330 neck pickup very dark

[ThreeThirty]

Hey!

Is the neck pickup sound generally very dark and bassy?
I'm digging the bridge sound a lot and the bridge+neck combo is nice and bright and chimey.
The neck by itself approaches the tele neck sound with the tone cap.
Is that normal? Very bassy.
Is there a cap on there that may be removed?

[aceonbass]

Depending on the year, all of the pots in the guitar would be around 180K, which would give you a darker tone than the stock 60's-70's pots which were 500K tone, and 250K volume. There is no treble cut cap to remove in the wiring.

[iiipopes]

Hey! Is the neck pickup sound generally very dark and bassy? I'm digging the bridge sound a lot and the bridge+neck combo is nice and bright and chimey. The neck by itself approaches the tele neck sound with the tone cap. Is that normal? Very bassy. Is there a cap on there that may be removed?

And depending on the year, especially late '70's to early '80's, neck pickups are overwound, having from 12 to 14 kohms' worth of wire on them. (mine read 14 kohm on my meter). That, with the low-value pots, will definitely contribute to a darker neck position tone. There is no "shunting" cap to remove.

[Trés Mellow]

I highly recommend installing a .0022uF cap across the outer lugs of the blend pot. That works as a bass cut/bass contour control so you can roll off bass to taste. A lower value will cut even more, so adjust the value to taste. When the pot is fully counter-clockwise, it will be just like stock.

[Kyle]

Have you tried adjusting the 5th (mixer) knob?

[iiipopes]

Have you tried adjusting the 5th (mixer) knob?

The 5th knob is not a "mixer" like a balance knob on a stereo or active instrument. It is merely another volume knob in the neck pickup circuit. It does not affect the tone of the bridge pickup by itself. The original purpose of the 5th knob is to balance the tone to the player's taste when both pickups are on, because a combination of the proximity of the bridge pickup to the bridge, with less string excursion, can have a lower output even though it is an identical pickup, compounded by the .0047 capacitor in line chopping the lows even more out of the bridge pickup output.

[aceonbass]

Have you tried adjusting the 5th (mixer) knob?

The 5th knob is not a "mixer" like a balance knob on a stereo or active instrument. It is merely another volume knob in the bridge pickup circuit.

I believe the 5th knob is on the neck pickup curcuit.

[iiipopes]

Have you tried adjusting the 5th (mixer) knob?

The 5th knob is not a "mixer" like a balance knob on a stereo or active instrument. It is merely another volume knob in the neck pickup circuit.

I believe the 5th knob is on the neck pickup curcuit.

Quite right. I typed it wrong. I only have two of them, and have had them for 34 years and 28 years respectively! - edited and fixed.