hamer monaco 2 p90s

[monaco]

played a ibanez as 73 on the couch unplugged. played and played. never opened it. started playing every night. got a spark amp. its real nice having a backup. but i started singing. so i'm on the couch singing and playing keeping the notes ringing. Got tired of banging my elbows on the thing. Went guitar shopping. got a deal on a trade in. hamer monaco. as soon as it hit my hands it was the guitar im playing.(note: get some dowels and glue). while shopping i played the core by eric clapton on a fender princeton. thats how im sounding, crisp.you get rewarded for letting the strings ring. the spark is no comparison. 
i joined facebook and got a marketplace pro jr. Here is the deal. the monaco had a blend/pan pot, the toggle switch was removed. it only worked on the extremes, it was ok at first but its real scratchy, and bindy. the volume,bleeder an tone are 500k, cant identify the cap values. it looks like a murder scene. google took me to a chris. which is how i ended up here. the pan that was put in was the wrong one got the links for the correct pots from chris. ordered a 250 and 500 k. downloaded the fralin schematic. my background is is such that i can wire and fire without problem. but i want to play, i don't want to tinker. i don't belong here. i pulled out the butchery and am running the bridge p90. before i touch this guitar again it will be to close it up forever. you will be rid of me. this stuff is cool, but not for me. im looking for the pots to give me more wiggle room. the sweet spot is narrow on the volume, the tone pot goes too bassy. its always on 10. you know, playing war pigs on a trebled up fender amp has its own charm, a tone chaser i am not. and your not paying a cover. if pulling out pots and plugging a glory hole is the answer than so be it. i played with a bass player, and i like the treble. i think i know what muddy refers to, and i don't like it. im 50 plus. im putting something together, got the tunes. so ,men any suggestions? ps, this is my first post on a forum                  

[newey]

monaco-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

Your post hints at the real problem here, but doesn't state it explcitly: There is no free lunch.

If you want more "fine tuning" on the pot, a lower resistance value will help that a bit- but will cause more "mud", which as you say you do not want (understandably so, to my ears anyway). A higher value pot will save more of the treble, but with less adjustability. A pair 250K pots would give the most adjustability, but with less treble than one 250K and one 500K. Two 500K would maximise the treble at "10" on the dial, but would give you a bit less adjustment. 250K is usually the lowest anyone uses in a guitar circuit because of the muddiness with lower value pots (ignoring active pickups, which are a whole different topic). It is also important to remember that this applies only when the pot is full clockwise (for righty guitars). As one turns the knob down, one pot value will sound just like another at a different setting. A 250K pot at max will sound just like a 500K pot turned down to about "8" or thereabouts.

One option is to use "no load" pots. These are made such that, at the extreme "clockwise" end of the rotation, the track is cut so there is no resistance, and thus the load of the pot is no longer in the circuit. This gives one max treble, at least until one turns the pot down. One can also make "DIY" no-load pots, if the cost of new pots is an issue.

Removing the blend pot will also reduce the load on the circuit, thus preserving a bit more treble.

Also, a "treble bleed" circuit on the volume pot will help preserve the treble as one rolls the knob down to lower the volume.

before i touch this guitar again it will be to close it up forever. you will be rid of me.

(sighs) Monaco, we hardly knew ye . . .

Seriously, the problem is there's no good way to test for whether the pots give you the functionality you want with the tone you want, there may be some trial and error involved. But we'll be happy to help with any further issues, too.

[monaco]

"You will be rid of me", never start a conversation with a famous, or in this case, an infamous Quote. The flippant manner in which my question was asked, was answered in a manner that reflects how important this subject is to me. Thank you newey.

I have been able to beta test this monaco in a 30 * 20 room, with essentially a les paul jr set up..500 k vol and tone pots. 32(microfarad?) on the tone and a cap on the volume of unknown size. I've only used a spark and a peavy. operating this pro jr is another ball game. its very responsive to my fingerpicking, and the picking. I rarely move the tone knob. turn it down a tad and it really does sound like an acoustic. I cant go back.

Newey,I believe all my questions were answered in the 60s. I was in a boutique guitar shop playing a les paul jr through a princeton. with a guy who knew the sweet spot. i'm in my 50s, i'm only buying 1 guitar i can hit the cart button.


And yet I really like this monaco with a chopped up glory hole(not 3/8) where a renegade pan pot was, and talk of a no load pot intriguing.     I need another for G tuning, I like hamer,they make a jr. And then there was 2.

For the fralin diagram it seems that the no load pot acts more like a volume knob for the opposite pickup than the selector switch is in.It seems disabled when both pickups are selected(?)
 The pot that was in there was keeping an equal ratio between the pickups. it was 2 pots stacked. I like a pickup selector switch. I don't want to hunt for an indent. The treble went way up when I pulled the pan out as you stated.Its actually pretty good too. crispy.
Newey, Im looking for quality components to set up 2)p90s 1 volume,1 no load, and one tone. I want a metal knurled knob, not plastic. A cap value to get me started for the volume pot. I'm willing to do the work. I just don't want to order everything but what I need. 
I'm also thinking of ordering 12ay7 tubes for the preamp. When i keep the amp volume down to 7, I have more wiggle room on the guitar volume but its more sensitive and stays real clean . I can sort of get a good stones sound but i have to go back and forth on the volume knob. it has to be just right.(that's something a tone chaser would say,oh dear).I move the volume knob a tad too far and its black sabbath.Whatever knob i have to turn I want to be able to ballpark. Not safe cracking. Am I free lunching?  
Volume of amp is not a problem. Its loud enough.

Im keeping this guitar. I'm keeping this amp.
Thank you Newey













  

[newey]

Well, I know diddly-squat about preamp tubes,so I can't help you there. You might want to repost that as a separate question in the "Amps" sub-board.

As far as wiring your guitar, there we can probably help. But I'm not clear on the "Fralin diagram" to which you refer. Please link to it so we can take a look.

As for values of a cap, JohnH has written the definitive assessment of treble bleed circuits(at least IMO) hereabouts. Without making you read through the whole thread, he concluded the best circuit was a cap and a resistor in parallel, with suggested values of 150KΩ and 1nF for the cap. But that was optimised for 2 humbuckers, not P90s. So YMMV.

Here's JohnH's thread, for reference:
guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/5317/treble-bleed-circuit

[monaco]

[newey]

May 26, 2021 21:55:03 GMT -5 monaco said:

For the fralin diagram it seems that the no load pot acts more like a volume knob for the opposite pickup

I don't see any mention of a no-load pot for that diagram. Did you mean the Blender pot?

The blender is not "disabled" when both pickups are selected (it is still in the circuit), but since both pickups are "full on" via the center position on the pickup switch, the blender isn't really doing anything there. With the blender all the way clockwise, neither pickup is blended in, and the pickups are controlled by the 3-way switch. As you turn the blender counterclockwise, if you have the neck pickup selected on the 3-way, the blender will progressively bring in the bridge pickup, until you get to full counterclockwise at which point both pickups are full on just as if the center position was selected on the 3-way. If the bridge is selected on the switch, then turning the blender progressively blends the neck into the bridge.

If you simply removed the green and red wires from the 3-way switch, then the blender pot is gone, and the 3-way switch controls the pickups.

[monaco]

Definition of terms is important in these matters I see. I've put a handful of hrs into exploring the tones i can get. How much treble i can add or remove with just changing technique was a big surprise. I like 1 tone knob. I believe a blender is what I can use, I'm going to give it a try. 
The key part of the negotiations for this instrument was the horrible workmanship. I have a chunk of solder with a 500k pan pot in the middle. Ill have to extend the pickup leads.its pretty rough. Otherwise this thing is mint. I know i'm not going to stop playing. Ima wait for a good deal on another one that is not butchered and see what i can do with this one. 

What supplier do you recommended. brand of components? I'm looking for a proper metal knob with an allen key. The dials where smooth as silk on those thoroughbred guitars I played.I cant go back.

The post on treble bleed was excellent. I notice when i turn the volume down the treble does drop significantly. I'm trying to transition from song to song without messing with dials. And my goal is to get good tone at a volume that say, you and your many girlfriends can sit at a table say 30 ft away and have a conversation. Then we can bump it after you have a few rounds.

I'm starting  to play with other musicians they are extremely talented, but they have mission control set ups and are always turning dials. I stand around between songs. I'm so green at this. Everything sounds so other worldly to me. So many blinking lights. 

I think my answers lie here. Guitar ones anyway. I'm going to read the whole posts.

thanks for giving me your consideration newey

[newey]

May 27, 2021 11:36:14 GMT -5 monaco said:

What supplier do you recommended. brand of components? I'm looking for a proper metal knob with an allen key. The dials where smooth as silk on those thoroughbred guitars I played.I cant go back.

The quality of the pot, not the knob, dictates how smoothly it operates. The full-sized pots (size of a US quarter dollar coin, 24mm diameter) will operate more smoothly than the little 15 or 17 mm "mini" ones. I typically use Bourns pots, but there are several good manufacturers. I'm not here to pimp Bourns' products, I've used CTS pots in the past and they were just fine as well.

For a good metal knurled-finish knob with a set screw, you'll have to look around, I've bought these in the past but it was 10 years ago or more and I don't recall where I got them. I'm not a big fan of knobs with set screws, I like the pots with splined shafts better. There are also metal Tele-style knobs that have a plastic insert to accept a splined pot shaft. I've used those and they're fine as well.