Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

[Clint 55]

I'm gonna rewire my jazz strat with a C100k volume pot and an A250k no load tone with an 18nf pio cap. Think I should add another hole in the pickguard for another tone with a 22nf orange drop? Or do you think it will be plenty with the fat volume pot and 1 tone.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

100k volume might make things kinda muddy. If you're really set on the 100k volume, maybe try PTB wiring . . . so you have a way of rolling off bass as well as highs:

Might help you cut through the mud a bit better.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

Ya I like my fat jazz tones. 250k volume with the no load tone on 10 is still spiky for the tones I'm going for. It sounds good with the tone down, but it's fun to have things to fiddle with like being able to use capacitance or resistance to darken the tone. I tried 100k pots before and it was indeed fat and a bit muddy. But that was when I didn't understand that an 100k tone even on 10 is waaay too low of a value. I'm gonna try the 100k volume with a 250k no load tone this time and see how I like it. If it sucks I'll just put the 250k volume back.

 

[shadowfire90]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

I say try the 2 tones. as it'll bring the resonant peak down. I love the idea of the G&L PTB style wiring but it was nothing to scream about in my opinion.

perhaps start off with doubling the current tone capacitor if it's one tone with whatever material you've got. You can also put two capacitors in parallel if you've got some you can mix and match. Any two capacitors in parallel go together so say 22nf and 22nf is 44nf. To connect in parallel both capacitors start in the same exact place and end in the same. It'll look like one is jumping over the other playing leap frog. Terrible euphemism but you get the idea I'm sure.

Mod wise there is a really old one called the "fender jazz mod" which just adds a capacitor to the wiring as a filter. Premier guitar did a crude sketch of it a while ago.

Ever try D'Addario chromes or half rounds? Just like picks I used to think they were all the same but they can shape the tone to your advantage. If you're not a fan of D'Addario I'm sure a brand or two you've used over the years will do the justice. Chromes are the more extreme to the point you'll wonder if they are guitar strings and the half wounds are night and day compared to our usual nickel plated steel.

One summer I remember putting a really basic external varitone together. The housing was a discarded yogurt container I drilled a few holes in. Two mono jacks, a tiny bit of wire and a 6 stage rotary switch of some sort. It was years ago. Anyways when I'd do custom wiring instead of emphasizing capacitor materials instead of material I put 6 of the more popular values we go with in guitars. 10nf, 22nf , 33nf , 47nf , 100nf and a bypass option. It was easy to explain extra brightness or volume if the guitar wasn't up to the task but doing this quick test with capacitors made people feel in control and the peoples looks from the yogurt container was worth the trouble.

anyways those are my 2 cents

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

I put a custom set of balanced 11-52 Chromes on recently that I made and am really liking them. I'm gonna start spending time practicing jazz again and am getting my guitar all fixed up. I like having only 2 knobs on my other strats so I can pick near the bridge easily. However, there's no point in picking near the bridge for jazz and I think it would be fun to be able to use 2 different caps. I'm going to make the pots no load so I'll have the choice of having one or both either in or out of the circuit. I'm gonna start with 18nf and 22nf because they're my favorite values. I like 18 because it's the lowest value that still sounds bassy. I like 22 cuz it's a little bassier but still creamy. Maybe I will try 27 or 33.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

I had a 70’s Hayman 3030 guitar back in the 80s. It was really dark sounding. You see people replace the humbuckers on those all the time probably for that reason.

Turns out they used 100k volume and tone pots. I replaced them with 500k and it was like taking a blanket off the amp.

So I suppose a 100k volume would do it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

I say just get a 250K linear pot and run it turned down a bit to muffle it. Linear gives you a more fine control over how much you tamp it down in the upper ranges of the knob (vs. a standard 250K Strat pot, which muds up very quickly when you turn down). You also have your tone controls, which are capable of giving you a range from ultra bright, all the way down to complete mud if that's what you want. That way the guitar is not pigeonholed into the 100K sound, and can be used for all sorts of tones. There's really no reason a standard Strat with standard Strat wiring, put through an amp with a decent e.q. section, can't do a perfectly good solid-bodied jazz sound.

If you're going to use master controls at all on a Strat (something I highly dislike myself because I like having different tone controls for different pickups), just do what the guy above said and use a PTB wiring scheme. I like G&L's PTB circuit the best.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

It's my jazz strat. I ain't puttin no bass cut knob on it. DRM: Yeah, I think the 100k volume should do it. An 100k tone is like a 250k tone on 4 at the highest and is just ridiculous.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

Well, I'd think you can just EQ it that way from the amp.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

I was thinking that also. It's just fun for me. Gonna try the anti log 100k volume and no load log 250k tone. Not gonna drill another hole.

Mincers: do you want my xHH pickguard that I just got? I got it for this guitar but don't want it cuz I'm gonna keep it 1 neck hum. You might like it because you said you don't use the bridge often.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

Thanks for the offer, but I don't have an instrument I am currently working on that could use it. I am sure someone else would put it to use. While it is true I prefer a neck pickup, and use it a lot, if I am playing a solo on the lower frets, I tend to use the bridge pickup and switch to the neck as I move up. Solos generally use many different parts of the neck, so I am constantly changing pickups, at least when soloing.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

I see

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

I'm in tone heaven! The C100k volume worked perfectly. It still has Charlie Christian top end but it's warmer and smokier. It's not spiky anymore and it didn't end up totally fat like with the tone down. I also like the anti log taper. I tried a linear 300k no load tone but too much of the sweep is taken up by the bright part. It gets dark at like 4. Gonna go back to the audio 250k no load when they arrive.

I'm all hyped up from the tone and don't want to sleep.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

If you come back to the idea of two tone knobs, I'd like to throw in the idea of using one with a big, say .047uf cap, and the other one with a smaller .015uf cap. But here's the kicker, also put a maybe .0047uf bass cut cap on the .047uf tone control to add a subtle bass rolloff, so that the tone doesn't get too fat when you roll it off. Then you can use the smaller cap to fine tune how dark you want it.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

That sounds like a cool idea. I don't think I can drill more holes and leave my 2 knob aesthetic tho. The linear tone pot has to go! My new audio ones have been in preshipment for like 4 days lol.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Should I put 2 tones on my jazz strat?!

Got the jazz strat dialed and it sounds just right. The final spex are: 59n with A2 spacers. 11,15,20,28,38,52 Chromes. Anti log 100k volume pot. Audio 250k no load tone pot with 18nf pio. Practicing time!