59/09 Pickup Volume Swells

[ElrytNamrogo]

Hi all!!!

I have a question in regards to the 59/09 pickups in my Custom 24. I have noticed that when doing volume swells (in any pickup position) that the volume kinda jumps in at about half-way between 2 and 3. Raising the volume from there seems to work as it should, with a smooth graduation in volume level....it's just that early stage of the engaging of the volume pot in which I get a volume jump from zero to about 2-1/2.

I have a Custom 22 with Dragon II's and don't experience this issue at all. It has a very smooth, gradual volume increase all the way from 0-10 when turning the volume knob.

My question is, has anybody else experienced this with the 59/09's?

A couple notes about what I'm experiencing:

1) I have had the pots replaced in both the Custom 22 and Custom 24. Same brand by the same tech. Before the replacement of the pots, I cannot recall if I had the same issue - either I wasn't really using volume swells or wasn't really paying attention to the volume jump.

2) I have cleaned the pots.

3) I have also experienced the same issue using a volume pedal (albeit a fairly in-expensive volume pedal). With the volume pot on the guitar at 10 and a gradual expression from the volume pedal, the volume seems to jump in at the same audible volume level.

4) I have experienced the issue on two tube amps. A 60W Blackstar and a 1W Marshall practice amp.

Of course, after cleaning the pots thoroughly, my next step would be to maybe try new pots, but I was just curious if anybody else has experienced this with the 59/09's or any other pickup and what you found to be the solution.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!

 

[Tone-y]

I can answer this for you exactly. There is nothing wrong and there is an easy solution.

The reason that your volume pot behaves this way on the 59/09 (and not on the older dragons) is because of the 'treble bleed' capacitor on the volume pot! These are a standard fit now to PRS guitars but weren't presumably at the time of your custom 22 with the Dragons.

The treble bleed capacitor alters the taper of the volume pot as it puts a lot of the volume adjustment into a small area of the pot between settings 0-3. So exactly as you've found, it makes volume swells very difficult to get nice and smooth.

The solution to this is to just unsolder one of the legs of the 180pf capacitor on the volume pot. Then Voila, smooth volume swells again. I'd also suggest that if you follow this route, you might want to change the value of the tone capacitor to something smaller. It'll probably have a 0.033uf fitted which is a little darker sounding to counter the fitted treble bleed. I've removed the treble bleed cap from mine and changed the tone cap to a 0.022uf.

As to what to do if you really like and want to keep the treble bleed cap....er...well you could always hook it up to a little switch so you can turn it on and off as desired.

 

[ElrytNamrogo]

I can answer this for you exactly. There is nothing wrong and there is an easy solution.

The reason that your volume pot behaves this way on the 59/09 (and not on the older dragons) is because of the 'treble bleed' capacitor on the volume pot! These are a standard fit now to PRS guitars but weren't presumably at the time of your custom 22 with the Dragons.

The treble bleed capacitor alters the taper of the volume pot as it puts a lot of the volume adjustment into a small area of the pot between settings 0-3. So exactly as you've found, it makes volume swells very difficult to get nice and smooth.

The solution to this is to just unsolder one of the legs of the 180pf capacitor on the volume pot. Then Voila, smooth volume swells again. I'd also suggest that if you follow this route, you might want to change the value of the tone capacitor to something smaller. It'll probably have a 0.033uf fitted which is a little darker sounding to counter the fitted treble bleed. I've removed the treble bleed cap from mine and changed the tone cap to a 0.022uf.

As to what to do if you really like and want to keep the treble bleed cap....er...well you could always hook it up to a little switch so you can turn it on and off as desired.

Perfect!!! Thanks for the quick reply!!! I'll give that a shot and see how it goes.

Thanks again for your help, it's greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Tone-y]

Perfect!!! Thanks for the quick reply!!! I'll give that a shot and see how it goes.

Thanks again for your help, it's greatly appreciated!!!

No problem. I found the exact same thing with mine and it was one of the main reasons that I removed the treble bleed. And I don't even do volume swells. But I did find the taper of the pot annoying

 

[ElrytNamrogo]

No problem. I found the exact same thing with mine and it was one of the main reasons that I removed the treble bleed. And I don't even do volume swells. But I did find the taper of the pot annoying

Bit of delay, but your suggestion fixed my issue perfectly. Thanks again for the tip, so appreciated!

 

[Tone-y]

Bit of delay, but your suggestion fixed my issue perfectly. Thanks again for the tip, so appreciated!

Thanks for the feedback. It's good to hear. Nobody seems to realise that the treble bleed also affects the volume taper. How do you like how the pickups sound without it?