Can changing the potentiometer change the sound of the instrument?
Changing the potentiometer can change the tone of the instrument. The higher the value potentiometer will allow more high end to cut through. A pickup using a 250 K Audio taper potentiometer will sound warmer than using a 500 K audio taper pot. One important thing to remember is the tolerance given by the manufacturer of the potentiometer. There can be a 5%, 10%, 20% difference in potentiometer tolerance. If you replace a 250 K audio taper pot, the actual value may be 240 K. When you replace it with a newer one, it may be 270 K audio taper and this would make the pickup sound slightly brighter. Gibson used a 500 K audio taper on their early instruments and during the late 70 s went to a 300 K audio taper for the volume controls. Old DanElectro pickups (Lipstick Tube) used a 100 K audio taper. Stevie Ray Vaughn used Lipstick Tube pickups in one of his instruments and many players started doing the same. Many players used 250 K or 500 K pots which made the pickups sound really bright and
