Tele bridge tone wiring mod?

I would like to know if there is a way to add separate tone control for my bridge pickup. Although the Tele's controls are simple and elegant, there are times when I want to quickly switch to the bridge pickup, and the extra step of finding the sweet spot on the tone pot takes time I don't have.

Early Fender basses used concentric pots for volume and tone, but I'm not sure if these could be used as 2 tone controls. I want to keep the stock volume pot as a "master volume" for volume swells.

Is there a simple treble roll off "preset" circuit I can add for just the bridge pickup? I need to be able to fine tune it with different component values (a capaciator and resistor?). Ideally, the middle pickup position wouldn't be effected, but I could probably live with a darker middle position tone if that's the only option.

I'm hoping someone can provide a diagram (not a schematic; I'm a dumb guitarist, not an electrical engineer!) showing parts and wiring options. Any advice would be most appreciated.

cheers,
Dave

If you rewire your stock Tele 3-way like this, you could hang a capacitor to ground from the lug indicated to mellow the bridge pup throw ONLY:

http://deaf-eddie.net/tdpri-drawings/bridge-rolloff.bmp

The two small "c"s in yellow indicate the common lugs for this switch - YMMV.

A small cap value would have the effect of rolling the tone down a bit - the larger value the cap, the more tone roll-off (mellower) you'd get. A resistor is not needed.

AS STARTING POINT:
I just redid the caps in a friend's Gretsch Country Gentleman, as he found the stock caps too dark. We wound up using a Radio Shack .0047mf (NOTE: NOT the common Fender .047mf tone cap - see the extra zero?) in the first throw, which sounded a lot like a pot-style tone control backed off a tick to "9" or "8" - just a little of the edge was gone, which was what he wanted. You might try that value - yer price, two fer two bucks - and go bigger (.01mf) for darker or smaller (.002mf) for brighter from there.

Thanks so much for the reply and especially the diagram. I was hoping it would be this simple. I'll give a few different caps a try and report back once I've decided on one that works.

BTW, I use both my volume and tone pot a LOT with my Tele. I love the simplicity of the controls, but often wish the bridge pickup was a tad less bright. I imagine this mod may effect the middle selector switch position, but it will probably be OK.

If anyone has any thoughts on how to wire up concentric tone pots for this application, please chime in. If you can supply a diagram, all the better.

cheers,
Dave

Dave, the (above) drawing will NOT affect the middle 3-way throw. The cap is only in the circuit on the bridge-only throw, and has no effect on the "both pups" throw.

How do you want your dualie pot wired? You could have one wired as two tone controls: one for each pup; or, a master tone and a bridge-only tone.

Or, get two dualies and have TWO volumes and two tones, one for each pup: V/V and T/T; or V/T and V/T.

Eddie,

Effecting ONLY the bridge tone is actually preferred, so you're diagram will work well.

Regarding a dual control pot, I could use one as two separate tone controls for each pickup. I'd prefer the outer concentric knob to control the bridge pickup tone (the one I'd adjust most frequently) and the inner concentric knob to control neck pickup tone. I haven't used one before, but I presume the outer concentric control is easier to grab.

I like the single master volume control "as is", because I work that one a lot. I don't think a dual volume control would work for me.

Can I impose on you to provide another diagram for the dual tone pot configuration?

Any suggestions for where to get a high quality dual pot and concentric knobs? I'd like to find chrome concentric knobs that compliment the chrome knob on the Tele. I've seen these on basses, so they must exist somewhere. I'll check the usual sources (StewMac, Angela, etc.).

Thanks again for your help on this,
Dave

Dave, the (above) drawing will NOT affect the middle 3-way throw. The cap is only in the circuit on the bridge-only throw, and has no effect on the "both pups" throw.

How do you want your dualie pot wired? You could have one wired as two tone controls: one for each pup; or, a master tone and a bridge-only tone.

Or, get two dualies and have TWO volumes and two tones, one for each pup: V/V and T/T; or V/T and V/T.

Lazy me, I made the drawing too big to post, so here's the link:

Dual concentric tones (http://deaf-eddie.net/tdpri-drawings/dual-tones.bmp)


As you can see, you can keep your bridge-throw-only roll-off cap on the 3-way, or just lose it, as you might be able to tame your bridge pup with a different value cap on its (now separate) tone control. Either way works.

Eddy - I nominate you for patron saint of DIY tone mods! Thanks so much for taking time to diagram this info. Your forum handle may be "Deaf Eddy", but I trust this info will help my tone a lot.

much thanks,
Dave

Eddy - I nominate you for patron saint of DIY tone mods!

Gee, thanks, but I'm pretty sure I've already been cannonized...
Or, excommunicated - I forget which...

:shock:

I must chime in and say that the .0048 cap is a great pick. I use it on a setting in my Esquire and it just takes the ice pick off the tone, warms it up just right. If it's not enough, try at .0068, warms it up even more.

Lazy me, I made the drawing too big to post, so here's the link:

Dual concentric tones (http://deaf-eddie.net/tdpri-drawings/dual-tones.bmp)


As you can see, you can keep your bridge-throw-only roll-off cap on the 3-way, or just lose it, as you might be able to tame your bridge pup with a different value cap on its (now separate) tone control. Either way works.

http://deaf-eddie.net/tdpri-drawings/dual-tones.bmp

Eddie,

I wired a Tele using this diagram tonight, except that I omitted the cap from the 3-way. It seems/sounds like the switch is switching between the pickups correctly and the dual tone controls are affecting tone correctly; but my volume now acts like a tone control.

I used a new 250k/500k CTS pot, a new Oak 3-way switch, and I kept the same 250k CTS pot I had in there before for volume. The old 250k pot was working fine prior to this and I didn't do any more soldering to it, just snipped a couple of connections from it.

I kept the same pair of pickups in it that were in there before and working fine, a Gibson Burstbucker #1 in the neck and a Fender American Series in the bridge.

I'm using the 250k tone pot with a .047 cap for the bridge, and the 500k tone pot with a .022 cap for the neck.

Any ideas what I might have done wrong?

I left off the ground for the volume pot in the original drawing. Hit the link again, I've corrected it... The "open" lug (far right) on the volume pot should be grounded.

I left off the ground for the volume pot in the original drawing. Hit the link again, I've corrected it... The "open" lug (far right) on the volume pot should be grounded.

Thanks Deaf Eddie, that took care of the problem!

Came across this diagram in a search to modify the icy bridge p/u in my "assumed to be previously modded to standard 3-way Baja" tele.

Would just like to say thanks to patron saint of electronics Deaf Eddie.

Anyone have a diagram for for the dual tone pot, but using the tele 4-way switch setup?

I can't think off the top of my head how you could integrate dual tone pots and the 4-way scheme. In the 4-way scheme, the neck's hot is "always on" - and so, the neck's tone pot would always be in the circuit.