how to keep bright tone when guitar volume knob is being lowered

Recently i found something interesting on the internet. something that bothers me all these years and left unanswered.  when we play some blues, the volume knob is the key of music dynamics. Anyone would never get satisfied by the mumbling tone when we reduce the volume via guitar volume knob to get less distorted tone in creating smooth clear overdrive sound. and now i got the one of solution on how to keep bright tone when guitar volume knob is being lowered.

to accomplish that, i needed to go to local radio shack in my town and bought a 0.001 uF capacitor and 150k resistor. it was too cheap, so i bought three of each so i can install them on my other guitars. it worth 0.1 dollars for all of them. if you think it isn’t worth for your expensive guitar, you can get the higher quality. but for me, 0.1 dollars works fine on my guitar.

capacitor and resistor
0.001 uF capacitor and 150k resistor

so, how this 0.1 dollar stuff works? first, connect those in parallel. surely i prepared my solder and soldering iron for this. and here is the result:

parallel connected capacitor and resistor
parallel-connected capacitor and resistor

then open the back cover of the guitar, find the volume pot, solder the legs to volume pot. i can’t get better picture of this, but the diagram below will explain where to put the legs.

soldered capacitor and resistor to volume pot
soldered capacitor and resistor to volume pot

i put these components to my Gretsch G5236 electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary, and it was as expected. no more mumbling tones when i lowered the volume knob.

actually it’s like adding some value to the volume pot, i made a video recorded my activity in installing this component, i found it also reduces humming when the volume pot is in half-full position which is great. i recommend you to do this on your guitar.  it’s just cheap and works perfect.

 

here is the video on YouTube  guitar learner channel :

August Rush, no, Robin Williams i meant

 this post is dedicated to my inspiration and my idol Robin Williams.what inspires me beside guitar are movies and actors. somehow the stage performance is related to film acting. every each of learning and guitar exercising are elements of our stage act. you need to read the scripts, practice them, and act them naturally as the story need. you will see some great virtuosos are similar to Oscar winner actors such like Robin Williams. it’s a sad news came couple hours ago, Robin Williams died at age 63. He is my favorite actor and comedian. i laughed at every of his jokes and get fascinated to his acts. name them, the hilarious Jumanji to the cold-blood killer Insomnia.

Robin Williams and Al Pacino “Insomnia”

so there’s August Rush. there are scenes those made me feel deeper fans-to-idol connection with him. he and his appearance, holding guitar, somehow made me me give him a big respect as guitarist. his play is totally hypnotized me. it’s like “he’s the one who love guitars deeply” while i’ve never seen him performing musical instruments as musician. but it’s just like he could play it good.

Robin Williams “august rush”

his appearance was a totally Bono U2 for me. and that was so GREAT because I’m a big fan of U2. even for non comedy movie, Robin Williams never lost his taste of humor and sensibility as a man who can read the audiences’ mind and make a great jokes about it.

Robin Williams | Bono

it is a great lost for me. i knew some post noted Robin Williams Found Dead From Apparent Suicide and it made me sad.

His wife, Susan Schneider said:
 “This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken. On behalf of Robin’s family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin’s death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.”

see you in the next life mr. Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014), Rest in Peace