what is your favorite tone control - and why?

[ulysses]

hey guys

i was wondering what your favorite "tone control" circuits are? and why?

im looking for a good blues tone control to add onto some diy circuits of mine.

im looking for something with usable tones throughout the whole sweep.

ive tried many with my experiments. some are very bland, some are extreme, some are much better than others.

have many people experimented with dual gang pots for tone control?

im looking for something that offers some nice eq curve changes - not just the simple cut the bass/bosot the mids/cut the treble controls.

hopefully i will be able to demo some eq samples through a software EQ through a desk mixed guitar and then build them into a single tone control.

is there a go to guide for eq designs for stompboxes?

cheers
ulysses

[GibsonGM]

I like the Tonemender....not really an add-on for a box, but to follow one.  I find it pretty useable thru the rotation of all the controls.   And of course we all like the Big Muff variants, but I know what you mean - tough to really get more than the usual Muffyness mid cut/boost out of it.
Duncan's TSC is the only program I've seen that lets you see what's going on, but unfortunately limited by the included tone stacks.  And I've seen some T-style dual-gang mid control stuff on R.G.s site at GeoFX....and Muff variants at AMZ.  You might have to go from scratch, using Electronics Workbench or something to watch the curves....I'd be interested in this, too! 

[ulysses]

I like the Tonemender....not really an add-on for a box, but to follow one.  I find it pretty useable thru the rotation of all the controls.   And of course we all like the Big Muff variants, but I know what you mean - tough to really get more than the usual Muffyness mid cut/boost out of it.
Duncan's TSC is the only program I've seen that lets you see what's going on, but unfortunately limited by the included tone stacks.  And I've seen some T-style dual-gang mid control stuff on R.G.s site at GeoFX....and Muff variants at AMZ.  You might have to go from scratch, using Electronics Workbench or something to watch the curves....I'd be interested in this, too! 

hey gibsongm

yeah ive been through the tone stacks of the duncan tone stack calc..

although you can change the values, you cant add your own..

that said, if i were to draw up a 12 snapshot progression on how i want the curve to sit through the turn of the knob i would have no idea how to achieve it in a circuit.

if you look at the possible curves of the "bench" tonestack in the the duncans amp sim, you can see that the curves are symmetrically planned. someone who knew exactly what they were doing designed that one..

thats not to say the fender or marshall tone stacks were not designed intentionally with precision.. but if i am putting a tone stack in a guitar pedal, i dont want to "double scoop" the mids, both in a pedal and in a fender amp. the fender and vox tonestacks cut the mids severely.. putting one of these tonestacks in a pedal kind of presumes the amp is going to have a flat response.

what i am really looking for is a "subtle" tonestack with some nice excentuation of various guitar tones.

im going to look at the varitone circuit again..

im using circuitmaker2000 - anyone know how to plot a graph in it like the duncans amp sim?

cheers
ulysses

[ulysses]

now i know why its called the "bench" tone stack!  its bends over your tone!



cheers
ulysses

[boogietube]

+1 For the Tonemender! Amazing versatility.

[GibsonGM]

Might've been you that pointed me to the 'Mender, Boogie...thanks!   Cured what was wrong with my rig -- trying to get a Marshall sound out of a Fender amp at times, LOL.  Comes close, and gets my leads a little more sharp for those 80's tunes we do....

I only know how to set up 1 curve for each component change in Multisim...you'd have to overlay tons of them to get an idea, I think....

[boogietube]

I think it was me. I cannot give enough good press about the Tonemender. It's funny, because I coax Fender tones from my Marshall with it !

[brett]

Hi
For vertatility with one knob, the BMP tone stack is great. Change some values and you can add scoops, humps, whatever.
Sometimes it's handy to use a smaller or larger pot (e.g. 10kB or 500kB), depending on whether there's a buffer before (10k) or after (500kB) the tone section.  Many people seem to forget that the output impedance of the previous stage, and the input impedance of the next stage, have effects on the frequency response, controls, and losses of tone circuits.

Also, the new two-knob BMP-type stack (do a search) is a very cool concept, but I haven't used it.

[John Lyons]

+1 on the BMP tone stack and variations at the AMZ site (kudos Jack!).
There is one with a mid control as well as a hig and low pass. Two knobs and a lot  of variation.


John