Setting Your Guitar Up For Volume Swells and Tone Wahs

This video will discuss the history of using the knobs on your guitar to do volume swells and tone wah sounds as well as show you how take apart a CTS pot and do a small adjustment that will make it easier to turn. The same adjustment can be made on several other potentiometer brands, but not all. We'll also discuss knob types.
Edit: I recently found a band called The Crazy Rockers from Holland with a guitarist by the name of Eddy Chatelin who can be seen doing pinky around the volume knob swells on a Fender Jazzmaster in the following video shot in the early 60's. This is now the first guy I've ever seen or heard use this technique: • Crazy Rockers - Carioc...

[@wildbillhackett]

I made one mistake in this video. I said, "You'll never do quick staccato swells with a linear pot." Of course I meant to say "audio" rather than "linear." It's the linear pot you need if you want to do quick swells.

[@AlienSexGod]

I get confused with the names.. what we need is exponential curve where the volume increases much more as you approach 10 the right? so 8-9 volume increase is much more than 7-8. If we were to graph a linear response it would be a straight line.... not an exponential curve so it blows my mind that you tell us we need linear and not exponential.

[@pothos89]

@@AlienSexGod Since our hearing is logarithmic the linear pot sounds exponential and the audio pot sounds linear. If you turn a linear pot half way down you get half the signal witch to our ears sounds way lower than half. This is what you want for swells. I hope that make sense.

[@michaelcraig9449]

Yeah you had me confused. I have been trying to find the right pots to put in my Strat so I definitely need to know.

[@bikersoncall]

This doesn't come up as the first comment on my end, you could make it a 'sticky' so it's always up top. shrugs....

[@wildbillhackett]

@@bikersoncall Well darn. I thought it already was a sticky. I'll try to fix it later. Thanks for the heads up.

[@FunkyCody]

This was THE most informative and interesting video with under 100 views that I have ever seen! Keep up the good work!!

[@wildbillhackett]

+Funky Cody ~ Finally! A satisfied customer. I knew it would happen one day. :-)

[@Gruhak]

He's not the only one. Really enjoyed this! I'll probably try this mod on my tele to see how i like it.

[@asilearnguitar]

I'm here because I'm skimping on a volume pedal.. Thanks 🙏🙇

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Cool, discovered the benefits of Linear by accident when I ordered 3 pots for a Strat and recieved Linear , so after a year soldering and messing I ended up with Linera Vol, audio 1st tone linear 2nd tone which works for me as I put 2 different caps in .022uf for neck, .047 for bridge and middle, get a sort of bouncy springy but warm tone....but as usual I shall continue experimenting. That is the only way to find the sound that makes you happy.

[@145inA]

This is swell. Thanks!

[@wildbillhackett]

Oh, I see what you did there. :-)

[@TheLowest]

This is the first time I've heard that tip of pulling the back off the potentiometer and wiping out the grease. Thanks for the video, very helpful and clever

[@Mojokiss]

This was really good. I hope you have other videos. It reminds me of something but I don't know what yet.

[@cminty6805]

I can't stop thinking "k-billy's super sounds of the 70s continues". But great vid

[@youngdeathwagon6089]

This was a really great video, thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@wildbillhackett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kierangallon5877]

This is such a well made video! Thank you :)

[@kierangallon5877]

Also, you wouldnt have a link to the pots you use? Don't want to order the wrong thing!

[@MORTIFICER]

This was super helpful, covered every question I had about tone and volume pots

[@bungy007]

This is just what I've been looking for. Fantastic job. Hats off 😎

[@wildbillhackett]

Thank you very much. I should have a new video up this afternoon or tomorrow demoing the LR Baggs Anthem acoustic pickup system along with some installation tips.

[@paulbcote]

Excellent video. Most informative! Thank you.

[@RJSR]

Greatest video ive ever seen. Hands down. and I learned what I needed too thx ;)

[@Dr.Jekyll]

Fantastic video! And it’s very honorable of you to not disclose his secret before so long. Thank you for sharing at the right time...

[@DreidMusicalX]

Thank you very much for some knowledge for even someone like me after 34 years of playing.

[@ofthetree]

Thank you. some great tips here. Nice video also.

[@wildbillhackett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@154rjr]

I am a huge Phil Keaggy fan. I discovered him through listening to contemporary christian music in the 70's. I read an interview with Seymour Duncan, he grew up in Ohio like Keaggy and saw him play a bunch of times. SD listed Keaggy as one of his five favorite guitar players. He said Keaggy has total control of his guitar. I don't know who did volume swells first, but one of the best has to be mentioned, Roy Buchanan.

[@wildbillhackett]

Eddy Chatelin did it first I think in the early 60's and did it quite well for using audio tapered pots.

[@bobbydarnell2181]

I am pretty sure I read somewhere along the way Phil tipping his had to Roy Buchanon on this technique.

[@youngdeathwagon6089]

2:28 just as a footnote here, if we're tracking "earliest instance" of volume swells I've definitely seen footage of lapsteel console players at least as early as the 50's doing swells manually with volume and tone knobs

[@richardjames6623]

Excellent, Thank you sir !!

[@wildbillhackett]

You're welcome. Have a nice thanksgiving.

[@bobbydarnell2181]

Excellent video Bill! I first 'discovered' Phil Keaggy in the spring of 1976 and have been listening to him ever since. I had only been playing guitar for about two years when I became a fan but I would practice tucking my middle finger in and holding it in place with a rubber band because I want to play Phil when they made the movie about his life. (I was only 16). Totally ignoring the fact that I was 6', 2", 235 pounds. I try replicating his volume swells on my Fender Strat with the toggle in the down position, tone all the way up and I do give the amp a LOT of volume. Now I have roadmap should I want to take my attempts to a higher level. Again, great video!

[@wildbillhackett]

Well you were a man with a plan, eh Bob? :-) I also first heard Keaggy in '76 when a friend from childhood played some music from _Love Broke Through_ at his birthday party. The following year I joined the Army and found a cassette of the Glass Harp's first album at a little Christian Bookstore in Anchorage, AK. Been listening to him ever since, although much of the luster wore off after the mid 80's. Thanks for commenting!

[@tvalla]

Nice video, man.

[@wildbillhackett]

Thanks Tomas. I appreciate that very much.

[@bikersoncall]

Cool info, I was especially wondering how to free up the turning ease.

[@joebubbit]

Hi Will, I have a "pop" on my volume swells from 0 to 1. Just clean it? Roy Buchannan introduced me to volume and tone swells in the late 60's. For pops on tone swells (9 to 10) I read a guy put a 1.5M resistor on the tone pot and that cured it.

[@wildbillhackett]

Hey Joe, I'm no electronics expert (what little electronics knowledge I have comes from computer repair classes in the late 80's) but in my own experience with pop sounds it was usually because of a bad ground. Having the control cavity crammed with shielding tape that's touching somewhere it shouldn't is sometimes the culprit. Shielding paint works a lot better.

[@Samuel-is8mk]

Thanks a lot, this clear the myth I had for a long time. 2:55

[@prtysh]

nice video- should be more popular

[@wildbillhackett]

You, me, and mama (God rest her) are in complete agreement. Thanks man.

[@pensive_]

Fantastic thanks A++

[@elipse4594]

Where did you get that Phil Keaggy solo video from? I’d very much like to see the whole thing, what a great player. Thanks you in advance. Great vid

[@wildbillhackett]

I believe that's from the Glass Harp 1988 reunion concert.

[@frets52]

Also an easy way to do this on les paul or gibby type guitars is to set PU sel to middle (both PU0 then vol on 10 for bridge and start with ur little finger on the neck PU on zero ,now a very little turn is like full vol kinda like an on off switch .Keaggy did this tech alot.Cheers!

[@wildbillhackett]

Yes, most 2-pickup, 2-tone, 2-volume knob guitars are wired in passive parallel and will give you a quick swell in the middle pickup position. Note that Phil Keaggy still uses a linear pot in his LP to get an even quicker swell.

[@ivanarsenyev591]

Great video man, so informative! I was wondering, where could I find that video of Phil playing those swells on his Les Paul? The clip that’s about 1:08 into the video?

[@wildbillhackett]

Ivan, this is from a reunion concert he did with The Glass Harp back in the 80's. I used to know a guy who ran sound for them and he sent me a copy of the gig on VHS which I later digitized and put on DVD for myself. He's probably put it on YT himself by now though. I'll look around tonight and see if I can find it for you.

[@wildbillhackett]

Well I was looking at the wrong part of this video. The part you're referring to is from The Glass Harp TV concert they did in 1972. It was on a small public television broadcast in Ohio. You can find some clips of it on YT, but not this particular song. Turns out the boys were selling it from their website, so I guess they asked people to quit posting it here except for excerpts. Unfortunately they aren't selling anything on the Glass Harp website at the moment due to Covid. Keep checking it though and I would guess that by the end of summer they'll be selling stuff again. The web url is: www.glassharp.net/

[@cartermartin2887]

Hey, great video! Question, replaceing the audio pots with the linear pots won't cause any damage to any of my gear right? I wouldn't think so but I've learned through experience to double check.

[@wildbillhackett]

No, can't hurt a thing. It's like swapping out an incandescent lightbulb for an LED.

[@cartermartin2887]

@@wildbillhackett Alright cool, thanks a lot

[@michaelcraig9449]

OK ONCE AND FOR ALL.. Which is the pots that very gradually turn the volume up and down, and dont suddenly drop off to nothing near the low end, but have a smooth steady change top to bottom?

[@wildbillhackett]

The ones you've already got. Audio tapered pots come standard on all guitars.

[@rokinrandy]

I really could use those chrome knobs for my jsx amp. they have been so hard to find

[@wildbillhackett]

Oh, they're called Hipshot control knobs.

[@rokinrandy]

@@wildbillhackett amazing I’ve been looking for years. That’s what peavey was using on their guitars on the v type. And the peavey jsx amp in that early 2003 era. Except they didn’t have o rings. And peavey quit making them. So nice to know. They are pricey but so was peaveys. Awesome so glad you shared that

[@tylerausherman4868]

What type do you recommend for a telecaster 250K 500K or 1meg Linear pot ?

[@wildbillhackett]

It's in the video. 250k for Tele and Strat. You can use a 1M for the tone if you want a better wah-wah though.

[@cb24203]

I keep hearing people say audio taper pots for volume swells but when I listen to comparisons of both it sounds like the audio pots have a more gradual increase in volume and the linear pots have sort of an on/off effect and the volume doesn’t change much after that. I found the quote below in a forum...is it correct? “It is the audio or log taper that gives the sudden shut off, an A250k turned halfway is reduced to 25k (1:10), so sudden death. The linear pot on the other hand gives gradual control of the volume, a B250k turned halfway is 125k (1:1).”

[@wildbillhackett]

The linear taper gives a quicker response. It's the audio pots that have a more even feel all the way round as you turn. If you want quick swells you need the linear pots.

[@cb24203]

Will Hackett thank you :-)

[@wildbillhackett]

@@cb24203 You're welcome!

[@Poldek.Misiak]

Can somebody tell me where can i find this song that solo starts at 0:25? Thanks

[@wildbillhackett]

It came during his solo part in "Can You See Me" from the 1981 Glass Harp reunion concert. Its on bootleg DVD. You can probably find the whole concert on YT or elsewhere.

[@Poldek.Misiak]

@@wildbillhackett Thanks a lot

[@samuelshepard]

What exactly are the disadvantages of putting in a linear pot?

[@wildbillhackett]

Whoops, just realized you said DIS-advantages. It's only that audio pots have a smoother more even response as you turn them. It's not a big deal though. I got used to linear pots very quickly.

[@bikersoncall]

What is the best tone pot value (250k 500k) for a decent wah effect? Linear is best? I wonder what's in my prs, the tone doesn't seem to change evenly as I turn the knob, hard to say if it's linear or audio, is there a way to tell?

[@wildbillhackett]

Believe it or not, Danny Gatton used a 1M tone pot to get that great wah sound. It makes the guitar too trebly for me but to each his own. But the higher value on the pot, the better wah sound.

[@bikersoncall]

@@wildbillhackett Ok , cool. I can't figure out if my prs 24 08 (split coil) stock came with audio tapers, I guess it probably did/does, finding that out listening to you. I get something happening in the tone knob right away from zero, then about nothing until I get to about 8 to 10 lol. But yeah, I'm not a fan of the top shrill frequencies either. I have a good wah pedal, but would rather be able to use the tone knob. Thanks for all your good info.. I'll delete my ''you mean something else'' post, I finally found your disclaimer..

[@bikersoncall]

@@wildbillhackett I wasn't familar with Gatton until a couple years ago, when I found his 'story' and listened to him play, good lord, what an amazing talent he was. I also liked how he was quite open to sharing his arsenal of tools/technique(s). I forgot what he died of, but he surely went too soon.

[@wildbillhackett]

@@bikersoncall I don't know that I've ever seen a guitar that didn't come stock with audio pots. Yours almost undoubtedly are. And you don't wanna know how Gatton died. It was tragic.

[@wildbillhackett]

@@bikersoncall Oh, and I should say that on my own Tele I only get a really good wah sound on the first two strings past the 7th fret or so. It's good for a showmanship thing (people get a kick out of it) but I still would need a pedal for any serious wah wah stuff.

[@paulwilliams8593]

Shades of "Cathedral"...

[@youngdeathwagon6089]

This was a really great video, thank you for sharing your knowledge!