Please Note: ALL 280K SuperPots are SPLIT-SHAFT. When you order a Tele/Esquire kit, it will ship with brass sleeves for use with knobs with set screws. All standard USA Tele-style knobs will fit over the brass sleeves; knobs with set-screws should accept a 1/4"-inch shaft. Please contact us with any questions or concerns.
Who this kit is for: The Vintage Upgrade Kits offer a warmer, woody tone for anyone who is tired of not being able to use the controls on your guitar effectively. This kit is also great for those who are tired of losing tone and note-definition every time they roll their control past 8!! This kit is designed for all Tele®/Esquire® style guitars.
What this is: For years, guitar manufacturers have chosen to cut corners on the electronics they have used, even in their top-of-the-line guitars. This kit is designed to utilize the best electronic components possible in your guitar. This kit is the culmination of thousands of hours of research and development into different guitar electronics and how each of them affects the overall tone of the guitar.
Please Note: All guitars manufactured in Japan, China, Indonesia and Mexico use metric pots (6mm), and have metric sized holes drilled for the pots. All pots sold by RS Guitarworks use standard pots and hole diameters (3/8"). Therefore, holes in the guitar, plates and/or pickguards will need to be enlarged to 3/8" to fit properly. Also, metric knobs will not fit the RS pot shafts; Please call us for details or questions about installation.
What's in the kit:
(1) 280K RS SuperPot®. We designed these pots in conjunction with CTS. Used for the volume controls in the kit, these pots have a custom taper that gives you a noticeable difference between each number on your volume control. You can finally roll your volume down to 2 or 1 and not loose any clarity, even in the neck position!! Mil-spec construction and a smoother resistor path make this the best pot to ever be used in the guitar.
(1) 250K CTS Solid Shaft Audio taper pots- Audio taper pots work great for tone controls. With that in mind, we had CTS improve their stock audio taper pot by using brass shaft construction (brass is much more resilient than the typical aluminum,) and much tighter tolerances.
(1) Vintage RS GuitarCap Paper In Oil .047µF Capacitor. Manufactured to RS specs, these hand-made 100v caps have a rich vintage tone, while still retaining open top-end clarity. Hand-wound on 50's-era machines, the new RS Vintage GuitarCaps use vintage-correct Kraft paper, solid military-spec construction and tinned 20AWG leads for easy soldering. They really hold their own against the vintage caps; their tone is similar to the famous caps from the 50's.
(1) Polyester film .0047µF capacitor for the RS Esquire 'cocked wah' mod.
(1) Length vintage white wire - Used for grounding and the wiring of the switch in the circuit.
(1) Length vintage black wire - Used for grounding and wiring the switch in the circuit.
(1) Switchcraft® input jack - Made in the USA.
(1) CRL® 3 way switch - Made in the USA.
(1) Color wiring diagram.
How this kit improves your tone: All of the above components combine to create unprecedented clarity in your overall tone. This increase in clarity will also equate to an increase in note bloom, harmonic complexity, and, in some cases, sustain. Because this kit increases the usability and intuitiveness of the controls onboard your guitar, you will achieve tones that you didn't think were possible.
