GhostInTheMachine

Actually some old flamenco guitars were made entirely out of spruce for massive treble response. In the steel string world Ron Steiger builds all spruce guitars with spruce necks (he's on http://www.luthierforum.com/index.php?. I imagine they would be plenty strong if cut from quartersawn woods. Why not?

I could ask the same of you Geo. All you have done is shown how to do something, you did not explain why. He is still no better prepared for the next electronics hurdle that he may have to cross. It would be a much better service to him if he was prepared with knowledge so that he is not dependent upon fellow forumites whenever he has to do a simple modification. If you dislike my approach I am sorry Geo, but I also dislike yours since it leaves out the very reasoning that is so necessary for understanding. You do not teach a child how to read a clock by telling him the time. You teach him what everything means so that they are not reliant upon remembering the patterns (or diagrams) that they have seen before and can then move beyond that by being able to read a clock at any time with full understanding of why it is so. I agree completely and this was why I never said you couldn't. There is no need for defensiveness, these are not genius level concepts and you are fully capable of fully comprehending them. It is not difficult and certainly I am no genius either. Perhaps I can offer you some insight into why I took the approach I did and what I was hoping you would reach for. What you need to know, wood is good, is this: 1. A potentiometer is a variable resistor or more precisely a voltage divider Center lug being the input and the outer lugs being the output 2. A volume control divides the pickup signal between the output between: the output signal path (full volume-clockwise position) the ground (no volume-counterclockwise position) 3. A tone control is a high pass filter utilizing the following: a potentiometer a capacitor 4. A tone control divides the output signal (from the volume or switch output) between: [*]the capacitor (or filter) [*]nothing For guitar wiring a volume control is almost always necessary as it controls how much of the pickup signal gets sent to the amplifier. A tone control is not necessary as it only filters, or modifies, the original signal from the pickups by passing the highs to the ground. It does this by dividing determining how much of the signal path is sent through the filtering affects of the capacitor which send the highs to the ground (in a typical guitar circuit). So you can think of a volume as a valve and a tone as a filter. A valve lets the water out and a filter controls it's spray pattern. Pretty loose analogy, I know. But the point is you can have a wide open valve without a variable spray pattern and thus you can remove it without losing output. To illustrate, as you have seen from your original diagram, the output from the middle of the switch goes to the output jack post-volume output signal in this case). There is also a wire connecting it to the tone control. This affects the tone of the signal (or how much of the highs remain). Now you can have the tone control on full and that is just like (but not quite) having no tone control at all since in that position none of the signal is sent through the capacitor. In this sense it is in unnecessary and can thus be removed. If you want a more mathematical approach to this information click here: Understanding Volume and Tone Controls Geo has shown you what to do so this is not necessary for you to digest in order for you to do the work on your client's guitar. It is necessary if you are to proceed without the crutch that Geo represents for you. Take this how you will but it is given with the deepest of respect for you and your abilities.

Actually it was if you used the search sting I included ("how do volume and tone controls work") and actually read the first link on the page and then tried to understand it instead of looking for that same diagram that you couldn't find after a whole year. What I was hoping for is that you would have put just a little effort into this because as you say: and you could have had that. You were already so close. All you needed to to do is understand just a little and you would have discovered that you need to clip that one wire that connects the tone control to the signal wire at the output jack and you would have been there. All on your own. Sorry, dude, I respected you too much to assume that you couldn't think this one out for yourself. I hope that for your client's sake at least that you wrap your mind around these rudimentary concepts. You should. It would obviously do you a world of good. It truly would. And with a little effort you could, wood is good.

It could be used to tighten up the bass like Michael Stevens:

Yeah, start a new one. And whatever you think you did wrong with that glue joint, do it again. If it lasts through your bathtub soak it must be a pretty good glue joint.

The reason is because this is such common knowledge that it is too basic to print (even on the web). Don't take this the wrong way but shouldn't you know this already if you are taking service orders? Believe me this will take you much less than a year to figure out if you apply a fraction of the energy you spent waiting for someone to do this for you. Here's a link that just might help you out.

I think there is something on one of the brighter burst guitars on his site. I tried a to do this and the results were sorta botchy. Ya have to keep the dyes very wet.

I like it. This is a very cool take on a classic vibe. I have seen some excellent talent on this forum.