The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
Moderators: Slowy, Capt. Black
- Slowy
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 22819
- meble-kuchenne.warszawa.pl
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:13 pm
- Location: Orcland
- Has liked: 1018 times
- Been liked: 2487 times
The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
I moved the thingy from my old pot to the new one.
Questions:
What does it do?
Do I need it?
Would a better one make a difference?
What is a better one?
Where do I get one?
500K pot. No tone knob.
Questions:
What does it do?
Do I need it?
Would a better one make a difference?
What is a better one?
Where do I get one?
500K pot. No tone knob.
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
- Starfire
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 4424
- Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:20 am
- Location: Te Whanganui-a-Tara
- Has liked: 243 times
- Been liked: 598 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
Treble bleed, innit? Basically, it stops the mud when you roll the volume back.
An article:
https://www.fender.com/articles/tech-ta ... -your-tone
An article:
https://www.fender.com/articles/tech-ta ... -your-tone
- Jay
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 7808
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:35 pm
- Has liked: 1633 times
- Been liked: 1300 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
You should add a resistor!
And here is a more sophisticated one...
https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products ... eble-bleed
And here is a more sophisticated one...
https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products ... eble-bleed
When faced with quality, I recognise it every time.
- sizzlingbadger
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 8272
- Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2011 7:12 am
- Location: Wire Wrapper
- Has liked: 1209 times
- Been liked: 1401 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
Probably better off removing it on that PRS.
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...
- JustMatt
- Gibson
- Posts: 802
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:26 pm
- Has liked: 46 times
- Been liked: 68 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
It is a rudimentary treble bleed.
Adding a 220k(ish) resistor will smooth out the taper of the volume control.
Removing it completely will increase treble loss when you roll off the volume, which could be useful if you dont have a dedicated tone control, or not if you just like the volume to control the volume.
A more expensive cap wont make a difference, a different value cap may.
Adding a 220k(ish) resistor will smooth out the taper of the volume control.
Removing it completely will increase treble loss when you roll off the volume, which could be useful if you dont have a dedicated tone control, or not if you just like the volume to control the volume.
A more expensive cap wont make a difference, a different value cap may.
- Single coil
- BANNED
- Posts: 10050
- Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 5:35 pm
- Location: Public toilet
- Has liked: 1110 times
- Been liked: 485 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
Dude at the local shop didn't have any caps in uF, so he gave me these massive fucking things out of god knows what. 440k somethings. Stuck them in the goldtop.
Roll the tones right back and it sounds like I'm poppin and slappin like no ones business.
Roll the tones right back and it sounds like I'm poppin and slappin like no ones business.
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.
- Slowy
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 22819
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:13 pm
- Location: Orcland
- Has liked: 1018 times
- Been liked: 2487 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
From full power/volume I get an instant change with the slightest movement of the knob. It sucks out the mids and provides a somewhat meek sounding clean tone. Not bad, but certainly not sparkling.ToneLoungeMatt wrote:It is a rudimentary treble bleed.
Adding a 220k(ish) resistor will smooth out the taper of the volume control.
Removing it completely will increase treble loss when you roll off the volume, which could be useful if you dont have a dedicated tone control, or not if you just like the volume to control the volume.
A more expensive cap wont make a difference, a different value cap may.
Is it a cap or a resistor?
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
- Slowy
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 22819
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:13 pm
- Location: Orcland
- Has liked: 1018 times
- Been liked: 2487 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
OK. Why?sizzlingbadger wrote:Probably better off removing it on that PRS.
I ask because you know these beasties.
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
- Single coil
- BANNED
- Posts: 10050
- Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 5:35 pm
- Location: Public toilet
- Has liked: 1110 times
- Been liked: 485 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
That little blighter looks more like a capacitor than a resistor.
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.
- Starfire
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 4424
- Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:20 am
- Location: Te Whanganui-a-Tara
- Has liked: 243 times
- Been liked: 598 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
That's a capacitor but some treble bleed circuits have a capacitor and a resistor. What you could do is make a couple of iterations of treble-bleed circuit (one with resistor, one witout, etc.) and attach them to aligator clips so you can swap them in and out and see (or, rather, hear) which you like best.
- sizzlingbadger
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 8272
- Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2011 7:12 am
- Location: Wire Wrapper
- Has liked: 1209 times
- Been liked: 1401 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
There is no tone control so allowing the top end to roll off a bit when you roll the vol back is pretty useful. I also found that it got very thin when you rolled the vol back with the cap in place.
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...
- Slowy
- Vintage Post Junkie
- Posts: 22819
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:13 pm
- Location: Orcland
- Has liked: 1018 times
- Been liked: 2487 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
One thing the Lollar does is demonstrate how thin and shrill the original pickup is. It now has fat mids with a pleasing but not overly bright top end.sizzlingbadger wrote:There is no tone control so allowing the top end to roll off a bit when you roll the vol back is pretty useful. I also found that it got very thin when you rolled the vol back with the cap in place.
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
-
- Gibson
- Posts: 709
- Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 4:32 am
- Location: See 'tubeswell' in the phone book
- Has liked: 64 times
- Been liked: 65 times
Re: The Capacitor (?) on a volume pot.
Treble bypass or 'bright' cap. It allows high frequencies to bypass the resistance between the pot input and the pot wiper when the pot rotation is anything less than full.* The amount of capacitance of the cap determines the amount of high frequency bandwidth in the bypass frequencies. More capacitance means more mids (as well as highs) get through. It is common to see 500pF to 1nF in this situation and even as much as 10nF (.01uF) or 22nF (0.022uF). The amount of bandwidth that gets bypassed also depends on the overall resistance of the pot and whereabouts on the pot rotation the pot wiper is situated. With the pot at full rotation, the bypass cap has no effect (because the pot wiper is in direct contact with the pot input and the cap is therefore completely shorted out of the circuit).
*The resistance between the pot input and the pot wiper (that exists when the pot is not at full rotation) effectively become series resistance in the signal path, which would otherwise tend to roll-off high frequencies.
*The resistance between the pot input and the pot wiper (that exists when the pot is not at full rotation) effectively become series resistance in the signal path, which would otherwise tend to roll-off high frequencies.
He who dies with the most toobs... wins