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Topic: Best way to tame a bright guitar |
Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2021 10:28 am |
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I have a 1957 Gibson console steel. It's very bright and I have to keep the treble control on my amp at zero or it gets ice picky.
The tone and volume pots are 500k Ohms with a .047 cap. What is the best way to reduce the overall brightness of this guitar, aside from turning the tone control down? Do I have to replace the pots with a lower value or will replacing just the cap help? |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 22 Aug 2021 12:02 pm
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| Interestingly, I don't think I know anyone who uses a Sarno Freeloader with a non-pedal steel. But that's my first thought as a remedy. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 22 Aug 2021 12:19 pm
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The Freeloader probably is not needed and could be contributing to too much highs.
Another is the guitar cables. If you are using low impedance cables such as George L's, ditch them.
George L's cables are great and I used them for over 30 years, but when I got a Quilter amp, I had
too much highs. I had two steels at the time and the other one had regular inexpensive cables
and when I connected that guitar to the Quilter amp the "too much highs" was gone and a
great sound.
500K pots and .047 cap are correct.
I just bought an inexpensive Rondo SX 8 string lap, it had the same pots and cap but wired
wrong. Did not have the volume it should have with a P90 pickup and the tone control had
very little effect. Rewired and it sounds great, has volume and tone control works.
FWIW, I have it tuned to C6th with a high G, like my pedal steel. |
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Michael Brebes
From:
Northridge CA
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Posted 22 Aug 2021 12:37 pm
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I'm beginning to wonder if this is one of those pickups that has an open in the windings but is still passing signal. It usually sounds overly bright. Gibson pickups are not what you would call overly bright.
_________________
Michael Brebes
Instrument/amp/ pickup repair
MSA D10 Classic/Rickenbacher B6/
Dickerson MOTS/Dobro D32 Hawaiian/
Goldtone Paul Beard Reso
Mesa Boogie Studio Pre/Hafler 3000
RP1/MPX100 |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2021 1:15 pm
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| Bass on 10 and treble on 0 are relatively common settings on many smaller tube amps for lap steel. I have lotsa Gibsons, and they sound best to me through a smallish tube amp with the bass emphasized and treble backed way, way off. |
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2021 1:19 pm
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| Michael Brebes wrote: |
| I'm beginning to wonder if this is one of those pickups that has an open in the windings but is still passing signal. It usually sounds overly bright. Gibson pickups are not what you would call overly bright. |
There is nothing wrong with the guitar - just too bright for my taste. The pickups are both fine and sound spectacular. They are 1957 8 string PAF humbuckers. The guitar is just too bright. It has a built in doo-wah button that must have the tone control full on or full off to work. Otherwise I would just roll off the highs with the tone control. Looking for a way to reduce the brightness so that it's not so shrill with the tone control full on. |
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Jeff Highland
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 22 Aug 2021 2:18 pm
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An EQ pedal might be the best solution to tailor the sound to your taste.
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 22 Aug 2021 3:40 pm
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You're probably using a low-powered amp, and they usually have very little tonal lattitude. So...use the longest cable you have between the guitar and amp, and as Jack said, if you're using George-L's cables, STOP using them!
A regular 20-foot cable will sometimes work wonders to kill those ice-pick highs. 
You can also try using a larger value cap in the guitar tone circuit, I'll send you one if you like. |
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ajm
From:
Los Angeles
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Posted 23 Aug 2021 5:18 am
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Swapping cables: This might be a temporary fix, but it is too hard to control consistently in the long run. It wouldn't be my first choice, but is cheap to experiment with.
Using an EQ: Something like the Boss GE-7 or Danelectro Fish and Chips was the first choice that came to mind.
Do search on the forum, these have been discussed a BAZILLION JILLION times in the past.
Besides, you may want one to use as a dobro simulator.
Again, do a search on the forum.
Speaker swap: I'm against this.
Too expensive, it may take several tries to get what you want.
Not the most efficient solution.
It's a common suggestion that involves spending more money, and I'm surprised that somebody didn't recommend it.
Question: You say that the amp/guitar is too bright.
Where is the speaker relative to you?
Is it close to your face, pointing right at your ear like a laser beam?
You know where this is going. ;>)) |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2021 7:31 am
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If that pickup is working ok, I'd absolutely address the issue with the guitar's tone control as it was designed for. If you don't address it there at the source, you'll likely be fighting it in places you don't need to.
Be sure that tone pot is clean. No need to change the cap, should be just fine.
B |
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D Schubert
From:
Columbia, MO, USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2021 3:21 pm
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| Another route, consider a speaker swap for your amp. Switching from paper cone to hemp cone really attenuates the high frequencies. |
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Dick Wood
From:
Springtown Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2021 6:57 pm
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I always thought Hemp accentuated the highs.
_________________
Cops aren't paid much so I steel at night. |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 23 Aug 2021 7:03 pm
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| Dick Wood wrote: |
| I always thought Hemp accentuated the highs. |
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Peter Harris
From:
South Australia, Australia
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Posted 26 Aug 2021 6:41 am
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| Dick Wood wrote: |
| I always thought Hemp accentuated the highs. |
....only if the speaker catches fire... 
_________________
If my wife is reading this, I don't have much stuff....really! |
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George Piburn
From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
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Posted 26 Aug 2021 11:13 am Add a Low Pass High Filter
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You can experiment with adding a .022 or similar to trim only the high high's.
If you like it part time you could add a switch to go from .022 to .047.
Many guitar players add a high trim cap full time.
Stew-mac sells these at correct values.
Even though 500k pots are pretty much a standard for humbuckers, going to 250k will naturally go a tid bit darker.
_________________
GeorgeBoards S8 Non Pedal Steel Guitar Instruments
Maker of One of a Kind Works of Art that play music too.
Instructional DVDs
YouTube Channel |
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Ford Cole
From:
Texas
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Posted 28 Aug 2021 3:05 pm
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| How about a Black Box?? |
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2021 11:44 am Re: Add a Low Pass High Filter
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| George Piburn wrote: |
You can experiment with adding a .022 or similar to trim only the high high's.
If you like it part time you could add a switch to go from .022 to .047.
Many guitar players add a high trim cap full time.
Stew-mac sells these at correct values.
Even though 500k pots are pretty much a standard for humbuckers, going to 250k will naturally go a tid bit darker. |
I prefer not to change the pots if it can be avoided. For the cap, can I clip another .047 in parallel to the existing .047 to reduce the impedance or does that only work with resistors? |
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Mike Auman
From:
North Texas, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2021 1:42 pm
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Yes, the cap values add when you wire them in parallel, you can temporarily clip other caps of different values across the existing one and listen to them until you like the sound when you turn down the Tone knob.
_________________
Long-time guitar player, now wrestling with lap steel. |
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