Custom Taper Potentiometers

[soultek]

Hello,

Does anyone have any vendors they've worked with capable of doing a dual gang conductive plastic pot with custom taper curves? State electronics shows up after a cursory search. I'd like to deal with a vendor that had personal recommendations. Oh and, price isn't an issue, MOQ of 1k is totally fine.

Thanks!

 

[Brian Roth]

I've used State Electronics a couple of times, but for a one-off to repair something. They were quite expensive, but they were good to deal with and delivered what was promised. I don't know their quantity pricing policies. At the 1K quantity level, contact your preferred manufacturer.

Bri

 

[JohnRoberts]

We ordered full custom tapers and even specials from alps and other pot makers back when I was working at Peavey but quantities were pretty large.

JR

 

[Spacecowboy]

I’ve had nothing but good experiences working with Vishay. Their MOQ are in the 15-100 range depending on how crazy you get.

 

[Brian Roth]

These comments are based on my experience from 1977....

Stupid boy decided to get into the console biz. Bourns was ready and willing to produce a variety of odd-balls. No odd tapers....just linear and normal and reverse log. But I needed concentric shaft combos...like dual linear on one shaft with reverse log on the other shaft. Again....no custom tapers.

Worth giving them a call!

Bri

 

[Newmarket]

What is your location ?

 

[Bill Wilson]

Have dealt w State elec. on a number of occasions; very reliable, but on the high end; easy to work with.

 

[peterc]

Omeg in the UK did some special pots for me (Rev log with apush pull switch) about 10 years ago. Excellent pots, they were less than 2 GBP each for 25 pieces

 

[ruffrecords]

Blore Edwards in the UK also do custom pots.

Cheers

ian

 

[warpie]

I’ve had nothing but good experiences working with Vishay. Their MOQ are in the 15-100 range depending on how crazy you get.

What do you mean 15-100?

15 to 100 pots?

 

[JMan]

Blore Edwards in the UK also do custom pots.

Cheers

ian

I've seen them do this to great success with some of the full kit projects from AnalogVibes, where the specific goal was to customize the taper to match the curve from an old original unit. Pretty cool that this is possible to have done, but no idea what the MOQ is.

 

[Tubetec]

The SMD Dact stepped attenuator might be an option ,
they are available in custom configurations ,

 

[soultek]

Thanks for the replies everyone, some good stuff in here.

For the poster that asked I'm in Brooklyn, but this is for a client in California.

Qty is 1k per year, BOM can withstand a hefty price tag as long as it's quality and has a good 'feel' to it.

About 7 years ago I did a shootout of all available, reasonably priced pots for feel. I was looking for a good feeling, conductive plastic pot with 100k+ cycle lifetime and options for customization. The winner was a TT / BI potentiometer. I contacted their sales support and they were super responsive and even sent me a tray of samples. I will call State but will also try contacting TT as well (no idea if the line still exists!)

 

[Brian Roth]

@soultek Are there any other special requirements? Like physical size/shape of the body, bushing (if any), shaft diameter, etc. As I mentioned in an earlier reply I had good luck with Bourns...decades ago. Those same pots had a good feel and are still in use all these years later.

Much more recently, I've had good luck with the BI pots but as a 1-off for a mod or repair. I used stock tapers and models from Mouser or Digikey.

Bri

 

[z11111]

might be worth contacting Vimex https://www.vimex.com/

 

[Spacecowboy]

What do you mean 15-100?

15 to 100 pots?

Yes

 

[ruffrecords]

I've seen them do this to great success with some of the full kit projects from AnalogVibes, where the specific goal was to customize the taper to match the curve from an old original unit. Pretty cool that this is possible to have done, but no idea what the MOQ is.

No MOQ as far as I know but a MOV of £100.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Tubetec]

It might be worth checking Audio Maintenance Limited , he has a lot of dual section pots available off the shelf ,

 

[soultek]

Thanks all,

@Brian Roth Yes there are other required specs, but I'm still waiting on them. Nothing too crazy dimensionally, but nonetheless important. I'll let you all know what I find out once I start digging in.

 

[Newmarket]

I know you say cost isn't critical but if you can work with existing mechanical details you'll probably save a shed load of money unless the changes are minor. Tooling NRE is expensive