I have a tele with a humbucker in the neck, it is dark. How would I make it brighter (as per my Les Paul neck HB)?
I have been reading around and I know the issue is with using a 250K pot.
So, I think there are two options.
Option 1. Using 250K pots. Add a resistor to the wiring to make the neck "see" 500K.
Where in this diagram should that resistor go?
What are the pros and cons of doing so?
Option 2. Using 500K pots, add 'something' to the bridge pickup to make it see 250K.
Where in this (the same) diagram should this 'thing' go?
What are the pros and cons of doing so?
The cap value shown in the diagrams is different to what I would like to use. I would like to use 0.022uf tone cap, but I have a range of Orange drops from .01 to .047, so I am open to any suggestions.
Thanks for any help.
Comments
It would be possible to put a 500k in parallel with the bridge pickup. It would be permanently in play though, so whenever you use the bridge you'd be on 250k load. In the diagram that'd be 500k between the white from the bridge and earth.
A third option that might work, but slightly different wiring, is to wire the pickups to the switch contacts instead (put them on the same side, but to the terminals that hot on that side is wired to), then take hot bridging the switch poles (the two terminals that the pickups are shown connected to). This lets you connect something else to hot in the end positions, so a 500k to ground from the spare terminal on the *neck* side would be connected when the *bridge* only was in use.
Don't know about the 375k pots, simpler solution I suppose, brighten both up a little. If you've got a range of capacitors probably best just try them and see which you like. I've got 33n in a single-coil tele, which seems okay, though wont take it all the way down to woolly.
Perfect is the wrong word, it's down to personal preference. The rule of thumb is often 22n, 250k for single coils and 47u, 500k for humbuckers, but it's only a guideline. If you've got a dark neck bucker that you want to brighten up then maybe just fit the 500k pot and see what the bridge is like afterwards. The balancing act comes in the mid position, but it only matters if you use that sound.
1. Neck sees 500k (less tone circuit).
2. Neck + bridge sees 250k (ditto)
3. Bridge sees 250k (...)
This is with things switched round, the reason for doing this is the hot signal can be switched onto something on both poles, so we can have the extra resistor on only when the switch is in the bridge position (the switching is actually the same @koneguitarist's example uses except that adds in the tone pot instead). Now:
1. Neck sees 500k (less tone circuit).
2. Neck + bridge sees 500k (ditto)
3. Bridge sees 250k (...)
Hmm, I can even buy that the fingerboard can make a difference, since it forms part of the beam that's the most flexible bit of the guitar. So no reason it can't have some effect on resonance and damping. However the capacitors and tone pots form part of a resonant network with the pickups and cable. If you believe the pickups make a difference then pots and capacitors do too, or you can just adjust your tone pot and see for yourself
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein