Treble bleed mod

dalep

dalep

Member
Before I put the treble bleed mod into some of my guitars, I thought I would check here and see if anyone has some settings that mimic the mod?

Thanks in advance.
 
dalep said:
Before I put the treble bleed mod into some of my guitars, I thought I would check here and see if anyone has some settings that mimic the mod?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I install them in all of my guitars. It’s a requirement given I continuously ride my volume and tone knob.

I use a 0.0022uF cap and a 220k resistor in parallel in all of them regardless of whether it’s a Strat, Tele, or shred-stick.

Give it a try with alligator clips before committing and soldering it in to see how it works first. 👍🏻

The closest to mimicking it with settings is probably going to be your input trim.
 
I recommend doing the mod and not try to mimic it in the modeler. I have it in all my guitars, humbuckers and single-coils, and love how it cleans up the guitar.

It’s easy enough to do yourself but there are several different ways of wiring it and the values vary depending on the guitar and pickups so experiment or work with a tech who will fine tune it to your taste.
 
I concur. Mimicking doesn't make any sense to me.

The idea is to make dynamic tone adjustments to your changes in volume. How do you mimic that? Yes, you could EQ it for a static setting, but that just would not be practical for actual use. There is no way the unit can recognize what you are doing with the volume knob; that's why you'd be stuck with a static setting which wouldn't be very useful.
 
Using a compressor can help but a treble bleed capacitor really is the way to go, I haven't cared for how a resistor with the capacitor, in parallel or series, affects the control.

As mentioned, testing a few capacitor values with alligator clips is really the ideal method to get the best results. I used this method with each of my guitars and the value range is 100pf to 680pf. IMO, you still want some of the highs rolled off as you reduce the volume to keep some warmth in the tone. Otherwise it becomes very bright and shrill as get below 6 on the control.
 
dalep said:
Before I put the treble bleed mod into some of my guitars, I thought I would check here and see if anyone has some settings that mimic the mod?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I personally love it. I know some big names like Scott Henderson and Michael Landau arent fans of it… but theres a nice thing to turning down guitar volume and not losing tone. I definitely find it very useful, and I find that I spent less time fiddling with the drive pedals and more time playing.
 
JoKeR III said:
IMO, you still want some of the highs rolled off as you reduce the volume to keep some warmth in the tone. Otherwise it becomes very bright and shrill as get below 6 on the control.
Click to expand...


I used to use cap only but then you have the issue you mention, with it getting too bright when you roll it down. So I gave up and now use the parallel resistor. Makes it flatter as you lower the volume. I didn’t like the series resistor method. None of them are perfect but better with than without.

For the OP…Trying to mimic a treble bleed would be a dubious venture. Maybe you could come up with something but better to just mod your guitar.
 
50's wiring can do this to some degree (keep highs when turning down etc), which is hanging the tone pot off of the volume pot's output/wiper instead of it's input.

Tone pot wiring does not have to change if you don't have a vintage guitar, modern tone pot wiring will work fine.

Works with single coils too, but likely best with humbuckers.
 
I'm a big bypass cap fan.

Not saying you should, but you could use an expression pedal in the Axe to reduce volume early in the chain, instead of turning your guitar down. That would avoid the cable capacitance and impedance effects that lose highs in the first place. If you wanted some flavor of tone change as you turned down, that expression pedal could make any sort of eq change you wanted too. Also, it works on all your guitars, without having to mod each one, and can be customized per preset or scene.

Downsides...
  • Only works with your Axe, not when you're sitting in on someone else's rig
  • Ties you to being near that pedal
  • Harder to set to some specific volume
  • Not customizable per guitar, unless you use different presets
 
Which amp models do you primarily use? If your goal is to be able to roll your volume down without your tone getting muddy, some amps do that better than others. The Trainwreck and Plexi models excel at that. I personally hate treble bleeds, but I know they work for some people.
 
dalep said:
Before I put the treble bleed mod into some of my guitars, I thought I would check here and see if anyone has some settings that mimic the mod?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
You can absolutely mimic the treble bleed mod in the Axe. I’ve had great success tying an expression pedal to the Amp block input gain, along with treble and bass controls. Works great for me. You can also get more precise control using a PEQ for specific treble and bass frequency manipulation. Another method I’ve been experimenting with lately is the expression pedal tied to the gain, mix, and tone knobs of two drive blocks. For example: in heel down position, RC Boost just on the edge of break up with a bit more treble. In the toe down position, a BB Pre with bass and treble rolled off and more saturation. I have a treble bleed in most of my guitars but I’m actually liking the sounds I’m getting this alternative way. It’s a lot of fun to play with the options!
 
DJD100 said:
50's wiring can do this to some degree (keep highs when turning down etc), which is hanging the tone pot off of the volume pot's output/wiper instead of it's input.

Tone pot wiring does not have to change if you don't have a vintage guitar, modern tone pot wiring will work fine.

Works with single coils too, but likely best with humbuckers.
Click to expand...
This!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom