As a repair technician, I get to field a lot of questions and discussion about treble bleed circuits and how they work. I get to A/B the newly installed circuits on a variety of different guitars and monitor the change in sound. That's pretty cool. Treble bleeds are one of the most common, useful and low-cost electric guitar modifications available. And, if it turns
out not to be your thing, it's easily reversible.
Treble bleeds are so widely used that most professional guitarists don’t often mention them when discussing how they get their tone. Guitarists using treble bleeds include: Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, John Mayer, Joe Bonamassa just to mention a few.
What is it?
Treble bleeds are small passive circuits that filter out bass frequencies in order to allow more high frequencies to pass through. A treble bleed circuit is made up of a capacitor and a resistor that are wired across the volume pot's two lugs. The values of the capacitor and resistor determine the treble cut off point. A lower resistance results in fewer highs, while a lower value capacitor results in higher frequencies.
What does it do?
Treble bleed circuits make the tone seem more even when the volume is turned down. Most electric players have experienced how their guitar loses its treble as they roll down the volume pot. Single coil or humbucker, there is a significant loss of treble once the volume knob gets turned down passed a certain point.
Some players like the loss of treble saying that it creates a more traditional, warm tone while others think that it creates a dull sound at low volumes. It’s easy to understand why players like Beck and Gilmour would be fans of the treble bleed seeing how they both use(d) their volume knobs to create dynamic changes and volume swells.
3 Common Types of Treble Bleeds
There are basically three types of treble bleeds.
Capacitor Only: A lone capacitor placed between the volume pot’s “in” and out “lugs”. While a simple and classic option, it has the reputation of making guitars sound too thin.
Capacitor and resistor in parallel: A resistor is placed parallel with the capacitor. These are most often used with humbucker pickups with 500k pots. It is the most common treble bleed often found with a 1000 pF cap combined with a 15k-ohm resistor. These are often called the Duncan or Suhr circuit buy are not quite the same. The Duncan circuit is considered a good choice when using a 30ft cable and Suhr is considered a good choice for a 10ft cable.
Capacitor and resistor in series: Also known as the Kinman treble bleed. This is the treble bleed most used with single coil pickups and 250K pots. It is a favorite of many (including myself). This circuit is considered better at preserving low-end frequencies while still maintaining the high end frequencies when turning down. The Kinman style treble bleeds are often found with a 1000 Pf cap combined with a 150k resistor.
Is it for you?
Treble bleeds are useful for guitarists who frequently use their volume control to reduce or clean up sound. If you play music that is dynamic in nature and you depend on rolling your volume knob up and down, a treble bleed will definitely help smooth out your tone. It allows players to play at lower volumes without sacrificing their pickup's natural tone.
Some players hate them. They say it sucks their tone. Personally, I don’t experience that at all. To my ears, they do exactly what they are supposed to do. The only slight negative that I have found is that they change the feel of the taper of your volume pot a tiny bit but I find it hardly noticeable and easy to adjust to.
Telecaster players usually love them. They are a often considered a necessity for maintaining the bright clean tone (twang) of Telecasters at lower volumes.
My first experience with a treble bleed was with a Music Man Steve Morse Y2D model. I always thought the pickups were dark and when rolling off on the volume almost muddy sounding. I was looking for something that might help that without replacing the pickups. The treble mod (Duncan/Suhr-style) did the trick. That experience sparked my curiosity about trying one (Kinman-style) in a Stratocaster. I liked that even more and put another one in a second Stratocaster.
So, my experience has, so far, been good with the treble bleed but I’m a guy that works the volume a lot. If you are a player that keeps the volume turned up to 11 all the time, it’s probably not the mod for you.
Jerry Bush
Right Action Guitar Repair
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