More experimenting with the DiMarzio Tone Zone
In my previous post about taming the DiMarzio Tone Zone I talked about using a capacitor to reduce the low-end muddiness that is sometimes associated with the Tone Zone. I used a 0.047uF capacitor to filter out some of the low end, and it did so fairly well. The Ibanez 20th Anniversary RG550 RFR that I installed the capacitor in is a muddy sounding guitar though, and the 0.047uF capacitor wasn’t quite cutting the low end enough for me when I was playing faster picked low E based riffs. The Tone Zone sounded fantastic for lead work, and riffs not predominately using the low E string, but things just got too flabby when chugging away on the low E.
I decided to try a 0.01uF capacitor to see if I could chop the bass out a little more and sharpen up the tone to my liking. I also decided to record a audio sample of the Tone Zone, first with no capacitor on the “hot” wire, then with a 0.047uF capacitor, and finally with a 0.01uf capacitor. The link below is the clip I recorded, playing some riffs from one of my band’s songs.
I used a fairly cheap condenser mic and USB to XLR cable, but I believe it showcases fairly well the differences between the stock Tone Zone, and the different capacitors installed.
Overall I was quite happy with the resulting tone I got from the 0.01uF capacitor, but it may have changed the overall tone and dynamics of the Tone Zone a little too much for some. One comment I have got with regards to the 0.01uf capacitor install is that the Tone Zone is sounding a little more like a Seymour Duncan JB than an original Tone Zone. I’ve not played a guitar with a JB before so I cannot really comment on that, but I do like the sound I got from the 0.01uF capacitor.
I think that if I installed the Tone Zone with the 0.047uF capacitor in a guitar that sounded less muddy I would be very happy with the tone. It seemed that with the 0.047uF capacitor the mid-range of the Tone Zone was bumped up a little bit as well, and it seemed to sing very nicely when playing lead.
I’d like to point out that these modifications are not exclusively Tone Zone specific, you can try it on any bridge or neck humbucker you may have that has a little too much bass for your liking. I’d love to hear about your results if you try these modifications on a Tone Zone, or any other pickup. 
Tags: bass, capacitor, DiMarzio, DIY, filter, less, low-end, modify, pickup, Seymour Duncan, solder, Tone Zone, wiring
There appears to be a bit of a misconception here
Firstly, in a gitar tone circuit you are not filtering off the low end at all- essentially you have a low pass filter and are filtering off the treble and feeding it to ground- LEAVING the bass
The smaller the capacitor value the higher the frequency that this starts – so a 0.015uF cap will cut at the higher frequency end and leave more of the mid range in (and so actually brighten up dark sounding pickups).
So 0.015uf cap filters out less of the mid and high end, and cam only make it appear that there is LESS bass by allowing more treble through
You cannot use a 0.047uF capacitor to “filter out some of the low end” – in fact this value is what is used in Bass guitars! More bass gets through but it may be crisper. Suspect what is happening is that higher quality caps are being used than the standard ceramics so the quality of what you hear is better
Mr T, I think you need to go back and re-read what I am talking about here.
No where am I talking about a tone circuit. Look closely at the diagram. We are putting a capacitor in line with the pickup’s hot wire and the pickup selector.
This is acting like an input capacitor in a stomp box for example. It is filtering out the low end on the pickup itself.
A few people have not initially understood what was was talking about at first, but once they looked over it again they understood. Go back and have a proper read.
I can’t thank you enough for trying/posting this .01uf mod on a TZ. I always had a love/hate relationship with the tone zone i liked it at first but then after playing on one for a hour or so missed the upper registers that are deadened on the TZ’s.
With the cap mod the bass and low mids are trimmed to a perfect spot and if you set it away from the strings and use it in a guitar like my sterling AX-40 it really does sound like the dimarzio axis bridge pu! I hated to have to air one coil before with this mod that is no longer needed. this mod does the same exact thing without any pu surgery!
Great mod and a excellent solution to the bass heavy tone zone. I could not even use a tone zone until i used this mod! thanks for the info worked like a magic trick!