How Many Controls?

[rgand]

How many controls do you find optimum? In other words, you have tone(s), volume(s) and other doo-dads you like to use. What are they and why?

 

[rgand]

So, my preference is to keep things simple. I tried a lot of combinations but always go back to basic Tele-style controls. On my 'Nashville Strat' build, I finally settled on a master series/parallel switch in addition to the 1 vol, 1 tone, 3-way toggle. I intend to eventually put a master Series/parallel switch on my Tele, also.

The 'why' is that I play clean. I don't overdrive anything and can get everything I need with the tone and pickup switch. I just make sure that the bridge and neck pickups are different enough to give me a noticeable difference. I can also pick the strings closer to one pickup or the other to change the sound.

 

[bagman67]

I'm a traditionalist, too.  One volume, one tone, three-way switch for two-pup guitars, five-way for three pups.  I do like a full-time on switch for the bridge pup on a Strat-type guitar. 


I stalled out on wiring my koa-topped LP because the wiring is such a PITA.  I got it all right,and then when I pressed the knobs down on the shafts of the pots, two of the pots busted.  Once I finally get up the gumption to finish, I'm probably gonna sell the damn thing outright.

 

[rgand]

I do like a full-time on switch for the bridge pup on a Strat-type guitar.

This is a good idea. I experimented with a center pickup as a separate blend, controlled only with a volume. It worked fine but finally I just yanked it out and got a new HH pickguard. I may do another guitar with the blended pickup but that will be fairly far down the road.

 

[misterfinn]

I'm a traditionalist, too.  One volume, one tone, three-way switch for two-pup guitars, five-way for three pups.

+1. If I can't get the tone I want from the basic controls, I've put the wrong pickups in the guitar. I'd rather have multiple guitars, each with its own character, than one guitar that tries to be everything.

Not a fan of active EQ either - I've got an active three-band in my MusicMan Stingray 5 and the knobs never move from center.

 

[drewfx]

I don't care how many there are as long as they're useful to me and also logically laid out (to me). Often this will mean more controls, but I always design things so that anything "extra" doesn't get in the way of basic operation.

 

[Cagey]

I'm a traditionalist, too.  One volume, one tone, three-way switch for two-pup guitars, five-way for three pups. 

Put me on this list.

When I want to adjust volume, I want one place to go so it's instinctive. Don't have to think about it. Same with the tone. You start adding all sorts of additional knobs and switches and you end up with strange interactions and may just get lost. Ain't got time for that when you're playing. It's just faster and easier to deal with basic controls.

 

[stratamania]

I have one of these four pickups a three way switch and a couple of toggle switches.

http://youtu.be/xbM4iqYDKgc

Once you get used to its not that bad.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

A volume, a toggle, & the truth.

I don't use a tone pot, so I opted out of one when I built my TFS6.

 

[erogenousjones17]

Ditto. I've got two volumes and a toggle on my yellow LPS. Turns out I never even use those...

 

[rgand]

It's interesting how seldom I change the tone from full bright. I've often thought no tone control would be great. Then all of the sudden I want to stray off the reservation and get all dark and moody... When it's out of my system I get back to business.

 

[Rick]

For my tele I've got a four way switch and a concentric inner outer tone control knob for a mid boost.  Love it.
For my new tele deluxe it's a standard LP setup, not really thrilled about it, but you get used to it.
For a strat I like a volume, a tone, a neck toggle and a 5 way switch.  Loved it, don't own it anymore   May make it my next project)  Generally speaking, less is more to a point, and then it's less.

 

[frown]

A pair of push/pull volume pots, one for each pup does it for me. Full fat humbucker when down and coil split when pulled up.

I prefer minimal looking guitars and tending to change picking technique for the toanz than switching this works for me.

 

[Fat Pete]

I generally agree that simpler is better, especially if you're going to be using the instrument on stage.

That said, my current 2x P90 build will have 2 volumes (and a tone and 3-way toggle) because IMHO the subtle tonal variations you can get by adjusting the balance between is particularly rewarding with those pickups. You can also use the toggle as a kill switch by turning one pickup all the way down - if you're in a Live at Leeds kind of mood!

So, as usual, it really depends on the individual player, the particular instrument/signal chain and the phase of the moon.

 

[Day-mun]

I was gonna get in on this one, but it seems that the thread is really just about guitars; prob'ly nobody really cares if a Jazz bass has a blend pot instead of two volumes, so...

I tried simplifying the Strat, but it just didn't seem right to me, -I had to go back to the two tone controls even though it made no logical sense at all.

 

[rgand]

I was gonna get in on this one, but it seems that the thread is really just about guitars; prob'ly nobody really cares if a Jazz bass has a blend pot instead of two volumes, so...

A bass guitar is still a guitar. It seems to me that a blend pot is still a volume, or at least the one I wired was. How is yours set up?

 

[Day-mun]

My (fretless) Jazz bass, instead of the typical V/V/T,  is set up with master volume/pan control (-pickup selection/blend)/master tone. Up until recently, this was the only bass I had with more than one pickup in it, and the more-than-one-volume-knob thing would've tripped me up; I didn't wanna fiddle with/disturb output level while selecting pickup(s). -Like KG says, it's nice to only have one place to go for volume control while you're playing.

I recently modded the heck outa one of my W P-basses (the only fretted one) by adding a "mudbucker" in the neck (sorta like the one in Sheehan's "Wife" bass), and a MM in the bridge, making the original P split-coil the new middle pickup. for pickup selection, I added a Jag-style 3-switch plate to the north-east of the volume knob. Each slider switch turns its respective pickup on/off, but with a twist: when all three sliders in the off position, it defaults to the split coil P-bass pickup on without the tone control in the circuit.

 

[rgand]

Thanks, Day-mun. I like the way those sliders work.

 

[erogenousjones17]

That said, my current 2x P90 build will have 2 volumes (and a tone and 3-way toggle) because IMHO the subtle tonal variations you can get by adjusting the balance between is particularly rewarding with those pickups. You can also use the toggle as a kill switch by turning one pickup all the way down - if you're in a Live at Leeds kind of mood!

That's me.  :laughing7:

 

[swarfrat]

I'm going to put an embedded linux system in a guitar one day, I just need to figure out something for it to do. Which is kinda the problem with a lot of these controls.