The Mad Hatter Solderless Tone Shaping System was designed to be the most universal system available.  Furthermore we designed the system to be tweaked to meet the needs of the most tone demanding player.  If you have a Mod idea or Custom order request, please share it with us at info@madhatterguitarproducts.com

Capacitors: 

The Mad Hatter Solderless Tone Shaping System is designed to allow the user to add any Capacitor they choose.  Whether you like vintage Bumble Bee Caps, NOS Russian, Orange Drop Polypropylene, Ceramic, etc... you can swap out your favorite Caps with just the Little Ass Screwdriver and in some cases in less than a minute.  

A/B ing your favorite Caps has never been easier!  By simply placing one end of your two favorite Caps to its respective terminal and a alligator clip jumper to the other, move the alligator clip between the Caps to determine which Cap is best for your instrument.  

In this picture we are A/B ing two Caps to see which is best for the neck position tone pot in this guitar.  We have attached one lead of each Cap to terminal 12 and an alligator clip jumper to terminal 11.  Now by moving the alligator clip from one cap to the other we can determine which we like best while plugged in to our favorite amp.  

When trying this mod make sure the Cap leads avoid contact with other components to avoid shorting.  When you find the right Cap be sure to use the shrink tubing from the Caps provided with the Kit on the the leads of the Cap you choose use.  You may need to use your own shrink tubing, or electrical tape, for Caps with longer leads.   

Dual Volume Board Specific Modifications:  

Our Mad Hatter Dual Volume Board is set up in the standard Gibson Wiring, or sometimes referred to as Modern Wiring when using dual tone controls.  In this wiring configuration the tone cap is placed between the tone pot and the hot lead of its respective pickup, or primary side of the volume pot.  However, some prefer the "50's" wiring style.  In the 1950's Gibson wired their dual tone instruments with the tone cap attached to the toggle switch, or secondary side of the volume pot.  

With the Mad Hatter Solderless Tone Shaping System this can easily be achieved.  For the Bridge pickup simply move the cap lead from terminal #8 on the main terminal and placing on terminal #2 on the switch terminal with the toggle switch wire.  For the Neck pickup simply move the cap lead from terminal #10 on the main terminal and placing on terminal #3 on the switch terminal with the respective toggle switch wire. With the caps now placed on the secondary side of the volume pots you will notice a difference on how the tone caps respond.  It's not necessary to change both.  You can leave one wired to "Modern" and the other wired to "50's"  Experiment to see which you like best. This Mod only applies to Dual Tone applications.   

Another aspect of the Modern Wiring is the ability to silence the guitar with just one volume pot when both pickups are engaged.  This may be a necessity for those rocking large stages yards away from their pedal boards, but for most of us that's not the case.  This is especially true if you use a volume pedal.  By simply swapping the pickup hot wires with the switch wires you will give each pickup independent control of its own volume pot when both pickups are engaged.  This can be achieved by swapping the pickups hot wires on terminals #2 & #5 on the main terminal with their respective switch wires on the switch terminals #2 & #3.  See the following video as Electric Ed demonstrates this Mod.  

Gibson Dual Volume Control Modification on Les Paul

 

Yin-Yang Push/Pull and Switching Modifications:

There are many Mods that can be accomplished with the Yin-Yang Push/Pull Switch and/or with mini toggle switches.  Be sure to visit our Yin-Yang Push/Pull Instructions & Mods page for complete instructions and mods for your Push/Pull Pot.  Keep in mind all of the Yin-Yang Push/Pull Mods can also be accomplished with a mini toggle.  

Here's a couple Mods.

Jumping Pickups Together:

On a three pickup style guitar it’s nice to have as many options as possible. By simply installing a switch to connect the bridge and neck pickups together will provide you two more very useful tones. With a 5-Way switch in position 1 and a push/pull switch engaged you would have both the bridge and neck pickups at the same time. Move the switch to position 2 and now you have all three pickups at the same time. Position 3 is still middle pickup only, position 4 all three pickups again and position 5 will be the bridge and neck pickups together again. Disengage the switch for normal operation. With the Mad Hatter Guitar Products "Yin-Yang" Push/Pull Pot you would simply attach the "Red" switch wire to the bridge hot at terminal lug #2 on the Single Volume Board and then the "Orange" wire to the neck pickup hot on terminal lug #5. Be sure to separately tape off the ends of any wires from the "Yin-Yang" Push/Pull Pot that are not used.  

Pickup Swapping:

Another cool mod using the Mad Hatter Guitar Products "Yin-Yang" Push/Pull Pot is swapping the order of pickups on three pickup model guitars.  For this Mod we use the same principles as knocking pickups out of phase.  To reverse the order of the middle and neck pickups we would first free up terminals #3 & #6 by removing any Center Tap wires.  Once again be sure to crimp and tape off.  We would then move the Middle "Hot" wire to terminal #3 along with the "Black" Push/Pull wire.  We would then move the Neck "Hot" wire to terminal #6 along with the "Red" Push/Pull wire.  The "Orange" Push/Pull wire would then be placed on terminal #4 and the "Brown" on terminal #5.   Now with the "Yin-Yang" Push/Pull Pot in the down position you should have normal operation. When you pull up on the "Yin-Yang" Push/Pull Pot the middle and neck will reverse order:  Switching will be as follows: 

• Postion 1 - Bridge
• Position 2 - Bridge & Neck
• Position 3 - Neck 
• Position 4 - Neck & Middle
• Position 5 - Middle

You will also notice that each pickup will now be operated by the other's tone control.  To really achieve the full effect we recommend having one tone pot set at 500k with a .022 uF Cap. for a brighter tone response and the other tone pot set at 250k with a .047 uF Cap. for a warmer tone response.  This will further change the dynamics of each pickup when engaging and disengaging the Push/Pull Pot.  If for some reason the Push/Pull is operating in the reverse, simply reverse the wires at terminals #1 & #2.  

Guitar Wiring Modification with The Mad Hatter Yin-Yang Push/Pull Pot