Multi-capacitor tone control

[NorCal Dog]

Originally Posted by CnB77

Do you find yourself using the tone knob much, or do you leave it in place and just switch caps to get different sounds? I'd also love to hear a recording if possible

sorry for the late reply

i still use the tone control quite a bit as i mainly play fingerstyle, but use a plectrum on a few song, the tone control lets me dial up the tone as needed

[TheEmptyCell]

I'm really interested in doing this with a 2-pole 6 position rotary switch I picked up from Radio Shack, but my soldering iron is dead and I'm terrible at reading the diagrams for rotary switches.

[Angel LaHash]

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

Germanium transistors are readily available, germanium diodes are hard to find.

what Germanium Diodes/Transistors do you suggest..
im getting a AC128 (but they are DAM DEAR £1.75/each)

Right Found some AC128 for {well bulk of 10 i think i paid over the odds :'( see when the postage cost come in)
some AC128K from the same place and 10 of
and looking at some AC176K to
seems the AC128 and the AC176 are a Matching pair i believe
why i am intested in the TWO Transistors you use in the circuit GT309A
i found out by looking at the LINK you gave and the WebSite on the post
http://www.impossibleband.com/projet...iques/megatone

[TJBass]

I did this mod last week but i get no difference in tone in any position, will have to check to see if somethings crossed or grounded.

[TJBass]

Hahahahaaaa, disregard, i wired the switch backwards, so tone all on is actually off!

[howlin]

Sorry but all the 'sperimentin' gets a big MEH from my corner. Installed a 6-way rotary switch in my last J-bass [.1; .047; .033; .022; .01; bypass] and at the end of the day I found myself only using the bypass setting and manipulating my tone by doing the series/parallel thing with both p/u's full on or by running it in parallel with the neck p/u on full and the bridge p/u dialed down 25-50%. These days I just run my P-bass with a .047 cap and a no-load pot. Simple & Sweet.

It just makes more sense to me to find the cap that makes your bass sound the way you want it to sound and go forward from there. I could go on but you get my point . . .

[Doner Designs]

Originally Posted by howlin

Sorry but all the 'sperimentin' gets a big MEH from my corner. Installed a 6-way rotary switch in my last J-bass [.1; .047; .033; .022; .01; bypass] and at the end of the day I found myself only using the bypass setting and manipulating my tone by doing the series/parallel thing with both p/u's full on or by running it in parallel with the neck p/u on full and the bridge p/u dialed down 25-50%. These days I just run my P-bass with a .047 cap and a no-load pot. Simple & Sweet.

It just makes more sense to me to find the cap that makes your bass sound the way you want it to sound and go forward from there. I could go on but you get my point . . .

You sound like my son who builds and mods guitars to PLAY them (why would anyone do THAT). On the other hand, for guys like me the building and modifying is an end in itself. To some of us, dials and switches are like watts, horsepower and money - the more eggregiously excessive the better.

[tonebrulee]

Originally Posted by howlin

Sorry but all the 'sperimentin' gets a big MEH from my corner. Installed a 6-way rotary switch in my last J-bass...

Not surprising for a J-bass - 2 pickups give you huge tone-shaping possibilities out of the box. This is really about the P-bass.

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by howlin

Sorry but all the 'sperimentin' gets a big MEH from my corner. Installed a 6-way rotary switch in my last J-bass [.1; .047; .033; .022; .01; bypass] and at the end of the day I found myself only using the bypass setting and manipulating my tone by doing the series/parallel thing with both p/u's full on or by running it in parallel with the neck p/u on full and the bridge p/u dialed down 25-50%. These days I just run my P-bass with a .047 cap and a no-load pot. Simple & Sweet.

It just makes more sense to me to find the cap that makes your bass sound the way you want it to sound and go forward from there. I could go on but you get my point . . .

I have a certain amount of agreement with this but not quite completely down to the bass with only a volume control level. I also found too many tone settings not especially useful compared to difficulty dealing with the complexity playing. So now I've scaled back to just a single toggle switch that goes .047, .015 and none. At times I do find the smaller cap VERY useful as it's not the same thing as the larger cap with more R dialed in. And I also like the off position that gives as bright as it's possible for the bass to go (The normal tone control always has some R in there) The best part of that is that you can go from bright to some pre-set tone setting with just a flip of the switch with no knob diddling. Seems to work out for me.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by Doner Designs

You sound like my son who builds and mods guitars to PLAY them (why would anyone do THAT). On the other hand, for guys like me the building and modifying is an end in itself. To some of us, dials and switches are like watts, horsepower and money - the more eggregiously excessive the better.

Yep. Some of us play, and we used more than one tone during the set.

[bill reed]

Originally Posted by howlin

Sorry but all the 'sperimentin' gets a big MEH from my corner. Installed a 6-way rotary switch in my last J-bass [.1; .047; .033; .022; .01; bypass] and at the end of the day I found myself only using the bypass setting and manipulating my tone by doing the series/parallel thing with both p/u's full on or by running it in parallel with the neck p/u on full and the bridge p/u dialed down 25-50%. These days I just run my P-bass with a .047 cap and a no-load pot. Simple & Sweet.

It just makes more sense to me to find the cap that makes your bass sound the way you want it to sound and go forward from there. I could go on but you get my point . . .

Hi
I did something like that with my Beatles bass, there is no tone control only two volumes and a boost switch and two pickup on/off switches.
i rewired it so when any of the pickups were in the off posision then they went throught a 0.47mf cap rather than off. I tested a few Caps (5 in all) and the 0.47mf gave me the best sound. this has gave me some tone control of my beatles bass. and its a nice sounding mix with the bridge pickup throught the cap and the neck pickup on.

[Steve Dallman]

I'm stunned at the "non-believers" concerning a pickup's peak resonance. The frequency response of a pickup is something like this. From low to high, you start with a fairly gentle low end rolloff, then the response is pretty flat, until the resonant peak. The peak is substantial. After this peak, there is a pretty steep rolloff. A pickup's characteristic tone is largely based on this resonant peak.

When you add a cap from signal to ground, you move that resonant peak, and the rolloff after down. Most instruments use a relatively large cap that rolls off so low, you don't notice the resonant peak being moved.

But if you experiment with smaller caps, you will definitely hear the effect. Concerning the "boost", what happens is that the pickup's original resonant peak is quite high. When you move that peak into the upper midrange and into the midrange, that peak is more easily heard. Lower frequencies have more energy.

Put a .0047uF cap on a Strat, and clean, it might sound a little dull, but definitely different than the original tone. Into a distorted amp, or with a distortion pedal, you will hear that peak moved into the upper midrange. It will probably sound a lot like Boston's tone.

Moving that peak lower, but not with the large usual values, can make a pickup sound like a completely different pickup. You can get a Strat or Tele pickup into P-90 territory.

If you have passive pickups, and an active preamp or buffer in your guitar/bass, put the cap between the pickup and the preamp/buffer. It will do it's thing there nicely.

I used to have switches, both toggle and rotary, but have found the values I like for tone caps. I like .01uF on a neck pickup and .0047uF on a treble pickup.

In a passive bass, I usually go with .01uF...sometimes a little smaller. I usually leave a tone control up, but with the smaller caps, I use them a lot. The first bass I tried a smaller cap in was a 1968 Tele bass. I put a .01uF cap in there and finally, I had a usable tone control. Turned down the pickup had a punch and thicker character, while maintaining clarity and presence.

In a guitar, on the neck pickup, .01uF keeps definition and clarity but still rolls off enough to acheive "woman tones."

With guitar or bass, I find any cap larger than .015uF to be next to useless, bringing only mud. But that's just me.

[SGD Lutherie]

+1

I also use .01µF caps in some basses. It really gives a cool tone that you can't get using EQ on the amp.

[fjadams]

Has anybody used one of the Stellartone Dual Tone pots? I have one, and am thinking of putting it into my Thunderbird SS when I get it refinished. Changing VVT to VBDual Tone.

[Jared Lash]

Is there any reason you couldn't use a three position cap switch in conjunction with a Fender No Load Pot? Three different caps for tonal variability plus that "straight to the jack" bright tone when wanted?

[Doner Designs]

I have the multi cap thing on a few basses and like it though I do not use it much. One of these days I'm going to build a box or install on a bass a varatone/tone combo type thing.

Intention is to use one or two 5 pos rotaries (one for high and one for low caps) and then also use a pot with each set of caps. Really just an expansion on the idea of using 2 or 3 caps with a pot - but I like the overkill aspect of it especially in conjunction with some of our military theme guitars.

Seems like the varitone concept usually is just a cap selector. I have not seen the combination done before where you can vary the cutoff frequency (by selecting the cap) AND the amount of rolloff (with the pot).

Its almost like a passive parametric equalizer. In fact, I was planning to call it the "ParaTone" and hereby stake my claim to said name and invention. :-) Any volunteers to manufacture it and send me royalties? :-)

Seriously, I may try building a few in boxes and sell on a very limited basis to help fund charity guitar builds. Kind of a cool gimmick but limited utility compared to a real active EQ pedal. I think the better use would be installation on a passive bass.

Probably would have to hollow out one of the horns to find room for everything.

[lakefx]

After reading this thread, I recently added a three position switch with three different cap values to my Bass Collection fretless. I love what it has done for that bass. I bought the bass back in the 90s with EMG P/J pups and passive VVT electronics. The EMGs with the fretless sound fantastic, but have a lot of clack and finger noise when the wide open, so I have always played it with the tone rolled off at least a little. This led to a lot of fiddling with the exact tone position when going between sounds (e.g. slap on one song then reggae for the next one) and I was never quite happy. Now with the switch, I just flip back and forth and then occasionally open up the tone pot when I want clack or finger noise.

[GODSBASSMAN]

Originally Posted by thumpslap

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acces...elector-switch

I was thinking - which is correct to buy?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acces...dt-mini-switch

[BassLife77]

Originally Posted by GODSBASSMAN

I was thinking - which is correct to buy?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acces...dt-mini-switch

Don't pay $14 for the switch, thats ridiculous. It's on ebay much cheaper. they probably get them from the same manufacturer and mark up the price http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-Chrome-...item43a9295bbb

[tonebrulee]

Originally Posted by GODSBASSMAN

I was thinking - which is correct to buy?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acces...dt-mini-switch

That's the correct one, but I got mine here for $3.75. Good luck.