Guitar Chord

In this schematic you can see, apart from standard elements, a DPDT on-on switch, wich can be an external element or a part of a push-pull potentiometer. Its used to switch off the capacitor and tone potentiometer together with their grounding. In effect of thi operation, the sound will be more natural (no impact from the tone cap. and the tone pot.).

It can be done in all types of wiring (3x single coil pickup, 2x humbucker; two pots, four pots etc.)

In this post I will show you, how to mount in your guitar a simple, but useful tone switch.

This circuit can help you cut-off a little bit of high-end (high frequencies) from the guitar signal. It means, that your guitar tone will be a little bit fatter and more round after using the switch. It will not work just like a classic, potentiometer based tone control. It's more subtle, and it can be switched only on and off, by a toggle (there's no pot).

The circuit is based on one SPDT on-on mini toggle switch and one capacitor.

Diagram:

Robert Fripp is one of the most unique guitarists. He's especially known as part of the King Crimson band, but in this post, I would like to write something about his solo career.

Fripp made a few great music projects. They always was unique, with awesome tone and playing style. Robert's music is something that you can't describe as mainstream, or typical, or common. You can't even say that this is rock, ambient, world, jazz or whatever. It's just Fripp.

He's well known from his solo performances, where he's using Frippertronics.

Tom Waits is not picking up an electric guitar very often. Probably you know him more as a vocalist only or a singing piano player. I would like to present here his made with an electric guitar music. This guy has got a really cool tone!

Ive been changed

In this post I will show you my idea for a Gretsch style guitar tone switch. It's a three position (cap1 - off - cap2) low-pass filter selector. It can be a very useful tool, if it's well tuned.

In my circuit, I'm using different capacitors values than Gretsch. I'm also using a SPDT on-off-on toggle switch, which is easy to buy and comfortable in mounting.

The lower value tone cap will help you in getting fat overdrive tones.

The higher value capacitor is good for clean, really smooth sound.

I've got three version of this wiring. One is for classic Filtertron pickups (Gretsch, TV Jones). Second is for use with Fender style single-coils.  Third is for PAF style humbuckers and P90's.

Diagram:

Jim Hall is a living jazz legend. Hes influencing a lot of jazz guitarists. His tone is well balanced, warm and reeeaaally smooth. It is that kind of tone, that everybody connecting with jazz music, but its also an original tone, typical for Jim Hall.
If you are interesting in guitar design or tonewoods, you should check out Halls guitars. His hollow-bodies are always beautiful and high-grade.

Links:

to listen:

Jim Hall Trio - Umbria Jazz Winter

Mike Stern is a jazz / fusion guitarist with very interesting tone and gear. His music has got a lot of really groovy-bluesy-jazzy lines with a dynamic rhythm. I can hear in his work a mix of many techniques of guitar playing.

Hes got his signature guitar, made by Yamaha. Stern is an often user of chorus, delay, distortion and few other types of effects. He like to play on solid state amps, Yamaha G100 (yeah, no tube).

Bob Berg / Mike Stern Band - Chromazone

George Harrison (yeah, that guy from The Beatles) was also an great guitarist. When Im writing this, Im not thinking only about The Beatles, but also about Harrison in his solo carrier and with Traveling Wilburys. If You dont know him from this side, I really recommend to search online for some music from this part of his life.
I recommend also, to find music video: Traveling Wilburys – Handle With Care, than see George Harrisons guitar and hear his solo. He had really cool peace of wood with really cool tone!

georgeharrison.com

travelingwilburys.com

youtube.com/TravelingWilburys – here you can find the music video that I wrote about.

A common guitar tone control is a low-pass filter. Its made from pickup resistance and tone capacitor capacitance. Its called also a RC filter.

A tone pot in a guitar is used as a variable resistor (only two lugs are used). Its placed after or before the tone cap. The more resistance is on this path, the smaller amount of treble will bleed out to the ground. The diagram shows how it works in three different knob positions:

Do you remember these spaghetti westerns directed by Sergio Leone: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; A Fistful of Dollars; For a Few Dollars More or Once Upon a Time in the West?

Maybe you already know, that their soundtracks are composed by Ennio Morricone - but who played this awesome guitar riffs? It was Alessandro Alessandroni.

Alessandroni is famous from his twangy guitar sounds, which are ringing when Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson is starting to be mad and danger. Hes also a good whistler, and player of many other instruments.

Alessandro Alessandroni was using probably a Fender Stratocaster guitar for his records for Morricone.

Guitar parts in Morricones compositions are not very complicated, but they are very powerful and well fitted to other instruments. Morricones melodies + Alessandronis guitar tone = very good record.

Hollow-body or semi-hollow electric guitars used to sounds more warm and open, than solid-body constructions. It's a big advantage for many blues and jazz players. However, having a solid-body axe is not a problem on the way to get a nice, warm, jazz tone.

I'm the one of those, who play jazz on solid body guitars. It's because I like the tone dynamic and comfort of this kind of constructions. I have really smooth, jazz tone with my SG (yes, I'm using SG to play jazz).

So, how to get that smooth, warm tone on a solid body guitar?