# 1 knob electric guitar. Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 19, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282 "2010-07-19T21:54:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282/21 "2010-07-22T12:21:56Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You’d think they’d be able to make a knob+switch for them now, though. Car radios pulled that off in the 70s. I am not sure I understand the statement - you mean that you could wire a knob so that at one end of its dial, it could click and become true bypass? \*\*squeegee \*\*- to my knowledge, pots are matched out of the factory - so if a V is 250mg or whatever, so is the tone. A mismatch would indicate someone had modded the guitar. I don’t know enough about electronics to know if mismatched V & T pots is a good or bad thing or if there are standard mismatched pairings that modders try in specific guitars… 1m-pot-equipped Teles are much more chicken-pickin’ / country territory. They sound good with the big squish of a compressor and some slap-back echo while some Nashville Cat pulls off fake pedal-steel licks…I love to watch and hear it, but it is not how I play or the tone I am after… ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282/22 "2010-07-22T13:42:57Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > That sounds like the answer I was looking for in the OP – a 1-knob guitar sounds different than a \>1 knob guitar, and some players like that for their music style. Asked and answered, thanks. I think also, many players realized that they did all their sound/tone adjustments through their pedals/effects anyway, so why do they need an extra knob on the guitar that could be accidently misadjusted? [By the way, has anyone famous ever wired up a guitar so the tone controls don’t affect the direct signal from the guitar, but instead control a downstream effect/pedal? I think Jerry Garcia had his wired up so the signal went from his guitar pickups out through effects, back to the guitar through the volume knob and back out to the amp. Anyone ever taken the next step and turned the tone knob into a wireless effects control?] ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282/23 "2010-07-22T14:09:20Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I think also, many players realized that they did all their sound/tone adjustments through their pedals/effects anyway, so why do they need an extra knob on the guitar that could be accidently misadjusted? I think there is some truth to that - which is, I dunno, sad - because that means they have a rig that so compartmentalizes their sound that the actual nature of the guitar - it’s controls, it’s overall \*system \*- can’t color their tone - or they actively don’t want the guitar to do it, e.g., not touching the Tone. It’s kinda like investing in a great natural spring with natural carbonation, then taking the bubbles out, making wine with it, and then injecting bubbles back into it. Yes, you can rigidly control the process, but the quality of the end result…loses something. Note, this is something I went through myself - I didn’t start off as a “simple rig, tweak the knobs” cork-sniffing tone snob - I had to work at it 😉 And, as I have said many times, in a strict A/B, a rig that is all effects-driven or even digital can sound great. But don’t tell me it responds to your hands the same way. > [@](#): > > [By the way, has anyone famous ever wired up a guitar so the tone controls don’t affect the direct signal from the guitar, but instead control a downstream effect/pedal? I think Jerry Garcia had his wired up so the signal went from his guitar pickups out through effects, back to the guitar through the volume knob and back out to the amp. Anyone ever taken the next step and turned the tone knob into a wireless effects control?] Dude, if you can imagine some whacked-out circuit, someone has built it. Light show triggers you can launch from your guitar? Synthesizer hook ups? Built-in effects? Sequencers? Oh yeah… ---
**Author:** ![21jmills1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/fbc32d/32.png) [@21jmills1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/21jmills1)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282/24 "2021-01-20T22:47:47Z")
I don’t know if someone already answered this but I have done some research into this and am planning to do it on my custom guitar. But pretty much it gets the pickups one set closer to the output jack with out more filtering so you are going to get a more all round gain sound and it will be more responsive. This is more ideal for metal players. I however am going to try it for an AC/DC setting even blues. Hope that answers your question. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282/25 "2021-01-22T21:30:48Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope! Yeah, this kind of got answered 10 years ago. FWIW, you can just unwire a tone control in a two or four knob axe and get the same result, no need for a new one, but I hope you enjoy the new guitar when it’s finished. Please report back! ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282/26 "2021-01-22T23:20:21Z")
This was an interesting thread that I wouldn’t have read if it hadn’t been reanimated, so thanks for bumping it. 😀 A couple of observations since I’m here: Charvels (rock-oriented guitars that channel the 80s shred vibe) now come with a “no-load” tone control that purports to take the pot out of the circuit altogether when it’s at 10. Also, on Eddie Van Halen’s guitars, the volume was often labelled “Tone” - because it sounds good when you turn it up. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282/27 "2021-01-26T03:19:04Z")
Here’s some one-knobbers: > **[Airline Jetsons Jr.](https://eastwoodguitars.com/collections/guitars/products/airline-jetsons-jr)** > > Based on the Airline ‘Res-O-Glas’ model that appeared in Montgomery Ward catalogs of the 1960’s, the Airline Jetsons Jr. is our single-humbucker take on this American classic. With this model, we’re focused on continuing the long-standing Airline... > **[Airline 59 3P "Ripley" Custom](https://eastwoodguitars.com/collections/guitars/products/airline59-3p-ripley-custom)** > > Over the years, musicians of all stripes have discovered the treasure-trove of tone that is our Airline ‘59 3P DLX. Not least of these players is Ripley Johnson of the band Wooden Shjips. Ripley was an early adopter of the model, and after some time... That same guitar can get kinda complicated tho: > **[Airline 59 3P DLX - G. Love Signature](https://eastwoodguitars.com/collections/guitars/products/airline59-custom-3p-dlx-sig)** > > Garrett Dutton, a.k.a. G. Love, is the frontman in the popular G. Love & The Special Sauce - and he's one of the few artists to have his own Airline signature model. Eastwood partnered with G. Love in 2012 to develop this unique custom finish... ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282/28 "2021-01-26T04:16:21Z")
Probably everybody already knows this, but they had that Eddie Van Halen replica guitar last year: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/miuou9qS_R0/maxresdefault.jpg "The BRAND NEW 2020 EVH Striped Series 'Frankie' Review 🎸🎶🎵🔥") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miuou9qS_R0) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-knob-electric-guitar-why/547282.md?page=1)