Distortion+ pot question

[pi22seven]

I made the Distortion+ from Tonepad and it sounds really, really great.

My level pot died a couple of days ago and I had to sub a 250k in place of the 50k.

Does the 250k just change where most of the level control happens or does it do more than that?

[GibsonGM]

The 50K gives a more gradual change from OD to dirty...you'll notice it happening in a smaller area with the 250k.   You know, changing a greater resistance over the same degrees of rotation = more happening faster.  I used a 100K that I had around, no complaints, 250 should be fine, I'd think.

[Fret Wire]

The 50K gives a more gradual change from OD to dirty...you'll notice it happening in a smaller area with the 250k.   You know, changing a greater resistance over the same degrees of rotation = more happening faster.  I used a 100K that I had around, no complaints, 250 should be fine, I'd think.

If your talking about the gain (dist.) pot, you've got it backwards. With that ckt, zero resistance is max gain. So, pot taper aside, the larger the gain pot, the larger and more gradual the change is from max gain to low gain. And within each size pot (50k, 100k, 500k, etc.), the taper will effect whether the gain spread you've chosen is gradual to the ear or bunched up.

If your talking about the volume pot, it probably wouldn't hurt. You won't be using it all any way.
pi22seven: what tapers are you using?

Btw, the original MXR values were Dist.- 500KC & vol.- 50KA.

[petemoore]

  Doesn't the volume pots value set output impedance?

[pi22seven]

I'm using it in place of the 50k volume pot. I originally had a 100k in it as per the suggested mod, but it went bad. The 250k works, I was just wondering if it changed the sound of the circuit.

I'm going to Google about the output volume pot's value setting the impedance.

Thanks for the help guys!

[petemoore]

The 250k works, I was just wondering if it changed the sound of the circuit.
  More resistance between signal path and ground = less signal shunted to ground.
  a 250k pot will measure that across the outside lugs [which is SP to Gnd. ITCase].
  You might wanna try strapping a resistor of some value to lower the SP to ground resistance there on the pot, sort of a way to change the value of that pot...and you could even switch that chosen resistor value to see how much it 'boosts'...but that will vary of course depending on the Volume pot's setting...

[Mark Hammer]

Sticking a higher value output level pot will result in a bit more volume being preserved in this instance.  It may have some moderate deleterious effects (principally some treble loss)  on the interaction between the pedal and the next thing in line, depending on the input impedance of the next thing in line.