Gearhead wrote:
That's a very short answer Alan ?
Indeed it is. Intentionally so, as I try to take the reader into account. I try not to explain any more than neccessary to answer the question as that only serves to obfuscate the details that the questioner actually wants and needs to know. Capricorn's question told me his level of knowledge and I replied accordingly.
Plus... I'm busy. ?
Seeing as we're getting into it though:
Both controls are variable resistors (pots): they limit the energy going through regardless of frequency.
A potentiometer is more accurately described as an electrical potential divider. The volume circuit of an electric guitar uses it exactly as intended - as a voltage divider, while only the tone circuit uses a pot as a variable resistor.
The volume pot does nothing else and is wired between the pickups and the output jack.
More accurately it is wired across the output of the pickup and the ground (to present a fixed resistance to the pickup). The output is then wired to the wiper and the pot position divides the potential between the hot and ground.
Guitar pots are usually logarithmic which works out to the effect that there is a linear connection between how far you turn the knob and the amount of energy going through (rather than being linear with the voltage influence)
A logarithmic taper is used to compensate for the fact that
we hear changes in volume logarithmically. Tone controls
should be linear - the only reason log pots are used for both is to cut costs. This is why most guitars have a seemingly uneven tone control, with most of the effect centred around the last few digits on the knob. Many guitar pots (like the CTS-made DiMarzio) have a custom taper, which falls somewhere between the two.
imho the ones that want to sound cool leave the tone knob at 10 so it does not F up the Tone.
A lot of fans of the Clapton "Woman tone" would disagree with you strenuously on that point. ? Also, anyone who has ever played a guitar like a vintage-style Tele or an LP Junior, will tell you that the key to tone and flexibility in those guitars is learning to use the tone and volume controls.
the best setting is 10 to leave the signal alone.
As long as it is connected, the tone control affects the signal (even on 10) by draining off some high frequencies (unless you have "no-load" pots) - and this is a good thing with certain guitars and pickups. I don't fit tone controls to my own guitars (mostly to make space for other things), but I have to voice the pickups accordingly to compensate.
