A "reverse treble bleed mod"- ?!

[Erlend_G]

...I often feel like; when reducing the volume of the guitar; I want even more highs cut/removed from my tone.

I read about "treble bleed mods"; who do the opposite; i.e. keep the sound bright(er) when turning down the volume.


...how can I easily achieve this opposite effect, where turning down the volume, makes the sound even more melllow and "darker"?

thanks,

-E

 

[Teleplayer]

Try a 1 Meg ohm volume pot.

Also be sure to use a 20' or longer cable.

 

[jeremy]

a 1 meg pot will be brighter when full up than a 500k pot so not sure about that suggestion. longer cables do tend to have more capacitance and roll off a touch of high end but that shouldnt change much as you roll the volume down

 

[GuitarStv]

Don't use any buffers between you and the amp, and a 100 ft cable.

 

[Teleplayer]

a 1 meg pot will be brighter when full up than a 500k pot so not sure about that suggestion. longer cables do tend to have more capacitance and roll off a touch of high end but that shouldnt change much as you roll the volume down

Increased brightness at max volume will accentuate the effect. I'm assuming the guitar has a tone control.

 

['59]

I would just pick closer to the neck. A treble bleed works by letting a certain amount of high end to bypass the volume pot. This works because caps block low frequencies better than high frequencies (which is why they are often used to block DC signals). There isn't really an easy way to do the opposite though and let lower frequencies bypass the volume control

 

[Artie]

You could also install a .001 uf cap between the center lug of the volume and ground. That will cause the volume control to do double-duty as volume and subtle tone.

Although, I must admit, you're the first person I've ever heard of wanting to this. But that's ok.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Make sure you have your controls wired for "modern tone", not "50s or Vintage tone".

 

[Wound_Up]

Swap out the cap on the tone control to something else

 

[beaubrummels]

Buy a 1990's Epiphone Les Paul. They did that pretty well.

 

[freefrog]

a 1 meg pot will be brighter when full up than a 500k pot so not sure about that suggestion.

If I can share a thought: the idea might be related to the fact that a 1M pot puts more resistance between pickup and output than a pot of lower value. So it's brighter full up but darker once lowered. AFAIK, that's one of the reason why tradition sticks to 250k pots with single coils instead of favouring 500k + added resistors like Bill Lawrence did.

 

[freefrog]

Erlend_G :

Mount a 1M volume. If it's too bright full up, just solder a resistor between its external lugs (1M if you want the equivalent of a 500k control full up, 330k if you want the same thing than a 250k pot in the same case). It should do what you want.

EDIT - 5Spice sims of what I say with a Fender style SC...

 

[soulforger]

Look at the Fender TBX Tone Control.

 

[idsnowdog]

You could also install a .001 uf cap between the center lug of the volume and ground. That will cause the volume control to do double-duty as volume and subtle tone.

Although, I must admit, you're the first person I've ever heard of wanting to this. But that's ok.

Is that what's going on with these EBO diagrams? https://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/EB0_circuit.php

 

[Artie]

Is that what's going on with these EBO diagrams?

Close, but not exactly. By placing the extra cap across the outside lugs, it's a preset roll-off. By doing the wiper and ground, the roll-off follows the position of the volume pot.

Edit: Mind you, this is somewhat theoretical since I've never tried either one.