ShortScale.org

I am thinking of doing a mod on my tele to add a 4 way switch (for some series tonez) and i noticed that one of the options has 250k pots and another with 500k pots what difference does that make to the sound? Also there is a choice between solid and split shafts though i am sure thats just cosmetic.

As a side note, does anyone have a 4 way switch on a tele and how does it sound in series? I've got texas specials on it at the moment so the pickups are pretty hot as it is.

Ok a few questions here:

1. 500k pots will give you more treble content and spank at full volume and tone settings. If you're ever wishing your guitar was brighter, do this, if not - don't.
2. Solid and split shafts is more than cosmetic - only knobs with larger holes and generally set screws will fit on solid shafts, all will generally fit on splits
3. Series settings sound big and fat with a healthy bass response.

Looks like if i'll do this then i'll just stick with the 250k, not crazy about super bright tones (strange since i have a tele i know). I'll check the current shaft type on the pots i have and go from there. Thanks once more for the info Mike!

Where are you getting this information from? I'd like to mod my tele to
Make it fatter... My amp is too effing bright. As is my guitar.

Any suggestions besides sticking with 250k pots?

I've thought about the series/parallel switches like on mustang. Is this even possible for a tele? And if so how could it alter the tones?

Lastly, I've read some pup recommendations... Any recommendations to hit the tonal range of a mustang or Jag? I've got a cheapie tele, and don't have money for a new guitar... So modding my current one is my only option

Mustangs and Jaguars aren't "fat" mate, they're pretty bright guitars. Does using your tone knob help?

IMO Mustangs always seem fatter than most Strats/Teles, def. moreso than any Jag...

Not that they're fat in a Gibson sort of way at all, but I've always felt like Mustangs offer among the most mellow, heavy single coil tones. People have liked my Mustang who have traditionally been bothered by the icepick-ness of Strats/Teles (or Jags).

It helps, but it's still not real smooth.

Yea, jags and mustangs ARE pretty bright, but my Tele is brighter, and dirtier.

Jagermeister wrote:IMO Mustangs always seem fatter than most Strats/Teles, def. moreso than any Jag...

Not that they're fat in a Gibson sort of way at all, but I've always felt like Mustangs offer among the most mellow, heavy single coil tones. People have liked my Mustang who have traditionally been bothered by the icepick-ness of Strats/Teles (or Jags).

it should be the opposite. longer scaled guitars should sound darker. but i guess there are other factors involved.

ive always wanted to make a "dark strat," like out of walnut or mahogany and have overwound pickups.

william wrote:

Jagermeister wrote:IMO Mustangs always seem fatter than most Strats/Teles, def. moreso than any Jag...

Not that they're fat in a Gibson sort of way at all, but I've always felt like Mustangs offer among the most mellow, heavy single coil tones. People have liked my Mustang who have traditionally been bothered by the icepick-ness of Strats/Teles (or Jags).

it should be the opposite. longer scaled guitars should sound darker. but i guess there are other factors involved.

ive always wanted to make a "dark strat," like out of walnut or mahogany and have overwound pickups.

I've always found shorter scale guitars darker, as they lack tension and always have a spongier feel, it's generally been true when I play them that a Strat is a much brighter guitar than a Mustang (though the Jag's electronics seem to have been designed to cancel out its inherent darkness). Most Gibson enthusiasts claim that a large amount of the mellowness and heaviness from their guitars comes from the shorter scale...

I have wondered how much the wood really affects the sound of a guitar; at this point, I almost think there are only two kinds of wood, that is, good and bad. And that variations in the tonal spectrum between different species are as great as within that species. But I guess we're all off topic now.

Jagermeister wrote:IMO Mustangs always seem fatter than most Strats/Teles, def. moreso than any Jag...

I was thinking jazzmasters would be the darkest fender.

Jagermeister wrote:I have wondered how much the wood really affects the sound of a guitar; at this point, I almost think there are only two kinds of wood, that is, good and bad. And that variations in the tonal spectrum between different species are as great as within that species.

I'm willing to bet this is probably true as well. but I think the wood does effect the sound in some small way.

mage wrote:

Jagermeister wrote:IMO Mustangs always seem fatter than most Strats/Teles, def. moreso than any Jag...

I was thinking jazzmasters would be the darkest fender.

People call Jazzmasters dark and they are compared to other Fenders, but to me they just have a more muted, less spiky initial attack... Mustangs to me always seems to genuinely have the girthiest, most bassy sound, especially the neck pickup tone as compared to others... Like a Strat with the tone rolled off a few points.

yeah, i guess you are right about shorts being darker. i guess i just think of longs as being deeper, like more pronounced lows.

they are brighter though. in the most literal sense. more upper harmonics= brighter. that is what dark means, right? attenuated highs? pretty sure.

Jazzies are definately darker than most Fenders, spesh with the non-angled bridge pup.


Unless you get your Doog on.

Most people love to have their tone knob wide-open and keep the treble on their amps at 5 or above. I find that with Fender style amps, It's better to tame the treble a bit by keeping it at 4/4.5 and boosting the mids for single coil pickup guitars.

A 250k pot should be fine if you like leaving it wide open, but 500k or 1meg pots will yield the same tone if you roll them down iirc. It's a relatively cheap and easy modification, so I don't think it'd be a bad idea to just see if you like the alternative.

Jagermeister wrote:

mage wrote:

Jagermeister wrote:IMO Mustangs always seem fatter than most Strats/Teles, def. moreso than any Jag...

I was thinking jazzmasters would be the darkest fender.

People call Jazzmasters dark and they are compared to other Fenders, but to me they just have a more muted, less spiky initial attack...

that's how I would describe most guitars usually labeled "dark". my greco LP's bridge pickup is very bright. but yea, it doesn't have any of that biting attack normally associated with fender single coil guitars.

I dig 500ks on our pair, as they mate quite well to both the Nocaster and spicy Kent Armstrong TCHR-1 we use, and keeps the neck TV Jones Classic in the Televersary Cindicaster nice and "open sounding".

Squire ProTones come with 500k pots stock. They are pretty bright sounding Strats. On the other hand my Bronco has the most gutless pickup on the planet. It is also one of the brightest most jangliest guitars I have ever owned. The tone control is on half most of the time.