Capacitor For Volume Pot

[jumpnblues]

What value capacitor should I use on the volume pot of my Tele (all single coil pu's) so I don't lose highs when the volume is decreased? Should I use a resistor too?Thank you. 8)

[DADGAD]

The standar CBS design was a single .001 mfd ceramic disk capacitor, sans resistor. This works great on my personal MIM Standard Tele.

Good luck!

Gary

[TG]

I think there's information about it all (including using a resistor) on the Kinman pickup site.

[Kevin]

In my experience, there is no single best value. Nor is there a steadfast rule about using a resistor (either in parallel or in series).

What I've found is that different guitars "like" different values of caps and resistors, and some don't like the resistor, at all. Experiment with different values and combinations until you find what works best with a particular guitar.

I have a blackguard tele with a .001mf cap and an 82K resistor in series; works great. I had another tele that preferred a 680pf cap, alone. My current double-bound (identical in construction to the one that liked the 680pf cap) works good with the Kinman kit (.0012mf cap and 150K resistor).

[Ramblin Ray]

I recently started using the 120pf that Joe Barden recommended for his pickups. Mine are Suhr vintage style. and although John Suhr suggested a 680pf, it sounded funny to me. The 120pf is more subtle and natural.

[[ terb_ ]]

it all depends of the guitar.

the best thing to do is to test each value from 0.1nf to 1nf (don't know if you use "nf" in english, if not 1nf = 1000pf) and to leave on the guitar the one that gives the best sound and reactions with this particular guitar.

I suggest you use a Silver Mica capacitor, it sounds much better than a ceramic disc cap.

[Roger Alburn]

I like .001uF in parallel with a 150K resistor. This was the advice of Scott from Harmonic Designs pickups here a few years back.

[Telecaster65]

Does anybody knows the value of the cap supplied by Fender with the CRL replacement pots???

Thanks
Fabio

[GeorgiaTele]

Ooops. I knew there was something I forgot to install when I put Texas Specials in my '50's. I used a .033 cap on the tone, but nothing on the volume pot. What am I missing, tonewise? What is the function of the cap and resistor on the volume pot?

[jjmantele]

Treble preservation is the purpose of the "volume bypass" cap. When you turn the volume down, some guitars will lose some treble. My Stock Strat didn't have nor need one but when I put Tex Specials in it I had to add one. I also needed one on the LPesquire I just built. I hook alligator clip type jumper wires to the pot and test various value caps to see which achieves the least tone change when turning down. Both times it was at 472pf for me. Adding a resistor in series reduced the effect but keeps it in the same frequency range. (Not easy to explain.) Putting the resistor in parallel with the cap changes the "taper" of the volume control.

[GeorgiaTele]

Originally Posted by jjmantele

Treble preservation is the purpose of the "volume bypass" cap. When you turn the volume down, some guitars will lose some treble. My Stock Strat didn't have nor need one but when I put Tex Specials in it I had to add one. I also needed one on the LPesquire I just built. I hook alligator clip type jumper wires to the pot and test various value caps to see which achieves the least tone change when turning down. Both times it was at 472pf for me. Adding a resistor in series reduced the effect but keeps it in the same frequency range. (Not easy to explain.) Putting the resistor in parallel with the cap changes the "taper" of the volume control.

Thanks! I don't notice that much of a treble drop when I turn down (maybe because I'm using a compressor), so I think I'll just leave those doo-dads off.

[hollander]

Maybe a silly remark, but what about always leaving your volume wide open on the guitar. (also better signal for when you use effects, I guess) Righnt before going into your amp use a volume pedal. I like it because I can adjust my volume whithout interupting the playing.
Do I miss something ? Is this too simple ?

[jumpnblues]

...I'm experimenting with a .001 cap on the volume pot of my Tele to preserve treble when I turn the volume pot down. I've tried it in parallel with a resisitor and it seems to cut the signal just slightly and the tone and volume have a slightly different taper. What other function does the resisitor perform? At this point I'm considering leaving the resistor out. Maybe I'm missing something with the resisitor? Should it be in series vs parallel with the capacitor? Please educate me. 8)

[hookstrapped]

Originally Posted by hollander

Maybe a silly remark, but what about always leaving your volume wide open on the guitar. (also better signal for when you use effects, I guess) Righnt before going into your amp use a volume pedal. I like it because I can adjust my volume whithout interupting the playing.
Do I miss something ? Is this too simple ?

Adjusting the volume at the guitar lets me turn up my amps into their sweet zones without getting complaints from next door, and lets me control the amount of fuzz with my germanium fuzz pedals.

[jaybee001]

Originally Posted by hollander

Maybe a silly remark, but what about always leaving your volume wide open on the guitar. (also better signal for when you use effects, I guess) Righnt before going into your amp use a volume pedal. I like it because I can adjust my volume whithout interupting the playing.
Do I miss something ? Is this too simple ?

what could be simpler than using the volume pot that is already there anyway AND follows you around on stage, instead of hooking up one more tonesucker pedal, that stays where it is? You may not have to stop playing, but you sure better stay right there on your spot...
I have been using volume pots forever (they are usually the first hig to "go" in my guitars - my Strat is at the 3 one in 10 years) - and I don't really have to stop, just do it on the fly - and a lot too, just listen to our demo on my band's website.
Of course this is a "bit" more difficult on LP style guitars, since I find the double vol pot layout and the placement hard to adapt my playing style to.