Treble bleed on a PRS

LJD

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May 15, 2012
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The volume pot on my 2012 HBII died on me (got very crackly, muffled, intermittent). De-oxit only cured it for a couple days and it would come back. So, I bought a new PRS volume pot that had a treble bleed circuit attached. I looked forward to trying it. Sometimes my guitar sounded a little dark when rolling off the volume, but it's never bothered me when I'm playing with my band (loud).

I installed the new pot. Crackle be gone, as expected. The treble bleed though... not sure I like it.
First of all, I noticed the taper seemed different than my original pot. I wouldn't say it's uneven, but volume swells seem to have a different (maybe quicker) ramp in from zero. Is that an effect of the treble bleed? I also don't love the sound of the rolled off volume. The clarity is nice, but it seems to lose something. From what I've read this seems to be a common reaction. Maybe just too drastic a change for my ears?

If I chose to clip it off, can I just clip one leg of the capacitor or should I get it all off there?

You guys like them on your PRS? Thoughts?
 
I'd remove the whole thing. I know back in the day people complained about them, haven't heard so much recently. I'd remove with a soldering iron that way you can put it back on if you don't like it removed.
 
I don't like them either. While it retains highs, it seems to neuter the sound of the guitar. Really noticeable when playing with a band at gig volumes. It sounds fake to me for some reason.

I always clip out one leg and test it first, but i have always preferred them gone in every case.
 
Had one on my last Patrick Eggle (1993 Berlin), and didn't like it at all, so snipped one leg. I think there's one on my CE24 (1999), but initially this doesn't seem do bad.
 
After another day of playing with it the bleed doesn't really bother me. Tried it with my pedal board, still responsive with overdrive pedals. With 53/10s in a HBII there is plenty of warmth and body. Now I'm just noticing pleasant clarity when I dial back the volume. No thin sound. True test will be gigging this Thursday, but I think it's a nice addition now.
 
On the Patrick Eggle, the tone altered greatly moving from 10 to 9, which I didn't like. The PRS seems much more subtle
 
What a great Christmas day: I've just installed a treble bleed kit (1 x Sprague Orange Drop Capacitor – 0.001 uf 1 x pre-soldered 130k resistor) to my PRS McCarty 594! I've also recorded a before / after or with or without treble bleed circuit video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QkqmMlkpxo
Put your headphones on and check the difference that this clever circuit causes as I turn down the volume on the guitar! Let me know how do you like it
 
What a great Christmas day: I've just installed a treble bleed kit (1 x Sprague Orange Drop Capacitor – 0.001 uf 1 x pre-soldered 130k resistor) to my PRS McCarty 594! I've also recorded a before / after or with or without treble bleed circuit video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QkqmMlkpxo
Put your headphones on and check the difference that this clever circuit causes as I turn down the volume on the guitar! Let me know how do you like it
very nice. sounds like there is no loss of tone with the treble bleed. hard to tell how far you're rolling back the volume. 10 -> 7?
 
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