would this work? (varitone schematic)

[tribaltattoos]

This is a possible way to wire a varitone switch using the tone pot. I was wondering if this would work. Please see the attatchment and let me know what you think.

[tribaltattoos]

Oops

I made a mistake in the schematic I posted. This is the proper one sorry. My idea is to use the varitone style switch in place of the cap that would normally go on the tone control. Does anyone have any ideas on if this will work or not? please see new schematic. (sorry I had to make it in MS paint)

[Albert Kreuzer]

Yes, this will work.
You can eliminate (or at least minimize) switching noise by adding 1M...2M2 resistors from each switch pole to ground.

Cheers,
Albert

[tribaltattoos]

Thanks

Thanks for the info. Im really new to electronics so new in fact I haven't even graduated to NOOB yet. I can solder and thats about it. So forgive me if I seem ignorant but is this what you meant by placing a 1m resistor on each pole to ground?

[Glass Snuff]

It will work, but I don't think you'll find the .001, .068, and .1 really useful. I'd recommend using .047, .01, .015, .022, .033, and .047 instead.

[tribaltattoos]

Thanks for the suggestion I just pulled those numbers because I want a broad spectrum, but what you suggested does that as well. Your suggestion is probably what I will go with since as I already admitted Im pretty new to this stuff. I may build one each way just to see what it sounds like. Also is it beter to use a shorting (make before break) or non shorting (break before make) switch? I can get either for the same price on ebay. I rewired a pawnshop tele for my brother and it kinda got my tinkering gland going.

[Faux Hog]

Just be extra cautious and keep your hot iron a safe distance from your tinkering gland. We've all heard the horror stories.

[David Schwab]

Where's the choke? This is a decade control, not a Varitone. Varitones have a choke (inductor) and act as a mid range notch filter.

You should keep one end of the caps grounded and connect the other side to hot.. The 1M resistors go from each switch position to ground, not in series with ground.

Here's a regular LC Varitone circuit to show where the resistors go. Just ignore the inductor if you are making this as a high cut tone control.

[Albert Kreuzer]

Thanks for the info. Im really new to electronics so new in fact I haven't even graduated to NOOB yet. I can solder and thats about it. So forgive me if I seem ignorant but is this what you meant by placing a 1m resistor on each pole to ground?

No, not quite...
Look at the attached drawing, should be clear.

And if you don't find some of the C values, you can combine two or more caps in parallel, e.g. 0.047 + 0.022 = 0.069 (close enough for 0.068).

Cheers,
Albert

[tribaltattoos]

Oh ok thanks that shouldnt be to bad. I appreciate the help

[tribaltattoos]

Thanks for the info. Like I said Im new to this and just thought it would be a cool easy way to have selectable tones. I knew a true varitone had an inductor I just didnt know that this set up had its own name. I have never heard a decade control in action. Will it sound similar to a varitone?

[David Schwab]

It is nice to have different tone caps. Small values like .01µ are nice for just taking off some top end and leaving the mids.

Varitones sound different because they don't remove the top end, they remove the mids.

You can actually have it work both ways by being able to switch out the inductor.

[tmenss]

you can adjust a pickups resonant frequently

For a technical read see, at the very least the illustrations help you visualize what is happening to the frequency of a couple tome altering methods.
BuildYourGuitar.com :: The Secrets of Electric Guitar Pickups

Your diagram is a traditional tone control that swaps different cap values into a series circuit with the tone pot. It's a convenient way of tuning to your taste. That circuit takes a frequency mid tone value and rolls off everything above it. Lemme has an illustration that shows what happens when you vary the resistance for a given cap value. I'll differ to David Schwabs description the Varitone and midtone alteration as I've not had experience with it.

Helmuth Lemme illustrates another variant on "tone" control, that of shifting the resonant frequency of a pickup...it's timbre(?). It works a bit differently and replaces the traditional tone pot. If you use Lemme's (resistor) loading (for single coils) you'll place a 10M ohm resistor in parallel with each cap selection, each switched position you choose alters the resonant frequency of the whole circuit changing its sound. You can keep one switch position to feed the signal straight through if you like. Also a simple Radio Shack six position rotary switch can be altered to provide twelve positions by cutting one of the wipers and breaking off the stop tab. Now you'll have more than enough places to stash RC values and have a no load position to boot.

Getting into inductors and their effect on a pickups characteristics isn't an area I've experimented with but there's a product called a "Q" filter at the Bill Lawrence (the designer) site. His forums have alot of Q&A on it but it is one of those things you really need to fool around with firsthand to understand. I've been quite satisfied with a set of Bill's L45S noiseless pickups and using a variant of the Lemme RC circuit.