5e3 Normal vs Bright channel tone difference

[Gee]

I find that my 5E3 is too bright using the Bright channel and not bright enough using the Normal channel. Using the Normal channel, tone on full, my guitar (Strat with FAT50 sc's) with tone on 10, is too dark, yet using the Bright channel I have to back off the tone on the guitar to about 3 which then affects the guitar tone. I am sure that there is a really happy medium in there but I can't seem to access it.

I was wondering if there is a mod to decrease the tonal difference between the 2 channels?

My head hurts when I try to understand the volume and tone setup in the 5E3.

[RickyD]

Plug into Normal #1. Plug another cable into Normal#2 and Bright #1. You are now sending the guitar signal equally to both channels.

Increase/decrease the Normal and Bright volume controls to balance the tone. You should be able to get what you want.

[Gee]

Plug into Normal #1. Plug another cable into Normal#2 and Bright #1. You are now sending the guitar signal equally to both channels.

Increase/decrease the Normal and Bright volume controls to balance the tone. You should be able to get what you want.

Good idea. I will try that.

Can anyone explain how the tone control works (from an electronic point of view) in the 5E3? What makes the difference between the channels? I presume that the Normal channel is really a treble cut channel and the Bright channel is more of a normal channel with the tone up full?

Also, what about putting a shunt across the Bright plate resistor? I read somewhere about putting a 0.001uf (I think) across the Bright plate resistor to tame the Bright highs.

[Gee]

I have finally found what I was looking for. I tried various cap values on the tone control and what I settled on was changing the 500pF to a 250pF (both Silver Mica), which produces the tonal difference between the channels that I was looking for. The Normal channel is now just about perfect and the Bright channel is not too bright. I can now use both channels with the Tone control maxed.