Is a tone knob necessary?

[iacovetti]

Hey guys ive got an rga7 and I'm planning on changing out the pickups soon, my question is what would happen if I installed the pickups without a tone knob, would the pickups act as if the knob was on all the time? Or would they act as if the knob was turned down? Thanks for any replys.

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

It would be as if the tone knob was at full all the time, but even a bit brighter.

 

[iacovetti]

Thanks man I appreciate the quick reply

 

[TRENCHLORD]

I always bypass it. I also always swap spots with the volume pot so that it's well out of my way.

 

[iacovetti]

Damn that's a good idea too, thanks

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Yeah, I'm not huge on tone knobs...a lot of people I know will actually pull the knob so its hard (nearly impossible) to accidently turn the tone or volume off gradually.

 

[WarriorOfMetal]

I remove them from almost all of my guitars.

 

[Kodee_Kaos]

I find a coil tap switch to be much more useful in terms of controlling tone..I'd be happy with a single rotary switch that was wired like this:

Neck Single
Neck Hum Series
Neck/Bridge Parallel
Bridge Single
Bridge Hum Series
Off

Would be a sleek, minimalist setup..Maybe complicated to wire.

 

[Explorer]

I always vote for less tonal options. I even remove the pickup selector.

For those who are interested in getting a brighter tone with a tone knob though, read up on the Fender TBX tone knob, which does both the normal roll off of the top frequencies, and in the other direction appears to roll off the bottom. If I understand it correctly, the other direction actually acts like you're removing the tone knob, making the higher frequencies come through more, and therefore appearing to roll down the bass.

Hmm. Maybe having more tones is better than less tones.

Naah...!

 

[Loomer]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No.

 

[toiletstand]

im the only person who likes to use the tone knob then haha

 

[SirMyghin]

Ofcourse I never use my tone knob when everything is sounding a little too bright, or I want to make it a bit more subdued for some reason. Why would I want to do that, I just need to turn it on high gain and rock out through a dark amp.

 

[Murdstone]

im the only person who likes to use the tone knob then haha

I use the tone knob too. These dudes are crazy

 

[anne]

I use the tone knob too. These dudes are crazy

THANK YOU. lol

 

[Explorer]

I was kidding about wanting less tonal options. I love having a pickup selector switch, and the ability to roll off highs or lows right on the guitar.

I personally don't understand people who only choose to have one option in terms of how they express themselves, but I suppose some folks like to talk in a robotic monotone as well, or to never use facial expressions either. It all comes down to tastes.

 

[flo]

I prefer switches to pots to change the sound of the guitar. In my bass for example, I've got a pan pot and a series/parallel/coil tap switch for each humbucker. In my personal opinion, all the tone knob does is to make the guitar sound worse. Ok, sometimes with a clean setup and new strings I'd roll it back a tad. But when does that ever happen

 

[SirMyghin]

I prefer switches to pots to change the sound of the guitar. In my bass for example, I've got a pan pot and a series/parallel/coil tap switch for each humbucker. In my personal opinion, all the tone know does is to make the guitar sound worse. Ok, sometimes with a clean setup and new strings I'd roll it back a tad. But when does that ever happen

If my ASAT didn't have a tone knob I would be up the creek pretty far more than 3/4 the time. I think part of the problem here is everyone uses humbuckers, and while useful, tone knobs are much more important with single coils.

 

[anne]

In my personal opinion, all the tone know does is to make the guitar sound worse.

That's just silly.

If my ASAT didn't have a tone knob I would be up the creek pretty far more than 3/4 the time. I think part of the problem here is everyone uses humbuckers, and while useful, tone knobs are much more important with single coils.

It's useful on humbuckers when gain's not at a zillion.

 

[flo]

That's just silly.

Well, that's why I said in my opinion.
I don't like what it does.

 

[celticelk]

In my personal opinion, all the tone know does is to make the guitar sound worse./QUOTE]

I can't find a clip on YouTube, unfortunately, but David Torn did a video for Homespun in the '90s talking about his gear and looping techniques, during which he explained that he often uses the tone knob (as well as a tone-cut switch he had on his Klein at that time) to impart a more "vocal" sound to his lead tones. I agree with anne that it works best if you're not trying to use uber-br00tz amounts of gain. Some players also do manual tone swells for a wah-like effect, similar to performing a manual volume swell; Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, and Jim Campilongo are good sources for this.