Guitar Tone Capacitor Values - My Faves

Today, I would like to present my favorite values of tone caps in guitar wirings. It will be the selection for a common type of a tone control: volume pot + capacitor. It's something well known from most of guitars on the market.

If you are thinking about changing the tone cap in your guitar, this short article can be helpful.

This is how I describing my two main purposes of using the potentiometer based guitar tone control:

A:

For soft, warm and jazzy smooth tone, or for the „woman tone”.

Works nice with a well tuned pot - not on full – if you want warmth and smoothness. If you want to get the „woman tone”, it can work well on the maximum turn-on.

B:

Good for making the tone a little bit smoother and well balanced. Works nice if the knob is turned only slightly. Good for small interference of the tone control circuit.

Magic of Simple, Single Pickup Guitars

Sometimes a simple electric guitar with one pickup is enough to get many cool tones. In this post, I would like to present some inormation and music videos about this kind of axes. It will be about simple, but quite iconic guitar constructions, used by famous guitarists.

Edward Van Halen

Home made Frankensteins or Frankenstrats, Charvels and Kramers are guitars, that Eddie was using frequently to reach many famus hard rock vibes and tones. This guitars were usually equipped with one humbucker, one vulume pot, and the Floyd Rose bridge. 

Edward van Halen - Cathedral - Kramer

Van Halen - Panama -  Kramer

Van Halen - The Full Bug - Frankenstein

Neck Pickup Switch (Gilmour's Strat)

In this post I will show you a wiring diagram of the neck pickup switch. This is something uncommon, what David Gilmour has got in his signature Stratocaster guitar - Black Strat. It allows him to switch-on the neck pickup, when the selector is connecting only the bridge or the bridge and the middle single-coils. In this way, he can play on the „neck + bridge” pickup configuration, or even on all single-coils together.

Diagram:

Simple Tone Switch

In this post I will show you, how to mount in your guitar a simple, but useful tone switch.

This circuit can help you cut-off a little bit of high-end (high frequencies) from the guitar signal. It means, that your guitar tone will be a little bit fatter and more round after using the switch. It will not work just like a classic, potentiometer based tone control. It's more subtle, and it can be switched only on and off, by a toggle (there's no pot).

The circuit is based on one SPDT on-on mini toggle switch and one capacitor.

Diagram:

David Gilmour Without a Guitar

What can David Gilmour do without any of of his guitars?
Also great music. For example, he can:

• just sing,
• play on a saxophone ,
• or on a banjo.

(links to YT videos)

photo by deep_schismic

Very creative person.

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Schecter C-1 and Solo Wiring Mod

Today I would like to present a wiring diagram with modification for Schecter C-1 and Solo electric guitars. The mod is based on a toggle switch, which is in the place of one of volume pots. The switch will allow you to get a new, extra tone - more crisp and with better dynamic. It's based on Charvel's one pot wiring.

The modification is quite economical. To make it, you need only one mini toggle switch - DPDT on-on type. The rest of parts can be from the stock wiring.

Diagram:

Ibanez Stable Bridge Designs

Edge Tremolo bridges are one of famous parts of Ibanez guitars. People are saying many things about them, but what about Ibanez hard-tail, stable bridges?

I'm a fan of hard-tail. A bridge type really has a matter for a guitar sound. I think, that stable bridge, with good „touch” to the wood is something great for a guitar tone. It help makes a deeper, more woody sound.

If you think that hard-tail bridges are simple, and there's nothing special in their construction, I have a proposition. Lets look at some beautiful Ibanez designs. 

• Tight-End bridge in RG
• Gibraltar Standard bridge in RGA
• another Gibraltar Standard in RGA
• Gibraltar Standard in RGA (7 strings)
• Gibraltar Custom bridge in Destroyer

They are pretty good also in making stable bridges.

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