"Sparkle-Tone" mod preview.

[ArtieToo]

This is just a preview since I just installed this yesterday. So far, so good. Also, to give credit where credit is due, this was inspired by the Jerry Donahue wiring. The implementation, however, is mine.

Here's a typical Tele wiring:



The blue box is a 3-way. Could be any kind. I'm showing the tone control in an odd position to make it easy to see the relative position of the components in the next pic.

Here's the mod:



In my preliminary mod, I'm using a 10k trim-pot for the resistor until I can determine the exact value that works best. I started off with it set at around 6.2k, which seems to work great. It's a .001uf cap.

Notice that when the 3-way is in the neck/bridge, or bridge alone position, that the switch effectively "shorts out" the added components. They are out of the circuit, and you have completely conventional wiring.

Here's with the 3-way switched to neck-only:



Notice now that the tone control doesn't just passively roll-off highs, but actually "borrows" a controlled amount of the highs from the bridge. Its like we have treble boost and cut, but instead of boosting the highs of the neck pup alone, we "borrow" those highs from the bridge. It not only adds a bit of "sparkle", but also "air" and "richness". We're adding in signal from a different source.

Thats the crux of it for now. Seems to work great, and you could do this mod with any pickup configuration. I'm going to try it on one of my dual-humbucker guitars also. I'll try to post a clip later, but I'm just getting ready to head out to my granddaughters b-day party.

Artie

[Wormaap]

Won't some of your signal still get lost when you've turned it off? Much in the same way it happens with non-true bypass stompboxes?

[ArtieToo]

Nope. There's no loss-path. Remember, a normal tone control already bleeds a certain amount of highs off. Nothing's different there. When in the "neck mode", you add a little signal. No losses at all compared to conventional circuitry.

Edit: To be clear, there is no "off" mode per se. When the bridge is selected, you short-out the mod - which is exactly what you'ld have with an ordinary Tele. (Or any other guitar for that matter.)

[Wormaap]

Ah okay, just wondering Looks like it could sound pretty cool.

Edit: Just took a second look, noticed that I didn't take a decent look the first time :P

[theodie]

ummmmm......I cant read schmatics to save my life!!!!! Artie, can you put the pictures in a format a layman can understand? LOL!!!!!!!

[PFDarkside]

Basically a resistor and capacitor in series, from the Bridge switch position to the "unused" lug on the tone control.

[tone4days]

cool artie ... if the two single coil pups are RW/RP of each other, does this reduce / eliminate hum? ... do you see this as a 'vari-sparkle' mod by adding another pot? ... or a fixed 'sparkle' mod by 'setting and forgetting' the buried trim pot?

t4d

[ArtieToo]

Basically a resistor and capacitor in series, from the Bridge switch position to the "unused" lug on the tone control.

Exactly . . . that bleeds a teensy bit of the bridge into the neck signal.

cool artie ... if the two single coil pups are RW/RP of each other, does this reduce / eliminate hum? ... do you see this as a 'vari-sparkle' mod by adding another pot? ... or a fixed 'sparkle' mod by 'setting and forgetting' the buried trim pot?

t4d

Hmmm . . . I don't really see this as having any affect on hum. I suppose it might, but that wasn't part of the design.
It could definitely be a variable "bleed" by making the resistor a pot, and mounting it on the pickguard/control plate. Sort of like the typical "blend" control, but only using a portion of the bridge, rather than the whole signal.

The possibilities are endless.

Artie

[Naps]

Looks like a killer idea.

[ArtieToo]

ummmmm......I cant read schmatics to save my life!!!!! Artie, can you put the pictures in a format a layman can understand? LOL!!!!!!!

See if this helps:



Important note: Normally it doesn't matter whether the pot or cap comes first on a tone control. With this mod, the cap must be connected to ground, and the wiper of the pot connected to the volume control.

[theodie]

Thank you again Artie!!!!!