Tone Cut Switch Confusion

mountain2012

According to this manual, the tone cut is on when it is switched away from the pickups.

http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdf_temp1/other/0100900A/SD0100900APg4.pdf

According to the interactive Jaguar, the tone cut is on when switched towards the pickups.

http://www.webrocker.de/jaguar/cms/2007/05/12/the-interactive-jaguar/

Please tell me which is correct. I own a Jaguar HH Special.

James

towards the pups

Disappearer

Actually I think the HH Specials have different wiring to the standard Jags... I don't know which is correct for yr guitar though, sorry. If the manual is for yr exact guitar and the interactive Jag is a Standard one, the manual's probably correct.

Richie

Having re-wired everything in my own Jaguar I can tell you something quite interesting: the "bass cut" function is indeed activated when the switch is in the "up" position, i.e. toward the pickups. However, this is in fact the natural sound of the Jaguar's pickups. In the "down" position, i.e. away from the pickups, the signal is run through a capacitor that actually adds bass. So technically, "bass cut" isn't an accurate description of that switch's function, it's just assumed that that is the intended function because the sound of the pickups with that extra capacitor in the "down" position is a bit more usable and pleasant.

mountain2012

Richie said: Having re-wired everything in my own Jaguar I can tell you something quite interesting: the "bass cut" function is indeed activated when the switch is in the "up" position, i.e. toward the pickups. However, this is in fact the natural sound of the Jaguar's pickups. In the "down" position, i.e. away from the pickups, the signal is run through a capacitor that actually adds bass. So technically, "bass cut" isn't an accurate description of that switch's function, it's just assumed that that is the intended function because the sound of the pickups with that extra capacitor in the "down" position is a bit more usable and pleasant.

Thanks Richie. How sure are you that the switch isn't a true bass cut? 100%?

I tried to tell the difference in the sound by switching the bass cut on and off. I couldn't tell a difference at all. Maybe my amp wasn't loud enough or my bass cut is busted.

Richie

Like I say, if you look at the way it's wired, the capacitor enters into the circuit when the switch is in the down position, and capacitors as a rule add bass/ reduce treble rather than cutting bass, hence a tone control acting as a gate for a capacitor acting upon a pickup, i.e. tone on full is the natural sound of the pickup, tone rolled completely off is with the capacitor in full effect. Make sense?

So yeah, I'm 100% sure.

Unscrew the control plate and post a photo of the wiring, we'll be able to tell if anything's amiss.