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Post by Corey on Feb 1, 2011 6:57:25 GMT -7
Weirdly, I woke around 1:30 this morning.. congested, coughing, and restless. So, I went down-stairs.. got some water.. opened the laptop. I wound up printing some cool guitar mods and tricks from www.singlecoil.com. I went down to the basement and plugged in the soldering iron. A few moments later, I'd finished installing some 50's style LP Jr wiring [Master Vol & Tone controls] in my USACG Esquire.. the old LP Jr's had the pots wired together in a very interactive way. Both pots have a smooth and consistent range.. minus "hotspots". The Tone pot is useable, even at minimum setting. WOW. First, I used a 0.0220uf Cap.. but, I wanted a little more darkness in the bottom of the range. I changed the Cap to 0.0470uf. By the way, the Cap value changes the overall feel of the guitar with this circuit [not just the Tone pot].. regardless of the settings. This circuit is a dream in my Esquire. I also installed this Treble Bleed while I was in there.. made the Vol pot even less spikey. Both pots have a very linear affect on the tone/output now. No mud available from either control. I am thrilled with this late-night Mod session. Boy, am I glad I couldn't sleep!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 7:06:45 GMT -7
sounds like quite an interesting mod! So you have v and t knobs on the guitar now? Usually when I open the lap top late at night all I do is scour classified sites for gear...lol. Good stuff Corey
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Post by Corey on Feb 1, 2011 8:20:24 GMT -7
sounds like quite an interesting mod! So you have v and t knobs on the guitar now? Usually when I open the lap top late at night all I do is scour classified sites for gear...lol. Good stuff Corey Haha! Yes sir! Volume and Tone controls are back on my little gal.. the same old CTS/Orange Drop/Callaham parts too.. just connected smarter now. I LOVE this little circuit in my Esquire. I really (really) can't believe that the whole Tone pot range is useable.. and I really can't believe how steady and gradual the Volume pot range is now. I'm more excited about this little change than any passive stompbox I've built (which was partly a substitute for useable guitar controls). My Varitone boxes are cool, but this new control wiring is "the cat's meow"! I am shocked at how simple, toneful, and available this little mod is... ;D WHEN DID GUITAR COMPANIES STOP USING THE TRIED-N-TRUE WIRING METHODS OF THE OLD DAYS. Now, I'm wondering how much mojo should be credited to wiring in those wonderful vintage guitars from the 50's and 60's... Happy. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 8:26:23 GMT -7
cool! Would love to hear some clips of this guitar and the Ghia!
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Post by Corey on Feb 1, 2011 8:31:06 GMT -7
..here we go, with the clips again... Just kidding bud.. it would be nice to get something captured, so I could share. We'll see... Man, I can't wait to get home and plug in this afternoon. [have I gone crazy, over a wiring mod?!]
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 8:46:03 GMT -7
lol...I know, the more I bug you about clips, the quicker we might hear some...LOL!
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Post by Corey on Feb 1, 2011 8:54:17 GMT -7
;D
Mark, do you have any wiring mods in your Teles? Any Treble Bleeds?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 9:00:52 GMT -7
I have a treble bleed on my 52 ri....the problem with me Corey, is that I am just a simple player, nothing fancy at all and usually I have the volume pot wide open, I use my boost for most of the lead breaks. Sometimes I roll off the Vol but it's not very often. It is nice to have though...I couldn't tell you what the cap value is, I can't remember
It's something I need to work on, the working of the v pot on the guitar
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Post by BritInvasion on Feb 1, 2011 9:06:56 GMT -7
Cool post Corey , thanks for the links! I'm like Mark- late nite gear trolling on Craigslist
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Post by Corey on Feb 1, 2011 9:23:15 GMT -7
No problem on the links Frank.. ..I'm trying to build pedals and tinker with wiring mods so I don't "troll" so much. And, at least this time, I hit the jack-pot! That little mod sounds like cake in my Gibson-scaled, Mahogany Esquire. Other times, I just tinker.. and tinker.. I've been wrapping my mind around the basics of Caps, Pots, Resistors, etc...
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Post by scotty on Feb 1, 2011 10:13:48 GMT -7
HAHA! I knew you'd end up with a T and V on your esquire again! Glad you found a wiring scheme that works for you.
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Post by Corey on Feb 1, 2011 10:20:37 GMT -7
Yep, Scotty.. I found it. I've never heard/felt a T and V that worked so well.. Hooray!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 12:11:25 GMT -7
I love singlecoil.com. I have plans to send Dirk a dual pot from a Maestro Fuzz/Phazzer to be rebuilt. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.
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Post by Corey on Feb 2, 2011 8:22:11 GMT -7
..a bit more talk about the new wiring...
Because the Tone control depends so heavily on the Volume control, it only has a subtle affect when V is full.. as V is rolled down, T has more affect. If V is at max, turning T all the way to minimum just softens the brightness some. I love it.
This allows me to set both controls around 70% [using the set screw holes for pointers], as a starting point.. the tone is nice and sweet at this setting [clear and full, not wimpy]. Increasing V yields a little more volume and glassy treble.. not because of treble loss when V is reduced to 70% [the Treble Bleed fixed that], but because T has progressively less affect when V is increased.
Instead of "bright versus dark", the words "hard versus soft" seem more appropriate here.
This level of interaction and effectiveness is something that I didn't think even possible. My view of incorporating guitar controls is now changed forever. I will be setting up my pedals and amp differently now.. to suit my use of guitar controls.
Happy camper here. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 8:24:07 GMT -7
Corey that is super cool! I should try the same thing with my Esquire and see if I can fall back in love with it all over again
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Post by Corey on Feb 2, 2011 8:29:24 GMT -7
Corey that is super cool! I should try the same thing with my Esquire and see if I can fall back in love with it all over again Yeah bro, highly recommended.. ..I literally went from hating guitar controls to loving them, over-night. Let me know if you want any advice or tips..
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 9:17:57 GMT -7
..a bit more talk about the new wiring... Because the Tone control depends so heavily on the Volume control, it only has a subtle affect when V is full.. as V is rolled down, T has more affect. If V is at max, turning T all the way to minimum just softens the brightness some. I love it. This allows me to set both controls around 70% [using the set screw holes for pointers], as a starting point.. the tone is nice and sweet at this setting [clear and full, not wimpy]. Increasing V yields a little more volume and glassy treble.. not because of treble loss when V is reduced to 70% [the Treble Bleed fixed that], but because T has progressively less affect when V is increased. Instead of "bright versus dark", the words "hard versus soft" seem more appropriate here. This level of interaction and effectiveness is something that I didn't think even possible. My view of incorporating guitar controls is now changed forever. I will be setting up my pedals and amp differently now.. to suit my use of guitar controls. Happy camper here. ;D Sounds like a great mod Corey. Its nice when something simple like that makes you want to play more.
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Post by Corey on Feb 2, 2011 9:25:35 GMT -7
..a bit more talk about the new wiring... Because the Tone control depends so heavily on the Volume control, it only has a subtle affect when V is full.. as V is rolled down, T has more affect. If V is at max, turning T all the way to minimum just softens the brightness some. I love it. This allows me to set both controls around 70% [using the set screw holes for pointers], as a starting point.. the tone is nice and sweet at this setting [clear and full, not wimpy]. Increasing V yields a little more volume and glassy treble.. not because of treble loss when V is reduced to 70% [the Treble Bleed fixed that], but because T has progressively less affect when V is increased. Instead of "bright versus dark", the words "hard versus soft" seem more appropriate here. This level of interaction and effectiveness is something that I didn't think even possible. My view of incorporating guitar controls is now changed forever. I will be setting up my pedals and amp differently now.. to suit my use of guitar controls. Happy camper here. ;D Sounds like a great mod Corey. Its nice when something simple like that makes you want to play more. Yeah, Doug.. that's the best part. I am more excited about playing!
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Post by Corey on Feb 2, 2011 9:26:55 GMT -7
I scratched down the circuit, just for clarity...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 9:30:57 GMT -7
so is the switch bypassed altogether?
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Post by Christopher on Feb 2, 2011 9:39:36 GMT -7
I think his guitar only has the bridge pickup.
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Post by rcrecelius on Feb 2, 2011 9:40:56 GMT -7
Ive done this to 2 pickup Tele's before...I never realized it was a 50's LP Jr wiring thing.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 9:51:17 GMT -7
I think his guitar only has the bridge pickup. mine does too....in a normal Esquire guitar though, there is a 3 way switch... pos 1 closest to bridge pup is all pickup with no tone control...middle is with tone control and all the way to the front is a preset muddy bassy tone...I was just wondering with Corey's diagram, there's no switch...it stands to reason I guess if your ground is going to the Jack.... oh and stupid me...I just see Sans Switch....I shoulda known being half french and all! Geez!
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Post by Corey on Feb 2, 2011 9:59:21 GMT -7
Yeah guys.. no switch for me. Just Bridge Pickup > Master Volume > Master Tone > Jack...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 10:27:52 GMT -7
cool! I think this is a must try...I rarely use the switch on my Esquire anyway...it's always in the first position
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Post by Corey on Feb 2, 2011 12:26:18 GMT -7
Hey guys.. just to finish-the-loop on this whole little discussion I've started... I started this same thread over in the Tele Technical section of the TDPRI Forum.. interestingly, 'fezz parka' himself checked in and gave some advice. {TDPRI members refer to this LP Jr mod as "fezz parka"} He says that my Treble Bleed is overkill.. cause the mod already addresses the Treble/Volume ratio. Can you imagine how SIMPLE this circuit would be without the Treble Bleed. TDPRI fezz parka threadI'm gonna stay-tuned over there, and ask the real experts some questions. I may remove the Bleed tonight.. see what happens...
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Post by Corey on Feb 3, 2011 5:46:57 GMT -7
Rejoice! Fezz Parka was right.. I put my Treble Bleed on test leads. After close analysis, I could not perceive any difference between Bleed connected and Bleed disconnected. So, C2 and R1 [ref my diagram above] are removed now. What a simple and toneful little scheme.
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Post by rcrecelius on Feb 3, 2011 16:33:49 GMT -7
Rejoice! Fezz Parka was right.. I put my Treble Bleed on test leads. After close analysis, I could not perceive any difference between Bleed connected and Bleed disconnected. So, C2 and R1 [ref my diagram above] are removed now. What a simple and toneful little scheme. Thats right...I knew I had done this mod before but couldn't remember exactly why...I was doing it instead of using a treble bleed circuit! And I couldnt tell ya which(if any) of my guitars still have this wiring...
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Post by Corey on Feb 3, 2011 18:58:25 GMT -7
^^^ Boy, after A-B'ing this mod versus standard wiring.. I say the difference is night'n day bro. I'd think your guitars with this mod would be obvious. Last night, I used test leads (aka; alligator clips) to switch the Hot wires around. Without the mod, my Volume pot wasn't even usable at around 60%.. with the mod, my Volume was usable down to 15-20%. On my guitar, it really is a night'n day comparison. And, that Tone pot is ultra cool set to minimum. If it's been a while since you tinkered with this thing, maybe you should revisit.
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Post by markT on Feb 4, 2011 4:59:42 GMT -7
Hey Corey....I haven't posted in a few days. I can read from work...but no logging on. And been working on my own Tele at night the past few nights... But, I've been following this thread and glad to hear you found a working V/T solution. Also about the treble bleed--I've been wanting to share what Jason Lollar has to say about this: "How do I keep the treble from bleeding off when I roll the volume down? For Gibson type wiring use the 57 Les Paul custom wiring schematic included in the installation instructions or on my website. You can adapt this to fenders with a little creative adjustment. I do not recommend using a volume bypass capacitor. If you have one on your fender—it's usually a very small cap and resistor located between two of the lugs on the volume control pot. Treble bypass caps roll off the bass and accent the treble as soon as you roll off the volume. The more you roll off the more it sounds like you are playing through a little tin can. This scheme can also degrade the bass and volume when the volume is all the way up if it is leaking. I have had many times where someone called me commenting the pickups sound trebly and weak. Once they got rid of the volume bypass cap the pickups sounded fuller and stronger to an amazing extent. I recommend that you never use that, instead put a smaller tone cap on—fenders use .047, try a .022 which can really improve the volume and tone control action and if needed rewire it to look more like the 57 LP custom schematic." Have you got the Beano out of the closet yet?
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