My idea: Reversed Tone Pots

[Kommerzbassist]

I was thinking (which is basically never good) and came to the conclusion that if you have a 1 pup guitar and 3 pots, you could do Vol, Tone, Reverse Tone, while Reverse Tone cuts the low end instead of the top and lets others pass... just a random idea, but sure interesting to try out imo :smack:
Any thoughts? :dance:

 

[Artie]

Re: My idea: Reversed Tone Pots

It would work if you're carefull with the values you pick. This is exactly what my "de-mud" mod is, except I use a fixed value rather than making it adjustable. You wire the cap in parallel with the tone pot, rather than series. Also, the whole shebang goes in series with your hot wire, rather than to ground.

There's better ways to do it, but it would work somewhat.

Artie

 

[Zerberus]

Re: My idea: Reversed Tone Pots

It would work if you're carefull with the values you pick. This is exactly what my "de-mud" mod is, except I use a fixed value rather than making it adjustable. You wire the cap in parallel with the tone pot, rather than series. Also, the whole shebang goes in series with your hot wire, rather than to ground.

There's better ways to do it, but it would work somewhat.

Artie

Ah. yes, the famed "Adjust-a-Mud".. I may actually have to try that one soon, got a guitar that may need a girdle

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: My idea: Reversed Tone Pots

It would work if you're carefull with the values you pick. This is exactly what my "de-mud" mod is, except I use a fixed value rather than making it adjustable. You wire the cap in parallel with the tone pot, rather than series. Also, the whole shebang goes in series with your hot wire, rather than to ground.

There's better ways to do it, but it would work somewhat.

Artie

Haha I knew how to do this already, but yes, that's what I meant... the pot as "how much low end comes through" thingy

 

[octavedoctor]

Re: My idea: Reversed Tone Pots

Haha I knew how to do this already, but yes, that's what I meant... the pot as "how much low end comes through" thingy

The only way to make a proper high pass filter - which is what i believe you are referring to with your term "reverse tone" - is to use a coil in place of the capacitor in a conventional tone control.

Artie's demud mod is kind of like a "inverted choke" acting on the low frequencies. It's something i've used on occasion to control the resonant peak of a pair of single coils in series but the presence of a variable resistance between 0 and 500k in series with the pickups can cause unwanted effects which i think is what Artie meant when he said "there are better ways to do it but it would work somewhat."

A preferred method would be to use a multiway rotary switch and a capacitor network to control the value of the series capacitor inserted into the signal line to produce a stepped control for the LF choke effect...

 

[Quencho092]

Re: My idea: Reversed Tone Pots

http://www.guitar-mod.com/mod_jumper.html

That controls mids, turning it down tames the 'aggressiveness' of the pickup, boosting it makes it sound raunchier. It's all passive, so when you turn it up, it actually kills bass and treble for a 'relative mid boost'.

I would like to tame the bass on my neck pickup as well, it makes amps fart when i play loud.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: My idea: Reversed Tone Pots

The only way to make a proper high pass filter - which is what i believe you are referring to with your term "reverse tone" - is to use a coil in place of the capacitor in a conventional tone control.

Uhm actually, a cap IS a highpass filter.
This is why you control how much of the signal gets to ground over teh cap with normal tone pots. A cap more or less only lets the high frequencies pass through.

 

[Artie]

Re: My idea: Reversed Tone Pots

Thats true, but what OD is saying is correct also. If you look at a decent quality speaker cross-over, it will use an inductor for the woofers low-pass, and a cap for the tweeters high-pass. Its one of the reasons I eliminated the "adjustability" from my de-mud mod. Here's the problem:

A resistor, (aka, a pot), limits current more so than voltage. The current that a pup produces is microscopic. So, the voltage drop across a series resistor is minute. The 500k pot I put in series with my de-mud mod made almost no difference turned from 0 to 10. Thats why I replaced it with a fixed resistor.

You should try what you're thinking of just as a cool experiment, but I think you'll find that the results won't be what you want. Also, note that the link that Quencho posted shows the use of an inductor. (The small blue thing in the photos.)

Artie