THE FENDER GREASEBUCKET TONE CIRCUIT BY DIRK WACKER
This month we’re tak- ing a look at the Fender
Greasebucket tone circuit introduced in 2005 on several guitars in the Highway One series,
as well as in various Custom
Shop Stratocaster models. The
Greasebucket name (which is
a registered Fender trademark,
by the way) is my favorite when
it comes to Fender’s habit of
choosing cheesy marketing
names for new products. But
don’t let the Greasebucket name
fool you—your tone will get
cleaner with this modification,
not greasy and dirty. I tried to
find out who came up with this
name, but it seems that this
info is not documented, which
is another Fender habit that
began in the early ’50s.
Here is what Fender says
about the Greasebucket: “The
Greasebucket tone circuit adds a
new dimension to your tone, the
effect is that when rolled down,
the tone pot reduces the high fre-
quencies, but does not add bass.”
Okay, it sounds like this is
worth trying out. In fact, many
pro players swear by this tone
circuit, and it indeed produces a
different effect than the standard
tone circuit we all know. But
don’t take the Fender descrip-
tion literally—a Strat’s standard
Tone control does not add bass
frequencies. With passive elec-
tronics, you can’t add anything
that isn’t already there—you
can only reshape the tone by
attenuating certain frequencies,
which makes others sound more
prominent. Removing highs
makes lows more apparent (and
vice versa), and that’s exactly
what we have here: The stan-
dard tone control rolls off some
high frequencies (depending on
the capacitance of the tone cap),
making the bass frequencies
more prominent.
In addition, the use of
inductors (which is what a
pickup behaves like in a guitar
circuit) and capacitors can cre-
ate resonant peaks and valleys,
further coloring the overall
tone. Some people like this
interaction, others don’t—it’s
purely subjective and a matter
of personal taste.
Fender’s Greasebucket circuit in all its glory. This wiring diagram
comes courtesy of Seymour Duncan Pickups and is used with permission. Seymour Duncan and the stylized S are registered trademarks of
Seymour Duncan Pickups.
pot, which prevents the value
from reaching zero. You can
get a similar effect by simply
not turning the Strat’s standard tone control all the way
down. The additional cap on
the wiper of the Greasebucket
circuit complicates things a bit,
because together with the pickups, it forms an RLC circuit
(a resonant circuit comprising
a resistor, an inductor, and a
capacitor), but that’s outside
the scope of this column. But
the Greasebucket has its own
special sound, and I can only
encourage everyone to try it.
You’ll be surprised at its flexibility and tone.
If you’re adventurous, you
can personalize the Greasebucket
circuit with additional mods. For
example, you can try different
tone-cap values and materials.
The 0.022 µF cap connected to
the tone control is the standard
configuration we all know from
our Strat’s tone control. But,
as we’ve discussed several times
in previous columns, there are
tons of alternatives. You can try
other values from 2200 pF up to
0.1 µF, and also different types
of new, used, or new-old-stock
(NOS) caps—such as metal
film, film, paper in oil, waxed
paper, and silver mica. Your
choices are virtually unlimited.
DIRK WACKER lives in
Germany and is fascinated
by anything related to old
Fender guitars and amps.
He plays country, rocka-
billy, and surf music in two
bands, works regularly as a
session musician for a local studio, and writes
for several guitar mags. He’s also a hardcore
guitar and amp DIY-er who runs an extensive
website— singlecoil.com—on the subject.
