4 knob guitars PSA.

[imwjl]

Should there be others who've mostly played acoustics, a Telecaster and switch to a 4 knob guitar.

I still repeat being a dumb a$$ when I have my semi-hollow with humbuckers after so long with acoustics or set and forget simplicity like my Telecaster plugged into the Princeton Reverb. Remember folks, look at and move the knobs on your guitar before you put too much thought into amps, pedals or even other guitars.

 

[Peegoo]

The knobs are not just for looks. You have a whole lot of tones in there.

With a good amp set on the edge of breakup, the volume control on your guitar is a variable overdrive.

 

[Blrfl]

My guitars all have one knob: me.

 

[1 21 gigawatts]

4 knobs and a switch are too much for me to keep track of. Playing guitar is hard enough. I've pretty much settled on one pickup guitars. One pickup, one volume knob, and one tone knob can make all the tones that I need.

 

[mandoloony]

I would argue that on most guitars, the knobs are there for looks because they don't do anything useful. 99% of passive tone controls are useless because they go from full on to full mud in a 2° turn of the knob. Same with most passive volume controls - the're either on or off, basically a mute switch with almost no middle ground. I spend a lot of time matching controls to my pickups when I assemble partscasters - especially tone cap values - but even then they're basically two-position switches. Audio taper or linear, same effect with the transition in a different part of the sweep.

 

[Killing Floor]

Matrix algebra is hard. Les Paul wiring isn’t.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

Matrix algebra is hard. Les Paul wiring isn’t.

 

[memorex]

I only need one master volume and tone to do everything I want. The rest just clutters up the real estate, and isn't in the right position to do things like pinky swells and wahs. That's why the reverse Tele control plate is perfect for me.

 

[chris m.]

This is a good video on how to use your vol and tone controls. I wire my LPs and Teles using 50s (aka Fezz Parka) wiring, a good alternative to treble bleed circuits, IMO. When my amp is dialed in correctly I can get most of the gain level and tone I need just from my guitar's controls.




Watch classic videos of your guitar heroes and you will see that many of them are frequently adjusting their knobs. Here's a master class from Danny Gatton on using slight adjustments of controls to subtly alter tone.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

This is a good video on how to use your vol and tone controls. I wire my LPs and Teles using 50s (aka Fezz Parka) wiring, a good alternative to treble bleed circuits, IMO. When my amp is dialed in correctly I can get most of the gain level and tone I need just from my guitar's controls.




Watch classic videos of your guitar heroes and you will see that many of them are frequently adjusting their knobs. Here's a master class from Danny Gatton on using slight adjustments of controls to subtly alter tone.

The chops (of course!) are there, but what worked the fastest with Danny was his brain!

To be able to improvise and comp on-the-fly like that, was just mind-blowing! Yet he seemed so relaxed
( especially seeing that live)

 

[WillyWonky]

next yer gonna tell me my amp has knobs too!

 

[Billy3]

Knobs are great on guitars. But there is something special about a blower switch(straight to jack), that is so awesome. I put one in my Tele and it has taught me to play better and more. No fuss.
Just play. It's also cool because you can set your volume and tone knobs for rhythm and such, and when you really want to let her rip flip the switch and everything goes to 11. Very cool

 

[Chicago Matt]

I started on electric guitar long ago, and it was Gibson for me. I adjust the knobs a lot when playing with a band, especially volume. I got pretty good with it but always longed for a master volume. When I switched to a Stratocaster or other S type guitar 12 years later, that was it for the next 30 years or so. I love being able to adjust the volume with one touch of my pinky. Now I'm used to a Telecaster too and love it. I have Gibson and Epiphone 4 knobers and still love them, but they don't get played much these days.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The knobs are not just for looks. You have a whole lot of tones in there.

So they say, but I rarely found 'em. I had a 335 and a 345. Spend all my time dialing and tone questing. Highly distracting.

My goal isn't to have the guitar of a thousand voices. I just need a few good ones. Enter Teles and Strats.

With a good amp set on the edge of breakup, the volume control on your guitar is a variable overdrive.

I also am not interested in the widely touted edge of breakup. When I go there, it usually means I'm playing too loud or too soft for the occasion. Sometimes the amp and room are a perfect fit, but not often.

So I like lots of headroom, with overdrive pedals for adding presence and crunch.

You're not wrong, but different strokes, right?

 

[Bob Womack]

To make four knobs really easy, folks, get a good sound on your neck pickup and then switch to the bridge pickup. Too hairy? Back off the tone control. Go back and forth, adjusting the bridge pickup tone, until you've got them in the same range. You may be down to 50% before it feels right, but you can play all night like that.

But the rest is there if you want it.

Bob

 

[SixStringSlinger]

I would argue that on most guitars, the knobs are there for looks because they don't do anything useful. 99% of passive tone controls are useless because they go from full on to full mud in a 2° turn of the knob. Same with most passive volume controls - the're either on or off, basically a mute switch with almost no middle ground. I spend a lot of time matching controls to my pickups when I assemble partscasters - especially tone cap values - but even then they're basically two-position switches. Audio taper or linear, same effect with the transition in a different part of the sweep.

That's a shame. The controls on all my guitars are useful from at least about 5 and up; on the volume controls that gets me from "clean no matter how hard I hit it" to "as dirty as my amp is set", and on tone controls it gets me a wide range of useable tones (the tone controls are good even lower if I'm going for a particular effect).

Part of it is down to how my amp is set. Since passive guitar controls can only ever subtract from a signal, I set my amp as loud/dirty and bright as I could want with all guitar controls maxed, then lower these as needed for quite/cleaner and/or warmer tones. Of course pickups heights and other things also play into this.

The other thing is that, the way I use them, guitar controls (particularly tone controls) are mostly for fine-tuning; I don't go for massive changes from one "useable" tone to the next via my tone controls, but rather I use them to shave off high-end as needed to make my tone "sit" right.

 

[chris m.]

That's a shame. The controls on all my guitars are useful from at least about 5 and up; on the volume controls that gets me from "clean no matter how hard I hit it" to "as dirty as my amp is set", and on tone controls it gets me a wide range of useable tones (the tone controls are good even lower if I'm going for a particular effect).

Part of it is down to how my amp is set. Since passive guitar controls can only ever subtract from a signal, I set my amp as loud/dirty and bright as I could want with all guitar controls maxed, then lower these as needed for quite/cleaner and/or warmer tones. Of course pickups heights and other things also play into this.

The other thing is that, the way I use them, guitar controls (particularly tone controls) are mostly for fine-tuning; I don't go for massive changes from one "useable" tone to the next via my tone controls, but rather I use them to shave off high-end as needed to make my tone "sit" right.

Since this is a Tele-centric forum, I'll throw this little nugget out there. If your bridge pickup sounds just a little too bright, or even ice-picky, try turning your Tele's treble pot down to around 8. That is often all you need to do. No need to buy a new pickup, change pots, etc. And then when you really need to cut through the mix, you can always turn it back up to 10.

If you don't have a treble bleed or 50s/FEzz Parka mod, you can get a similar result by turning your volume knob down to around 8 or 7, which will cut treble, along with a slight volume drop.

 

[Marc Morfei]

You guys don't use your knobs? Seriously? I'm always adjusting them, based on what tone I'm after in a particular song, whether it's rythym or lead, etc. And I love 4-knob guitars becauase I can set each pickup differently. Tone all the way up for neck, tone at 5 for bridge, etc. Flip of the switch to go from rythym to lead tone. On my tele I need to flip the switch, then adjust two knobs. Guess I'll show myself out....

 

[cyclopean]

I would argue that on most guitars, the knobs are there for looks because they don't do anything useful. 99% of passive tone controls are useless because they go from full on to full mud in a 2° turn of the knob. Same with most passive volume controls - the're either on or off, basically a mute switch with almost no middle ground. I spend a lot of time matching controls to my pickups when I assemble partscasters - especially tone cap values - but even then they're basically two-position switches. Audio taper or linear, same effect with the transition in a different part of the sweep.

On every guitar i own, turning the volume or tone down from ten just turns into mud.

 

[chris m.]

On every guitar i own, turning the volume or tone down from ten just turns into mud.

Try using a lower value tone capacitor-- 0.022 uF works pretty well. Or you might be a good candidate for a Stellartone circuit. These cut highs without also cutting mids. Kind of a modern day Varitone.

HOME - Stellartone

tone control

stellartone.com

I personally do the 50s mod on most of my guitars because I like to use the guitar volume knob a lot.