Members Jazzer2020 Posted May 26, 2017 Members Share Posted May 26, 2017 Not that pot guys! I have a Gibson archtop with one P90 pickup. Its volume pot needs some work (probably the tone pot needs work too). So last night I was playing the guitar and the tone was really bland. I fiddled a bit with the vol pot and right away I heard some crackles. The vol had been at around 8 or so. I moved her up to 10 and wow! Now I was getting a full rich beautiful sound! I didn't want to stop playing. So my questions: Will cleaning the pot just remove the crackling or will it also allow me to achieve the same rich tone at lower volumes? I think I remember hearing over the years something about having to have the volume full up to get the best tonal results. Is this true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted May 26, 2017 Members Share Posted May 26, 2017 Bong... oh wait.... Yes, cleaning the pots will remove the crackling and give you that full open tone. BUT.... When you lower the volume, you lose some of the high end. It's normal. A VERY simple way of fixing this is what's called a "treble bleed". It's an .001 capacitor wired between the in and out of the pot. When you lower the volume, the same tone that you have a full, will be there, just as a lower volume. Take you about 3 minutes to do it yourself. (there are versions of this diagram that uses a resistor too, but I never noticed a difference between the two.) [ATTACH=CONFIG]n31984949[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted May 26, 2017 Members Share Posted May 26, 2017 oops, double posted, must have been that bong comment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted May 27, 2017 Members Share Posted May 27, 2017 In addition to losing highs as you turn the pot down you'll also lose lows because of the way hearing works. This is called the Fletcher-Munson effect. That may also account for the ''rich'' sound you were hearing. It would be a good idea to take both factors into account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazzer2020 Posted May 27, 2017 Author Members Share Posted May 27, 2017 Thanks for the tips guys.I'll clean her up first and then possibly try that cap trick, if the tone doesn't remain the same at lower volumes. Never did it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted May 28, 2017 Members Share Posted May 28, 2017 I think you're on the right track. Highly recommend the treble bleed mod. I use full volume on my guitar and use pedals and my amp channels / boost to adjust my volume. Just sounds sweeter to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted May 28, 2017 Members Share Posted May 28, 2017 I think you're on the right track. Highly recommend the treble bleed mod. I use full volume on my guitar and use pedals and my amp channels / boost to adjust my volume. Just sounds sweeter to me. Do you use the resistor? Ive only used it with resistor, which corrects the pot sweep iirc? Definitely a worth trying the mod to see if you like. I went back to without the mod. I try to use the change in tone to my advantage. Keeps volume up in the mix, but reduces presence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted May 28, 2017 Members Share Posted May 28, 2017 Try one of these: http://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Capacitors_and_Resistors/Golden_Age_Treble_Bleed_Circuit.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted May 28, 2017 Members Share Posted May 28, 2017 I've used the resistor, and didn't notice any change. So I don't use the resistor, just the .001 cap. Works great on a passive volume pedal too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted May 30, 2017 Members Share Posted May 30, 2017 50's wiring will also help alleviate the tone suck problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazzer2020 Posted May 30, 2017 Author Members Share Posted May 30, 2017 Thanks Grant and Verne for the tips. I'm one these "shut up and play your guitar" type guys, so I haven't messed with guitar mods very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted May 31, 2017 Members Share Posted May 31, 2017 I hadn't thought about the volume pedal! That's a good idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazzer2020 Posted June 3, 2017 Author Members Share Posted June 3, 2017 As I mentioned at the top, this is an archtop guitar, as most of my guitars are.I remember a number of years ago taking out the electronics on a few of them to do some work.What a PITA! Is there no other way to clean the pots on these here guitars (other than first removing them from the cavity)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted June 3, 2017 Members Share Posted June 3, 2017 Nope, you have to pull them out. Take the knobs off, tie a thread around the shaft of the pots, (or use some shrink wrap tubing.), pull the pots out, clean, solder the cap, then go backwards and finish up.As much as I love hollows and semi hollows, (I have 11) I charge extra for them when doing electrical. What takes 5 minutes on a solid, can take an hour or two on a hollow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazzer2020 Posted June 3, 2017 Author Members Share Posted June 3, 2017 Oh well, thanks for that badpenguin. Lots of fun in store for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted June 3, 2017 Members Share Posted June 3, 2017 Thank you Grant. I have an ancient DeArmond that I have used for decades, and did that one day experimenting. I mean, why didn't anybody think of it earlier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted June 3, 2017 Members Share Posted June 3, 2017 Knew you'd be pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted June 5, 2017 Members Share Posted June 5, 2017 Hey - I just got the latest Stewmac catalogue and noticed they sell a purpose-built tool for this called a Pot Cleaning Cap. It screws onto a pot and has a hole in the side for the straw of the pot cleaner. It's expensive, but I could see it being useful for solid bodies as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted June 5, 2017 Members Share Posted June 5, 2017 The picture in their catalogue shows it with no protection/masking on the top. I don't think I'd do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted June 5, 2017 Members Share Posted June 5, 2017 Its a work around at best. It may work with some pots that have enough gap along the shaft bit the best method of cleaning by far is giving them a shot from the opening on its side, in fact it can be better because the shaft is often greased. When you clean it from the top all you do is shoot all the grease and metal particles down into the contacts where you don't want them and the pot becomes too loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted June 5, 2017 Members Share Posted June 5, 2017 Agreed - this is a workaround almost by definition and not the perfect solution. If the scratching goes away it's still a good solution compared to fishing the pots out of a semi-hollow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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