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AJBaker
December 28th, 2010, 07:50 AM
Hi all!
This is a mod that I've not yet seen on the forums, though it's based on a mod from guitarnuts.com. The link is : http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/simplebtone.php, and an Andrew Rodgers is credited with it.
Guitarnuts says: The tone controls work completely normally in positions one through four, but in the bridge-only position which normally has no tone control, the tone knob for the middle pickup will now control tone for the bridge. The added capacitor is of small value and is in series with the normal tone capacitor (decreasing total capacitance) so you don't lose the high tones, either. Neat solution, Andrew!
This mod takes just a few minutes to perform, is reversible and causes no damage to the guitar. Materials needed are a capacitor and soldering equipment.
Capacitors in series have a smaller capacitance, i.e. if I connect two 0.022uF caps together end to end I end up with a capacitance of 0.011uF, and less treble roll off. The formula is 1/Ctot = (1/C1)+(1/C2).
The Eldred esquire mod seems to get the 'cocked wah' tone by running the pickup through a small capacitor, somewhere between 0.0047uF (4700pF) and 0.01uF(10000pF). This takes of the highest treble frequencies, removes the sparkle and brightness, but leaves a useable, midsy sound that is like a cocked wah. I find it also reminds me of Cream's sound, with a rolled of tone control.
To get this sound out of my Strat without adding switches or making holes, I had to connect the bridge pickup to one of the tone controls, but in such a way that the capacitance be very small. To do this I connected the empty bridge lug (on the 5way switch) to the lug that goes to the neck tone control with a 0.01uF cap. This way the bridge pup's signal has to travel through this capacitor before reaching the tone control's 0.022uF cap. Using the formula, the total capacitance is now 0.0068uF (6800pF).
When the tone control is at 10, the sound of the bridge pup is as it was before, and when the tone control is turned down to 1 we get the cocked wah sound. In between we have the sound of the bridge pickup with some of the shrillest highs rolled of.
There you have it! One new sound gained, and no old ones lost. The only disadvantage is that the bridge pickup won't be quite as bright as before, due to the increased resistance.
I decided to connect the bridge to the neck tone control, but you could also use the middle tone control.
One reason I like this mod, is that it doesn't change a strat too much; the bridge pup will still be brighter than the others, even with all the tone controls rolled down.
To make a strat sound more like a tele/esquire in this position, I suggest you put a metal plate under the pickup, an idea I got from singlecoil.com.
The larger the capacitor already in your guitar, the smaller the one you add should be.
Thanks for reading this long desciption of an easy mod, please add any thoughts or ideas, and if this has already been done, please point it out to me.
Good luck!
This is a mod that I've not yet seen on the forums, though it's based on a mod from guitarnuts.com. The link is : http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/simplebtone.php, and an Andrew Rodgers is credited with it.
Guitarnuts says: The tone controls work completely normally in positions one through four, but in the bridge-only position which normally has no tone control, the tone knob for the middle pickup will now control tone for the bridge. The added capacitor is of small value and is in series with the normal tone capacitor (decreasing total capacitance) so you don't lose the high tones, either. Neat solution, Andrew!
This mod takes just a few minutes to perform, is reversible and causes no damage to the guitar. Materials needed are a capacitor and soldering equipment.
Capacitors in series have a smaller capacitance, i.e. if I connect two 0.022uF caps together end to end I end up with a capacitance of 0.011uF, and less treble roll off. The formula is 1/Ctot = (1/C1)+(1/C2).
The Eldred esquire mod seems to get the 'cocked wah' tone by running the pickup through a small capacitor, somewhere between 0.0047uF (4700pF) and 0.01uF(10000pF). This takes of the highest treble frequencies, removes the sparkle and brightness, but leaves a useable, midsy sound that is like a cocked wah. I find it also reminds me of Cream's sound, with a rolled of tone control.
To get this sound out of my Strat without adding switches or making holes, I had to connect the bridge pickup to one of the tone controls, but in such a way that the capacitance be very small. To do this I connected the empty bridge lug (on the 5way switch) to the lug that goes to the neck tone control with a 0.01uF cap. This way the bridge pup's signal has to travel through this capacitor before reaching the tone control's 0.022uF cap. Using the formula, the total capacitance is now 0.0068uF (6800pF).
When the tone control is at 10, the sound of the bridge pup is as it was before, and when the tone control is turned down to 1 we get the cocked wah sound. In between we have the sound of the bridge pickup with some of the shrillest highs rolled of.
There you have it! One new sound gained, and no old ones lost. The only disadvantage is that the bridge pickup won't be quite as bright as before, due to the increased resistance.
I decided to connect the bridge to the neck tone control, but you could also use the middle tone control.
One reason I like this mod, is that it doesn't change a strat too much; the bridge pup will still be brighter than the others, even with all the tone controls rolled down.
To make a strat sound more like a tele/esquire in this position, I suggest you put a metal plate under the pickup, an idea I got from singlecoil.com.
The larger the capacitor already in your guitar, the smaller the one you add should be.
Thanks for reading this long desciption of an easy mod, please add any thoughts or ideas, and if this has already been done, please point it out to me.
Good luck!