Tone Cap for Best "Boo-Wah"?

[Robert]

I'm back into a steel guitar for the first time in ten years - a really great Fender Dual Professional. My old one (sold a long time ago) was very easy to get the full "boo-wah" tone pot trick on - this new one, not as much. Maybe I just have to re-learn the technique - or is there a particular value pot and/or capacitor that makes a more pronounced bass-to-treble sweep, while still retaining the basic sound of the Fender guitar? I had the tone pot replaced, as the one in this picture was shot, but what about this cap? I'm not an electronics guy, as you can tell!


Thanks,
Rob Yale, Chicago

[Jason Hull]

Can't tell much from the picture, as you can't see the caps value. Capacitor tone controls are cut-only, so the larger the capacitor value the deeper it will cut the treble. A .1 mF cap on a 500k pot will give a dramatic effect. Some people might use a 1meg pot, but I think it just adds more noise. You can use a linear pot, instead of an audio pot, for a less-smooth effect; it will be harder to dial in a specific tone, but easier to do the "boo-wah" trick.

[Doug Beaumier]

Dual Pro: cap .05, pots: 250K

Schematics are available on this site---> Click

[Chad Winn]

Dual Pro: cap .05, pots: 250K

Schematics are available on this site---> Click

Awesome link.

[Jason Hull]

Yeah, thanks for the link!

[Alvin Blaine]

is there a particular value pot and/or capacitor that makes a more pronounced bass-to-treble sweep, while still retaining the basic sound of the Fender guitar?

A .05 μf cap with a 1 meg audio tapered pot. That will give you the most drastic wah effect.

[John Bechtel]

The original controls for the Fender D-8's & T-8's were: Volume 250K Audio and Tone 1 Meg. Linear w/.05 cap.