Tone cap for QP tele

[Mikelamury]

What value tone cap would you guys recommend for a QP tele bridge pickup? Thanks

 

[Mincer]

Personally, I'd keep the stock one, but I might experiment with 500k pots.

 

[Mikelamury]

Personally, I'd keep the stock one, but I might experiment with 500k pots.

What do you mean by 'stock' one? It didn't come with a tone cap. Please clarify. What would 500k pots do to the sound?

 

[Mincer]

The stock one already in the Telecaster.

500k pots would brighten the sort of mid-forward sound of the Quarter Pound. Some people like it, some say it is too dark. I'd try it with the stock pots, and see how you like it.

 

[Clint 55]

Yeah, regular values work fine. If you specifically want them to perform differently for you, then you can get a better idea of what to change to. The regular value of 47nf is dark, 22nf is medium dark, below that gets creamy and/or middy, etc.

 

[GuitarStv]

22nF is a good tone cap value to start with, then tweak from there if you're not happy. Smaller value will be less dark as you roll back the tone knob, larger value will get darker quicker.

 

[jeremy]

i agree .022 is a good place to start, some times i like a .015, seldom a .047 but .022 seems to work for almost everything

 

[Chistopher]

I'd say you probably want a bass cut rather than tone control

 

[Mikelamury]

I'm actually thinking about going with the 500k pots it seems a bit too dark right now. It already has a .022 tone cap in it from when I built it, I think I'll replace the volume pot with a 500k, what would you guys recommend for the tone pot? What would a 250 k tone pot do vs a 500k? After the pots I'll tackle the tone cap if it still doesn't sound right. Thanks alot guys.

 

[Clint 55]

I like to use 250k no load tone pots because they're max bright on 10 but taper well. Although, 500k are more common and will give you more brightness on 10 compared to a regular 250k tone pot but a way longer sweep.

 

[Mincer]

I'm actually thinking about going with the 500k pots it seems a bit too dark right now. It already has a .022 tone cap in it from when I built it, I think I'll replace the volume pot with a 500k, what would you guys recommend for the tone pot? What would a 250 k tone pot do vs a 500k? After the pots I'll tackle the tone cap if it still doesn't sound right. Thanks alot guys.

I'd just go ahead and switch them both out for 500k. That should brighten them up sufficiently.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

I concur with 500K for both and the present .022uF cap to start. If that isn't enough rolloff, go larger and try a .033 or .047uF.
As mentioned, the QP has strong midrange. Smaller caps tend to bring up the mids when you take down the treble.
You might not want that. Then again, maybe you would. As with all things tone, it's a matter of personal taste.

Still, it's safe to expect 500K pots will give a little more bite and snap, and a bit more sparkle from your neck pickup.
The QP will still have plenty of body and muscle.

 

[jeremy]

i like two 500k controls for the qp tele pups

 

[GuitarStv]

With dark/powerful pickups like the QP I'd think that using a simple treble bleed - the kind that rolls up treble as you roll down the volume - would be a great idea. You can have big/dark full power sound for distortion and brighter/cleaner tones by rolling back the volume.