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Post by woodshedder on May 13, 2006 1:31:23 GMT -5
Does the value of the cap on the tone pot affect tone when the tone pot is on 10? I would assume no. I know the value affects the amount of treble that can be rolled off, but if you have the treble turned all the way up (i.e., zero resistance), then it seems to me that no treble would be lost through the cap. If my thinking is correct, then a higher value cap simply gives you a wider range of tone--but the same top end tone--as a smaller value cap. How far off am I here?
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Post by JohnH on May 13, 2006 3:30:39 GMT -5
Woodshedder - It is true that a tone control at 10 will have minimal effect on the sound, no matter what tone cap you have. The value of the cap does make a difference howeveras you reduce treble, not just in the range of cut, but also the sound, ie the shape of the frequency response. That is because a given value cap will start to cut treble at a certain frequency, and below that it has minmal effect. So a small cap value will start cutting at a high frequency, and above that frequency, cut depending on the pot setting, while a large value will start to cut at a lower frequency.
My personal preference is for very small tone caps, to affect only the very high frequencies.
John
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Post by fobits on May 13, 2006 8:30:39 GMT -5
Actually, it's the other way around. When the control is at full treble, the full resistance of the pot is in the circuit.
Going from hot to ground, the order is hot wire -> pot -> cap -> ground. When the resistance is turned up, it isolates the capacitor from the hot lead.
To answer your question, the tone is affected even at full treble, but how much depends on the maximum resistance of the pot.
A 500k pot does a good job of isolating the cap. It still has some effect, but not very much.
The Statocaster is fitted with 250k pots, because Leo Fender thought the the sound was a bit shrill. These allow more of the signal to pass through and reduce the high frequencies even at maximum treble. Some clone manufacturers disagree, and use 500k on their Strat copies.
Yer pays yer money and takes yer choice.
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Post by woodshedder on May 14, 2006 21:00:59 GMT -5
Alrighty JohnH and fobits, thanks to both of you for your replies. Both of you guys helped me understand how the caps work. The reason I was inquiring about caps is because at one point I had considered installing a miniswitch on a guitar that would allow me to switch between two different value caps. Then I thought that a larger value cap would be identical to a smaller value cap, only that the range would be different. But now, thanks to JohnH, I see that is not the case. And yeah fobits, I thought have may have had my resistor thinking backward. Everytime I start thinking about rewiring something on a guitar, it seems I have to relearn how everything works again (to a minimal degree at least). Anyhoo, I drew a leetle pic (below) to try to depict how I think the caps are affecting the cutting of frequencies. Is what I drew up correct? The "10, 8, 5... " at the right represent a tone pot setting. "Volume" may not be the correct term for the y-axis, but just think of it as when volume on the graph is 100%, then that frequency is not cut at all. So if my graphs are correct, then it may make sense after all to have switching between different caps. I have a guitar which is brittle as hell, but I do get some tones I want to keep, so I was thinking of doing the cap switch thingy.
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Post by sumgai on May 16, 2006 5:06:45 GMT -5
woody, You give nice graphs! Yep, you've got the theory down pat, so we're gonna pencil you in for mentor status.... Are Saturdays good for you, we need someone here to coach the newbies on Saturday, can you fill in for us? j/k! ;D Seriously, you're doing all right, keep it coming. sumgai
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