Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

[Jolly_Rancher]

I've seen schematics (like the 2 attached) with the cap going from vol pot to tone pot lug #1 and middle lug to ground, and then I've seen the cap going from middle lug to ground on the tone pot. I recently wired in a new tone pot in a 2H vol + ton configuration with the cap bridging vol and tone pot (lug #1) and middle is grounded, and it doesn't sound like it's doing anything when I roll off the tone pot. I also don't know if the cap value might be too high...

Thanks in advance for any helpful insight

 

[Jolly_Rancher]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

Actually the tone control does knock off the shimmer if I roll it down, but it's so subtle I think I just used the wrong cap... I found it in my cap drawer

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

probably just the wrong cap

be sure that there is a ground connection between the tone pot back
and the volume pot back

it would seem more efficient to have one leg of the cap
directly connected to the volume pots back

 

[dystrust]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

I'm not 100% sure how/if the tone pot will work with the cap between both outside lugs. Of the two diagrams you posted, the first is 50s style wiring, while the second is modern. I greatly prefer 50s style because you don't lose treble when rolling down the volume knob. A potential downside (an extra feature IMO) is that the volume and tone knobs are much more interactive with 50s style wiring.

 

[Grenade]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

I'm not 100% sure how/if the tone pot will work with the cap between both outside lugs. Of the two diagrams you posted, the first is 50s style wiring, while the second is modern. I greatly prefer 50s style because you don't lose treble when rolling down the volume knob. A potential downside (an extra feature IMO) is that the volume and tone knobs are much more interactive with 50s style wiring.

The volumes are also independent when the switch is in the middle position with 50's wiring.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

The volumes are also independent when the switch is in the middle position with 50's wiring.

That isn't necessarily the case; I've seen both types of 50s style diagrams. Currently my SG is wired 50s style and does not have independent volumes.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

It sounds like a malfunctioning cap or a very low-valued cap that you are using. What is the code on it?

A typical tone control on a guitar consists of a cap and a variable resistor in series, and is technically called a "low pass filter." The difference between the two cap placements you posted is that in one, the cap comes before the tone pot, and in the other, the cap comes after the tone pot. It seems to me that if you have a cap and a variable resistor in series standing between a signal and ground, that the filter will have the same effect no matter which component comes first. One method simply takes less soldering (and easier soldering) than the other.

It's not an issue of modern vs. '50's wiring. That has to do with where the low pass filters are placed within the entire circuit, not with where the caps are placed within the low pass filters.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

In the first variant the tone pot "auto-engages" as you turn down the volume pot. The volume pot always bleeds off a bit of treble as you turn it down, but it is not the same effect as the tone pot (the former dampens the amplitude of the resonance peak, the tone pot is a first order low pass filter).

So if you do the first variant you turn down the volume pot and it behaves as if you had turned down both the volume pot and the tone pot.

This is one of several things that people refer to when they say "50s wiring". Another prominent use of the term is to connect the volume pots backwards which has nothing in common with this "50s wiring".

 

[scarr]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

A typical tone control on a guitar consists of a cap and a variable resistor in series, and is technically called a "low pass filter." The difference between the two cap placements you posted is that in one, the cap comes before the tone pot, and in the other, the cap comes after the tone pot. It seems to me that if you have a cap and a variable resistor in series standing between a signal and ground, that the filter will have the same effect no matter which component comes first. One method simply takes less soldering (and easier soldering) than the other.

It's not an issue of modern vs. '50's wiring. That has to do with where the low pass filters are placed within the entire circuit, not with where the caps are placed within the low pass filters.

I'd like to highlight this post, because it's a critical point that gets mixed up in these 50s wiring discussions. The tonally differentiating piece is where the pickup is wired to the volume pot, relative to the tone circuit. It doesn't matter if you connect it cap->pot->ground or wire->pot->cap->ground.

 

[Jolly_Rancher]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

The cap that was in there was marked 220J03 and it was a silver mica. I just replaced it with a yellow barrel shaped one marked .01 and it's all peachy. Sounds like a little like a cocked wah rolled down, just like I want it!

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

0.000022 uF, or 1/1000th the value of a normal tone cap.

 

[Jolly_Rancher]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

0.000022 uF, or 1/1000th the value of a normal tone cap.

LOL that explains it!

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

So, what is correct for 50's wiring?

 

[uOpt]

Re: Does it matter which method you use to wire the tone cap?

So, what is correct for 50's wiring?

As I explained earlier, people mean different things when they say "50s wiring".