Antiquity bridge - too bright - 500k pot

[Wattage]

Running a set of Antiquity humbuckers in my Standard and I really like them but the bridge has a sort of shrill high end, if I roll off the tone a bit it sounds great. I am running 500k pots with .022 OD caps. Am I best off putting a 300k tone pot in on the bridge to tame it or should I change the volume pot to 300k and just let less pass through to the tone pot? I am assuming that changing the cap will do little for me when it is run wide open and since I would rarely if ever need the cut of a .047 I figured I'd leave the caps alone.

Any thoughts before I get out the gun?

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Antiquity bridge - too bright - 500k pot

Actually, a .033 cap might be the first thing to try. It will bleed some treble to ground even at "10".

Next step would be to try a 300k tone pot - IIRC you could just put a 750k resistor across the two outside terminals on the tone pot first without replacing the pot. That will give you a bastardized 300k pot. The taper will be flatter than normal (I think), but it's a quick experiment to see if it gets you what you want.

Chip

 

[Tweed]

Re: Antiquity bridge - too bright - 500k pot

It sounds like you've already answered your own question. You say when you roll off the tone a bit, it sounds great. So, why change anything? I rarely play the bridge pups on my lesters, or anything else with humbuckers with the tone on 10. It's always too thin and treble-sounding to my ears. You have the setup that most players like in a LP, with the 500K pots (I'm assuming they're audio tapers), and the .022 cap. Also, if you don't have it wired '50s-style, it's well worth trying. You'll find a wider variety of tones. Most players seem to prefer it. Work those knobs, bro. That's what they're for.

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Antiquity bridge - too bright - 500k pot

if I roll off the tone a bit it sounds great

My thought is play it with the tone rolled off a bit!

Seriously, I frequently have my bridge tone knob back at 7 or less these days (Seths in LP).

When I'm adjusting my amp I set the EQ so there's enough high end that the neck pickup doesn't sound muddy. Then I use the bridge tone knob on the guitar to get the bridge pup right. It gives a nice fat tone. For rhythm playing I usually have the volume down to 7 or 8 too. If you don't have the 50s mod (I don't) backing the volume off cuts some high end too - then you get a top boost when you go flat out for a solo.

Simon

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Antiquity bridge - too bright - 500k pot

Scott,

You've played my LP CUstom with Ants. Mine isn't overly bright, except for the effect of the ebony fretboard. Does your Standard sound brighter than the Custom? If so, try adjusting the pup height. I found that makes a difference.

Jeff

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Antiquity bridge - too bright - 500k pot

I roll back the tone knob on my Lester's bridge pickup too (PGb). I also use a 250k CTS pot though, and I like what it does for the tone.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Antiquity bridge - too bright - 500k pot

Thanks guys. I figure I could just leave it rolled back a bit, but I am a bit animated when I play and I'll never get it right. I do use the knobs quite a bit but I like to be able to run it wide open as well, just a personal quirk I guess. I didn't realize that at wide open the cap entered into the equation, easy enough to change that out.

Jeff it is definitely a bit brighter than your Custom (which was an inspiration for these pups), it isn't even so much brightness as it is very shrill at the very top end. The guitar is definitely not the issue, it is one of the most balanced guitars I ever owned, but I'll have to mess with the pup height again maybe I was too quick to change parts. Guess I am used to just swapping stuff in and out it's become a crutch.

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: Antiquity bridge - too bright - 500k pot

Actually, that's exactly how I setup my LPs and amps. I do the tone for the bridge at vol 10 tone ~6-7. And when I need the extra scream in a band situation, well I turn it all the way up! And that's a very cool thing.

I say don't touch it!

B