disconnected from the guitar electrics in order to measure its resistance? Or can it be done while the pot is soldered on the circuit?
Now this is what UA-cam is all about! Great presentation, very clearly explained and extremely helpful. Many thanks!
you mean what UA-cam "was" all about 😅
@@coinbird44 bro the comment is 12 years old
I do tutorials myself so I know what im talking about when I say this is a very well put together tutorial, more like a small seminar :)
great job
Yes! I’ve actually watched some of your vids on the Cakewalk X2 along with a few others. Very informative and thank you.
I’m just beginning to look into these things and I agree. Thank you John Cooper and thank you chuck for saying the same thing that I was going to say. This video is extremely helpful.
this is the best and simplest video on potentiometer....... thank u sir ........
Been working with pots for a while now and this was still VERY informative and easy to watch. Thanks!
FINALLY, someone who explains how these things work and how to tell the difference!!! Liked.
Natural teacher at work here. I came here knowing what a potentiometer does ....always wondered the what & how? In ten minutes I learned so much targeted information! Wow, thank you, johnplanetz
I've been reading about Pots, but only after watching your video do I see and understand how they work. Thank you!!!
So beautifully explained and so easy to grasp. Thank you for this elegant presentation!
Very precise and awesome presentation
Yes! Now I know why the volume on my Quasar black and white tv ain't working. Thanks, JC.
Thanks for the accurate, and well presented video on potentiometers. This video is SO MUCH BETTER than most of the others! The great thing about CTS pots is that they can dissipate more power than most of the other audio pots (except PEC) and they can be disassembled, and reassembled to to change shaft length or style and also change resistance elements of double ganged pots.
your vid posts are like a breath of fresh air for novices like me.
Thanks for posting
Thanks for the video. I had problems with my cts pot but your video gave me confidence to open it up and fix it. Many thanks. I was nearly ordering new.
dude...you are really good at explaining things...normally, I'll watch a video like this and the person doing it is so steeped in the subject that they just cant or don't bother to explain it in a way that's easily digestible...awesome video
My physics teacher threw a potentiometer on the speakers for the announcements. Turns the volume down to minimum and continues lessons... best hack ever.
Nice video - something I've often wondered about but had no idea how they worked. You explained it very well!!
Thank you very much John Cooper.👍🏻🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Good narration
Very well explained in layman's terms. Greetings from Kolkata, India.
Thanks, Ive know how they work but your video and explanations really make it clearer in my head on how to wire pots to do different thing
excellent explanations and demonstration on how the variety of pots work and how they're manufactured.
Thanks John. I went for a new push/push pot (might as well do a Gilmour mod if I've got to change the pot). Not put it on yet but the flow tests are completely different to my old pot, ie they're correct! What a relief, but interesting to know that a pot can die just like that. Love the idea of a troubleshooter vid if you're up for it. It'll save the world from restless nights and brain ache.
Nice work I really enjoyed your video!
Thanks for your thorough explanation on those potentiometers! I need them to build my own home-made racing wheel, hadn't a clue what they were. Now this solves half of the problem already!
Your videos have been SO helpful. I've learned a lot about the technical and physical stuff that I thought I'd never learn. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom! I've been enjoying geeking out on these videos!
Thank You Sir! Bass guitar stopped working, checked everything with multimeter couldn't figure it out. Watched your vid, took mine apart and back together, tighter with the clips. I assume it just was a bad connection inside, works now and I understand pots!
Thanks for taking the time to do this for others. It was very informative and well done.
hello, i want to say that i really appreciate your effort you put into these videos, these are really helpful!
Well explained 🙏
it is so nice to see you are informing us on these simple things
Learning. Thank you brother.
Clean explanation. Makes sense to lay-folk like me. Nice work!
Great job, crystal clear explanation, thanks.
👍Very well explained.
Thanks man!
Thanks for this excellent tutorial! It is a great help in diagnosing a volume control problem for a virtual organ!
Thanks for the video, pots make a lot more sense now.
Fantastic video sir... it was helpful thank you.....and Stay safe.....:)
Thank you I really had hard time understanding how pots work but now its piece of cake thanks to you :-)
No BS, pure gold! Thank you! Keep doing this! Rock ON!
Excellent tutorial. Thanks for taking the time to help educate us all.
good stuff, man, artfully presented, professionally researched. Loves
Hi John, thanks for making this video, very well explained and helpful.
Ahhh very cool man!! TY for that video. I have a 16 watt tube amp I bought from Tube Depot and I'm on my 3rd Potentiometer. I keep getting the ones from Parts Express and they are total crap!! After watching your video now I have a better idea of where to look for a better POT . Thanks again!! Looking forward to watching more of your videos. Take care
Is for this I prefer linear for volumes and audio for tones, imo and taste this way you can get a better control over each one. Nice video!
Good stuff. Encoder and potentiometer are used in servo motors. Is it the same potentiometer described? Whats difference?
Encoders and potentiometers are not the same. Unlike the pots explained in this video, encoders rotate continuously and generate pulses that are used with digital circuits that count pulses and velocity to do some work. Here’s a good article: www.arrow.com/en/research-and-events/articles/encoder-vs-potentiometer-how-to-choose
cheers mate, this really helped with my coursework
I agree with the nice things already said about this video but I sincerly hoped for some advise on really disassembling different pots completely and even harder things like putting them back together without killing them. I have a few different methods and they work well enough to be 80% certain not to totally destroy it but I didnt come up with something that makes it easier and less of a pain in the a.. so far... any ideas? What I do is either drilling a tiny hole in the shaft and put a screw and a washer instead of the flanged end of the shaft or I re - flange the end while pressing down the pot, the ring with the wiper and sometimes also the disc that makes the whole thing somewhat stepped (dont know the exact expression for that, sorry)...I'd love to make a tool for fixing the pot etc in place before hitting the end to flange it, but I have no idea how...or what...I only know two hand are not enough to make it an easy operation and I hate assembling pots very very much...not as much as a dirty pot but still...a lot!!
Very pleasant voice - can very well listened (is important in tutorials:-) )
Thx after your vid here i did managed to "repair" him. Thx. Works again flawless
Perfect explanation, I'm sharing it on my facebook and twitter for my students. Thanks!
Very informative! Thanks for taking the time to produce the vid.
Great job. Sorry I'm late to join you. You're an excellent teacher. I hope you're doing it at a college somewhere.
Really cool video man. Thorough and simple.
Very, very helpful John. I learned a lot. Best wishes and thank you.
great vid!! so that's what A and B stands for!
Phily Cheezesteak A= audio, B= linear
Thanks for sharing your gift for teaching!
Thank you Mr. Cooper.
Very good videos. In one of your other videos showing an epiphone circuit being request, you have actually removed the pots and poked them through some aerated cardboard... But you didn't mention it ... That's actually a fantastically useful approach when wiring without a scratchplate... Keeps the work still and even allows you to draw the wiring between the lugs... The latter might help if you are just starting soldering.
great explanation simple and easy to understand...love electronics
Excellent Video, very complete!
Well explained my friend. Thank you
This is a really well made video.
Thanks John!
thank you!
Thanks, I learnt a lot from this.
Thank you! You are an awesome teacher
Thanks for putting the time in this very well done video : )
This is very usefull, Thanks. Ive got a fairly old Sony AV amp that has a bad volume control, it loses a channel and crackles when you turn the volume control. Would it be a similar potentiometer? I didnt know they were this simple. Think after watching this il give it a go and see if it'l clean up. Cant afford to lose the amp as it'l cost me a fortune to replace, its a great amp.
This helped answer many questions I had..
I thoroughly enjoyed this video John. Thank you for making it. It was VERY well done. I've got a rheostat on a ceiling fan that only has two lugs. I think it's bad because the fan spins very slowly across the whole range of the rheostat. It's soldered into place so I'm going to take it out of the fan (circuit) and test it with my VOM. If I can tell it's bad I'll go to the local lighting store to see about a replacement. It should work much like the ones you tested in the video, correct?
You are awesome. Thorough. At 6:07, when introducing the audio/log taper, I found my mind starting to ask questions that this video wasn't necessarily covering...(jsut imagine showing a class this and imagining wehre some of the minds are going at this point. You might want to experiment with the video by having a complete novice sitting there while you rehearse the video, and getting their feedback. I realize that feedback comes here...of course.
What an excellent video. Yeah, I caught the 2 mistakes, but so did you. I've never had a clearer explanation of potentiometers. The video is high quality, too. Do you have a Udemy course? If not, you should. Thanks.
-Rodi
Fantastic videos mate.
other than the conceptual mistake pointed out in the video & by other commenters, this was very helpful in understanding how to properly use pots. If this had been explained before, my EE labs may have gone a little quicker!
great explanation of pots....nice one man...
Thankyou for a great video and your nice teaching.
How would i use one for a balance control on a hifi amp ?
Would the balance pots be different from one used as a volume control ? Or would you wire it up different i mean the pins ?
Thank you very much again Great Work !!!
Steve Rickards England ...Have a great day to all...
Very well explained. Very useful video!
Bass broke so I figured I'd learn all about the parts, thanks for the details, I've been playing with the pots for days XD
Awesome vid,I had a super smooth 250k Volume pot in a Left Handed Ibanez RS135 that guitar did[very soon after buying] became sort of strat-like in looks,but not-before I stripped the 2mm resin[joking] and reshaped the body.I re-used the stock 250K volume pot.even after hacking a Seymour Duncan JB Humbucker-tilted,sounded superb,but that wonderful Vol. Pot. Wore Out 24 years later [great run!]In 2009 I eventually got from the US some 500k CTS Left Handed potentiometers-anyway man they're all irritatingly STIFF[no more"Cathedral"attempts since!],so Thank You for confirming why they is so!
@johnplanetz Well, I just watched the video again and the the cts pot you disassembled has the copper tabs I am takling about! They clearly extend out from each outside lug onto the carbon trace. The older cts pots do not have this copper pad or tab or whatever you could call it at each end of the trace. I don't know if it makes any difference, I just noticed the change a few years ago. Thanks for your very neat posts!
thank mate you are spot on i had some cts pot 500k where well under not now i did what you said now they are over 500k now thanks
well explained john
Thanks for a very informative video. I have an old Creek headphone amplifier, and the pot is very noisy when I turn it, so I contacted Creek about it, and they are willing to sell me a replacement if I want swap it myself, which seems like an interesting thing to do,but seeinh your video, I'll have a closer look at it to see if I can clean it up or if it's just broken or worn down first. I tried to clean it with some fluid I saw recommended somewhere online, but it didn't do the trick. This was a few years ago, so I don't recall what it was :P I will have a look at the other video you mentioned as well :)
I appreciate this video. Fantastic, thank you.
Love your videos. Thank you for your time and the shared knowledge.
Thank you so much for taking the time to rite me back and i find your reply rely helpful, thanks.
Really interesting and well explained ! congrats ! I am into vintage pots for a 52-59 LP conversion and wonder how much they have an effect on the sound. Bonamassa, highly knowledgeable on 59 bursts says that the central lab pots play a major role (50%) in the sound of these guitars. Do you believe the quality of a pot can be that important into the sound ? Same question on old bumble bees...If you have ideas, or opinions, I'd be interested. thanks a lot.
excellent teaching, dude
Thanks for sharing this info. I am currently researching for a project. I am going to update an antique radio and am looking for details about how to choose the right parts for volume control, and radio dial. the radio dial i want it to still show the pin pointing at frequency but also send a digital signal to the raspberry pi, i believe that part is a rotary encoder. any suggestions on parts or similar projects would be greatly appreciated. thanks
Super Clear! Thanks----
Very well explained.
Thanks
really interesting video. are the types of potentiometers you showed 360 degree continious potentiometers? if not what type are they
Thanks very much. You explained it very well :)
John, I am really pleased to have found your videos. I've built a couple of guitars; but, always find myself wondering about the "hype" when it comes to pickups and electronics. I believe watching your videos will teach me to make the correct decisions. In the meantime, while I'm learning, I have a 1988 G & L Invader H-S-S that seems to be crackling a little. Any suggestions on what to replace and a good source for the parts? I would keep the original sound; but, if I can gain some tone???
Thank you for this video! Which pot do you prefer? Is one smoother than the other by feel and taper? Thanks so much!
All The Best,
Sam
Nice video. If I want something ( dc motor) to be less sensitive in its zero state, can I use a less resistive pot? Thanks
thanks this vid really helped because im a beginner
Thank you a lot I'm fixing up an old ibanez blazer bass and i really need those nuts and washers for it .
I have a '78 Lincoln Continental with a dimming headlight switch. The pot that you can turn on the dashboard will dim all the clock and gauge cluster lighting. There is a "dead" spot on the pot where if I turn to that position (happens to be the max brightness). Now, if the original Ford part was like the CTS design and had the stiff bent contacts, do you think the reason there is a dead spot and slight intermittency in that area of the pot is because those stiff contacts are a little word out? I would like to replace it, but my car has an auto headlight dimmer and the headlight switch is built into the gauge cluster dimmer, so it is a hard part to find since not all models had autodim.
Thank you very Much Bro that was Easy to understand. Appreciate it.
great video: does the pot need to be disconnected from the guitar electrics in order to measure its resistance? Or can it be done while the pot is soldered on the circuit?