What’s your preferred controls

[big kurka]

So I’m getting ready install a set of the Gus g blackouts in a guitar with only 3 controls and I’m wondering what I should make the third control, The other 2 will be volume controls. I’m debating wether I should do a bass roll off or maybe a monetary kill switch button. I don’t really see a need for a regular tone control being this guitar will be hard rock metal guitar.
Anyways what controls do you prefer and why???

 

[Lucius Paisley]

Volume. Everything else is superfluous.

 

[Supernautilus]

I had a Strat once and I ended up removing one of the knobs and making it master tone/volume. I gave that guitar to a friend. All my guitars are 2 pickup. And either 2 or 4 knobs. I like symmetry like that. I can't handle a guitar with 3 pickups or 3 knobs. It would trigger my OCD.

 

[Securb]

We were having this conversation last night. It really depends on the guitar and what I use it for. My black strat with single Black Winter has a single VOL with a stutter switch. I use that guitar for metal/hard rock. My Les Pauls are wired traditional, and I will use the neck tone here and there for classic rock stuff. My midi Parker looks like a NASA control panel.

 

[freefrog]

FWIW, a "bass roll off" control is usually based on series caps and some circuits like fuzz pedals dislike that.

A possibility is to pair a normal tone control with other components than the usual tone caps. These other components can be...

-LOW value capacitors, favoring the high mids: 2,2nF, or 4,7nF, or 10nF for a cocked wah tone. Pete Willis had such a thing in his Hamer Explorer for the first Def Lep albums;

-a pair of diodes for a bit more dirt when engaged. The effect is really subtle but gives more harmonic richness and it can be a bonus in some cases;

-an inductor, with or without added cap(s) and resistor(s). See the Bill Lawrence Q filter for instance. Can give fake acoustic guitar tones or 2d/4th position Strat sounds if wired with components of the proper value (depending themselves on the pickups used);

Non limitative list: many things can be done by manipulating LRC specs through a non typical use of "tone" pots. The only downside is that most of the effect is noticeable only when the pot is next to 0 or next to 10. Reason why a simple on/off switch might be a better idea for tone filters like those that I evoke above.

Good luck in your choice and enjoy.

 

[Synapsys]

My usual setup is twin humbuckers with two pots, one being a push-pull volume knob closer to my picking hand, switching between series/parallel wiring on the neck pickup.

 

[Mincer]

I say, do something like a kill switch, but instead of it killing the signal, have a loud hum. Talk about rebellious!

 

[jeremy]

on a three pup strat, i like mv/mt, usually with a switch in the middle. if its three vintage output single coils, then its a series switch for the bridge and middle pups. if its three humbuckers (hot rails for example) ill put a 4pdt on/on/on for the neck and bridge pups to get series/split/parallel for a wider variety of tones.

for two bucker guitars, i prefer dual volume, dual tone. if there are three controls, ill do neck volume, bridge volume, bridge tone. if there are two its either mv/mt or i use concentric pots to get dual volume/dual tone in two holes.

i dont really have use for a kill switch, but some people like em. bass roll off can be cool, but i like to use fuzzface type pedals and it messes things up there so i dont usually go for those. if you dont use fuzz pedals, then bass roll off can be great to tighten things up

 

[Chistopher]

Geez Louis, did any of you guys even read the prompt?

I'd say a arcade button style kill switch would probably serve you best.

 

[Masta' C]

On a guitar with 3 pots, my usual approach is to block-off/eliminate the pot closest to my picking hand (toss a hole plug in it) and do a simple volume/tone arrangement. I suppose adding a kill switch/button is decent option in lieu of eliminating the third control completely. I like to have at least one push/pull pot for splitting, etc, but with your Gus G set, that isn't an option, so I would keep it simple.

 

[zionstrat]

If you don't need tone and you have a thick, fat guitar, then a base roll off is one of the most useful controls you'll ever use. I use mine to thin down thickness and take me just below crunch.

So when you roll the bass back in you get immediate thickness and crunch.

 

[Chistopher]

FWIW, a "bass roll off" control is usually based on series caps and some circuits like fuzz pedals dislike that.

The pedals that won't like a series bass cap probably won't like the active signal to begin with, so the change of impedance with a cap is negligible.

 

[freefrog]

The pedals that won't like a series bass cap probably won't like the active signal to begin with, so the change of impedance with a cap is negligible.

My bad, I hadn't seen the project was about active pickups.

That's what happens when one reads and answers hastily. Maybe my rambling will be less useless for those who use passive pickups.

 

[Clint 55]

I wired this up last night. Every type of hum woohoo. No clank, no slop. It has a 250k volume and a neck/bridge blender. The hum is an 84 JB with a double thick A2 and the Dmz is a Cruiser.

 

[jeremy]

id dig it. what pups?

 

[Clint 55]

id dig it. what pups?

Thanks. 84 JB with double thick A2, 12k custom mini I had laying around, and a Dmz Cruiser. The overly hot mini ended up working well for the middle.

 

[big kurka]

Well after thinking about it and reading the post I think I’m going to throw in a stutter/kill switch or at least start off with that.
Thank everyone for your opinions.

 

[Sirion]

Volume. Everything else is superfluous.

+1. Give me a volume control in the strat position and I am a happy camper.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Well after thinking about it and reading the post I think I’m going to throw in a stutter/kill switch or at least start off with that.
Thank everyone for your opinions.

If the three controls are in a straight line, I'd probably arrange them as volume / stutter / tone.

 

[donaldr]

Volume, neck/middle tone, bridge tone. I always dial my amp sound with more highs than needed and dial the guitar tone back a bit. I then only play with my guitar tone if I want more/less high for the situation.