Customer Reviews
These pots consistently measure at 525k + and are a true 10% audio taper. They're the only pots available on the market with both specs. VIPots have been on backorder for years now and these CTS manufactured pots are a much better quality.
They're not low torque like some other custom CTS pots, but that can be easily remedied with electrical contact cleaner before installation. It's much harder to add the heavy grease inside the pot than flush it out.
These TAoT CTS custom pots will be going in all of my Gibson historic reissue guitars!
The pots arrived in new condition and work perfectly - I upgraded the electronics in my fab Gibson SG and the improvement is noticeable - thanks!
Rock Solid, good quality. I use these a lot in my Strat Builds.
CTS makes some of the best potentiometers available. TAOT improves on that by lowering the tolerance ratings. Quiet, smooth and long lasting.
One of Gibson’s older philosophies was to make sure that no pots in their guitars were under 500K. However, fast forward to now and they use 500K pots with 10% tolerances, which could get you some if not all pots closer to 450K. This can cause a tonal impact you, the player, might not be happy with.
In my 2017 Gibson Les Paul Tribute, it came with their Quick Connect system installed. I’m not usually one to get all up in arms about PCB vs point to point wiring, but I decided to give the guitar’s harness an overhaul to swap in some demo pickups for a YouTube video I was working on. Leading up to this harness rebuild, I also bought a 2010 Gibson Les Paul Traditional with 57 Classic+/Classic humbuckers installed. The Traditional’s output was much more present compared to the 498T/490R in the Tribute. So I installed a set of Schecter Route 57’s along with a 50’s style wiring harness built with these CTS pots, orange drop caps, and a new Switchcraft 3-way switch.
After the demo was shot, I decided I wanted the Schecter pickups in my Flying Ⅴ. So I opted to reinstall the 498T/490R back into the Tribute, but leaving in the new 50’s-style wiring harness vs putting the Quick Connect board back in. So then I jammed on the Tribute and it was massive sounding to my ears. I thought it was a placebo effect, so I compared it against my 2010 Traditional once more. The output was the same, with the exception of the 498T/490R’s midrange bump. Basically, the 498T and 490R sounded massive. But honestly, I didn’t expect that result, as I always wrote off the 490 series of pickups in the past. Now I know why. Basically, the wiring harness made all the difference.
So now I’m all about these pots for humbuckers. With a 5% tolerance, they’ll guarantee you *at least* 498.75K, although I’ve never received one with a value less than 508K to this point. These are THE POTS to get for a Gibson wiring harness rebuild, bar none.
So if your humbuckers lack presence and/or output, maybe it’s not the pickups. Maybe instead it’s the pots installed. Swap them out for these along with quality capacitors. You won’t be disappointed.