Damaged Tone Control

My pots & switch were very scratchy so a while back, I sprayed them liberally with Radio Shack Color TV Tuner cleaner. Now, I've heard the stuff's OK for pots...

Anyway, all the scratchiness is gone and the switches & pots are real smooth. Except, I must have destroyed the capacitor on the tone control. (it is a capacitor, isn't it? It's been about 20 years since I replaced pickups or altered tone controls, so I forget)

Is there an easy way to repair the tone control? I'd like to use it to do the tone control tricks from Arlen Roth's Masters of the Telecaster book. Right now, turning the tone control does nothing. Thanks in advance, sorry if it's been discussed before just point me to the link if it has.

Could you have possibly knocked the tone cap loose somehow? Make sure the capacitor is connected to your pot and to ground.

If it is, touch up the solder connections on both ends of the cap and test before you put the controls back in the control cavity.

If it still doesn't work, you may have a bad pot there. If it does work, but it stops working when you put it back into the guitar, something may be shorting the cap.

Speaking of, check to make sure the capacitor leads aren't touching any other metal between the pot and the ground. That will short out the cap until you correct the problem. One of these will be your solution.

Could you have possibly knocked the tone cap loose somehow? Make sure the capacitor is connected to your pot and to ground.

If it is, touch up the solder connections on both ends of the cap and test before you put the controls back in the control cavity.

If it still doesn't work, you may have a bad pot there. If it does work, but it stops working when you put it back into the guitar, something may be shorting the cap.

Speaking of, check to make sure the capacitor leads aren't touching any other metal between the pot and the ground. That will short out the cap until you correct the problem. One of these will be your solution.

Thanks, Crawdad. I'll unscrew the control plate and re-check it. I was super-overly careful when I did that "maintenance", but it's still possible I bent a lead and it's making contact with something it shouldn't.

Make sure the capacitor is connected to your pot and to ground.

I took the control plate off with the guitar plugged into the amp and noticed if I pressed the cap into the pot, it started working. The cap wasn't connected to the ground sufficiently, you were right on target.

Thanks.

BTW: How would I make the tone control more "powerful"? In other words, I would like to move the knob slightly and have a more drastic change. The way it is now, I pretty much have to rotate the knob all the way around to get any kind of tone change. Even then, it rolls off just a little off the top, then takes off a drastic amount of treble right at the end.

Anybody got any ideas? Thanks.

I took the control plate off with the guitar plugged into the amp and noticed if I pressed the cap into the pot, it started working. The cap wasn't connected to the ground sufficiently, you were right on target.

Thanks.

BTW: How would I make the tone control more "powerful"? In other words, I would like to move the knob slightly and have a more drastic change. The way it is now, I pretty much have to rotate the knob all the way around to get any kind of tone change. Even then, it rolls off just a little off the top, then takes off a drastic amount of treble right at the end.

Anybody got any ideas? Thanks.

Congrats! Victory on one front!

As to your tone question, there are two variables. First, the value of the tone cap--second the value of the pot.

For a standard Fender tele with single coils, my preference is a .047 capacitor and a 250k pot. This is very smooth and standard. A .022 will roll off less highs.

As for the pot, I'm guessing that you either have a 500k or 1meg tone pot, or you have a log taper pot instead of an audio taper. Where did your pots come from?

I'd also like to add that someone recently said he used a 500k pot with a .047 cap and got great 'wah' response. Never tried it, but I may. It seems like I tried a higher value pot for a tone control before and the response was too all or nothing, but I can't remember what I used. Might have been a 1 meg.

As for the pot, I'm guessing that you either have a 500k or 1meg tone pot, or you have a log taper pot instead of an audio taper. Where did your pots come from?

I'd also like to add that someone recently said he used a 500k pot with a .047 cap and got great 'wah' response. Never tried it, but I may. It seems like I tried a higher value pot for a tone control before and the response was too all or nothing, but I can't remember what I used. Might have been a 1 meg.

At some point in the future, I'm going to have to replace the pots and cap with quality parts and solder it in correctly myself as was suggested to someone else in a different post.

My "telecaster" is a made in China copy and there's no telling what value the pots are or what value the cap is. (I love that guitar, though) I guess I could desolder everything and measure the pots with my volt/ohm meter. You'd have to disconnect to get an accurate measurement, correct?

Yes, I'm trying to perfect that wah response from the tone control. It's the opposite of "all or nothing" right now, there's way too much movement needed to get a tone change.

Where do you guys get your pots? I'm assuming a 500k or 1 meg audio pot is a standard part?

... there's no telling what value the pots are or what value the cap is. (I love that guitar, though) I guess I could desolder everything and measure the pots with my volt/ohm meter. You'd have to disconnect to get an accurate measurement, correct?

Where do you guys get your pots? I'm assuming a 500k or 1 meg audio pot is a standard part?

You shouldn't need to desolder. Measure from the "input" tab to the wiper (middle tab).

The cap should have a 3 digit number code on one side (probably 203 or 503 which equal .02uf and .05uf respectively) along with other letters and numbers (which may or may not indicate manufacturer, tolerance, composition, voltage rating and/or other options I have yet to decipher). The code may or may not be a good indicator of the actual value; tolerance can be as much as 20% above or below the cap's printed value.

Standard pots for a Tele are both 250k (not counting '70s Teles with 1m pots) but you can do whatever you like. I don't think Radio Shack or any mom and pop electronics shop carry anything above 250k in an audio taper; not sure that they even carry a 250k audio taper. For Radio Shack's pots you'll need to cut the shaft to size (a dremel works well).

Your local guitar shop likely has some in stock and you'll pay for the convenience of them stocking them. It may or may not be worth it depending on shipping fees from an online store.

I've been using Weber's 30% audio taper pots and I like the feel and taper for almost all of my Teles; YMMV. I've also used 24mm Alpha 250k and 500k audio pots in different guitars. Don't confuse size with quality - find the right taper and feel for your playing style.

Gatton used a 1m audio pot for his wah effects. Higher value pots give you a bit more signal and high end at full up but the signal will load down more quickly than a lower valued pot as you turn down (assuming the taper was the same).

... there's no telling what value the pots are or what value the cap is. (I love that guitar, though) I guess I could desolder everything and measure the pots with my volt/ohm meter. You'd have to disconnect to get an accurate measurement, correct?

Where do you guys get your pots? I'm assuming a 500k or 1 meg audio pot is a standard part?

You shouldn't need to desolder. Measure from the "input" tab to the wiper (middle tab).

The cap should have a 3 digit number code on one side (probably 203 or 503 which equal .02uf and .05uf respectively) along with other letters and numbers (which may or may not indicate manufacturer, tolerance, composition, voltage rating and/or other options I have yet to decipher). The code may or may not be a good indicator of the actual value; tolerance can be as much as 20% above or below the cap's printed value.

Standard pots for a Tele are both 250k (not counting '70s Teles with 1m pots) but you can do whatever you like. I don't think Radio Shack or any mom and pop electronics shop carry anything above 250k in an audio taper; not sure that they even carry a 250k audio taper. For Radio Shack's pots you'll need to cut the shaft to size (a dremel works well).

Your local guitar shop likely has some in stock and you'll pay for the convenience of them stocking them. It may or may not be worth it depending on shipping fees from an online store.

I've been using Weber's 30% audio taper pots and I like the feel and taper for almost all of my Teles; YMMV. I've also used 24mm Alpha 250k and 500k audio pots in different guitars. Don't confuse size with quality - find the right taper and feel for your playing style.

Gatton used a 1m audio pot for his wah effects. Higher value pots give you a bit more signal and high end at full up but the signal will load down more quickly than a lower valued pot as you turn down (assuming the taper was the same).

Hey, thanks for the info! I need to take off the control plate again and get out the soldering gun because the cap just isn't connected well enough & stopped working again.

You know, since you mentioned it, I did notice "Alpha" stamped on the pots and assumed they were some kind of overseas cheap junk. I couldn't see much else because the stamped metal was obscured by the (insufficient) solder joint.

Yeah, as long as the pots give a somewhat accurate reading while connected, I'll hook up the meter to them.

I'm assuming the resistance changes on the meter as the pot is rotated, correct?