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problem with tone control on stratocaster

S

shadow151

Jan 1, 1970
0
I've modified my guitar like so: http://www.1728.com/guitar2.htm I
also replace the stock pickups with mighty mite pickups which are 5.2k
ohms and have an inductance of 3.8H. Anyway it all works great except
for the tone control, when it is turned down the volume fades out at
about 3. Here was the original wiring, I did not have this problem
with it. It had a separate tone control for the neck and middle
pickups. The new wiring has only one tone control. I moved the tone
control before the volume in the circuit since thats how it was in the
stock wiring and it improved it a little(the volume starts to fade out
at a lower setting). I'm thinking a might also need to put a lower
value capacitor too or something, any ideas?
 
F

Fletch

Jan 1, 1970
0
I've modified my guitar like so:http://www.1728.com/guitar2.htmI
also replace the stock pickups with mighty mite pickups which are 5.2k
ohms and have an inductance of 3.8H. Anyway it all works great except
for the tone control, when it is turned down the volume fades out at
about 3. Here was the original wiring, I did not have this problem
with it. It had a separate tone control for the neck and middle
pickups. The new wiring has only one tone control. I moved the tone
control before the volume in the circuit since thats how it was in the
stock wiring and it improved it a little(the volume starts to fade out
at a lower setting). I'm thinking a might also need to put a lower
value capacitor too or something, any ideas?


This looks pretty straight forward. Have you traced everything to be
sure it is all wired correctly. Yes, it's an annoying little question,
but oftentimes a wire is going to the wrong place.

Also, what about your grounding from the pots. Where is it going? And
the cap; where are you grounding that?

Got a picture to share of your wiring job that shows the details? That
would help.

--Fletch
 
G

GregS

Jan 1, 1970
0
I've modified my guitar like so: http://www.1728.com/guitar2.htm I
also replace the stock pickups with mighty mite pickups which are 5.2k
ohms and have an inductance of 3.8H. Anyway it all works great except
for the tone control, when it is turned down the volume fades out at
about 3. Here was the original wiring, I did not have this problem
with it. It had a separate tone control for the neck and middle
pickups. The new wiring has only one tone control. I moved the tone
control before the volume in the circuit since thats how it was in the
stock wiring and it improved it a little(the volume starts to fade out
at a lower setting). I'm thinking a might also need to put a lower
value capacitor too or something, any ideas?

What are the specs on the orginals? What value cap do you have?

greg
 
S

shadow151

Jan 1, 1970
0
I measured the old squire pups they are 3.7k ohms each. I'm using star
grounding, all grounds is connected to a common point. The cap is
0.033uf which is stock. The tone and volume control use 500k ohm pots.
Would the Xc/R ratio come into play with the tone circuit? I played
with it some and the ratios where rather big which would indicate that
the circuit is mosty resistive. So that would mean when the pots have
a low resistance the signal would get pulled to ground. Do i just need
to use a smaller cap to increase Xc? Around what ratio should i be
looking for? Other guitars seem to use around the same values( 0.033
or 0.047uf caps with 500k pots).
 
F

Fletch

Jan 1, 1970
0
I measured the old squire pups they are 3.7k ohms each. I'm using star
grounding, all grounds is connected to a common point. The cap is
0.033uf which is stock. The tone and volume control use 500k ohm pots.
Would the Xc/R ratio come into play with the tone circuit? I played
with it some and the ratios where rather big which would indicate that
the circuit is mosty resistive. So that would mean when the pots have
a low resistance the signal would get pulled to ground. Do i just need
to use a smaller cap to increase Xc? Around what ratio should i be
looking for? Other guitars seem to use around the same values( 0.033
or 0.047uf caps with 500k pots).


Older strats and teles used 250Kohm pots and the 0.047uf caps (or
values there abouts on the cap). The higher the value on the cap, the
less high frequencies get through. The 250Kohm pots are pretty typical
for single coil pickups. The lower the value the more highs that get
through.

So you can balance your pots and caps to obtain the sound you're
looking for as far as frequency range.

--Fletch
 
S

shadow151

Jan 1, 1970
0
Frequency range isn't really my problem, the problem is that the tone
control acts like a volume when its turned down below 4. I can take it
apart and take a photo of the wiring if i must. I did check the wiring
over several times it just like on that web site except i moved the
tone control before the volume.
 
M

Marra

Jan 1, 1970
0
Frequency range isn't really my problem, the problem is that the tone
control acts like a volume when its turned down below 4. I can take it
apart and take a photo of the wiring if i must. I did check the wiring
over several times it just like on that web site except i moved the
tone control before the volume.

The action of the tone control depends very much on the note you are
playing.

You cant expect to turn down the tone tone and still get high notes !
and vice versa.
 
N

Nil

Jan 1, 1970
0
You cant expect to turn down the tone tone and still get high
notes ! and vice versa.

You you can, and should. The guitar's tone control only affect the
note's higher overtones - it hardly affects the fundamental at all. If
you can't clearly hear every note on the instrument even with the tone
turned all the way down, something is very wrong.
 
S

shadow151

Jan 1, 1970
0
You you can, and should. The guitar's tone control only affect the
note's higher overtones - it hardly affects the fundamental at all. If
you can't clearly hear every note on the instrument even with the tone
turned all the way down, something is very wrong.

I hear nothing when its turned all the way down the volume starts to
fade out at around 4(of 10)
 
F

Fletch

Jan 1, 1970
0
I hear nothing when its turned all the way down the volume starts to
fade out at around 4(of 10)


I'm at a loss here without seeing the actual wiring configuration
you've done. I'm wondering if you may not have inadvertantly wired the
switch wrong and it is causing some cross 'contamination'.

--Fletch
 
M

Marra

Jan 1, 1970
0
You you can, and should. The guitar's tone control only affect the
note's higher overtones - it hardly affects the fundamental at all. If
you can't clearly hear every note on the instrument even with the tone
turned all the way down, something is very wrong.

The tone control on my Peavey turns down the volume of high notes.
You can barely hear the high notes with it turned right down.
But hang on, thats what a tone controls supposed to do !
 
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