Essential mods for the guitar?
- Thread starter thor666
- Start date
thor666
New member
below are a few i thought of:
Replacing linear pots with logarithmic (audio) pots
I find audio pots to be essential to my playing. Unless you like near volume 10 sounds when turning it up to 2, audio pots are the way to go. I'm replacing mine with audio pots cause I can't stand the linear pots.
You could also convert linear pots to work like log pots. The link below describes how:
http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm
Changing pickups
For most of us, unless we stumble upon great stock pickups, changing pickups is the way to go for better sound quality. A lot of replacement pickups are available that can help us to get the tone we want.
Treble Bleed mod
A lot of people set their volume at 10 just to retain clarity of the sound... this isn't the way to go! Use your volume pot and retain highs by inserting a capacitor on the volume pot.... now.. the only unsettling problem is which cap value to choose... :wink:
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/potm.htm
Replacing linear pots with logarithmic (audio) pots
I find audio pots to be essential to my playing. Unless you like near volume 10 sounds when turning it up to 2, audio pots are the way to go. I'm replacing mine with audio pots cause I can't stand the linear pots.
You could also convert linear pots to work like log pots. The link below describes how:
http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm
Changing pickups
For most of us, unless we stumble upon great stock pickups, changing pickups is the way to go for better sound quality. A lot of replacement pickups are available that can help us to get the tone we want.
Treble Bleed mod
A lot of people set their volume at 10 just to retain clarity of the sound... this isn't the way to go! Use your volume pot and retain highs by inserting a capacitor on the volume pot.... now.. the only unsettling problem is which cap value to choose... :wink:
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/potm.htm
Man, i beg to differ regarding the treble bleed mod. I, for one, prefer to use the volume to alter my tone. I like it when the tone starts to darken... I find it as an extra versatile control! Look at Paul Gilbert, no tone pot, so how does he control his tone? Thru the 5-way switch and the volume... if he needs a fat, bluesy kind of lead, its position 2 or 4, and the volume rolled off to get more treble out, thus creating a more mellow tone.
And I think you missed out the absolute most important thing to do to your guitar before you do ANYTHING.
FULL SETUP (with fret dressing, action, shims and what not)
Then lets see...
Actually, there's nothing much if you are talking about essential mods... hmmm... If I can come up with something, I'll post!
And I think you missed out the absolute most important thing to do to your guitar before you do ANYTHING.
FULL SETUP (with fret dressing, action, shims and what not)
Then lets see...
Actually, there's nothing much if you are talking about essential mods... hmmm... If I can come up with something, I'll post!
thor666
New member
hmm... that's true... a full setup is always a prereq. I'm not sure if it counts as a mod thou!
I agree that the treble bleed mod is not essential for everyone.. personally i don't have any of this mod on my 2 guitars. (did it before on my sold yamaha eg112.)
however, i'm planning to do this mod on my Washburn, and my argument being this - the cap value matters a lot for this mod. the last time i used caps that prevented bleeding a lot, and while it was nice, it didn't clean up well. i'm guessing that if i put a cap with a value that's just nice, it'll have little, albeit the boost at volumes 8-10, and then progressively gets shunted after that.
for peeps like Paul Gilbert, I think perhaps he'd do fine with a Linear pot instead. (maybe some of those "Secret life of pots mods as well, but i digress..) The volume doesn't change that much but the tone does. Tried a Squier Tele & then a CIJ Tele at luther and found the Squier to be linear, CIJ to be log pot. Exactly what i thought it would be.
I agree that the treble bleed mod is not essential for everyone.. personally i don't have any of this mod on my 2 guitars. (did it before on my sold yamaha eg112.)
however, i'm planning to do this mod on my Washburn, and my argument being this - the cap value matters a lot for this mod. the last time i used caps that prevented bleeding a lot, and while it was nice, it didn't clean up well. i'm guessing that if i put a cap with a value that's just nice, it'll have little, albeit the boost at volumes 8-10, and then progressively gets shunted after that.
for peeps like Paul Gilbert, I think perhaps he'd do fine with a Linear pot instead. (maybe some of those "Secret life of pots mods as well, but i digress..) The volume doesn't change that much but the tone does.
Tried a Squier Tele & then a CIJ Tele at luther and found the Squier to be linear, CIJ to be log pot. Exactly what i thought it would be.i'm doing a mod on my flying v, trying to do a coil-split thingy, by adding a DPDT switch to get more tones out of the hum-hum combination. Will probably have to drill another hole, any recommendations for drills?
anyway, for those who's itchy to try, check out www.projectguitar.com , there's loads of infos there on modding, refinishing and stuff.
anyway, for those who's itchy to try, check out www.projectguitar.com , there's loads of infos there on modding, refinishing and stuff.
Well, the push pull pot IS quite inconvenient. You got to pull pretty hard and push hard to get it to switch... plus, you will prob move it a bit if you are not careful.
The DPDT switch is a good option esp for those with a pickguard because you can change the pickguard! Unlike those without pickguards.. like Gibson LPs. I presume mulyadi's V has a pickguard?
The other pot to look out for is the push-push pot. Its spring operated, just tap on it and it switches. Where to get? Yamaha has 300k pots for the Frank Gambale model but I have no idea where to get them. And overseas.
The DPDT switch is a good option esp for those with a pickguard because you can change the pickguard! Unlike those without pickguards.. like Gibson LPs. I presume mulyadi's V has a pickguard?
The other pot to look out for is the push-push pot. Its spring operated, just tap on it and it switches. Where to get? Yamaha has 300k pots for the Frank Gambale model but I have no idea where to get them. And overseas.
Hmmm... actually why not a concentric pot to handle BOTH volume and tone? You know that the volume pot is usually near the strings so we can do violin-ing right? So you put a concentric pot there... the big pot handles volume so you can still finger it to do your volume swells, and the top small pot handles tone. That way you can either remove that other tone pot.. or use it for something else... or replace it with a DPDT switch for something extra!
thor666
New member
Agreed. I put the ? on the topic for that reason.
Some mods are more useful than others though, and even a few of them come stock (such as the Treble Bleed mod, which i recently found, is in all Am Deluxe Strats.) I'm looking at what mods seem to be simple & useful in order to get the most bang for your buck.
Some mods are more useful than others though, and even a few of them come stock (such as the Treble Bleed mod, which i recently found, is in all Am Deluxe Strats.) I'm looking at what mods seem to be simple & useful in order to get the most bang for your buck.
ShredCow said:
You might want to try this mod on you TBX, much better when in the neutral position. Doesn't impose a 'load' like the stock wiring does.
http://www.blueguitar.org/new/schem/_gtr/tbx_mod.gif
thor666
New member
hmm i'll tinker with the TBX no load thing a bit then...
the no-load tone pot can actually be improvised... 8O
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/pots.htm
the no-load tone pot can actually be improvised... 8O
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/pots.htm
thor666
New member
bump here...
was surfing the SD forums and found the 50s mod - looks pretty interesting.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18842
i think i might have a try it out rather than doing tone bleed mod. be searching online for more info.
was surfing the SD forums and found the 50s mod - looks pretty interesting.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18842
i think i might have a try it out rather than doing tone bleed mod. be searching online for more info.
Heh... I've also been doing some searching and there's thing pot known as the Veritone control... its got to do with switching between different types of capacitors and different capacitor values to give a variety of different tones...
I'm seriously looking at getting 1 for my guitar now...heh
I'm seriously looking at getting 1 for my guitar now...heh
JMguitars
New member
I am considering experimenting with a blender for my Strat neck-bridge pickups.
Whilst I use my volume control, the only time I use the tone control is on my Tele's bridge PU. Should be fun, considering I've had a positive experience using a toggle switch to activate my neck pickup 100% into any of the PU settings.
YMMV of course.
-----------[Excerpts from ACME GUITARWORKS]-------
-----------[Excerpts from ACME GUITARWORKS]-------
Blender wiring allows you to get additional useful sounds from a Strat without adding complexity or changing the look. There are no additional controls involved, no mini switches or push/pull pots. The system is simple and intuitive.
Vintage Strats have a volume control and two tone controls. One tone control is for the neck pickup and the other is for the middle pickup, there is no tone for the bridge pickup. The original thinking was that a player would have three tones from which to choose by using the 3-way switch - two were rhythm tones and the third was the lead tone (Fender never used a 5-way switch during the pre-CBS or CBS eras). Consequently, the two rhythm pickups were each given a tone control so their respective tones could be preset, and the player could easily switch between them. It wasn't felt that the bridge (lead) pickup would need a tone control. This "preset rhythm tones" approach was pervasive at Fender in the early '50s, the Nocasters and early Teles had similar thinking behind their configurations, as did the Esquires.
Many players like this setup of multiple tone controls (many are simply used to it after all these years), but many other players prefer a single "master" tone control. Additionally, lots of players like the idea of a tone control for the bridge pickup as it's the one most often pointed to as being overly bright. Turning the middle control into a master tone control is easily done, but that leaves a pot that's not doing anything, so using this third pot as a blender control to gain additional tonal flexibility is a no-brainer.
The blender is simply a control that allows you to blend (mix) the neck pickup or the bridge pickup into the signal. If the 5-way is in the neck position, it blends in the bridge pickup. If the 5-way is in the bridge position it blends in the neck pickup. Add as much or as little as you want. You can add just a little of the neck pickup to warm up the bridge pickup, for example. And if the 5-way is in either the 2 or 4 position, you can get all three pickups on (which actually is a pretty useful tone too).
Blender pots are 250K pots like the other two, and in fact you can wire a regular pot as a blender control, but it will allow bleed-through when turned "off" so you can never get it completely out of the circuit (in other words, you can never have the neck or bridge pickups completely by themselves, you'll always have a little of the "off" pickup bleeding into the mix). We use special pots that we have manufactured by CTS for blenders, these allow no bleed-through and are completely removed from the circuit when turned "off" (fully CW), similar to the way a true bypass switch completely removes a pedal from a circuit.
So there you have it. If you must have two tone controls then you can't have a blender; if you don't want two tone controls then the blender is a useful thing to do with that third control. More than 50% of the assemblies we've sold to date have had blender wiring, it's our most popular wiring option.
Whilst I use my volume control, the only time I use the tone control is on my Tele's bridge PU. Should be fun, considering I've had a positive experience using a toggle switch to activate my neck pickup 100% into any of the PU settings.
YMMV of course.
-----------[Excerpts from ACME GUITARWORKS]-------
-----------[Excerpts from ACME GUITARWORKS]-------
Blender wiring allows you to get additional useful sounds from a Strat without adding complexity or changing the look. There are no additional controls involved, no mini switches or push/pull pots. The system is simple and intuitive.
Vintage Strats have a volume control and two tone controls. One tone control is for the neck pickup and the other is for the middle pickup, there is no tone for the bridge pickup. The original thinking was that a player would have three tones from which to choose by using the 3-way switch - two were rhythm tones and the third was the lead tone (Fender never used a 5-way switch during the pre-CBS or CBS eras). Consequently, the two rhythm pickups were each given a tone control so their respective tones could be preset, and the player could easily switch between them. It wasn't felt that the bridge (lead) pickup would need a tone control. This "preset rhythm tones" approach was pervasive at Fender in the early '50s, the Nocasters and early Teles had similar thinking behind their configurations, as did the Esquires.
Many players like this setup of multiple tone controls (many are simply used to it after all these years), but many other players prefer a single "master" tone control. Additionally, lots of players like the idea of a tone control for the bridge pickup as it's the one most often pointed to as being overly bright. Turning the middle control into a master tone control is easily done, but that leaves a pot that's not doing anything, so using this third pot as a blender control to gain additional tonal flexibility is a no-brainer.
The blender is simply a control that allows you to blend (mix) the neck pickup or the bridge pickup into the signal. If the 5-way is in the neck position, it blends in the bridge pickup. If the 5-way is in the bridge position it blends in the neck pickup. Add as much or as little as you want. You can add just a little of the neck pickup to warm up the bridge pickup, for example. And if the 5-way is in either the 2 or 4 position, you can get all three pickups on (which actually is a pretty useful tone too).
Blender pots are 250K pots like the other two, and in fact you can wire a regular pot as a blender control, but it will allow bleed-through when turned "off" so you can never get it completely out of the circuit (in other words, you can never have the neck or bridge pickups completely by themselves, you'll always have a little of the "off" pickup bleeding into the mix). We use special pots that we have manufactured by CTS for blenders, these allow no bleed-through and are completely removed from the circuit when turned "off" (fully CW), similar to the way a true bypass switch completely removes a pedal from a circuit.
So there you have it. If you must have two tone controls then you can't have a blender; if you don't want two tone controls then the blender is a useful thing to do with that third control. More than 50% of the assemblies we've sold to date have had blender wiring, it's our most popular wiring option.
thor666
New member
ShredCow - the Varitone is indeed interesting. Could get all the singlecoils, humbucker and tele sounds! But I'm wondering how the control would fit in a H-H setting.
i googled myself and found this:
http://www.blueshawk.info/varitone.htm
JMGuitar - The Blender idea sounds cool. Unfortunately for me, I only have 2 knobs on my Washburn. Not willing to sacrifice my tone pot yet...
popeye - i think he's experimenting it, and the text - i think he pasted from another website. i suppose he could do it for you after he succeeds in his experimentation though!
i googled myself and found this:
http://www.blueshawk.info/varitone.htm
JMGuitar - The Blender idea sounds cool. Unfortunately for me, I only have 2 knobs on my Washburn.
Not willing to sacrifice my tone pot yet...popeye - i think he's experimenting it, and the text - i think he pasted from another website. i suppose he could do it for you after he succeeds in his experimentation though!
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