Tone controls

[swarfrat]

Ok, I have the same links to the laundry list of mundane, utilitarian, esoteric and downright exotic tone controls as everyone else. But I'm wondering: Is anyone actually using anything reasonable simple to use other than a traditional passive one pot LPF and swears by it.  My GOM on the banner has a tone control wired up with whatever I had on hand which is utterly useless. I've used tone controls before, rolling it back until it just starts to make a difference, but most of them have entirely way too much cut.  The pickguard needs a knob there, but I have no idea what to put there. I actually think I might get more use out of a bass cut on the neck.  Maybe a TBX?

Pickups are two GFS Memphis Retrotrons.

 

[mayfly]

Interesting.  If you're only doing passive, then your only variable for a treble cut is to change the capacitor.  Same for a bass cut actually.  Get a capacitor substitution box and have at it!

Your world opens up more dramatically if you're willing to go active. Then pretty much any EQ shape can be made.

 

[swarfrat]

Well, TBX will do passive bass cut and treble cut on one knob. Currently I don't see anything else nearly as attractive. Cheap enough to find out too.

 

[stratamania]

Apparently, you can use EMG SPC /RPC or EXG controls with passive pickups. I have never tried it but the documentation verifies it as possible.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJG25PEsyLY[/youtube]

 

[rgand]

On my JM I put separate treble and bass bleeds. It's kinda fun but on my next one, I'll probably put a push/pull with the bass bleed on the switch. If you need to fill a hole, try a bass bleed.

 

[drewfx]

My GOM on the banner has a tone control wired up with whatever I had on hand which is utterly useless. I've used tone controls before, rolling it back until it just starts to make a difference, but most of them have entirely way too much cut.

Smaller cap value equals higher cutoff frequency. Or you can play with lower pot values along with adding a resistor in series with the cap to ground so that you can only turn down the tone so far.

You can do passive bass and mid cuts and they will do what they do, but whether it's useful to you depends on taste and the guitar in question.

 

[Re-Pete]

My second Warmoth was meant to be a project that was an advancement upon the troubled Jazzmaster design, kinda like, what Leo might've done if he had been designing that guitar now with the advanced electronics. We all know the passive electronic design that Leo put into the JM had that quirky upper bout assignment which shaped the tone to a dark mellow (read: muffled) tone. And the pickups themselves were a new design of his which was certainly an acquired taste.
Anyway I made mistakes and the end result was a sterile sounding guitar. I tried everything and had to wait several years before advances in electronics could assist me with the active electronics design. In short I had a journey through tone & EQ controls and pickup design, both active & passive.

If you wish to stay with basic passive controls then might I suggest what G & L do with the two tone controls on their guitars with a passive bass cut & treble cut.

If you wish to go with some sort of active tone/EQ circuit there's what others have suggested. EMG controls mentioned earlier do certain shapings. The SPC raises the mid range to give a single coil pickup a thicker (humbucker-like) tone, the RPC reduces the bass response while lifting the high frequency response & the EXG creates a scooped mid range effect. All will accept passive pickups.
The TBX by Fender is also worth a look at as it's also designed for guitar.

In my own troublesome JM Project I ended up going with an EMG Treble & Bass Active EQ (BTS Control) set that is intended for Bass Guitar. They will take passive pickups & you can shape the EQ curve by way of DIP switch at the master circuit. I'm able to take the L500 pickups (chosen because they are about as flat as you can get in passive pickups and very quiet) & add/cut bass or treble + or - 6dB. If this guitar is plugged into an older styled amp with a basic one Tone control on the amp panel, I can shape the tone from the guitar better....or on more modern amps I can set the EQ controls at 'noon' and adjust from guitar. I also added an active blend control instead of a pickup selector switch and that also adds variances to tone far more than the usual switch set up. All this saved the guitar for me.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Smaller cap value equals higher cutoff frequency.

Well worth mentioning!

 

[swarfrat]

I think I'd be more interested in shelving limits or shallower rolloff than simply a higher frequency
cutoff

 

[zebra]

There's the Bill Lawrence "Q-Filter."  I haven't used one myself, but there seem to be a number of different ways that it can be wired to different effect, and it's passive. 

 

[AirCap]

One vote here for the TBX. They are less than $20, and do not require a battery. I like 'em on guitars or basses.