All I know once again is from my experience from playing for such a long time. For me, I know how I want my guitars to sound off. Just like many guitar players do.
I agree, there are some guitars that just have the it factor. Again, I know from my own experience, that you can take 5 guitars that are exactly the same in ever way. Not one of them will sound or respond the same. Why is that? Who knows? Maybe there is change in the magnets, wire, or even how the pots are made. After all, did we not talk about 10 to 20% tolerance? Maybe the wires used has some change in the makeup of the wire?
It all adds up to our so-called "Tone" If someone thinks the old school wiring is for them then so be it. I wire my tone caps from the center lug of the tone pot to the ground on the volume pot. The tone cap needs to be grounded to work, so why not ground it to the volume pot? A lot of pots have a short leg on them. I found it easier to use the wire off the cap to ground the pot.
Now, I may not have made pickups, but if there is one thing I have done is I have wired up a lot of guitars over the years and have experimented with all kinds of wiring in guitars. I was working on my guitars long before I started to make them.
I too once was a huge "tone" chaser. That is what I used to lay in bed thinking of for many years. It would star off with... what if... It got so bad with the what if, That I wound up with a complex wiring that would have driven a guitar tech nuts! Why over the top. And it wound up not sounding good at all. Too many switches and knobs.
I now want things simple. The heck with all talk about this, that another thing. Plug in the guitar, set the amp up and play.
The wife and I went out to eat today. They had on some cool old bluesy music on. It sounded really good! I was teasing with my wife. I asked her if she could tell me if that guitars she heard was made of ash, or alder? Did you hear the tone of them 500k pots were doing for the pickups? Oh, wow, did you hear that? He had to be using one of them super high-end guitar cables! LOL!
She told me, "what difference does it make if it sounds good?"
I am all in for making the guitar to sound the best I can. Myths or not and all kidding aside. What works, works! That is not always going to be the same for any of us. Thank goodness, we are not all the same.
But the question will always be... Where did that guitar player get that cool MOJO Tone? Your guess is as good as anyone out there!
I have built a lot of cigar box guitars, and I am amazed at how well that they all sound. Most of them were made with the most inexpensive parts I could find. Do to budget. And yet when it was all said and done they play and sounded awesome! So where does all the talk about pickups, pots and the way they are wired go? Why do these cigar box guitars sound so good? Don't take my word for it, listen to some TY videos of people playing them. They will blow you away.
So for me, I think some of the all-time myths in all this is in the talk of how someone has had an experience and can't see another way. I learned, the hard way, that everything is not equal. And that is the biggest factor in guitars and in life.
I also Respect John, and others. I don't mean to come across that anyone doesn't know what they are talking about. All of us have been involved with music for most of our lives. I feel at times I was born with a guitar in my hands. Now at almost 70 years old I have come to the understanding I know nothing. All the years of experiences really is just that, my experiences.
I respond off my experiences to question posted on here. I never have said anyone is wrong. I try and show my perspective of how I dealt with or have done things and or ask the what if? Or have you thought of it this way?
All I was saying with the wiring is for me, I don't hear that big of change in old school or in new school. Not enough to say it should be done one way or another.
But what do I know? I'm just an old guy, set in old school ways, (KISS.)
