Who actually uses their tone control?

dindude · September 2023

I use it to back off the highs on the bridge pick-up for smoother gain sounds. Anyone who uses a tone control on a neck pick-up is a deviant.

stufisher · September 2023

I use the tone control most often with my Ibanez AM93 Artcore Expressionist ... I have upgraded Suhr pups and dialling down the tone a tad yields a real mellow, jazzy, warm output ... when my mood is right I can play that guitar for hours and have an infinite range of tones

Lestratcaster · September 2023

I do on my strat as the single coils are quite bright and hot to match the humbucker in the bridge. Having the option to roll off a bit of top end is really handy when playing cleans. I don't do it much on Les Pauls as I rarely play cleans on it and if I do its never really overly bright.

CarbonCopy · September 2023

I do on a Telecaster Custom. 1 Meg pots sound great for the neck humbucker, but not so much for the bridge single coil. As it has a tone for each pickup, the bridge tone stays on 4 which matches the neck humbucker with tone on full quite well.

Brio · September 2023

Tele and SE DGT all the time. Chapman Baritone, not so much when really overdriving the amp.

jdgm · September 2023

I use my tone control. Can't do without it; essential!

Dan_Halen · September 2023

Almost never

Usually use the bridge clean as core sound so set the amp where I like it and don’t really have a ‘requirement’ to take any off or add any. Mid and neck are obviously darker so don’t feel and need to take away there. Use pedals for gain stages so use the EQ on those.

Used to use it more on a Strat but only to take some top off the bridge.

Am I the weirdo then? With playing, singing, moving about a bit on stage and pedals to bugger about with during songs feel like I’ve got enough going on so try and keep use of the guitar controls simple.

axisus · September 2023

Used to quite a bit many years ago. These days I’m less fussy so don’t touch them. My latest guitar build which I think may be my new no 1 guitar won’t have one.

carlos · September 2023

All the time

CountryDave · September 2023

All the time, especially on the bridge pickup.

Pondering a change to my tele where the tone pot only works on the bridge pickup as a trial to see how much I miss it on the neck. My thoughts are that it won’t impact me much, if at all.

Basher · September 2023

Sometimes backed off a bit on a Strat or Tele bridge pickup - means there's usually a really nice sound with plenty of top on the neck sound.

Other than that, just occasionally trying to emulate that awful, comedy jazz tone on a neck humbucker, the one that sounds like your amp has been covered by a pile of mattresses filled with custard.

ICBM · September 2023

Philly_Q said:

I love the sound of a neck humbucker with distortion and the tone on 0, which probably isn't usable in the real world.

It is, although it’s quite a specialist sound - I used it with a Fuzz Factory.

Neilybob · September 2023

With this one, I'm always riding the tone pot. Love it.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/4ebe906d97428a8dbeda7fef3da5579cff0adbba4d328665ee

shobet · September 2023

Whitecat said:

Quite a bit but a) it took me some time to come around to the realisation that it can actually be useful and b) not all tone circuits are equal - some guitars have weird tapers and/or just eff up the tone somehow, so it’s more useful on some guitars than others.

This.
You've not said how your guitar is wired. Modern, 60s, 50s or however. The tone control will vary drastically depending on where it is in the circuit.

Mike58 · September 2023

Back in the day ( ‘82-‘87 ) when gigging a Les Paul Custom everything was flat out and I only used the selector switch.
40years later I have a stupidly large collection of nos capacitors and have dialled in very low value caps to avoid mud and love the roll off with 30% taper ( J-CTS taper) on both vol and tone. The way a Strat bridge p/u can be thickened with a 6800pF cap is a thing of joy and the humbuckers on my Gibson’s can be brought into cocked wah territory with a 0.01uF cap.

LionAquaLooper · September 2023

CountryDave said:

All the time, especially on the bridge pickup.
Pondering a change to my tele where the tone pot only works on the bridge pickup as a trial to see how much I miss it on the neck. My thoughts are that it won’t impact me much, if at all.

I wanna do this mod on my tele

Faye · September 2023

After forty years of never using them, I've taken them off all of my guitars. I use a single volume pot, 250k linear with P90s, and that gives all the drive and tone variations I ever need playing live. It's the simplest and most intuitive setup imo.

HarrySeven · September 2023

Guitars have got a Tone control? What’s that?

p90fool · September 2023

Yep, I run my amps very loud and very bright, the guitar is essentially an amp remote control for me.

OilCityPickups · September 2023

It all depends on the guitar. With my Teles never. With my vintage output Strats a little on the bridge sometimes. Strats with high output bridge pickups or HSS Strats - never.
Gibsons - My Les Paul (pair of my Green Man PAFs) quite often.
Superstrat with two Neo-X-Breed humbuckers - never

Bass for recording ... always

HerrMetal · September 2023

Only time I tend to touch the tone control is when tuning. I roll the tone right down.

skullfunkerry · September 2023

No, I'm always on 10, or I've had guitars with no tone control. I adjust the volume to get crunch & clean sounds, but that's it. When I was gigging I never had to use a venue's amp, I always had my amp but sometimes the venue's cab.

Weirdly, the other day I couldn't figure out why my Jackson sounded so shit, until I realised that the tone control was all the way off. I have no idea how or why that happened!

roberty · September 2023

I'm mostly everything on 10 tbh. I've modded two guitars for my band and they don't have tone controls. They have HPFs on the bridge pup which I find more useful for high gain. I have used the tone controls in one or two bands but not when I'm singing

guitarmangler · September 2023

Hmm. No, usually as I just stay on the bridge 90% of the time. But, when I do flick between neck and bridge I usually roll some off the bridge to even out the tone a little. When playing jazz, just a little off the top.

Sassafras · September 2023

Never. I can't stand the horrible soupy, syrupy sound of the tone control down.
I loathe the "woman tone".

Keefy · September 2023

roberty said:

I'm mostly everything on 10 tbh. I've modded two guitars for my band and they don't have tone controls. They have HPFs on the bridge pup which I find more useful for high gain. I have used the tone controls in one or two bands but not when I'm singing

I’d say a HPF is a kind of tone control, just not the same as the usual treble (LPF) control.

Creed_Clicks · September 2023

I'd replace the tone control with some kind of pickup switch, series/parallel etc

impmann · September 2023

All the time, irrespective of the guitar.

Offset · September 2023

I do use the tone knob with the TBX circuit on my Strat Plus. It doesn't get touched on my other guitars - in fact one doesn't have a tone control and another has a buggered pot so is stuck on 10. I've never bothered replacing it.

HAL9000 · September 2023

On my Tele - yes a fair bit.
On my Strats - Just minimal tweaking. The neck pickup tone is usually wound back to about 3 or 4, and the middle pickup pretty much fully open. I find I can usually get all the sounds I want by using the pickup selector.

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Who actually uses their tone control?

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