Metropoulos Forum

What is the difference in tone when you have a 0.047 cap to ground on the tone pot wiper as opposed to a 0.022 cap between the volume and tone pots... see the 2 attached pics...

thanks

Answer me god damn you!!!

It doesnt matter where the cap is located in these 2 circuits. The will both work the same, except of course the value of the caps is gonna make a big difference.
In other words, the tone circuits will work the same either way its wired... if you used .022 caps in EITHER circuit, they will sound the same as each other, and if you use .047 caps in either circuit, they will also sound the same as each other.
The only thing that will make them sound different is changing the cap value.

Thanks dude... weird, so in the case... is it the higher the value... the more frequncies get sent to ground=less bass... or do they act like a bypass cap... high value... more bass?

A capacitor lets highs through and blocks lows - the bigger the cap, the lower frequencies get through. If a small cap goes to ground this means that the highs go to ground and get attentuated. If the cap gets bigger, mid frequencies get attentuated as well. If the cap gets even more big then the attentuation starts to affect the bass frequencies as well. If the cap is really big then the tone control starts to work like a volume control.

So what do people usualy prefer... .047 or .022?

chubs wrote:So what do people usualy prefer... .047 or .022?

I think .022's are more useful than .047's, simply because 47's roll off the highs TOO much, making the guitar sound muddy. (If you get the chance, try a reissue '52 Tele. That uses an .047, and the treble rolloff is brutal--it sounds like you have the amp facing into a mattress).
To be honest, I dont even use .022's... I like .01's better on any guitar, HB pup's or single coils. When you have the tone rolled off it seems to make the guitar more musical sounding, with a really nice midrange honk, especially when using some distortion.

I use .010 I like to cut less mids and only the highs. Turn a .022 down and the sound is useless to me just muddy and dark. Turn down a .010 and it gets honky and the mids are still strong the bass isn't over bearing just the highs are cut. I also hook the tone pot to the output side of the volume pot not the input side. That keeps a bit more highs in the mix when you turn the volume down.

I think the regular '50's wiring is just fine.
I am going over to Dr. Vintage's on Thursday to have his vintage controls set fitted to my '52-'56 Goldtop and cannot wait!!
yngwie308