I'd thought I was over this stuff.

chilipeppermaniac said:
My Bournes pots were spec'd to last something like 50,000-250,000 twists and turns. All I know is that sounded like they should last and not get wonky like my CTS/Gib ones did in the Faded SG with similar results as Gball experienced.
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I've had really good luck with Bournes pots. I've tried to use them whenever factory stuff, usually modern Chinese-made CTS crap, dies.
 
gball said:
but I feel like 5 years to noisy and 6 years to failure is absurd.
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Agree!

Didn't know CTS was made in China. Maybe the Gibson/CTS pots were speced with lower quality materials. I've yet to have any known problems with any of my CTS's's's's. But then again, I really don't play any one of my guitars a whole lot... Saves on wear and tear of the moving components... :wink:
 
gball said:
Just the regular end-of-life stuff: Reduced output, snap-crackle-pop, cutting in and out. It started about a year ago and was easily fixed with a squirt of Deoxit, but they've steadily declined and about a month ago got really bad. And this is a Traditional, so it doesn't have the PCB they were using in a lot of models at the time and instead has CTS 500k's that are PtP wired.

Look, this is my most-played guitar by a fairly wide margin and I am an obsessive knob-tweaker when I am playing, but I feel like 5 years to noisy and 6 years to failure is absurd. However, I did notice that Gibson only warranties these parts for 5 years, so that speaks volumes.
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I get less than 4 months out of a volume knob. I keep several in stock for my guitars.

Bourns wore out faster than CTS. Alpha Mini Pots have lasted the longest out of all of them.. FWIW

IMG_20180127_43308.jpgSG Modification Small.jpgWire Harness.jpg20210213_085959.jpg
 
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Robert Herndon said:
I get less than 4 months out of a volume knob. I keep several in stock for my guitars.

Bourns wore out faster than CTS. Alpha has lasted the longest.

View attachment 67490View attachment 67491View attachment 67493View attachment 67494
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Wow, that's the opposite of my experience. CTS has always had the worst feel and the worst lifespan vs. Bournes for me. I'm like Yargnad: whenever I have replaced bad ones in the past I have chosen Bournes if I could get them easily enough and have never had to replace one of them. CTS just strike me as OEM low-bid junk. Never used Alphas really other than in amps and stompboxes. But pots will last forever in amps and stompboxes since they don't get turned all that much relative to a guitar volume pot.
 
gball said:
Wow, that's the opposite of my experience. CTS has always had the worst feel and the worst lifespan vs. Bournes for me. I'm like Yargnad: whenever I have replaced bad ones in the past I have chosen Bournes if I could get them easily enough and have never had to replace one of them. CTS just strike me as OEM low-bid junk. Never used Alphas really other than in amps and stompboxes. But pots will last forever in amps and stompboxes since they don't get turned all that much relative to a guitar volume pot.
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Look close at the pics posted showing my double neck cavity. I used the Emerson/Pro/CTS pots in that one and they are flawless....

Emerson Pro CTS Pots - StewMac

Individually tested control pots for demanding pro guitarists, developed by Emerson in cooperation with CTS.
www.stewmac.com www.stewmac.com
 
My experiences have been like Gball's, Except I have never messed up any Strat CTS pups and for some reason, they feel way better than the Gib ones. Also, I find the Bourns turn way smoother and easier. The Gib CTS's are always super stiff while the Fender ones are closer to the feel of Bourns.

My only Alphas are in my 2010 EPI LP STd. They were stock issue.
 
Robert Herndon said:
Look close at the pics posted showing my double neck cavity. I used the Emerson/Pro/CTS pots in that one and they are flawless....

Emerson Pro CTS Pots - StewMac

Individually tested control pots for demanding pro guitarists, developed by Emerson in cooperation with CTS.
www.stewmac.com www.stewmac.com
Click to expand...

I have no doubt that custom builds can be good. CTS makes the Gibson "vintage reissue" pots and they are great, for example.
But their self-branded off the shelf stuff is utter garbage in my own experience. This current case is just another example of CTS pots going wonky on me, it just happened sooner this time.
 
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chilipeppermaniac said:
My experiences have been like Gball's, Except I have never messed up any Strat CTS pups and for some reason, they feel way better than the Gib ones. Also, I find the Bourns turn way smoother and easier. The Gib CTS's are always super stiff while the Fender ones are closer to the feel of Bourns.

My only Alphas are in my 2010 EPI LP STd. They were stock issue.
Click to expand...

Here's one reason why I wear out volume pots....

View attachment My Guitar Cries.mp4
 
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