We Don't Need No Stinking Tone Pot

**jickes** · 04.24.25, 03:42 PM

I’ve owned my EVH Wolfgang USA since 2010. Always liked it… but never loved it. It’s like dating someone your friends all say is “perfect for you,” but deep down, you’re just not feeling that spark. Looks great, feels great, plays great — but tonally? Eh.

Meanwhile, my Striped Series and Frankenstein Relic Series were out here melting faces, leaving the Wolfgang in their dust. Which, let’s be honest, felt a little backwards. This is the USA model. It’s got pedigree. It’s been PLEK’d, professionally set up, and pampered. And yet, it always sounded just a bit… anemic. Like it was holding something back. Like it skipped leg day.

Today, in a fit of frustration and curiosity, I disconnected the tone pot. And I kid you not, the skies parted, a blinding light shone through, and I swear I heard Ed’s voice booming from above: “LET THERE BE BROWN SOUND.”

Suddenly, it had that growl. That midrange bark. That punch-in-the-gut oomph when you palm mute an E-flat and grin like a maniac.

Now I’m wondering — was the tone pot just a joy vampire this whole time? Do I have a bad one, or is this just what tone pots do… rob you of your rightful crunch? I’m considering wiring up a no-load tone pot just to keep the option open, but part of me is thinking: Ed went without one for over a decade, and that worked out pretty well.

Anyone else ditched their tone pot and had a religious experience? Or am I just now catching up to what the rest of you tone-chasers have known for years?

**Brett** · 04.24.25, 04:08 PM

Yeah, I’m not a tone pot person. I never fuck with that. It’s always on full. Maybe some people like to be able to play around with that but I don’t see the point.

**Little Intruder** · 04.24.25, 04:22 PM

The infamous tone pot! I've known some that had it disengaged on their guitars but I never have done it myself. Like Brett, I just don't mess with it. I like the killswitches on my guitars better!

**CatchAsCatch** · 04.28.25, 02:25 PM

It makes a difference. How much of a difference I think can be debated and depends on a lot of variables (pickups, signal chain, the tone pot itself, etc.).

Personally I'm in the same boat as the others. I don't use it. Because of that, I've never bothered wiring one in to guitars I've put together myself over the years. But I have guitars with them and I can't say that I felt they lacked magic.

Electronics is funny business. You can build out two rigs with the same exact guitar, amp, pickups, pedals and they will likely sound slightly different.

**Little Intruder** · 04.28.25, 08:03 PM

CAC, that's true about guitars sounding different. I have three Fender Strats that I've modified with the same exact strings, pickups, etc. and they sound very different. It doesn't really matter to me since I still love them. I've always been fascinated by guitar electronics, especially pickups. I've tinkered with mine but I don't like messing around too much. According to lore, EVH experimented with wax and other bizarre techniques with his stuff. A whole book could written on his guitars and how he created them but unfortunately he took a lot of his secrets to the Great Beyond.

**CatchAsCatch** · 04.28.25, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by Little Intruder

CAC, that's true about guitars sounding different. I have three Fender Strats that I've modified with the same exact strings, pickups, etc. and they sound very different. It doesn't really matter to me since I still love them. I've always been fascinated by guitar electronics, especially pickups. I've tinkered with mine but I don't like messing around too much. According to lore, EVH experimented with wax and other bizarre techniques with his stuff. A whole book could written on his guitars and how he created them but unfortunately he took a lot of his secrets to the Great Beyond.

If guitars all sounded the same there would be no point owning more that one. So personally I’m glad they don’t! 🤣

**Little Intruder** · 04.28.25, 08:22 PM

I use my guitars depending on my moods. For rock, I like my Strats. For metal, I use my Ibanez Prestige and BC Rich Warlock. They all have the specifications I like and have a blast with them!

**LilDreamer81** · 04.29.25, 02:25 PM

That’s crazy that that made such a difference! Like everyone else, tone is at 10 and never touched. That was all a marketing thing going back to Peavey days just to cover and keep the masses happy. It’s funny when he became more in control it seemed at Fender, he wasn’t like, “no tone knob, more volume,more tone”. I’ve had maybe 4 or 5 current day MIM Charvels and have had the tone taken out in favor of Tesi kill switches. However, I got 5 months ago the Jim Root black satin Charvel. It rips. But, I’m not an EMG guy and the guitar is currently in the shop getting a 59 and JB, because I’m 44 years old and wanna play Halen and Ratt riffs obvvv. But that’s interesting the tone change with the tone knob being unsoldered.

**CatchAsCatch** · 04.29.25, 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by LilDreamer81

That’s crazy that that made such a difference! Like everyone else, tone is at 10 and never touched. That was all a marketing thing going back to Peavey days just to cover and keep the masses happy. It’s funny when he became more in control it seemed at Fender, he wasn’t like, “no tone knob, more volume,more tone”. I’ve had maybe 4 or 5 current day MIM Charvels and have had the tone taken out in favor of Tesi kill switches. However, I got 5 months ago the Jim Root black satin Charvel. It rips. But, I’m not an EMG guy and the guitar is currently in the shop getting a 59 and JB, because I’m 44 years old and wanna play Halen and Ratt riffs obvvv. But that’s interesting the tone change with the tone knob being unsoldered.

I remember him saying that Hartley convinced him to put the tone knob in because people wanted it (or something like that). But then later on I think I remember him saying he thought it made the tone sound better to have it hooked up, even though he still said he leaves it wide open. Kind of the opposite of what jickes experienced. But then again Ed was trying to sell his guitars, that had a tone knob so…

**joezlo** · 04.30.25, 09:20 AM

Removed it on my VH Standard and made it a double volume so the pickup switch can become a killswitch.

**jickes** · 05.01.25, 02:48 PM

I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how the tone pot made such a difference. Like all of you, I have always just left it at 10 and used the volume knob for tone. It isn't a little difference, it's like I took a blanket off the tone and it just exploded. Given how easy it is to unsolder and solder back, I'm debating trying this on some other guitars to see what happens. I don't have the same issue with other guitars, at least I don't think I do, but maybe this 1 minute change is worth a try...

**James the 2nd** · 05.02.25, 12:26 AM

This has been an interesting read and led me down a path of exploration.

Sharing a link with a frequency curve chart on the response of different tone pots.

https://forum.metropoulos.net/viewtopic.php?t=22502

I did also read that you can purchase tone pots that when on full are disengaged from the circuit - I can’t recall what they are called (am also unclear as to whether these are installed in the USA wolfs, by your experience am guessing not)

I also have a USA Wolfgang with a relatively muted tone. Considering disengaging the tone pot to have a listen. How did you disengage yours Jickes and is there a simple way to do it so that I can return it to its original state?

**bjk** · 05.03.25, 04:12 AM

If I’m playing a Strat with a single coil bridge, I normally back the tone off to about 7-8 to cut some shrillness down and warm it up a little. And usually on Strats the neither tone knob is hooked to the bridge so you have to add the jumper. I’ve never understood why that’s not stock wiring, being it’s the one spot you really need a tone control.for…

**Little Intruder** · 05.03.25, 11:25 PM

I have three Strats but only one with the single coils. The others have super humbuckers and Floyd Roses. Those are what I use to crank out! But I really love my Ibanez 7 string. It can send me to other dimensions...

**jickes** · 05.04.25, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by James the 2nd

This has been an interesting read and led me down a path of exploration.

Sharing a link with a frequency curve chart on the response of different tone pots.

https://forum.metropoulos.net/viewtopic.php?t=22502

I did also read that you can purchase tone pots that when on full are disengaged from the circuit - I can’t recall what they are called (am also unclear as to whether these are installed in the USA wolfs, by your experience am guessing not)

I also have a USA Wolfgang with a relatively muted tone. Considering disengaging the tone pot to have a listen. How did you disengage yours Jickes and is there a simple way to do it so that I can return it to its original state?

It is actually pretty easy if you have a soldering iron. If you look at the attached image, you should see a yellow arrow pointing at a white wire that connects the tone pot to the volume pot. This wire connects to the middle lug on the tone pot, which is blocked by the multimeter connections in the photo, but that is where you want to heat up the lug long enough to release that white wire. I then just taped that loose end to avoid contact with other parts. If you don't have a soldering iron, you can cut the wire, but that will make it harder to put back in place. Let me know how it goes, I expect you will hear a big difference like I did.