Instrument tone controls: yay or nay?

thegame

Well-known member
I must be getting old. Even if left on 10, how I usually set it, I think I'm starting to prefer the tone control in the circuit, rather than being bypassed completely. A lot depends on the cap and tone pot values but I'm hearing a more characterful mid emphasis (due to a slight rounding off of the extreme lows and highs) with the tone on 10, compared to no tone circuit at all. I think it's a more useful tone which subtlety filters out unneeded frequencies in a musical way.

Thoughts?
 
I think context matters. I expect my opinion to vary depending on the guitar and/or pickup. I have a couple tele's with the tone knob you can bypass. Sometimes I use it bypassed, sometimes not, depending of the situation.
 
I experimented with one of my guitars a while back with that, and I found the top end got too harsh & shrill. Maybe with a different guitar, pickup, or cap and pot values like you mentioned, but I've just stuck to leaving the tone pot in after that.
 
I had one guitar that I liked without a tone pot. Other guitars that I removed the tone pot in I didnt like what it did to higher strings and leads. It was a bit too bright and snappy. Its subtle but noticeable to me. So there is a way around this by adding a cap and resistor in place of the tone pot. This way you can get ride of the space it takes up. I usually fill that spot with a push button killswitch.
 
Being primarily a Lester player, I'd be fuct if it weren't for the tone and volume controls. Christ, 90% of the sweetspots rest between 4-7 on the vols, and 1-7 on the tones. I control a LOT of my playing/tone from the guitar; in short - hella important to me, YMMV.
 
It really comes down to whether it's used for effect or not.

If you like a 250K load total, say in a humpback equipped guitar, two 500K's will get you there. Higher the value of the tone cap, the lighter the effect of the roll off will be. Personally, I like a .015 wired 50's style so it gives that sweet stuck wah/Clapton "Woman" tone when rolled off. KILLER with neck P90's for leads, and stoner drone toanz in the bridge.

Otherwise, higher values for jazz comping or just take the thing out the circuit and have a cleaner signal path.
 
I always have both volume and tone on 10. When you eliminate a tone control, what happens? I know dumb question. With the tone control eliminated does it sound like it's on 10 or 0?
 
I always have both volume and tone on 10. When you eliminate a tone control, what happens? I know dumb question. With the tone control eliminated does it sound like it's on 10 or 0?
More like 11. You no longer have that high end roll off in the circuit, and even on 10 that tone pot is bleeding off some high end.
 
More like 11. You no longer have that high end roll off in the circuit, and even on 10 that tone pot is bleeding off some high end.

Now I get it! I have one guitar without a tone control, just volume. The bridge pickup currently in it already has a lot of high end which I don't like. Makes sense because I plan on putting a Duncan SH-5 to tame it down a bit.
 
For me it just depends on the guitar, the pickups, etc.. Not only whether or not I want a tone control but the value of the cap and the pot(s). Some of my guitars have no-load in certain switch positions and a tone cap/pot loading others. However, once I've found that ideal load I don't mess with the tone control much at all.
 
I always have both volume and tone on 10. When you eliminate a tone control, what happens? I know dumb question. With the tone control eliminated does it sound like it's on 10 or 0?
I'd say just less than midway (4.5 and JMO) and tend to be darker which is why tone knob absence leans towards metal-orientated guitars, especially for rhythm.

I own a guitar with no tone control. ESP LTD LP. It was made for metal. It sounds different from my other EMG setup on a Superstrat with a tone knob.

Is that a good thing? Yes and no. It means you must get everything in your amp in order exactly. Or else you will be going back and forth which sort of breaks focusing on playing. When everything is balanced it's great and you just play using only the volume knob and pickup switcher to change your tone. It is not such a great thing because even when your amp is balanced a tone knob on your guitar gives you variation around that sweet spot and nearly all of them sound just as great. So if you play a set of songs that are just basically the one tone, then go for it. As you can tell listening to stuff, those sort of bands are well known for never changing anything and after decades of playing everything sounds the same. However, even guitarists that do the same thing over and over (Malmsteen is a good example) adjust their tone knob to give some variation. You aren't going to be Pink Floyd without a tone dial. However, you can be Slayer.

The moral of the story is I need another LP with tone dials at some stage and if you play lead, a tone dial is probably essential. Rhythm guitarists can probably make the most use of tone dial absence.
 
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I love guitars that have 1 hum & 1 volume. i own a les paul, a jackson and LTD. They all have tone controls.
 
It really comes down to whether it's used for effect or not.

If you like a 250K load total, say in a humpback equipped guitar, two 500K's will get you there. Higher the value of the tone cap, the lighter the effect of the roll off will be. Personally, I like a .015 wired 50's style so it gives that sweet stuck wah/Clapton "Woman" tone when rolled off. KILLER with neck P90's for leads, and stoner drone toanz in the bridge.

Otherwise, higher values for jazz comping or just take the thing out the circuit and have a cleaner signal path.
I think you meant "LOWER the value of the tone cap, the lighter the effect of the roll off". Eg. .022 rolls off LESS highs than .047, right? But yes .015 provides very sweet midrange colors while sweeping the tone control. I used to have a Tom Anderson with a .010 (very close to .015) and it was the most useful tone control I'd ever used.
 
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