Help with building guitar eq.!!

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Howdy,


Ok, a few months ago someone gave me a broken wurlitzer sideman. It is great as a tube amp for my guitar, but it lacks any sort of Tone control for it.

I'm searching for a simple tone control maybe with a gain of some sort that I can build as a seperate unit. The only thing that I found that was simple had switches instead of pots for controling the bands.

I'm terrible at reading schematics when it comes to parts placement and wiring...Soon simple with pictures is a must for me.

Any ideas would be great!

Newpaltzwonder.
 
Not being able to read schematics pretty much precludes the idea of trying to build something, unless it was some sort of kit. Have you thought of buying something ready made? Boss makes a 7 band EQ "stomp box" for about $90. Or, maybe you could find a good used graphic EQ on Ebay for not a whole lot?

I can post a schematic for a good two band shelving EQ (bass treble) for guitar if you want.
 
simple tone control

Well a simple way of doing, sorta like in early Fender guitar amplifiers, is to add a potentiometer with a cap to ground. Something like a 500kOhm pot with a 0.022microfarad cap is all you need, and little soldering skills. I gotta remind you that you are dealing with lethal voltage inside that amplifier even if it's not plugged in.
be careful
 
Newpaltzwonder is right. Without a good working knowledge of electronics, and tubes/high voltage in particular, I don't suggest trying to modify your tube amp. It might be the last thing you do!
If you really want to build something, I suggest it be battery operated for now, until your electronics skills are better.

I'm going to attach a schematic for a two band EQ, which I have built several of. It will work fine with one 9V battery. Perhaps you know someone who could help you "perfboard" one together?
 

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If you insert even a simple tone control or a B-M-T controls, you are going to lose a certain amount of gain. The much referred to Fender Champ has no tone controls and it sound great, the addition of a tone stack means another pre-amp valve is then needed.

Try the tone stomp box first.

I strongly agree that you should get someone who knows what they are doing to install the tone control(s) if you decide to go down that route.
 
I've done several of these. It really depends on the guitar, how much cavity space there is, etc. Sometimes you have to router more space under the pick guard, that can be a pain. Making it easy to change batteries is important, especially if you have to change one in a hurry. I've found that using a dual op-amp preamp under normal usage, a battery will last about a year.

There are nice battery holders available now that hold a 9V battery and can be routed into the body. You do have to have access to some wood working equipment and know how to use it to put one of these in. Otherwise, it can be put under the pick guard.
 
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