No more Tone Pot

[Angierc]

I am changing a few things on my first PartsCaster.

For one thing, the way I stum, I keep hitting the switch so I have a blank control plate and I am going to drill the holes further back for everything. I also got a switch with a shorter "throw" to acomadate the compressed space.

I am putting a GFS Memphis Retrotron in the neck position and a 1962 Fender re-issue in the bridge. I have a push-pull vollume pot to split the HB.

Now I never use the tone control - I play with it wide open. I feel like the guitar sounds like its under water when I turn it - so my thought was - with this customised plate - I could just leave it off.

So what do you guys think? Am I going to regret it? Is there something I don't know? Can the tone control be made to sound better and be more useful?
Am I going to ruin the sound by not having that control present?

Thanks
Angier

[mnathanielc]

i highly doubt it would ruin your sound, but since you have two control plates, it's pretty simple to figure out.
sounds like you're doing new pickups, so here's what i'd do.
put in your pickups, then take your old plate wire it up with the tone and see how it sounds.
If the tone is still unnecessary, take it out, if you love how it sounds without it then you have your answer. customize your new plate to accommodate the new layout and you're good to go.

[imsilly]

I really can't see how anyone can play without a tone control.

Firstly it is great for making minor adjustments to cut out and icepicky highs or larger ones to get a nice bassy sound from your guitar. Then there are all the cool sweeps and wah-wahish sounds you can get from it. There is just a lot you can do with a simple tone switch if you think about it and mess around a while. It's just a matter of finding the right kind of circuitry. I mean you could have a tone knob that turns to a bypass when fully on if you want to have your cake and eat it.

As far as for hitting the switch you can just reverse the control plate to put the switch at the back.

In turns of pickups I think marrying a bucker in the bridge and a singlecoil in the neck with a dramatic variation in hotness might cause issues. The push pull system with pickup splitting might help, but I suspect a slit pickup won't sound as great as a tradition Telecaster bridge and you'll spend most of your time with it in humbucker mode anyway. I would be tempted to go for a TV jones filtertron in the neck and bridge myself. You'll have to find pot and cap values that suit them both as well, which could be difficult because they are such different pickups. If that is done right it should scream though.

Anyway it's a telecaster it's not like you can't change things around if you don't like the results. So goodluck and be adventurous it's not like you have much to loose.

[Gascat]

Each to their own I say....what works for one may not work for another.

I have been playing guitar for 42 years and never felt the need to work the tone control....but that's just me.

By all means listen to what others have experienced with tone but above all do what you feel is best for you and set up your guitar accordingly. After all you're the one playing it!

Good luck mate.....Wayne

[Nick JD]

I'm one of those people who use other things than the guitar to make tones ... like a signal chain and an amp.

Having two channels is pretty handy too.

It's nearly 2010 ... there's other places to control tone, even though your guitar's from 1950.

In 1950 a pocket calculator would have earned you a nobel prize. While you won't get a prize for having some sort of "electronics" to help your tone out - you might find that it gives you freedom to expand your "one tone only" style.

Monotone is monotonous .

[Stevie 202]

3 words.

No load pot.

[jefrs]

The Delta no-load pot (+1)

But having no tone pot is not the same as setting it to '10'. The no-load removes the pot from the circuit at '10', try a fixed 270k in series with the tone cap. The TBX presents 1082k load at '10', and offers a slight presence roll-off down to '5', rather like rolling off a linear vol pot to take the ice pick down.

To avoid hitting the switch, reverse the control plate, with the switch aft.

[originalmatthew]

I would go with the experiment option. See what the pups sound like with the tone control, and then without. Go with what you like best. I've wired a couple of guitars with the pups wired straight to the output jack, and you might be surprised at what your pickups sound like with a lighter load on them, and you may or may not like it. They tend to get louder and brighter with no load on them.

[olaftheholy]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

I'm one of those people who use other things than the guitar to make tones ... like a signal chain and an amp.

Having two channels is pretty handy too.

It's nearly 2010 ... there's other places to control tone, even though your guitar's from 1950.

In 1950 a pocket calculator would have earned you a nobel prize. While you won't get a prize for having some sort of "electronics" to help your tone out - you might find that it gives you freedom to expand your "one tone only" style.

Monotone is monotonous .

+1 and the some for that post Nick!

Halleluja! one can shape tone in various position along the signalpath!!!!

Not only at once guitar anymore!

[Angierc]

Stevie and Jefrs can you point me in the direction of some more details on this, like a circuit diagram/ schematic?
What do you mean by TBX?
I had a feeling that removing the tone was not the same as 10, but I wasn't sure.

Oh, someone further up in the thread thought I was putting the HB in the bridge - no - I won't even put a slim or stacked HB in the bridge (although I have heard one that sounded pretty good). It's a split HB in the Neck and a 62 Tele Fender re-issue in the bridge - and the dc resistance on the two are similar I think - my meter is acting up so Im not sure.

Thanks everyone.