Push-pull Pot Mods - The Bright/Mud Switch

Have you ever wanted to make a Les Paul sound like a Strat? Engage a kill switch with the flick of the wrist? Or maybe you want to capture that killer Queen sound of Brian May. If that’s you, then keep reading! In this article, we uncover the mysteries of the push-pull pot by taking a look at how it functions and also showing you some of the cool wiring options this handy gadget is capable of.

The bright/mud switch is a 2-in-1 tone pot that allows you to tap into two different capacitors on your tone knob. In the example below, we have two capacitors with a value of 0.047 uf and 0.33 uf, but you can go with any values you want. The rule of thumb when considering your cap values is that the higher the capacitor value, the more roll-off of high frequencies you’ll get. This mod makes it easy to switch from a bright sound with lots of highs to a muddy tone that cuts those frequencies out. With this mod, a rockin’ new tone setting is only a push or pull away. No rolling required.