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Topic: Tone Control on the Guitar |
Kenny Radas
From:
Edwardsville,IL,USA
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Posted 7 Aug 2006 8:45 am |
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| Do any of you use the tone control on your guitar? I have an Emmons PP and have always used the tone defeat switch to take the tone control out of the circuit. This weekend I did a job at a local church and needed to adjust my sound for a couple of different settings. I could not keep turning around to adjust my amp so I boosted the highs at the amp and then cut them on the guitar. Gave me a good full sound and was very controllable. Made me wonder what else I have been missing on this guitar all these years. Just curious if how other players use their tone controls. Thanks. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 7 Aug 2006 8:50 am
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| I used the tone control on my old PP Emmons occasionally (actually more like very infrequently). My Franklin does not have a tone control but the Goodrich MatchBro I have, has a tone control in the bypass position and I use that sometimes - especially with new strings. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 8 Aug 2006 6:46 pm
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I would not know what to do with a guitar that lacked a tone control. Tone controls at the guitar end react and much different than amp tone controls. It'd be like playing with a few strings missing.
I know guitar players who might as well weld their tone controls on "10". They're missing an entire bucketful of different sounds.
Same with a volume control - but mine's on the guitar, not on the floor... |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 8 Aug 2006 9:45 pm
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I always mounted a Tone~Control & By-Pass on the cross~bracket of my Franklins, right in the center of the undercarriage. Since then I've been using a Tone~Control in a Project~Box either plugged into the guitar Output~Jack or Clipped on the Right~Rear leg! The only time that proceedure doesn't work is with my new Hilton~Pedal which has an added Tone~Pot in it. Other times I also used a Goodrich Super~Sustain Match Box Mod. 7a. But, that isn't necessary now and wouldn't work any more anyway! Actually, a tone~pot will still work, but; not for it's full~rotation! Full CCW it will pop back to full~treble!
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“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 8 Aug 2006 10:36 pm
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I use the tone control on my '76 Emmons S-10 p/p to cut the highs a bit.
Before I had this guitar, I played a D-10 Emmons p/p (for 25 years) and I never used the tone control on that guitar. I bypassed it with the defeat switch. That was fine for that guitar, but the S-10 sounds much thinner and very bright with the tone control bypassed. I guess it's different for each instrument. [This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 08 August 2006 at 11:37 PM.] |
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Keith Hilton
From:
248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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Posted 10 Aug 2006 9:32 am
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| Jack, here is my opinion, for what it is worth. I think people building guitars design the value of the tone capacitor, and tone control pot around the particular guitar pickup. I have noticed Emmons uses a .05uf capacitor. To me this sounds good on an Emmons, and really dark in other applications. Depening on the application, I have used .02uf, and .01uf and even lower values with good results. If you get a capacitor to big in value it can really hack your signal from a magnetic low level pickup. All passive tone controls that connect directly to a pickup and feed to ground, cut some high end frequency, even when they are off. This is not always bad, because some pickups are to bright and brittle sounding, without the capacitance in a tone control that is off. I hope everyone knows that a pot and a capacitor to ground only works when it sees high impedance. This type of tone control will not work following a pre-amp. Pre-amp meaning anything powered creating a line level signal. To make this simple tone control work with a pre-amp, you must put another pre-amp after it, where the tone control sees high impedance. This type of tone control only takes away highs. There are many more complex tone controls, that eventually evolve into mixers. Remember capacitors act the opposite of resistors. Capacitors in series decrease capacitance, and capacitors in parallel increase capacitance. |
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Kenny Radas
From:
Edwardsville,IL,USA
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Posted 10 Aug 2006 10:10 am
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| Thanks for all the replies. Does anyone make or know how hard would it be for me to make a plug in tone control? I have a MCI without a tone control and would like to try one on that guitar. Is that even possible? Anyone have a drawings of what I would need to build? |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 11 Aug 2006 6:25 pm
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I'll Post once again as I have on other Threads: I use a Plastic Project~Box, (1)–¼”-plug, (1)–¼”-Mono~Jack, (1)–500K-Audio-Pot and (1)-.047uF or your choice cap.! The box plugs into the PSG Output~Jack and the Box Output~Jack goes to your Volume~Pedal. I also incooperate a by-pass mini~toggle.
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“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 12 Aug 2006 1:57 am
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| John is correct on the electronics. The only thing I would use a metal (aluminum) mini box so it's shielded. A plastic box does not offer any shielding and there is the potential for picking up hum. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 12 Aug 2006 5:22 am
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Kenny,
You just need to pick up a Goodrich MatchBox. That is what I use for several fifferent purposes. It cleans up the sound and there is a VERY handy tone and volume control at your finger tips, also.  |
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