Don't swap pickups, swap pots!

[GuitarIV]

Had my Jim Root Telecaster for a while now and I've been very happy with the guitar. Swapped the black hardware for chrome and installed a set of Häussel pickups. So far so good.

The guitar has a single volume knob and I noticed that the highs were quite sharp, even with the Suhr Aldrich Set I had in there before. So I figured why not try a lower value pot and see if that helps? So I went ahead and ordered a Bareknuckle 280K Ohm CTS pot and some copper foil to shield the electronic cavity. Wanted to do the shielding for a while anyway so I figured whilst I'm in there I might just as well swap the pot out.

Some pictures:



Tried it out today at rehearsal and now the guitar has lost the annoying highs and has gained some push in the lower mids! Still sounds clear and defined and my problem is solved

Very happy with the result and compared to new pickups as cheap as can be. So next time you have a guitar that is too dark or too bright, try changing the value of the pots. It might do the trick

Here she is all finished:



Cheers!

 

[DirtySteve]

I use 330k volume pots on all my guitars unless the neck pickup has it's own volume, then I'll use 500k for the neck. For bridge pickups 500k seem too bright most of the time and 250k can be too dark. 330k is just right to me.

You can also swap magnets to change the characteristics of a pickup. I like A2 magnets on most of my bridge pickups and if they don't come with one I usually end up swapping it for an A2.

 

[mark123]

I generally go the other way. 500k or 1M for my volume pot. However, I get it if one guitar is just brighter than all the others that is a good way of smoothing out the ice pick.

 

[freefrog]

Two simple ways to tame brightness with passive pickups:

Can I add capacitors to a coil to change the tone of my pickup? - Guitar Pickups, Bass Pickups, Pedals

By connecting desired value capacitor in parallel or from hot connection to ground will reduce the amount of treble in a pickup. By connecting a desired value capacitor in series with the hot connection can reduce the bottom end in a pickup and make a pickup sound thinner.

www.seymourduncan.com

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2018/10/17/using-resistors-in-guitars-101/comment-page-3/

FWIW: tricks that I use for decades.

 

[GuitarIV]

Two simple ways to tame brightness with passive pickups:

Can I add capacitors to a coil to change the tone of my pickup? - Guitar Pickups, Bass Pickups, Pedals

By connecting desired value capacitor in parallel or from hot connection to ground will reduce the amount of treble in a pickup. By connecting a desired value capacitor in series with the hot connection can reduce the bottom end in a pickup and make a pickup sound thinner.

www.seymourduncan.com

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2018/10/17/using-resistors-in-guitars-101/comment-page-3/

FWIW: tricks that I use for decades.

Thanks for the link! Fralin has some great tips on their website, always a good read

 

[Eric'45]

Swapped the black hardware for chrome and installed a set of Häussel pickups.

May I ask what model of Häussel PUs you have chosen? By the looks of them, they might be PAF types?

I'm also always looking for the perfect Tele sound. By coincidence, I also have a set of Häussels in mine. I wanted to keep it a singlecoil guitar, though, and I choose the ST- Pickups with A5 Magnets.
But I have a Gibson Custombucker in the Parts bin and it will go into the Neck position of my next Tele build project. So, any inspiration or information regarding Tele PUs is always appreciated.

 

[FleshOnGear]

Thanks for the link! Fralin has some great tips on their website, always a good read

Lindy is a great guy, too. I remember before I quit my job as a guitar tech I was in his shop (I can’t remember why), and I told him I was leaving for a job making airplane windows. He said that it was too bad, because there are so few good techs around. I don’t know if word had gotten to him about my work or if he was just being nice, but it really made me feel good about my time doing that work. Plus his pickups are great.

 

[GuitarIV]

May I ask what model of Häussel PUs you have chosen? By the looks of them, they might be PAF types?

I'm also always looking for the perfect Tele sound. By coincidence, I also have a set of Häussels in mine. I wanted to keep it a singlecoil guitar, though, and I choose the ST- Pickups with A5 Magnets.
But I have a Gibson Custombucker in the Parts bin and it will go into the Neck position of my next Tele build project. So, any inspiration or information regarding Tele PUs is always appreciated.

I bought a Vin N A2 for the neck and a Vin B+ A5 for the bridge position. A guitar I got used had the Vin B+ installed and I really liked it so I decided to stick one in the JR as well.

The Bridge is as the name suggests a slightly overwound Alnico 5 PAF Style pickup with a DC resistance of around 12K Ohms, so medium/hot output and I quite like my bridge pickups in that area. Enough push to drive the amp and even get you into Hard Rock and Metal territory yet clear and defined so the lows stay firm, the midrange is punchy and the highs present. Also very versatile, you can roll back the volume pot and it reacts very well, awesome dynamics.

The Vin N A2 is an Alnico2 pickup and PAF voiced as well, very clear without any mud in the low end whatsoever. It's not as stingy and scooped as a Seymour Duncan Jazz can be, complements the bridge perfectly and sounds great clean or overdriven. Maybe not as fat as other neck pickups can be, but a great choice nonetheless.

Very happy with the results. The guitar will be taken on stage with me next week, then I'll know more, but for now all the mods I had in mind have been done and I have a quite unique Jim Root Telecaster now

p.s.: I have a Häussel Alnico 8 Telecaster Blade pickup on order for my regular Telecaster. Will let you know how that puppy sounds once it arrives

 

[paul-e-mann]

Had my Jim Root Telecaster for a while now and I've been very happy with the guitar. Swapped the black hardware for chrome and installed a set of Häussel pickups. So far so good.

The guitar has a single volume knob and I noticed that the highs were quite sharp, even with the Suhr Aldrich Set I had in there before. So I figured why not try a lower value pot and see if that helps? So I went ahead and ordered a Bareknuckle 280K Ohm CTS pot and some copper foil to shield the electronic cavity. Wanted to do the shielding for a while anyway so I figured whilst I'm in there I might just as well swap the pot out.

Some pictures:

View attachment 131232 View attachment 131233 View attachment 131234 View attachment 131235

Tried it out today at rehearsal and now the guitar has lost the annoying highs and has gained some push in the lower mids! Still sounds clear and defined and my problem is solved

Very happy with the result and compared to new pickups as cheap as can be. So next time you have a guitar that is too dark or too bright, try changing the value of the pots. It might do the trick

Here she is all finished:

View attachment 131236

Cheers!

Yup thats a good trick, I figured this out myself awhile back. I had a Dimarzio AT-1 in a Strat with stock 250k pots that sounded too dark, I put it in a Super Strat that had 500k pots and wow what a difference that made for that pickup!

 

[guitarbilly74]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if you're using 500k for volume and tone, isn't the overall resistance 250k? With the V/T pots being wired in parallel?

In that case using a 280k on a guitar without a tone pot would make sense.

I think when EVH built his guitar, he mentioned taking a pickup pot from a 335, which at the time was 300k. So again in the same ballpark.

 

[FleshOnGear]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if you're using 500k for volume and tone, isn't the overall resistance 250k? With the V/T pots being wired in parallel?

In that case using a 280k on a guitar without a tone pot would make sense.

I think when EVH built his guitar, he mentioned taking a pickup pot from a 335, which at the time was 300k. So again in the same ballpark.

You’re kinda right. The tone pot is wired through the tone cap to ground, so the pickup is only seeing 250k at the high frequencies. But it seems that lower resistance pots affect the highs of a pickup the most, so it probably sounds very similar.

 

[ChrisLaarman]

Had my Jim Root Telecaster for a while now and I've been very happy with the guitar. Swapped the black hardware for chrome and installed a set of Häussel pickups. So far so good.

The guitar has a single volume knob and I noticed that the highs were quite sharp, even with the Suhr Aldrich Set I had in there before. So I figured why not try a lower value pot and see if that helps? So I went ahead and ordered a Bareknuckle 280K Ohm CTS pot and some copper foil to shield the electronic cavity. Wanted to do the shielding for a while anyway so I figured whilst I'm in there I might just as well swap the pot out.

Some pictures:

View attachment 131232 View attachment 131233 View attachment 131234 View attachment 131235

Tried it out today at rehearsal and now the guitar has lost the annoying highs and has gained some push in the lower mids! Still sounds clear and defined and my problem is solved

Very happy with the result and compared to new pickups as cheap as can be. So next time you have a guitar that is too dark or too bright, try changing the value of the pots. It might do the trick

Here she is all finished:

View attachment 131236

Cheers!

You could also have adjusted the bolts on the pick-ups to that effect. (Forget where I learned that, but I did recently adjust mine, probably to too close to the strings.)

 

[guitarbilly74]

You’re kinda right. The tone pot is wired through the tone cap to ground, so the pickup is only seeing 250k at the high frequencies. But it seems that lower resistance pots affect the highs of a pickup the most, so it probably sounds very similar.

Thanks for the detailed explanation man. Always learning new stuff here. I appreciate it.

 

[guitarbilly74]

Oh and I forgot to mention on my first post but OP your guitar looks amazing! What a difference the chrome hardware made!!!

 

[ampeq]

I like Fralin pick ups for most stuff, DiMarzio for dirt. But for pots I only use RS now, they are the best I have ever tried. Very smooth and great tone, and easy to talk with as well. I always get the pre-wired kits now but you can buy their stuff anyway you want it.

Pre-Wired Vintage Upgrade Kits

All the great RS Vintage Upgrade Kits, but pre-wired for easy installation. All the necessary capacitor and ground connections have been made for you...solder in your pickups and string ground, and you're ready to go! Don't find your guitar listed? Contact [email protected] for more info...

rs-guitarworks.myshopify.com

 

[GuitarIV]

Oh and I forgot to mention on my first post but OP your guitar looks amazing! What a difference the chrome hardware made!!!

Thanks man, the Jim Root Telecaster is a great instrument with a nice chunky neck and more than capable of a wide range of sounds. I'm not a fan of black hardware on guitars as to me it makes them look very "metal", I much prefer chrome or gold for that reason. And once the EMGs are gone you can play more laid back stuff as well.

Try to find a Mahogany Body Tele with a 12" Radius and Jumbo frets. Very happy with the guitar

 

[Eric'45]

I don't like extreme Metal Guitars anyway. I like to play Metal, but I prefer guitars that are also able to cover other genres. With Actives, or very hot passives, an Instrument is is pretty limited IMHO.
In the end it's more about the attitude and playing style, and with the right Amp/Pedals anything more than a medium- output Humbucker can produce some nice Hard Rock and Metal sounds.