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Capacitor...or lack thereof

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  • #1

    Capacitor...or lack thereof

    Can someone who has tried this fill me in - is there a NEED for a capacitor b/t the tone and volume pots in standard Gibson wiring? In other words, rather than going w/ the smallest value cap for the neck to maintain clarity, what if I left it out altogether? Would this yield a 'brighter' sound?
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  • #2
    Do you mean not having a tone control? You don't need a tone control. A lot of people don't use them.

    I like them myself, and use a smaller value cap than usual, which I find is more useful.

    If you remove the tone cap, the guitar will be slightly brighter, but you also loose the tone control.

    The Fender TBX tone control is a way to get the no tone control brightness when the control is on 10. No reason why that wouldn't work in a Gibson.

    When I had a Paul, I rewired it for one master tone control, and a Varitone. I also wired the volume controls up like a Jazz bass, so I could mix the pickups better.
    It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure. — Albert Einstein


    http://coneyislandguitars.com
    www.soundcloud.com/davidravenmoon

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    • #3
      I do like the tone control, just looking for a bit more brightness. I don't think I would lose it if I ran a plain jumper wire in place of the cap, would I? I don't know what or how much I would really accomplish by doing this. Maybe I should try out a 1 meg pot? Where would this yield greater effect - tone or volume pot? Thanks for taking the time David!

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      • #4
        If you replace the cap with a wire you will no longer have a frequency dependent control (tone control). Instead, what you will have is another volume control. It will turn down all frequencies equally.

        The next best thing to the Fender TBX control is to open up the pot & scratch through the carbon track on the high side of the pot (where the wiper would be if the pot was turned up to "10"). That way, when you turn the pot from 9 to 10, you will completely disconnect the tone control cap from the circuit. From 0-9 it works like a normal tone control but on 10 you get that extra level of brightness because the cap will no longer be in the circuit. Call it the Poor man's TBX.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by cbarrow7625 View Post
          The next best thing to the Fender TBX control is to open up the pot & scratch through the carbon track on the high side of the pot (where the wiper would be if the pot was turned up to "10"). That way, when you turn the pot from 9 to 10, you will completely disconnect the tone control cap from the circuit. From 0-9 it works like a normal tone control but on 10 you get that extra level of brightness because the cap will no longer be in the circuit. Call it the Poor man's TBX.
          The TBX control is a dual ganged pot with a center detent and works differently. What you are describing is the 'delta-tone' which is a trademarked name for the ol' Ken Fischer trick of chopping the carbon track on a pot.

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          • #6
            Right, it definitely works differently but not that much different. If I remember my dissection correctly, the TBX control basically just puts 1Meg of resistance in series with the tone control cap when it is turned from 5-10, essentially accomplishing the same thing. It just does it more gradually although less completely than the other trick. From 0-5 it works just like a standard tone control. The center detent is there to let you know where the "normal" and "expanded" ranges start & stop.

            I never saw Ken Fischer doing that. It's just a trick I've known about for 20 years.

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            • #7
              Yeah, the TBX uses the 1M side of the pot to remove the tone control from the circuit.

              A smaller value cap will give a brighter tone when the control is turned down.

              As far as a brighter tone with the control all the way open, you can do the
              "no load" trick with the pot if you are handy. You can also do it by painting lacquer or something similar to the carbon track. Or you can install a push/pull tone pot that switches the tone control out of the circuit.

              I'm not sure how much of a difference you will hear though.

              If you have covers on the pickups, removing them will make them brighter.
              It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure. — Albert Einstein


              http://coneyislandguitars.com
              www.soundcloud.com/davidravenmoon

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              • #8
                The difference with the tone control out of the circuit is certainly not huge but it can make a difference between "almost right" and "exactly right" depending on the sound you are going after.

                I keep a 3-way toggle on my guitar with 2 different cap values & an off position to cover all the bases. They all have their place.

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