varitone bypass question

[Ghandi]

I've always heard about people taking the complete harness out of there gibson ES345 and ES355 guitars because it sounds way better then with the varitone in position 1 which is supposed to bypass it completely!

and I listend to some clips on the net:
http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/sh...aritone+bypass

which clearly show a dramatic difference!

but when I look at the varitone schematic and the switch is in position 1 it looks to me that the varitone is totally bypassed!?


the choke is not connected and the 100k resistor is paralleled with the closed switch position 1, which takes it also out of work...

I'm struggling my mind around that one!?!?

[David Schwab]

On position 1, there are still the array of 10 megohm resistors, in parallel, which are there to stop the caps from popping, by keeping them discharged.

So that may be the reason.

I've put Varitones in instruments without the 10 M resistors and it worked fine. I never noticed a problem with the tone when bypassed.

[Ghandi]

mhhhh...
but they are 10megaohm, 20 times as much as the 500kohm vol pot.

or do we have to think of them as being parallel?
but that would still be 2kohm.

[David Schwab]

mhhhh...
but they are 10megaohm, 20 times as much as the 500kohm vol pot.

or do we have to think of them as being parallel?
but that would still be 2kohm.

Yes, they are in parallel, and all connected to the caps and the inductor! 2K sounds low enough to me to be doing something there.

I'd do a test where you have the circuit in the bypass position, and then remove the inductor's ground connection, and see how it sounds.

Or just remove the 10M resistors. You might get a pop when you switch to a new setting, but if you click through all the positions once, it should take care of it.

You could also wire up the bypass position to remove the ground on the inductor.

[Ghandi]

yeah,
I'll test the circuit in the bypass position and then lifting the ground from the inductor...

the five 10Mohm resistor in parallel are 2Mohm, not 2Kohm, thought!

[David Schwab]

The five 10Mohm resistor in parallel are 2Mohm, not 2Kohm, thought!

I was being too lazy to do the math! But that sounds better.

Still that's the only thing still in the circuit when it's bypassed.

[Ghandi]

jep,
must be the five 10M resistors!
I'll try it this week...