Omitting tone pot?

hydrahead · #1 08-24-2007, 08:38 AM

Ok, so I've been reworking an old RG. And the style of my right hand is with the non pick holding fingers stretched out. I've found that the volume control gets in the way and cramps my stylee. So, I am thinking of eliminating the tone pot and putting the volume where the tone used too be.

My question is, if I ixnay the tone pot and only have the volume, will I have to put a capacitor on there?

It looks to me like the PGM does not have a cap, but I want to be sure before I start soldering.

I'm thinking about running a Breed in the bridge with 500 push/pull.

Any suggestions?

Ki swordsman · #2 08-24-2007, 09:26 AM

can't say on the capacitor, but the guitar will be brighter than normal without the tone pot.. however you can replace the tone pot with a resistor(of same value as pot? not sure myself..) to balance it out and get the same sound as normal.. it's just something you may be interested to look into

hydrahead · #3 08-24-2007, 09:58 AM

Right. So, is a capacitor the same thing as a "resistor"? If so then I wont need one. Because a capacitor enables the tone pot to roll off treble.
What does a "resistor" do, by your definition?

DBDbadreligion · #4 08-24-2007, 12:25 PM

a pot has a resistor in it. the capacitor is just just effects how much bass is in the tone pot when it is turned doen all the way. im assuming you are using a 500k pot. just go to radioshack and get a 500k resistor and wire it in.

that should work. let me know if you have any questions.

crevis · #5 08-24-2007, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DBDbadreligion

a pot has a resistor in it. the capacitor is just just effects how much bass is in the tone pot when it is turned doen all the way. im assuming you are using a 500k pot. just go to radioshack and get a 500k resistor and wire it in.

that should work. let me know if you have any questions.

Exactly right. If you want the easy way just leave the pot connected in the cavity and tape it up, there's really no difference.

DBDbadreligion · #6 08-24-2007, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crevis

Exactly right. If you want the easy way just leave the pot connected in the cavity and tape it up, there's really no difference.

great idea i hadent thought of that. hydrahead taping the pot is the most important step. idealy you would use electrical tape and cover all metal parts of the pot. if the pots metal touches other metal in the electronics cavity, it will cause a short making no sound come out of the guitar. the tape i dea is the easiest to do. just unscrew the vol. and tone pots and put the volume where the tone was. then just tape the tone pot and secure it inside the electronics cavity.

i hope this helps.

LuredMaul · #7 08-24-2007, 03:00 PM

If you don't use the tone pot then you can just disconnect the wire from the switch and tape it....it'll be abit brighter ....no biggy

quiksilverdew · #8 08-24-2007, 03:37 PM

Can someone draw up a diagram of how the wiring would be with a 550 with no tone pot? I just tried to do it and failed and I'm not getting any sound...

quiksilverdew · #9 08-24-2007, 05:13 PM

Nevermind I got it working. Sounds excellent!

Ki swordsman · #10 08-24-2007, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuredMaul

If you don't use the tone pot then you can just disconnect the wire from the switch and tape it....it'll be abit brighter ....no biggy

yeah that's pretty much taking it out, adding the resistor of same value as pot will kill the extra brightness

Champagne Mist · #11 09-02-2007, 09:05 PM

yeah, i see no point in leaving the pot inside the cavity. the cap should be removed as well. i also wouldn't wire a resistor back in place. I think more important is to cover up the hole and make sure it is shielded like the rest of the cavity, and no, aluminum foil will not work.

David McCarroll · #12 09-02-2007, 10:23 PM

Crikeys, no, a capacitor is not like a resistor - if it was you wouldn't need capacitors! A cap will act as a treble bleed - the tone control rolls off the treble by bleeding it to ground, the cap between the in and out of the volume pot acts as a treble bleed as you turn the volume control down, so the guitar doesn't get wooly as you turn the volume down. If you want to compensate for the (extremely marginal) extra top end you get by deleting the tone circuitry, just replace the 500k volume pot with a 250k pot - it bleeds a fractional bit of top end to ground in comparison to the 500k pot.

Ki swordsman · #13 09-03-2007, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Champagne Mist

i also wouldn't wire a resistor back in place. I think more important is to cover up the hole and make sure it is shielded like the rest of the cavity, and no, aluminum foil will not work.

wiring a resistor back in place is just personal preference for those that want their guitar to still sound 'normal'(as if with tone pot)

since when has foil not worked?

Champagne Mist · #14 09-04-2007, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ki swordsman

wiring a resistor back in place is just personal preference for those that want their guitar to still sound 'normal'(as if with tone pot)

since when has foil not worked?

Fair enough. I've always preferred the extra output I get without the resistor. That's why I said I wouldn't...

As far as shielding is concerned, aluminum foil is definitely the "jerry rig" option. I've tried it for various things. It tears, crinkles, is just generally annoying to work with IMO and not physically a fantastic shield. My recommendation would be copper tape.