Conference napalm::guitar

    I have a 6-position tone control that I use a lot.  As for the typical
    tone control that rolls off the treble, I don't have one and I don't
    miss it at all.  It's easier to cut/boost the treble from the amp.
    
    Kevin
    

>    I have to replace the volume pots in my guitar and bass (too much
>    'cathedraling' db) 
    
    Hey, I warned ya'.
    
    I regularly use all the controls on my guitar.  Not just for tonal
    variations but also for various "effects" as well like volume swells,
    "wah-wah" like stuff with the tone control.
    
    Steve Morse is continually diddling the tone control when he plays
    solos.  He turns the treble up as he plays higher on the neck.  He's
    done this so long, that he says he does it without even thinking about
    it.
    
    	db
    
    
    

    
    I don't use it that much on the guitars with humbuckers, but I find
    when using single coils that if you roll off a bit o treble you get
    a smoother sound for those Yngwie-type minor arpeggios with that
    full-bass sound, you know?
    
    you gotta do it!
    
    wjb

    
    I use tone controls all the time.
    
    On the bass, I can go from a twangy Rick osund to a Fendery sound
    to a deep upright-like tone with the twist of a knob.
    
    On guitar, I use 'em to roll off the highs...all my electrics sound
    overly bright (playing the bass does this to ya I guess).  Anyway
    I'm real backwards on guitar, I play rhythm on the bridge pickup
    with the tone up just enough so I don't get that "icepick in the
    forehead" tone and take leads on the neck pickup, rolled off almost
    all the way.....classic blues tone, much easier to control distortion
    with the highs rolled off.
    
    I will admit that my bass with the varitone/coil tap/phase switches
    is a little extreme.....I counted 144 different switch positions/tones
    without even touching the knobs.....it's got something for everybody
     8^)  8^)  8^)  8^)  8^)
    
    

    I use mine all the time...to roll off just a bit of the high end...
    
    maybe I'm getting too old for this loud stuff....
    
    db2

               
    	Sh*t, I dont have any controls of anykind on either guitar or
    bass. Keeps the wiring simple: Pickup ===> 1/4 phone jack. Sometimes,
    I find that a 100K ohm or so resistor across the pickup loads it
    *some* and keeps it from splattering the pre-amp input stage...
    
    	For volume swells, I prefer a pedal. "Wah" sounds, I'd do with
    a pedal also; or use a "talk-box". Those get dirty though, as you
    tend to drool all over with that stupid tube in your mouth...
    
    	Jerry Garcia maintains volume controls on board his guitar,
    yet I know he drives his effects direct from the pickup outputs.
    Note on his guitar the dual cables - one is the direct pickup signal,
    the other brings the after_effects signal back into the guitar for
    volume control.
    
    	The damn knobs always get in *my* way...
    
    	Joe Jas

    I don't use a strat, but I do use the tone controls on my ES-345
    all the time. From reading these replies there are obviously two
    extremes in terms of tone adjustment. One seems to be to set up the
    tone you like and play flat out with that all night. The other seems
    to be to constantly diddle with different sounds.
    
    I'm not quite as extreme as Steve Morse, in that I don't generally
    adjust the tone knob during a solo, but I almost always do between
    songs to get an appropriate color for a particular tune. I generally
    play with both pickups on, and get a great deal of tonal variation by
    adjusting the volume and tone controls on the two pickups. Of course,
    with the strat this is not that easy, especially since there is only
    one tone control. 

    On the ES-345 you can get some tremendous tonal contrast by switching,
    for example, from having the treble all the way up on the bridge pickup
    and all the way down on the neck pickup, to the other way around. This
    combined with adjusting the relative levels of each pickup gives me the
    tonal variations I am looking for. (Well, not quite. My guitar also has
    a rotary tone switch and a phase reversal switch on it.) I use channel
    switching on my amp to go between rhythm and lead sounds, and to
    add in effects.

    - ram
    

    	I use mine all the time. In fact I don't think I play two
    songs in a row with the tone settings the same. I don't do
    much fiddling with the controls once I have begun playing a
    song with the exception of fine tuning. I find that using both
    different tones and attack can be valuable in creating a unique
    sounds as well as duplicating sound identifiable to to others
    i.e. Clapton, Hendrix, etc. This basically applies more to my
    guitar than my amp. Once I have my amp set up, I usually leave
    those tone controls set.
    	By the way, one of my real pet peaves are tone pots that
    are not smooth over the tone range causing step like jumps in
    the tonal quality of the sound. I have experience this most 
    often with 60's Gibsons. I don't know if this is caused by
    corrsion built up after a period of time within the pot itself
    or wheather this is a trait paticular to the pots Gibson used
    during that period.
    
    DonH
    

    
    I alter the tone on my strat all the time, but I don't do it with
    the knobs, I use different pickup configurations.  For a while,
    I'd set the neck pickup kind of rolled-off, and then switch between
    that and the lead pickup...but after a while, I just couldn't deal
    with that lack of hi end.
    
    I believe that Carvin (I don't know about anyone else) uses 500k
    ohm audio taper pots for tone pots.  Maybe the old Gibsons used
    linear taper instead of audio taper???
    
    Ash in gangland 

My Gretsch has three volume knobs (one per pickup and a master),
but only a stoopid switch for tone.

	up	- not much treble
	Mid	- normal/bypass
	down	- no treble and a bit less middle

Up works pretty well for a wooly-jazzy sound.  Down must be for that
wooly-jazzy sound played through grandpa's 78 with a winter coat
slung over the horn.

Dave

    I don't put TONE controls on my guitars anymore (I build a few a
    year), unless someone really wants them. I find that the style of
    music you play may effect this, but at last count, the non-tone
    guitars I build seem to be the most popular. I do, however, have 
    various switch settings, that let you switch between single coil / 
    humbucker, and in phase / out of phase settings. I use quite a few 
    stomp box induced tonal changes, and pickup selections, but never 
    seem to set the tone control on any of my guitars that have them. 
    I prefer to adjust the amplifier tone. On some of the old DanElectro
    guitars (the ones with the plywood and masonite bodies - sometimes
    a bit of pine thrown in to surprize you), they had a knob, much
    like those used in a TV volume control knob, when it was pushed
    down (off) the tone was very bright, when you pulled it up, you
    added the tone network (a capacitor & resistor). I liked this
    arangement, since it get you to presets real quickly. I find that
    the switches on the pickups work just as well.
    
    							Jens
    
    							Jens

    I think that the use of tone controls depends on the type of music/band
    you play in.  If you play original stuff, then you needn't alter
    your tone, cuz it's YOUR sound.  If you play in a cover band, then
    you kinda need it, to tailor your sound to whom ever your copying.
    
    whadayathink ?

    JC

    
    Well, if Jeff Cooper uses his tone knob then I'm gonna start usin
    mine!

        re: .8
        
        The first thing I do when acquiring a new gutiar is
        replace all the pots with carbon based audio tapers.
        This definitly gives that smooth, noiseless transition.
        
        greg_t
        

    
    My guitar pots make more noise than I'd like.
    
    Are "carbon based audio tapers" a direct swap for typical guitar pots? 
    Where would I get such a beast, and how much $$?  Are there different
    types for single-coil and humbucker pickups?
    
    Kevin
    

    Don't swap 'em, spray them with a bit of WD40 instead.
    
    it's cheaper and easier
    
    dbii

    
    re -1.  
    
    I've been cleaning them every so often with Rat Shack contact cleaner
    for 15 years.  It works for a while and then they get noisy again.  For
    some reason I thought that WD40 would leave unwanted oily deposits. NO?
    
    Kevin
    

    WD40 is a trick that a friend of mine who reapirs pro audio equipment
    taught me, it works all my guitars get this treatment anytime that
    I have the pickguard off (usually not unless the pots need cleaning)
    
    dbii

    
    OK, I'll give it a try tonight!
    
    Kevin
    

        WD40, good trick.  You really wan tto stay away from the
        so-called cleaners.  They last a short time but end up
        attracting dust later because of th eresidue they leave.
        
        If I remember right, the pots I bought, mail order, where
        around 5 bucks each. They do wear but never get noisy.
        
        gt
        

    
    A few well-directed squirts of WD40 and my guitar pots are quiet again. 
    Thanks for the tip!
    
    Kevin