Does having a tone control harm output?

[Marty Grass]

I'm putting a different neck mounted pickup on my archtop and will likely change the pickguard to fit it. Currently I have a tone control as well as a volume control on my pickguard. Does having a tone pot and cap in the circuit adversely affect output? I generally leave the tone pot on 10.

Thanks.

[Gramps]

the tone control is a low pass filter and when all the way up shouldn't change your sound at all.

[Marty Grass]

I'm told that this is true if I use a "no load" pot. How would I know if I have one of those? Is that the usual pot?

[Gramps]

I doubt you'll be able the hear any difference as long as you're using passive pickups. Having anything added to the circuit creates a load but it's doubtfull you'll hear the difference.

Wait a while and maybe someone else will have more info for you.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I don't know. I just wanted to say that I've never turned the tone control all the way up.

[Marty Grass]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

I don't know. I just wanted to say that I've never turned the tone control all the way up.

It's a natural question for me since I have another archtop with only a volume control. I don't really miss the tone control on it (much) and simply adjust the amp.

[RuffRider]

Adding a tone control will take a little edge off the high end of the tone...
If you use a 250K pot it takes off more highs - if you use a 500K pot it will take off less highs.

[Ken Olmstead]

Well yes and no. I have a "no load" tone control on my tele. When it is wide open, there is a detent that switches it out completely. I almost never use that setting. It does have more output set there but not like turning the volume up on the amp. It is more subtle but it is noticeable. This setting is noticably brighter and more harsh. Now every result is going to be different depending on the pickup and amp used. I like having it as I play tweed amps and having a brighter setting in a dark room sometimes can help cut better. But I don't think I would ever want a guitar without a tone control and for as often as I use the no load setting, I don't think I would ever purposely install a no load pot.

Kind of a wishy washy answer but its my experience.

[Jim Soloway]

It should be noted that no-load pots are quite uncommon. Fender has used them recently, but in the world of guitars, I would venture a guess that fewer than 1% of all pots in use are no load.

In answer to the original question, as has been noted, the presence of a tone pot will smooth out the high end very slightly. It is audible but only barely and I suspect that many people would actually prefer the slightly smoother sound of having the tone pot in the circuit.

[fep]

Does having a tone pot harm output?

I think the word 'harm' is the wrong term.

Guitars and guitar amps are not high fidelity. But we like them the way they are. Say you think Wes had the ultimate sound. Well his guitar had tone pots. So if that's the sound you like then maybe not having a tone pot will harm the output.

[mr. beaumont]

This seems to be the kind of stuff the twang meisters obsess over at the telecaster forum.

I'm not sure it'll effect a jazz tone one bit.

[cjm]

Originally Posted by Marty Grass

It's a natural question for me since I have another archtop with only a volume control. I don't really miss the tone control on it (much) and simply adjust the amp.

There is your answer. And it is probably the only answer that is right for you.

Tough to find an amp that doesn't have its own tone controls or "tone stack." You can deal with any unwanted high frequencies at the amp without a low pass filter added to the guitar in the form of a tone control pot and cap. And if you are rewiring anyway, to upgrade the pickup, eliminating the tone control is one less thing to wire up and one less thing to eventually fail.

It is my contention that if the combination of amplifier and even slightly appropriate guitar doesn't yield a decent jazz tone when the tone control is either turned full treble or eliminated from the circuit then the culprit is the amp.

Obviously you get a jazz tone that is satisfactory to you with your other guitar through your amp (or amps), because you stated "I don't really miss the tone control on it."

You won't miss the tone control on this guitar either.

Resale value, and ease of resale, might be another issue. People are conditioned to expect a tone control on guitars. But that's an issue outside the scope of your question.

[lpdeluxe]

Guitar pickups are pretty harsh transducers. They require a bit of tone shaping at the amp end to sound decent, as anyone who has tried to record an electric guitar direct will understand. The pot is going to contribute a miniscule amount of effect on the final sound.

Even so, there is a school of thought that believes that anything between the pickup coil and the amp is "harming" the tone, similar to that of those who think that metal pickup covers "obscure" the "natural" sound of the pickup. I tamed a really shrill Gibson by installing covers on the humbuckers, which pretty much convinced me which side I'm on. Guitar tone is not like that of a violin, say: there's a lot of machinery required to boost the signal to the levels we want, and very little of it is linear. The potentiometer can probably be changed in such a way as to make the sound of a particular guitar different, and one may think the difference is better, but another may think it worse. To attribute a universally positive outcome by changing a single, minor component is a bit of a stretch, but players love to believe in pixie dust.

[jazzbow]

Here's a link to a cheap 'no load' tone pot project.

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