I removed the tone cap from one of my basses and am really happy with the sound. So 0uF
0F is the equivalent of having a volume pot. A removed capacitor is like an infinite capacitance.
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What's you favorite tone cap value?
- Thread starter Thebiggestjerk
- Start date
0F is the equivalent of having a volume pot. A removed capacitor is like an infinite capacitance.
I settled on a 0.033. Also bought a 0.022uF but never tried it. For me the .033 doesn't kill the tone but nicely suppresses the string squeak of my nickel rounds. The bass can still assert itself with guitars ad singers blazing away. (Jazz style pickups in a Chinese Peavey Millenium).
Hi
0.1 uF now and kinda like it. Tried 0.022 but practically no difference... But thinking about getting 0.15 PIO for trying and bit of fun. Even full tone down the bass has ok sound, so going further might be good idea. Using 500 KO pots and Jazz sealed pups.
Enjoy zombifying post.
0.1 uF now and kinda like it. Tried 0.022 but practically no difference... But thinking about getting 0.15 PIO for trying and bit of fun. Even full tone down the bass has ok sound, so going further might be good idea. Using 500 KO pots and Jazz sealed pups.
Enjoy zombifying post.
Remember, the value of the cap only matters at the end of the tone pot's rotation. Prior to that, the pot is damping the highs via parallel resistance. (In fact, until the last bit of the pot's rotation, you don't even need a cap! A piece of wire will do the same job.)
But at the end of the pot's rotation, the cap is there as a safety device, preventing the whole signal from going to ground (which is why one doesn't use a piece of wire). This is why the material of the cap is irrelevant. All that matters is the value, because the value determines how much of the signal doesn't go to ground.
And the value has a cool secondary effect: it creates a resonant peak. Whether it's desirable/sounds good has to do with the bass's entire LCR circuit, with the pickups playing a big role here. In other words, the particular cap value that sounds best (when the tone control is turned all the way down) will vary from bass to bass.
But at the end of the pot's rotation, the cap is there as a safety device, preventing the whole signal from going to ground (which is why one doesn't use a piece of wire). This is why the material of the cap is irrelevant. All that matters is the value, because the value determines how much of the signal doesn't go to ground.
And the value has a cool secondary effect: it creates a resonant peak. Whether it's desirable/sounds good has to do with the bass's entire LCR circuit, with the pickups playing a big role here. In other words, the particular cap value that sounds best (when the tone control is turned all the way down) will vary from bass to bass.
Hi Fermata By the end ofcthe tone you mean when the tone is fully rolled for the most muffled sound? I would say it sounds still damn great in my case or at least I dig it a lot, so that is why I wanted to try that 0.15 as well for variability and sound options.
Fave is .047, but I would like to try an .068 after reading thru posts here. I installed a no-load pot on one bass and didn't really hear a difference vs. a conventional CTS audio taper pot.
Right, fully rolled off (or very close to it). You can hear the moment the cap comes into play because there's a noticeable tonal change--that's the resonant peak. Changing the value of the cap will move that resonant peak around.
In most of my instruments I have 2 tone caps - 2 modes, selectable with a switch. Sometimes there's other stuff going on w.r.t. the switch, sometimes it's just loading variations. Depending on the pickups' impedances(s), the tone cap usually run somewhere in the .0027 to .0047 uF range for the "little" one, and usually in the .027 to .047 range for the "big" one. The big one is added to the little one, so technically the capacitance when the big one is switched in is the sum of both capacitors' values.
I've become much more fascinated by small-value caps over the more standard .022-.1 uF caps. They can give an instrument a surprisingly different tone color. (And having a 5-10K Ohm resistor on hand is good, in case the resonant peak is too spiky, just place between the cap and ground. This goes for any size capacitor. It's part of some the design with some older G&Ls, Hofners, and perhaps some others, too.)
I recently saved a ‘78 fretless Precision from being parted out. It came minus the pickup and electronics.
All I had lying around were 2 500k pots and a .022 cap so I threw together a makeshift harness quick until I can locate a correct ‘78 harness.
But I have to say it actually sounds great. I put some Fender flats on it and I feel that this combination with the flats and 500k/.022 could be best of both worlds. The flats play and sound like flats but this harness lets some of the high end zing of rounds ring through.
When rolling the tone all the way back almost all of the mids and lows are left intact. This works well for me and my style. It may be too much with round wounds but with flats it sounds uniquely great. I’m pleasantly surprised.
All I had lying around were 2 500k pots and a .022 cap so I threw together a makeshift harness quick until I can locate a correct ‘78 harness.
But I have to say it actually sounds great. I put some Fender flats on it and I feel that this combination with the flats and 500k/.022 could be best of both worlds. The flats play and sound like flats but this harness lets some of the high end zing of rounds ring through.
When rolling the tone all the way back almost all of the mids and lows are left intact. This works well for me and my style. It may be too much with round wounds but with flats it sounds uniquely great. I’m pleasantly surprised.
- Apr 18, 2008
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