Volume Pot Taper On Vox AC 30

[Timvox1]

I have a 1965 Grey Panel Vox AC 30.
I replaced the original Egen 500K log volume pot on the top boost channel with a new CTS 500K log pot and now the taper feels wrong.
Instead of a gradual smooth volume build the amp gets loud too fast.
On my meter the Egen pot is 491 K - the CTS is 460K.
Are those Egen pots still available - they have a really smooth taper.

I bought 2 CTS 500K pots & 2 Alpha 500K pots they all are around 460-470K.
I've been using this amp for many years - even had grease pencil marks for recording - now the lower level sweet spot settings are no longer an option.
The amp gets too loud too soon.
Any ideas as how to fix this.
I tried cleaning the old pot but it was causing the amp to cut out, buzz, crackle and lose bass so I had no choice but to replace it.

[martin manning]

Try a PEC pot?

[oldhousescott]

Bourns has amp pots also.

[pdf64]

With the pots set at 50% rotation, what are the resistances. cold track end to wiper, and wiper to hot track end?
eg 47k cold track end to wiper, 423k wiper to hot track end.
CTS audio are usually a 10% taper, same as the normal european log taper (as example), though the smoothness of the taper may be debatable.
It may just be a mis-labelled linear pot?
Pete

[ToneMerc]

I have a 1965 Grey Panel Vox AC 30.
I replaced the original Egen 500K log volume pot on the top boost channel with a new CTS 500K log pot and now the taper feels wrong.
Instead of a gradual smooth volume build the amp gets loud too fast.
On my meter the Egen pot is 491 K - the CTS is 460K.
Are those Egen pots still available - they have a really smooth taper.

I bought 2 CTS 500K pots & 2 Alpha 500K pots they all are around 460-470K.
I've been using this amp for many years - even had grease pencil marks for recording - now the lower level sweet spot settings are no longer an option.
The amp gets too loud too soon.
Any ideas as how to fix this.
I tried cleaning the old pot but it was causing the amp to cut out, buzz, crackle and lose bass so I had no choice but to replace it.

Sounds like what you need is not so much the exact value, but a log pot with the same taper as the Egen. Both CTS and PEC log pots have the same taper which is around 9-10%, Alpha's are closer to 15%. It appears your Egen pot may be closer to 25-30%.
Unfortunately, neither of the above vendors sells and off the shelf equivalent taper pot. One option is to find a NOS 500KA pot, but here is where it gets tricky, 99% of folks selling pots don't have a clue about the taper or the difference between the taper and the tolerance.
Sometimes you have to think outside the box, in the past I've found NOS 25-28% taper 500KA guitar pots and converted the split shaft to a solid shaft using s bushing so that I could use these pots in an amp.

TM

[martin manning]

I have a 1965 Grey Panel Vox AC 30... I replaced the original Egen 500K log volume pot... The amp gets too loud too soon.

Sounds like what you need is not so much the exact value, but a log pot with the same taper as the Egen. Both CTS and PEC log pots have the same taper which is around 9-10%, Alpha's are closer to 15%. It appears your Egen pot may be closer to 25-30%....

"Gets too loud too soon" needs a lower "% taper" I believe, as long as % taper means % of max resistance at 50% rotation. My thought was not all 10% taper pots are created equal, and a better-quality pot might not come on as suddenly.

[chief mushroom cloud]

I would try to recondition that original Egen....
wash in hot distilled water w/ mild soap, blow dry, then
soak it over night submerged in anhydrous alcohol.
rinse w/ fresh alcohol, and douche w/ DeOxit

it's worth trying...but no guarantees
I've done it w/ success on a majority of old pots...