caps for a varitone...

[cigarboxboy]

Hi all,

I am a little confused by some cap values that have been quoted by some varitone builders, insomuchas (I think I have found a new word ) a .22mf, as they describe or infer 'an almost womanish tone'.

Does this translate as a .0022uF, I am confused. I can deal in uFs but I find the whole ratings game 'hurts my, admittadly, feeble brain' ...thanks in advance!

[David Schwab]

It's a .22 uF cap. Usually the last cap in the series is rather large. The larger the value the lower in frequency the midrange notch. What a varitone does is introduce a notch, or cut, in the midrange. This is for a true varitone with an inductor coil.

People like to use the word varitone for everything from pickup selectors, like on a Gibson EB-3, to these fancy treble cut tone controls, which are actually decade switches.

A Gibson varitone used; .001, .003, .01, .03, .22.

Position 1--> bypass
Position 2--> -5db at 1950hz (.001)
Position 3--> -12db at 1100hz (.003)
Position 4--> -16db at 620hz (.01)
Position 5--> -18.5db at 360hz (.03)
Position 6--> -21db at 120hz (.22)


You can see that the .22uF cuts a lot of the low end out and gives a very bright almost single coil tone from a humbucker.

I had a varitone in my Les Paul.

I get a good women tone using a .01 or .02uF tone control cap. Just tone the tone all the way off and you are good to go.

[cigarboxboy]

Once again, thanks David for a succinct and definative reply. Why has there never been a standardisation of cap values? It looks like a recipe for disaster if an important (life-threatening) circuit was to have the wrong cap values...

[David Schwab]

There are no wrong values.

You can see that Anderton used different values than Gibson. Then if you are making one for bass you use larger values all around.

It's just a matter of where you ant your frequency centers. Some people might like the varitone working up in the high end, where it sounds more like a regular tone control, and some people might like it more on the low end, which it notches out the lower mids.

You can experiment with values. Or get a 7 to 12 position switch and use more caps!

[cigarboxboy]

Thanx mate! That will require a 2/6 switch, am I correct?

[David Schwab]

Yes

[cigarboxboy]

Thanx for all your help!

[cigarboxboy]

Sorry David...I'm now confused as to how to wire up a 2/6 rotary switch. This is new territory for me but I want to learn. I see how a 1/12 works by turning the switch all the way round to access all the positions but I can't find any information that tells me how connecting to the 2 poles (I assume) gives me access to the same positions. What am I missing here...thanks for any help!