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Fender Greasebucket Circuit


paul44

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So today I've ripped out the Greasebucket circuits in two of my Strats,popped in some new PIO caps and wired them 50's style.It's like I have two completely new guitars.They should call it the 'Tonesucker' circuit IMO.

Has anybody else been unimpressed with the Greasebucket circuitry?

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So today I've ripped out the Greasebucket circuits in two of my Strats,popped in some new PIO caps and wired them 50's style.It's like I have two completely new guitars.They should call it the 'Tonesucker' circuit IMO.

Has anybody else been unimpressed with the Greasebucket circuitry?

 

 

I haven't heard good things about them. Thus never went to try an axe that had it.

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IMHO tone shaping should be done as little as possible inside the guitar.

Caps just suck off the high end. The don't add tone, they take away tone.

A perfect example is the Varitone...horrible tone sucking device.

 

I usually just max out the tone and volume on the guitar and adjust controls at the amp. I might play with the volume knob a touch but that's about it.

 

I was reading an article about Brian May of Queen. He said he hasn't used a tone knob on his guitar in 30 years of playing

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IMHO tone shaping should be done as little as possible inside the guitar.

Caps just suck off the high end. The don't add tone, they take away tone.

A perfect example is the Varitone...horrible tone sucking device.


I usually just max out the tone and volume on the guitar and adjust controls at the amp. I might play with the volume knob a touch but that's about it.


I was reading an article about Brian May of Queen. He said he hasn't used a tone knob on his guitar in 30 years of playing

The pickups used on the Highway One Strats are pretty treble-centric to begin with. Without some sort of tone control or governor they would be ear piercing.

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The greasebucket tone circuit is designed to only remove treble and not add bass onto your signal. It is aimed for the ability to be used with high-gain amps which tend to be boomy and don't need added bass. I actually like the circuit for the strat I use, which has HSS and therefore sees a lot more of the gain. It also cruises along nicely on the twin amp. Usually people aren't meshing with the non-vintage pickups in the highway guitars and think its due to the greasebuckets. I've got both (vintage style SSS in my other strat) and they are quite different.

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The greasebucket tone circuit is designed to only remove treble and not add bass onto your signal. It is aimed for the ability to be used with high-gain amps which tend to be boomy and don't need added bass. I actually like the circuit for the strat I use, which has HSS and therefore sees a lot more of the gain. It also cruises along nicely on the twin amp. Usually people aren't meshing with the non-vintage pickups in the highway guitars and think its due to the greasebuckets. I've got both (vintage style SSS in my other strat) and they are quite different.

 

 

Unless the guitar has an active EQ, the tone knob doesn't add bass, it only reduces highs. A tone knob functions just like a volume knob, only because there's a capicitor attached to it, only the high frequencies get sent to ground.

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IMHO tone shaping should be done as little as possible inside the guitar.

Caps just suck off the high end. The don't add tone, they take away tone.

A perfect example is the Varitone...horrible tone sucking device.


I usually just max out the tone and volume on the guitar and adjust controls at the amp. I might play with the volume knob a touch but that's about it.


I was reading an article about Brian May of Queen. He said he hasn't used a tone knob on his guitar in 30 years of playing

 

 

I've seen you argue this point before. What comes out the guitar is (usually) mono. When using more than one pup, you can't roll off the highs on just the bridge (for example) and leave the neck alone, outside the guitar.

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I just picked up a Highway One Tele and I don't care much for the Greasebucket Circuit either. I am not sure if it is the Greasebucket Circuit or if it is the pickups that make it hairy sounding.

 

Is the Greasebucket circuit just some type of mod or is there a special piece of hardware involved. I haven't gotten inside to check it out yet.

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Unless the guitar has an active EQ, the tone knob doesn't add bass, it only reduces highs. A tone knob functions just like a volume knob, only because there's a capicitor attached to it, only the high frequencies get sent to ground.

 

 

I took the info directly from Fender's website. Despite the fact its not active, I can tell a difference in the way the tone shaping is done in the greasebucket compared to a standard american, and the standard by comparison sounds like its adding bass. BTW I know how a tone knob functions.

 

http://www.fender.com/products//view_specs.php?full_partno=0111760&name=Highway+One%26trade%3B+Stratocaster%26reg%3B+HSS+%28Upgrade%29

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I just picked up a Highway One Tele and I don't care much for the Greasebucket Circuit either. I am not sure if it is the Greasebucket Circuit or if it is the pickups that make it hairy sounding.


Is the Greasebucket circuit just some type of mod or is there a special piece of hardware involved. I haven't gotten inside to check it out yet.

 

 

It's an additional resistor and capacitor - super easy to wire in if you're handy that way... easy to remove as well.

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