Anyone got a GreaseBucket tone circuit ?

[DrBob]

I'm not entirely sure what the correct etiquette or manners are when it comes to discussing kit from other manufacturers so if this is out of line then please delete this thread with my apologies.

Okay so having said that have any of you tried, or got a F****r guitar with the new Greasebucket tone control on it.

I ask because in this months Guitarist (UK) mag theres a review on the new Highway 1 line and they say that this tone circuit when wound off gives the S***t a hint of the SG's.
Now this is of great interest to me because truth be told the only time I touch the tone pot on my beloved AL is the monthly maintenance twist to stop the contacts getting scratchy.

If I could get this addel level of flexibility out of my AL it would probably become the ULTIMATE WEAPON.

The magazine reviewers seem to suggest that It's just a few passive electric components;

'2 ceramic disc capacitors alongside a 4.7kohm metal film resistor' apparently

So does anyone out there have the inside line on what these components are ? what the values of the caps resistors might be ? and finally how to wire them in ?

I'd really love to play Cream covers on my AL and this could be the way to do it !

 

[threeminutesboy]

In my opinion it won't be too long before you will find them on Ebay as spare parts as this was the case for the S1 switching feature

Now for the electronic point of view how a passive system can improve the sound that much

As for your cream covers use that bloody Axis or get an ASS MM90

 

[beej]

Haven't played one. The description says "rolls off highs without adding bass", which is the general description of a low pass filter ...

Sounds like just a more useable tone control. Also keep in mind that those pickups are going to be hotter that what's in the AL, so there's nothing you can really do to get it into 'bucker category.

Here's an easy fix- add capacitance. You'll shift the output frequencies of your p/us down a bit and get more midrange. An easy way to do this is to get a long cord that has high capacitance and you'll get a lot more midrange out of your AL. (Think of what Jimi Hendrix got out of his strat- he'd have a long cord for distorted sounds and a shorter one when he wanted to record clean tones.) You an also wire up a small capacitor with a toggle switch, etc.

 

[DrBob]

Beej,

Thanks for the tips, I'll give it a go.

I still think it might be worth a shot with the Greasebucket thing, just because if it does do anything useful it'll be an added feature on the guitar that can be brought in or out to add another tonal colour, particularly given that all I use the tone pot for currently is to fill a hole in the scratchplate !

But yeah i think I'll go and play with some lead lengths etc and see what happens there

 

[lenny]

Haven't played one. The description says "rolls off highs without adding bass", which is the general description of a low pass filter ...

Sounds like just a more useable tone control. Also keep in mind that those pickups are going to be hotter that what's in the AL, so there's nothing you can really do to get it into 'bucker category.

Here's an easy fix- add capacitance. You'll shift the output frequencies of your p/us down a bit and get more midrange. An easy way to do this is to get a long cord that has high capacitance and you'll get a lot more midrange out of your AL. (Think of what Jimi Hendrix got out of his strat- he'd have a long cord for distorted sounds and a shorter one when he wanted to record clean tones.) You an also wire up a small capacitor with a toggle switch, etc.

Man Beej id love to sit down with you for a few hours and pick your brains!!!!........that was a great lesson on capacitance! thanx

 

[robelinda2]

good tip Beej, thanks!!!!!!!!

 

[uvacom]

Hey, I'm an EE major - over winter break I was going to test several different types of capacitors out in my albert lee. I was mainly going to compare orange drops, jensen oil & paper, bumblebee, black beauty, tropical fish, and silver mica. Maybe some vintage ceramics if I can find some.

Anyway, if anybody can dig up any info about this greasebucket circuit, I could easily test that in my Albert Lee and post some sound examples, along with the other stuff. But not until after finals!

*edit* I found the greasebucket circuit (it's really not that special - as far as I can tell it's just aregular tone circuit with an additional highpass filter that is brought in as the tone circuit "clamps down", so to speak - and it uses regular ol' ceramic caps)- I'm not sure if it's cool to post a diagram here, noob that I am. But if anybody is interested, the information is out there and relatively easily available.