Treble Bleeds

[diggum12]

So I figured we have this new area and might as well add a thread that I'm pretty passionate about:  Treble Bleeds. 

A Treble Bleed is a nickname for placing a small value capacitor across the lugs of a volume or tone pot, or both, in one of several combinations, so that the high end is retained when you roll off the volume knob. 

Each guitar is different, and I've used a slightly different one on each of mine.  I do lots of fidgeting with my volume knobs on all my guitars while playing.  Almost as bad as SRV, really!  I also do LOTS of Keaggy-type volume swells.  For this, you MUST have a good treble bleed or it just sounds like mud. 

I recommend ceramic caps whenever possible on guitars, then poly film (greenies) after that.  I've tried metal film and it just doesn't sound good, almost like turning a switch on and off because they're so tight and clean. 

So what's your favorites?  Here's mine:

Les Paul:  I like the .022 from ground to the Tone wiper, and a .001 on the Volume pot input to the wiper.   (<- wiper means center lug of a pot.)      All 500k pots. 

Yamaha RGX A2 (looks like an iPod) :  I like to use a .0022 w/ 200K - 220K in parallel across the Volume pot input to the wiper.  That rolls off everything very evenly and smoothly, full range.  An excellent mod for Strat style guitars that use humbuckers!  Also 500k pot, no tone control.  You can also try other parallel combos:  .003 w/ 220k , .0022 w/200k, .001 with 100k or 150k...

Tele:  Easy.  Typical .047 from Tone wiper to ground, and maybe a .001 from Volume pot input to the wiper.  The latter part depends on if the volume pot is 500k or 250k.   I think mine is 250k with just the Tone pot cap. 

Strats:  Gotta admit, I've never found a combo there that I'm really happy with, especially if there's a humbucker in the bridge.  But usually I just stick a .047 cap on both the tone knob and the volume knob.  I think.  It's been a while.  Kinda gave up on strats a while back...   

[Rootwitch]

I preach this mod to every player I can. I can't believe this isn't a stock feature on guitars. I've done it on all my guitars, along with the 500K pots, and I have so many people amazed with the variety of tones I can get out of (for example) my Teles. I use a Dimarzio Chopper (stacked humbucker) in the bridge, and a Dimarzio Twang King in the neck. Stick it in the neck position, and lower the volume on the guitar - Ugh, it's so sweet. Middle position, lower the volume, and it gives it that straty, out of phase tone.

[Greybeard999]

It is a personal prefferance thing and 99% of the time I look for a treble roll off when I turn the volume down. I also like 250k pots on single coils and 300k or low value 500k on humbuckers (a lot of 500k pots are around 450k or less) I'm old school but these new "brighter than bright" guitars bug the shyt out of me.

Why all guitars don't incorporate a treble bleed is because in most cases it's not necessary...... none of the "old masters" had them and people are still trying to capture their tones. I'm not saying they are bad things to do, but there's no reason to get carried away with it either.

Peace,
Greybeard

[diggum12]

I'm old school but these new "brighter than bright" guitars bug the shyt out of me.

 

Ha ha!  Yes, it's definitely a matter of taste!  My thing is I do LOTS of volume swells, a la Phil Keaggy.  So the effect of the swell just sounds like mud unless the cap is there retaining the top end.  I don't like icepick sounds though, which is why I usually include the resistor in parallel w/ the cap on the volume pot. 

Everyone is different.  My buddy refuses to put caps in his LPs because he never rolls the volume off unless he's "muting" himself. 

[opticnerv]

Okay - so I have an Ibanez JS1000 (among many others!). But it's my favorite. It has two humbuckers where the bridge pup is WAY to thin compared to the neck.

There is one tone control that is a push/pull coil tap. One volume that is a push/pull to engage cap to keep highs when volume is dialed down - that part is okay generally. But, if I use the tone pot to cut highs to where the bridge pup sounds "right" the neck is too dark. Sometimes in a song the changes from pup to pup are too fast to also reach down and twist the tone. How can I "darken" the bridge pup without effecting the neck?I LIKE the neck pup.  I'd rather spend $2 on caps than $80 on a new bridge  pup.