Tone controls

[kellar]

Does anyone actually use them on their guitar? My volume controls seem to shape my tone enough and the two extra tone controls just seem to annoy me for whatever reason. As a matter of fact, I took the knobs off of them in an attempt to pretend they are not there. It actually looks kind of cool. :D

[hhcave]

I only really use the tone control for the bridge pickup when playing jazz stuff (i roll it down)


But then again i rarely do that...

[CmdChicken]

I quite often roll the tone off my neck pickup, especilly on strats. I like it thick :D

[HTH AMPS]

I use the tone controls on all my guitars except my EMG-loaded Explorer where I don't even have them wired up.

On my Mule-loaded Les Paul I roll the tone down to fatten up the tone for solos.  I'm running NOS bumblebees in that guitar and for tone caps there really is nothing better.

My Tele is generally a tiny bit too cutting for most of my needs, so I run the tone at 7 just to shave that edge off it - seriously fattens that Tele up.

Same deal on my LP junior - tone around 7 just to take the edge off things.

I must stress that good quality tone caps make all the deference - for years I never used the tone pots on my guitars as it just muddied things up, but a good tone cap can really add versatility.

[jibidy]

I usually get a really bright jangly tone then use the tone to drken it accordingly. It means that i can get more tones just by usibg my tone control!

[Elliot]

I use them all the time - I find I can get a serviceable Peter Green tone on one a strat by playing with the tone controls on the middle/neck position.  I also do the early Clapton trick of rolling off the tone on my Mule equipped bridge to get that Stepping Out tone.

[AndyR]

I use my tone controls all the time.

Years ago (with a strat) I learnt to set up my amp tones with more top-end than I need then roll it back on the guitar tones - gives you the feeling of loads of versatility from your guitar alone.

I learnt this off watching Rory Gallagher live several times in the late 70s and early 80s. In an interview in the mid-late 70s he said he turned all the bass down, all the treble and mids up, all the volume up, and then used his guitar controls. It worked for me for while, but I find those settings a little extreme nowadays!

[MrBump]

Definitely agree with the right caps, but also the right pots.  A change of my Charvel pots to decent CTS pots made a world of difference.

Mark.

[kellar]

Which gives you better brightness in a Les Paul, the Modern or Vintage way of wiring the cap?

[kellar]

I am assuming that not wiring up the tone controls will make the overall sound brighter, correct? If so, all that needs to be done is wire the pickups to the volume pots, correct? Do I need to ground the volume pots to each other?

[Roobubba]

Everything should be grounded to one point (to avoid ground loops) if at all possible!

I followed one of these online guides (and I'm sure someone else will link to it, because I can't remember what it was called). It helped (amongst other tricks, too) with some squealing issues I'd been having.

Roo

[kellar]

Cool man, so basically just one ground wire attaching the volume pots would do? I'll try it out.

[WezV]

The slightly overkill way of wiring  and shielding a guitar

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

star grounding makes a lot of sense though

[kellar]

Thanks for the link Wez, good info!

[Ratrod]

I hardly ever use them. On some rare occasions I might use the mud switch on my Gretsch. My volume is always on max too. I like to push the full guitar signal in the amp.