Explaining a Treble Bleed Circuit: What is it? Why would you need one?
Explaining a Treble Bleed Circuit: What is it? Why would you need one?
Written by: Kenny Prochazka
Some of you may have heard the term 'treble bleed' before, but may not be sure of what it is or what it does. There are a few different takes on the idea but, at its most fundamental, a treble bleed is a tiny component that can make a big difference in your guitar tone.
Have you ever noticed that turning down your volume control seems to make your tone darker? If so, then you are the perfect candidate for a treble bleed circuit, which helps to retain your high-end (or treble) when decreasing volume by allowing some high frequencies to 'bleed' through. This can increase perceived volume, as well as do wonders for the clarity of your sound.
By attaching one end of a capacitor (we like to use a 471pF cap) to the center lug of the volume pot, and the other end to the input lug, you can effectively retain brightness at the level you prefer. However, adding only a capacitor runs the risk of the guitar's tone being overly bright, because human ears will hear it as a decrease in the lows as well. This is why our much-loved Mojotone Volume Mod also has a 220K resistor in parallel with the 471pF capacitor, to tame that brightness a bit and preserve the natural chime of your guitar.
For each instrument, each player and each setup, there may be a different preference in the values of both capacitor and resistor. In general, lower capacitor values will lead to higher frequencies 'bleeding' through, and higher values will allow lower frequencies through. In a similar fashion, lower values in the resistor will tend to brighten the tone while higher values will tend to darken it. It definitely takes some experimenting to get your perfect tone, but a 471pF capacitor in parallel with a 220K resistor is a great starting point.
There are some players who prefer the quirk of volume controlling tone, and elect not to use a treble bleed, but most of us prefer to hear all of our tone throughout the volume sweep, and a treble bleed is the most direct way to get there. Don't be afraid to experiment, and don't settle for less than what you want to hear. Go find your sound and love your tone.
Have you ever noticed that turning down your volume control seems to make your tone darker? If so, then you are the perfect candidate for a treble bleed circuit, which helps to retain your high-end (or treble) when decreasing volume by allowing some high frequencies to 'bleed' through. This can increase perceived volume, as well as do wonders for the clarity of your sound.
By attaching one end of a capacitor (we like to use a 471pF cap) to the center lug of the volume pot, and the other end to the input lug, you can effectively retain brightness at the level you prefer. However, adding only a capacitor runs the risk of the guitar's tone being overly bright, because human ears will hear it as a decrease in the lows as well. This is why our much-loved Mojotone Volume Mod also has a 220K resistor in parallel with the 471pF capacitor, to tame that brightness a bit and preserve the natural chime of your guitar.
For each instrument, each player and each setup, there may be a different preference in the values of both capacitor and resistor. In general, lower capacitor values will lead to higher frequencies 'bleeding' through, and higher values will allow lower frequencies through. In a similar fashion, lower values in the resistor will tend to brighten the tone while higher values will tend to darken it. It definitely takes some experimenting to get your perfect tone, but a 471pF capacitor in parallel with a 220K resistor is a great starting point.
There are some players who prefer the quirk of volume controlling tone, and elect not to use a treble bleed, but most of us prefer to hear all of our tone throughout the volume sweep, and a treble bleed is the most direct way to get there. Don't be afraid to experiment, and don't settle for less than what you want to hear. Go find your sound and love your tone.
4 comments
Responding to Gordon: Yes, there are 471 pf capacitors. The third digit is the number of zeros. 471=470, 472=4700, 473=47000 etc, all in pf.
As mentioned above the value is 470pF, not 471pF. It’s not that a value difference that small would matter. It’s just that the last number on the ceramic capacitor is a multiplier. So the 1 on a cap marked 471 would mean there is one zero following the 47. So 471 is 470 picofarad.
I have been building guitars for many years and almost all of my guitars have a treble bleed. I find it curious that some luthiers will take a guitar with two volumes and a master (Gretsch for instance) and put a treble bleed on the master volume only. I find this ridiculous. what good does the treble bleed do on the master when the high tones have been bled off by the previous two volumes. Duhhhh. I have one ES-335 Style model that has four volumes and a treble bleed on each one. The only hard part of that build was stuffing all those Orange Drop capacitors through the F-Hole. But isn’t that why we build them?