Anyone NOT like the Fezz Parka mod?

[stilesg57]

I just Fezz'd my Baja yesterday while installing a PIO cap and honestly, I'm not a big fan.

I don't like losing volume when I'm trying to just bleed off highs. Also feel like the cleans aren't as defined as they used to be (especially out of phase). At this rate I'm going to switch back in a couple days.

Am I missing something? I've always heard about the brilliance of this mod, but I'm really unimpressed so far.

[dsutton24]

To each his own. I use it on some guitars, and it works. It's hard to tell what happened to your tone, though, when you change two things at once. That control plate on Telelcasters is great for experimenters because you can easily change things one at a time without taking strings off, etc. like many other guitars.

[fezz parka]

Use what works for you.

[BopT]

I really like the mod! I get a much better range of tone out of using it. A great 5 minute fix.
B

[elmicko]

Personally, I really like it and I didn't see any loss of tone at all.

[el cheapo]

I've done it several times myself and recommended it to others. It works for me, and is a heck of a lot cheaper than a new neck pup. Go Fezz!

[donh]

I have no problem with people liking this mod, but it ain't for me.

I don't like the tone/volume snake-dance it does. With the parts and wiring I use, I hear very little tone drop-off with rotation of the volume control when I use the standard tone control wiring.

To each their own!

[Bones]

I never heard of it.

[Davo17]

I did this to my Baja a few weeks back. Overall, I like what it does when driving tube amps, and can see it being very useful for drive tones it seemed to push them harder with a more aggressive and tight feel/tone. I also dig the slight bit of mid scoop that happens as the tone is backed off.

I did not like what it did for cleans. They seemed thinner less woody. If I back off the tone and volume a bit I can get close to the stock tones, its certainly passable.

What Ive decided to do in keeping with the spirit of the Baja tele, is to make the Fezz Parka mod switchable with stock wiring. So I will be installing a Push/Pull pot, to switch back and forth as I see fit. Additionally the P/P pot will be modded to be no-load.

[teleman4u]

Originally Posted by fezz parka

Use what works for you.

What is the mod, any schematics?

[fezz parka]

FWIW, Ted Greene showed me this a long time ago. Move the wire that goes from the vol pot to the tone pot from the outside lug to the middle lug on the vol pot.

[KyAnne]

With respect and high regard to Fezz, this is an OLD wiring standard. Actually Gibson was using it probably before or near 'bout when Fezz was born. It places the tone pot and capacitor in series across the output jack (in parallel) instead of placing the damn volume and tone pot in series which results in some weird losses of tone AND volume when turning EITHER.
I had 1 meg pots that were not audio taper on my thinline and threw them in the garbage because nothing happened until they were near end range.
Changing the pots to 250K with an audio taper along with the "Fezz" mod turned everything upside down and into a new world. A beautiful world. Of course the keystones, with their bell-like clarity aided that quite a bit as well. All this was done at the suggestion of the good people here. If you have excessive ice pick brightness that you can't stand..........and the tone pot and knobs on your amp produce mud on the neck pickup.......do what I did. You'll be urinating in your pants with glee when it's all over and done.

[stilesg57]

Thanks for not being "mad" at me Fezz

I just feel like I'm missing something because this is generally so praised and consensus opinions on this forum have rarely led me astray on my adventure into the wonderful world of Telecasters

Here are simple schematics for two versions that I've seen come across the forum. I did the one with the additional wire added because I was almost finished replacing the cap with the new PIO one when I remembered that I wanted to try the mod

Fezz Parka v1:



Fezz Parka v2:

Originally Posted by Davo17

I did this to my Baja a few weeks back. Overall, I like what it does when driving tube amps, and can see it being very useful for drive tones it seemed to push them harder with a more aggressive and tight feel/tone. I also dig the slight bit of mid scoop that happens as the tone is backed off.

I did not like what it did for cleans. They seemed thinner less woody. If I back off the tone and volume a bit I can get close to the stock tones, its certainly passable.

What Ive decided to do in keeping with the spirit of the Baja tele, is to make the Fezz Parka mod switchable with stock wiring. So I will be installing a Push/Pull pot, to switch back and forth as I see fit. Additionally the P/P pot will be modded to be no-load.

I agree Davo -- I've only gotten to try it through a SS amp so far (don't have any tubies out here with me). I really think this idea may be the ticket; do let us all know how it goes!

[KyAnne]

Go here. Scroll down to '50s Vintage Wiring. In Anne's Opinion, all guitars should be wired this way. I am probably one of the few here that detest the bridge pickup. I have my keystone neck UP and the bridge PU sharply angled LOW for the B and E (high end) strings. I use the middle position (of the switch) to "change the sound". KY

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazin...Mod_Guide.aspx

[KyAnne]

Yeah..........I can't stand twang. Let the kicking and spitting begin. :)

[teleman4u]

Originally Posted by fezz parka

FWIW, Ted Greene showed me this a long time ago. Move the wire that goes from the vol pot to the tone pot from the outside lug to the middle lug on the vol pot.

Oh..is that all...?? Thought it was something BIG the way this thread started out. I wire all my guitars like this, strats, tele and LP's.

Wire the tone circuit to output of the volume pot, not the input. The signal "sees" the volume pot first and the tone circuit only affects the signal present right before it goes to your output jack.

Alligator clips!!! I've used them in a/b'ing tons of wiring schemes and listening to differences in pot values, no load tone circuits, caps, etc. This has been invaluable in dialing in all of my guitars without going crazy buying/selling pickups and even guitars like a mad man.

[Piotr]

If you are of the inquisitive type you might want to look at this thread, where the mod was extensively discussed. I put some charts in there, which show what exactly happens to your tone while using the mod.
Here is a summary:

Treble bleed summary

1. No treble bleed

- treble loss when you back off the volume.

2. Simple cap only treble bleed

- excessive high end and tinny sound.

3. Parallel treble bleed with proper cap and resistor values

- preserves the tone best.

4. Fezz Parka mod

- preserves treble well, changes volume pot action and changes the effect of the tone knob in a creative way.

---------------------

[stevorc321]

I tried it once and didn't really dig it..that was with Kinman noiseless pickups though, so that may have had something to do with it. Will have to try it again on a single coil guitar

[fezz parka]

Originally Posted by KyAnne

With respect and high regard to Fezz, this is an OLD wiring standard.

FWIW, I really never wanted this called the "fezz parka" mod. Ted showed it to me back in the 80's, and I'm fully aware that this is the 50's Gibson style wiring.

[ifallalot]

I did it this weekend and it did not work for me, all it did was render the tone pot inactive.

However, when I was putting it back I noticed that my wiring was completely non-standard and that some other treble bleed mod had been done before. It took me a while of researching through schematics on the internet but this probably explains why I liked how my neck pup sounded already