I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

[Clint 55]

Right now, a 300k audio taper volume with a 330pf cap only treble bleed, and a 250k no load linear taper tone pot with a 6.8nf cap are sounding awesome with the single coils!


The previous schemes I tried:

1 meg vol, no load tone with 47nf cap. Tried to see if I could get a wide range of tones. Ended up not liking it because on full it was way too brittle, then when the tone was dialed down, the large cap made it too dark.

Went to 500k vol and a smaller cap. Liked the small cap because it gave me a wide range to find the right warm tone. Also ended up still sounding good near zero or even on zero. However 500k vol was still too brittle on full.

Tried 250k vol, lost clarity.

Finally tried the rare 300k and it sounds great on full! Really warm and bassy with enough sparkle too. I'm digging the tiny cap as well - It darkens but doesn't mud up through almost the entire range. Even 0 is usable.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Glad it works for you, I can't imagine being that particular though. I can dial in a awesome sounds with singles equipped with 250k pots all the way through 1 meg; I have a variety of single coil guitars each with 250k, 500k, 1 meg in various combinations, two tone, no tone, one tone, etc. (not counting Jaguar/Jazzmaster rhythm circuits which have like 25k I think.) They're all useable, but not necessarily through the same EQ or even amps.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Thanks. I have guitars with various values as well. My sss strat was the most challenging to get dialed in because I have to have sparkle, and I have to have bass and body, and I play at low volume. It really helped me to be that specific for that particular guitar with the ssls. Other axes were much easier to dial in: Jazz guitar? Throw 250k pots in there, no treble bleed, huge cap. Bass? Just go max detail, 1 meg vol and 500k no load tone etc. You're right about the amp making a big difference. Also I think it's much easier to get an awesome sound regardless of the guitar once you get the speaker pushing air. However I like playing clean at bedroom volume a lot so I spend a lot of time getting my electronics and set ups just right.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Caps are the thing I need to play around with more. The only guitar I have where the tone and volume act like I want it is my Jazzmaster; .47 I think? Orange Drop, 1 meg linear volume, audio tone. Rolls off where I want it, effective tone control. The worst is probably my stock Soloist; 500k unknown (to me) taper and cap, but the controls are near useless.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Oh noo, sorry about the soloist haha. I like the audio taper tone control concept as well, but I use a linear taper pot and then a small cap to get a similar gradual roll off. I got some ceramic cap sets off ebay for cheap.

Another reason I learned why it's helpful to tune the electronics to the guitar is that the load of the pots and the cap affect the sound differently. More load lowers the amplitude of the resonant peak, while the cap shifts the resonant peak towards bass.

 

[AlexR]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

One of the cool things with a strat is to make the tone controls separate......so one cap for each and no crossover where both pots are linked by the bridging wire. I find a .1 for the bridge/middle and a .022 or .047 for the neck (its almost always on 10 anyhow) is the best for my ears.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Nice. I have a .1uf in my Jazz neck LP.

 

[Jacew]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Right now, a 300k audio taper volume with a 330pf cap only treble bleed, and a 250k no load linear taper tone pot with a 6.8nf cap are sounding awesome with the single coils!


The previous schemes I tried:

1 meg vol, no load tone with 47nf cap. Tried to see if I could get a wide range of tones. Ended up not liking it because on full it was way too brittle, then when the tone was dialed down, the large cap made it too dark.

Went to 500k vol and a smaller cap. Liked the small cap because it gave me a wide range to find the right warm tone. Also ended up still sounding good near zero or even on zero. However 500k vol was still too brittle on full.

Tried 250k vol, lost clarity.

Finally tried the rare 300k and it sounds great on full! Really warm and bassy with enough sparkle too. I'm digging the tiny cap as well - It darkens but doesn't mud up through almost the entire range. Even 0 is usable.

I agree, "normal" cap values are way too dark with 250k pots.

When I used 250k volume with single coils, I ended up replacing the tone circuit with switch between 6,6nf/1nf cap behind 22k resistor, as I've never seen that much use for a tone pot anyway. Works nicely.

I like the 500k pots I switched later for their much better clarity and punch. Fixed them being too brittle by adding a 22nf capacitor behind 250k resistor on output jack. "Fixed tone pot", sort of.

With two separate volumes + no-load master volume, and non-standard pickup selection with series switching. It's pretty weird DIY scheme. But has never sounded better

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

I agree, "normal" cap values are way too dark with 250k pots.

Cool. I just put a 2.2nf cap in the strat. 1 - 10nf seems like the sweet spot.

 

[Jacew]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Cool. I just put a 2.2nf cap in the strat. 1 - 10nf seems like the sweet spot.

Behind 250k tone pot? I've found that the sweet spot with 0-100 kohms resistance in front of cap (and 250k volume). What pickups do you used?

Tone cap doesn't seem to work well without any resistance in front of it, even with 1nf cap. It's RC-circuit for a reason.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Oh. Yeah haha. On the tone pot.

You're right that caps need resistance to work. I'm down in the below 10nf range for my 250k tone pot with 300k volume (Strat with ssl1,1,5 set). While all 500k requires a larger cap, and the cap barely works at all with all 1 meg pots. It's obvious to pair a 250k volume with a 250k tone, and a 1 meg volume seems like it works best with a 250k tone. A 500k tone with a 500k volume works pretty well, but I think I'm gonna use 250k or 250k no load tone for everything in the future and just adjust with the cap.

The 2.2nf cap is pretty cool. Rolled all the way off, It's just barely to the point where it loses detail, but it's not really muddy. It still almost sounds stratty.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Tried 50s wiring for the first time. Mind blown.

Really digging the 300k volume pot as well.
Plus reducing the treble bleed from 330 pf to 220pf makes the tone get warmer when rolled down but maintain clarity.
That with the 2.2nf cap, I'm getting super clear, warm, sparkly tone out of the mini rig on 3!

 

[Jacew]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Tried 50s wiring for the first time. Mind blown.

You mean wired pickup side on middle lug of volume? I prefer that too, it gives much better clarity when using volume below 10.

 

[Mincer]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Congrats of figuring out what works! I am pretty particular, and won't stop until I can re-create the sound in my head. I am pretty crazy about the taper of pots, and how easy they are to turn, too, since I use them all the time. Plus, it is sort of fun for me to figure this stuff out- it is different for every guitar.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

You mean wired pickup side on middle lug of volume? I prefer that too, it gives much better clarity when using volume below 10.

Yeah, the tone to the middle lug. Sounds rich!

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I got my single coil Strat pots Dialed!

Congrats of figuring out what works! I am pretty particular, and won't stop until I can re-create the sound in my head. I am pretty crazy about the taper of pots, and how easy they are to turn, too, since I use them all the time. Plus, it is sort of fun for me to figure this stuff out- it is different for every guitar.

Thanks. Getting my electronics all fixed up is fun for me also. One of my favorite things actually, besides making a new guitar, but I have enough. It's funny because my old teacher and tech says he hates wiring!