Pickups and Tone Pots

[sumgai]

omni,

For me, the answer to this one is easy-as-pie: One Master Volume control, and one Master Tone control. If there's a third hole, such as on a Strat scratchplate, it get's plugged. That way, I don't keep hitting the Volume as I flail away! By way of example:



HTH


sumgai

[ChrisK]

Please allow me to also not answer your question.

I use this method to select 1 of 3 cap values (0.022 uF in series with 0.047 uF is 0.015 uF [the "woman tone")).

Look at S2 for cap value selection


Oh, ok.
Since I tend to not use the middle pickup alone, I would have a tone on the neck and one on the bridge. I would likely use an 0.047 uF on the neck, and a 0.022 uF on the bridge.

0.1 uF is just way too much IMHO (unless you like all that Jazz).

[sumgai]

omni,

Not to be a smart-butt, but considering your statement:

If you had to use 2 tone pots and not have a master how would you setup your guitar.

Just what caliber gun is that guy holding to your head, to force you into using two tone pots?


Sorry, couldn't resist. ;D


Understand, I've been in the business of doing repair and custom work on amps and guitars since the early '60s. Some of that time, I was doing it as a sideline, but for more than a decade now, since retiring from the rat race, it's been the main way I keep loose change in my pocket. So when I say that I've seen it all, I'm probably not too far off the mark. Quite literally, I've seen the two controls on a Strat wired in every one of the 6 ways possible. (That's just for the standard switching scheme - there's lots more, if you start monkeying around. ) To my ears, no one way sounds any better than the other, nor does it operate any better than the others. Truly, it's all a matter of personal taste and/or desire.

No offense pardner, but what I'm trying to say here is, there's no way for me to just hand you the Holy Grail. I've told you how I'd do it, and now I've said how others do it, what else can I say? It's up to you, my friend, pure and simple.

FWIW, I concur with Chris about his choice of cap values, and his way to select between three different values. But I emphatically do not concur with him about the viability of the Middle pickup alone. Too many records of old were made with that tone, and if you're gonna cop the original vibe as closely as possible.........


HTH





sumgai

[ChrisK]

FWIW, I concur with Chris about his choice of cap values, and his way to select between three different values. But I emphatically do not concur with him about the viability of the Middle pickup alone. Too many records of old were made with that tone, and if you're gonna cop the original vibe as closely as possible.........

Ahh, bullpuckey and hydrogenated feldergarb.

Any song worth playing is worth playing on a Telecaster.

It has just only two pick'me'ups. Pick one or both, and then figure out where to "pick" yer notes.


(You kin pick yer friends, and you kin pick yer notes, but..............)



Now, if'n we had a usable 6-way lever.....................

[sumgai]

omni,

To accommodate the largest segment of the strat retrofit market I have to cater to the fact that many players want the same vintage look on their rigs. That includes keeping the 3 pot locations.

Fair enough. Again speaking personally, I'd stick with Master Tone, and use the third pot for a blend control. A lot more tonal variety that way, than YETC (yet another tone control).

I agree that there is not one way to setup your guitar and I was not looking for the holy grail per se. That is why I built in the options to do all of the setups mentioned in my one design. I was just trying to gage if I had covered all of my bases for a standard modern wiring scheme.

You probably have, if they're user-selectable. Probably the most often-used combo I've seen, by a small margin, would be Neck and Middle on the first control, and Bridge on the other.

Now what about the other three questions in my last post?

Well, your first question dealt with a cap value. Personally, I've never seen where a 0.1µf cap did any good in a guitar with reasonable-quality pickups. But if your values were selectable, I can conceive where you'd end up with a combination of lower values that might reach that number. No harm done, in that case. Usable, however, would be in ears of the beholder.

I am talking to Bourns about a custom pot with a light torque. This is mostly for volume swells but would this be undesirable if you don't use that technique.

Shouldn't be 'undesirable', I'd think. I tend to hit the knob, a lot, but I don't think it would suddenly change value just because the shaft was looser in the bushing....... Don't know, never tried it. But for your designed purpose, users/players should literally flock to it!

I also will be running a test on twisted wiring pairs so I was interested if any one had tried this.

My thoughts on twisted pair wiring have been expressed elsewhere, but to quickly re-cap: Doesn't do any good, in so short a wire run. At 50-60Hz, the turns need be only 1 or 2 per foot, any more is non-effectual, and is a waste of wire. Gibson found this out early on with their electric guitars. That's why they went with the more expensive shielded cable, it does the job much better.

HTH





sumgai