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John Myung Bongo 4

VP Jr. "Tone Sucker"?

S

Scott Rolf

Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2012
Messages
5
More than once I have heard (on other forums) that VP Jr.'s are "Tone Suckers".
I personally don't get this. How can a passive volume pot "suck tone"?
Can anyone shed a litttle light on this please? Kind of has me a little concerned.

Thanks,
 
"Tone suck" is kind of a blanket phrase people use that doesn't accurately describe the problem.

A lot of people use volume pedals between their guitar and pedals/amp. When you do that with a passive guitar, the extra resistance from the volume pedal affects the impedance the pickups see. It's like adding another 250k volume pot to your guitar- the extra resistance (in parallel) from the VP lowers the overall resistance from your pots, which affects the resonant peak of the frequencies from your pickups.

Similar to the tonal change you get from replacing 500k pots with 250k pots ... everything gets a little less bright. This effect is also dependant on the length of your guitar cable, since it interacts with the capacitance of your cable.

Anyhow- that's usually what people are referring to. To some, it's not a problem. If it is, the way to avoid any tonal effect is to use the 25k verion of the pedal and put it after a buffered pedal (or in your effects loop), so it's isolated from the guitar.

Hope that helps.
 
Last edited:
beej said:
"Tone suck" is kind of a blanket phrase people use that doesn't accurately describe the problem.

A lot of people use volume pedals between their guitar and pedals/amp. When you do that with a passive guitar, the extra resistance from the volume pedal affects the impedance the pickups see. It's like adding another 250k volume pot to your guitar- the extra resistance (in parallel) from the VP lowers the overall resistance from your pots, which affects the resonant peak of the frequencies from your pickups.

Similar to the tonal change you get from replacing 500k pots with 250k pots ... everything gets a little less bright. This effect is also dependant on the length of your guitar cable, since it interacts with the capacitance of your cable.

Anyhow- that's usually what people are referring to. To some, it's not a problem. If it is, the way to avoid any tonal effect is to use the 25k verion of the pedal and put it after a buffered pedal (or in your effects loop), so it's isolated from the guitar.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

I'm using a buffer after my guitar and before the VP. I'm guessing this will help?
Amp is a non-master volume, single channel, non-reverb, non-EFX loop type (Komet) so everything is in front.
 
The MVP alleviates any of these "tone sucking" issues, and gives you up to 20dB of gain. Also a buffered tuner output so your tuner won't weigh down your signal. It's my favorite pedal.
 
Scott Rolf said:
More than once I have heard (on other forums) that VP Jr.'s are "Tone Suckers".
I personally don't get this. How can a passive volume pot "suck tone"?
Can anyone shed a litttle light on this please? Kind of has me a little concerned.

Thanks,
Click to expand...
They are tone suckers. Saying it does not bother some, I am wondering if it has to do with or without having an FX loop but my Fender Twin rolls up with a Telecaster and a Set of Custom Shop Texas Specials along with a Pedal that acts and behaves just as badly, the Earnie Ball Wah. Same deal, I have a couple of Morely Boosts to help as soon as I am not sick I will deal with it.
 
Holy necro thread.

Re-read my earlier post. "Tone suck" is a blanket phrase people use to describe high-end roll-off due to the effects of capacitance. It's not related to a particular pedal, but to your signal chain in general, and is avoidable.
 
The biggest thing I found to help prevent tone sucking was using low capacitance guitar cables.
Could someone please post the link to EBMM low capacitance cables?
 
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