Fender Esquire Dark Circuit 2nd Generation vs P Bass Wiring - .1uf Cap

[ric0]

I have a spare Squire telecaster with a single bridge pick up and a bit of electronics left over, neck pick up used elsewhere. So intend wiring it up with no switch and with Dark Circuit Gen 2 but that circuit shows two Caps. a .1uf between switch and Vol pot and a .05uf 'tone' cap. So I'm at a loss on how to wire this without a switch and what gives the Dark Circuit tone, is it just the .1uf between the switch to Vol pot, is it both the caps working together or is it just like a P bass wiring with the .1uf across Vol & Tone. Any ideas?

[Chistopher]

Re: Fender Esquire Dark Circuit 2nd Generation vs P Bass Wiring - .1uf Cap

What's the difference between a normal dark circuit and "dark circuit gen 2". The original intent of the dark circuit was to make a dark bassy tone. This is done by grounding two large caps, basically having the same effect as a tone pot at 0, a resistor in included in the wiring to prevent the bass from overloading the amp relative to the other positions. The resistor also affects the resonant peak frequency and you can experiment with cap values, I haven't actually experimented at all in this department so I can't lead you in the right direction here.

But you probably want to put it on a switch, the bassy preset isn't a sound you want 100% of the time.

[ric0]

Re: Fender Esquire Dark Circuit 2nd Generation vs P Bass Wiring - .1uf Cap

Thanks for the reply, the 2nd Gen was "In late 1952, the value of the cap between the 3-way switch and the volume pot changed from the original 0.05 µF to 0.1 µF, making the preset bassy sound even more bassy. This is referred to as “dark circuit 2nd generation.” The cap between the volume and the tone pot (this is the real tone cap) always stayed 0.05 µF." From here: https://www.premierguitar.com/articl...r_Wirings_Pt_1

I'm perfectly ok with the fixed tone, it's a spare guitar for a specific purpose, with deliberate limitations. Whether it ends up with a .05 or .1uf. The problem I have is how to wire it without a switch and understanding whether the two caps are needed. Thanks again.

[jeremy]

Re: Fender Esquire Dark Circuit 2nd Generation vs P Bass Wiring - .1uf Cap

the old dark circuit setting wasnt connected to the tone so it was just a super dark tone running to the volume. is that what you want or do you want a tone control that lets you get the super dark tone when all the way down?

[beaubrummels]

Re: Fender Esquire Dark Circuit 2nd Generation vs P Bass Wiring - .1uf Cap

I wouldn't have a 1M cap hard wired in an Esquire. Not the most useful sound - unless you were going to do something eccentric like dedicate the guitar for E-Bow only or something.

However, the original very first RC network dark circuit with 2 caps and 1 resistor I would consider hard-wiring in a spare Esquire, as that one somehow leaks a little treble so it sounds a bit like an archtop acoustic, particularly if you play chords up at the neck. You can hear the top end snap of the strings through the warm, scooped dark tone. The 'gen 2' is just like having a tone always rolled down to 0. If that's what you want, I would just put a normal tone knob in there and leave it on 0. At least you would have the option of rolling it back up as needed.