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A cap on the volume pot......if you're not doing this, you should be.....


aldridt1

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Just throwing this out there for those who are not aware. Seems like most guitars off the rack do not have a cap installed on the volume pot(s).

 

This is essential to getting the most tone from your rig. I will make the tones you get with the volume rolled back cleaner, while retaining all of the highs.....Pretty much turns the volume knob into a gain knob.

 

This may be common knowledge to some, but I think there are alot of folks who maybe don't know.

 

There are varying opinions on the value of the cap needed, but i have tried several different values, and they all helped immensely.

 

Its a mod that cost a buck or two, and makes a huge difference.

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Just throwing this out there for those who are not aware. Seems like most guitars off the rack do not have a cap installed on the volume pot(s).


This is essential to getting the most tone from your rig. I will make the tones you get with the volume rolled back cleaner, while retaining all of the highs.....Pretty much turns the volume knob into a gain knob.


This may be common knowledge to some, but I think there are alot of folks who maybe don't know.


There are varying opinions on the value of the cap needed, but i have tried several different values, and they all helped immensely.


Its a mod that cost a buck or two, and makes a huge difference.

 

 

 

 

I really need more information. What cap? Where do I put it?

 

 

I still have to do a les paul wiring mod where each volume pot controls the pups even on "both".

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I need to do this on my ES-335. Unfortunately it's going to be a PITA to experiment and get the right value. I think I can get in their with alligator clips to try a few different caps before I yank the whole harness....

 

FWIW the treble bleed circuits I've seen use both a cap and resistor in parallel. The cap controls the amount of high that are allowed to pass through, and the resistor controls the taper as the knob is turned.

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It's a cool mod, but I find the extra treble that bleeds through causes my gear to "not clean up" as well. The treble just keeps on distorting, HARD.

 

volume knob + NO cap = balanced attenuation for me that satisfactorily lowers the gain on my pedals/amps.

 

But, thanks for the tip. :thu:

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330pf is just nice. Some guys even use 1000pf caps and those are overly bright IME.

 

 

I tried a 1000pf cap once, it's cool when you go back to 8-9 but anything lower than that and the guitar gets overly bright and thin real fast. Can be a cool effect though.

 

Adding a resistor (usually between 50-200k) smooths out the taper of the pot making it much more linear as apposed to the typical logarithmic sweep that an audio taper pot has. Some people dig it, others don't.

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One thing to note is that the same value cap will produce different results in different rigs. It all depends on your pickups, pots, cables, etc. And if you're using any buffered pedals then they will already be stopping the treble loss that occurs from the guitar cable. You may need an additional resistor if it's too trebly rolled back.

 

Buy a few different value caps to try.

 

You may or may not notice the difference between ceramic and polyfilm caps, it depends on your rig and how golden your ears are. :lol: There's no need to pay rip-off prices for caps being sold as "treble bleed" caps though.

 

For reference: 0.001uf = 1nf = 1000pF

 

Here's some frequency response simulations I did of a high output humbucker with a 500K volume pot. You'll get the rough idea of what will happen. The cap values are: 0.00068uF, 0.001uF, 0.002uF, 0.01uF. The lower the value the higher the peak frequency.

 

Vol Up No Cap

VolUpNoCap.png

 

Vol Up With Cap

VolUpWithCap.png

 

Vol Rolled Back No Cap

VolDownNoCap.png

 

Vol Rolled Back With Cap

VolDownWithCap.png

 

Vol Rolled Back More No Cap

VolDownMoreNoCap.png

 

Vol Rolled Back More With Cap

VolDownMoreWithCap.png

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Also, I shouldn't have said "you should be" in the title.....didnt mean to sound like a prick.

 

Alot of dudes ask me about getting cleans from my single channel amp with the gain maxed and no pedals.....so I thought I would mention it here.

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Any ceramic disc cap is fine. I never hear much difference between those and fancier caps. At the low values you need for a treble bleed mod they are easier to find too.

 

Personally I hate the sound of most guitars when you roll down the volume. It's dead and lifeless enough without pushing the amp...let alone losing the trebles. I play usually clean to moderate breakup. I can see how this mod doesn't work well for metal guys or heavy classic rock guitar. But if you play mostly clean, it really is a must have.

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