Always used both or volume only on builds, thinking about going clean due to nice lid design.
How much of a difference in sound by running through an amp only and no volume or tone pots?
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This has got me thinking. Can a switch be added to an instrument that has volume/tone control that would bypass the signal straight to the jack? I'm guessing yes. It could be used as a lead boost. Idk. Just spit balling here.
Yes it can. It's called the "Blowtorch" mod, coined by Neil Young that had it done to his Black LP. All you need is a toggle switch between the pickup and control pots to divert the signal straight to the jack.
I have a switch on a couple guitars that bypass the tone giving me volume only and a treble boost and lets me go back to tone for some darker tones when needed.
You may not notice much on a small amp though because the small amps are usually dime out as far as they can go to begin with.
I've built 2 CBGs. Each one using the same exact humbucker. One uses a volume while the other goes straight to the jack. The one withOUT volume control is a bit louder. Hard to say if it's more trebly though since the one without volume is a wooden cigar box and the other is a license plate resonator. But I do think volume will be more without volume control, however I prefer to have control onboard rather than reaching back to adjust an amp.
No tone pots gives the git a small boost in treble output and no volume pot gives an extra boost in volume, providing the settings on the amp were set to having volume and tone pots.
Volume and tone pots are for the convenience and versatility of adjusting the sound of your git without having to walk over or lean over to your amp to adjust the settings. If your amp doesn't have a tone pot, then your SOL.
What people are supposed to do is set their volume and tone pots of their git to about 8(NOT 10), and then set the desired Volume - Tone or Treble/Midrange/Bass - Gain settings on the amp for best volume and tone. This allows the player to boost the volume or tone when needed in a part of the song or lower for moody parts of the song because if everything is turned all the way up, there's no where else to go but down.
That's the one thing I'm missing. Because I build my own bodies and use pups I don't get that pure sound of a CBG. Even messing with a graphic EQ and the settings on my amps.
Well... there's only one way to find out what its gonna sound like. ;-)
Seriously though, every component in the circuit tends to remove a little treble from the signal. So wiring the pickup directly to the jack will likely result in slightly more treble than wiring it through a pot. Some call that a 'trebly' tone and others say its a 'pure' tone. It's all perspective.
On a personal note, I've done builds that were direct wired, volume pot only, volume & tone pots, 500k, 250k, various capacitor values, piezo p'up, magnetic p'up... I can't say any of them were better/worse sounding... they're just different. To me though, that's part of the beauty of CBGs. Each one is what it is. They're all wonderful in their own way.
been a few mods to direct output on electric guitars using pickups. some factory too.
for Piezeos some do just direct wire it out, some have added a cap to the output jack to tame the treble a bit.
thats what tone controls on the amp are for..lol
I don't know the science behind it but it's not done because the overall sound is harsh. If you don't want the volume on the face of the guitar perhaps mount it in the box set all the way up. The is for pickups. If your doing piezo there's folks here who can help you better than I can.