Hey guys, work has begun on the short scale Jazz bass I have been planning for a while. It's going to have Roadhouse Jazz pickups :toothy12:. Any ideas for creative wiring? I may just use a standard 2 pickup Jazz wiring, but I figured I'd ask if anyone has a better idea. I'm open to suggestion. This is going to be my only bass, probably for a long time, so versatility is good.
Wiring ideas for 2 pickup J- Bass
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line6man
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Personally, I would suggest a master volume and tone with a 4 position rotary toggle switch for pickup selection.
Quick and simple pickup selection, with no extra resistive loading on the pickups, and no insertion loss problems fiddling with the pickup balance.
Did you want a buffer or preamp?
Quick and simple pickup selection, with no extra resistive loading on the pickups, and no insertion loss problems fiddling with the pickup balance.
Did you want a buffer or preamp?
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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Volume-Volume-Tone or Volume-Pan-Tone would be most usable for the most people, Line6man withstanding. Something to consider is that both of those are 3 control holes. If using either one of those, a control plate, and a sidejack leaves a vacant control hole. The 62 plate has 3 holes, made for 2 stacked pots and a jack, and if using for 3 controls, there's alot of blank realestate.
line6man
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Super Turbo Jack Ace Deluxe Custom said:
I agree, but a surprising number of Jazz bass players and PJ players are going for rotary toggles these days. It may not offer much in the way of pickup blending, but electrically, it is the best method of wiring, and it tends to appeal to people who are not big on pickup blending. It really comes down to what is important to you. VBT is the most convenient but it offers compromises. Many people find that the VVT setup works better for having a good range of control over the pickup balance, and VVT is still the most common method of wiring a Jazz, but then some can't get past not having a master volume. A handful of people that I know of have done VVT into a master volume to get past that.
Doesn't one of your Jazzes (Both?) have a VVT3 setup, btw?
My PJ has a VVT3 setup, and I like it that way, but when I get a set of pickups with equal output levels that I want to keep on the bass, I'll probably get rid of the second volume pot, as I only use it to balance the volumes when switching between pickups. :blob7:
line6man
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hannaugh said:
IMHO, no preamp is better than a crappy preamp, so if you decide to get one, get a good one.
With that being said, you should be happy with a passive setup. Preamps lower the output impedance, provide a constant input impedance, in some cases, provide multiple buffered inputs summed to one output, in some cases, provide a gain boost, in most cases, provide onboard equalization, and in some cases, provide coloration to the signal to create a certain voicing. Of those things, the equalization is probably the only thing worth your while, but you should already have some EQ available on your amp. So, you would probably be better off staying passive. Many players prefer the simplicity of a passive bass, anyways.
tubby.twins
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I concur with line6man - stay passive for now, until/unless you need the buffering or tonal control that an onboard pre-amp can provide.
I've been using rotary switches on several two-pickup (and three-pickup) basses, and it works very well. There are pretty much only 3 tones you're going to get anyway - using a blend pot or dual volume pots doesn't make for a lot of very audible differences in the 'gray areas' between full-neck, full-bridge and both-full. At least I couldn't hear them very well, and I've got pretty good ears.
The other thing I've found works well (at least for me) is to put a resistor between the volume pot's ground lug and the ground wire. Usually the resistor should be about 5% to 10% of the total resistance of your volume pot. What this gives you is a smoother graduation between low and high volumes, but you'll lose the ability to turn the volume all the way off. However, I have a mute switch on my bass amp and I prefer having a less "touchy" volume knob.
I've been using rotary switches on several two-pickup (and three-pickup) basses, and it works very well. There are pretty much only 3 tones you're going to get anyway - using a blend pot or dual volume pots doesn't make for a lot of very audible differences in the 'gray areas' between full-neck, full-bridge and both-full. At least I couldn't hear them very well, and I've got pretty good ears.
The other thing I've found works well (at least for me) is to put a resistor between the volume pot's ground lug and the ground wire. Usually the resistor should be about 5% to 10% of the total resistance of your volume pot. What this gives you is a smoother graduation between low and high volumes, but you'll lose the ability to turn the volume all the way off. However, I have a mute switch on my bass amp and I prefer having a less "touchy" volume knob.
line6man
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tubby.twins said:
I seem to recall David Schwab arguing against the suggestion that a fixed resistor and lower value pot would spread out the taper in a usable range. I'm glad to see that it does work out in practice for you, because it absolutely should in theory. :blob7:
Bagman67 said:
Right now all I have is a Roland Cube 20XL. I just started playing bass recently, so that's what I'm learning on. Later down the road I'll look at getting something more substantial if I decide to gig.
Thanks for the input, guys. I think I'm definitely going with a simple passive system at this point. I mostly just need to decide what controls I want to use.
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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I'll agree to disagree on that point. I like, and prefer, the in between points that blending provides more than an all or nothing approach that switching and a master volume provides, at least on a bass. I can tell the difference, at least when it's me doing it. Coincidentally, you and I had a similar difference of opinion or preference about the differences between 2 and 3 pickups on a bass. For me a middle pickup on a bass, it's subtle difference between the pickup on either side of it is lost when those 2 extremes are just that. For you, the subtlety that blending brings is too subtle. We each prefer different subtleties.tubby.twins said:I've been using rotary switches on several two-pickup (and three-pickup) basses, and it works very well. There are pretty much only 3 tones you're going to get anyway - using a blend pot or dual volume pots doesn't make for a lot of very audible differences in the 'gray areas' between full-neck, full-bridge and both-full. At least I couldn't hear them very well, and I've got pretty good ears.
:icon_jokercolor:
line6man
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Btw, Hannah, since you want versatility, do you think you would have any use for a bass cut tone control?
One fun mod you can do in a passive setup is to run a small value capacitor in series with the signal path, and use a high value pot to vary the impedance across the cap to give you a bass cut. There is absolutely no effect on the signal when you set it flat, so there is no disadvantage to having the control on your bass, unless you don't like extra knobs to twiddle with. :blob7:
I've not tried it personally, but a lot of G&L basses have bass cut pots.
One fun mod you can do in a passive setup is to run a small value capacitor in series with the signal path, and use a high value pot to vary the impedance across the cap to give you a bass cut. There is absolutely no effect on the signal when you set it flat, so there is no disadvantage to having the control on your bass, unless you don't like extra knobs to twiddle with. :blob7:
I've not tried it personally, but a lot of G&L basses have bass cut pots.
line6man said:
Sorry to pick this up again but I think line6man has a very good point here. When I built my Warmoth-J I first went with the classic VVT-setup.
But I found myself using either both PU-s full on or one of each full on. I never blended the tone...too time consuming and hard to recreate. And on top of that, I missed a master volume pot (especially when on stage).
So I changed the setup and installed a 4-way rotary switch instead of the second V-pot, and thats pretty cool, because it also added a forth sound (PU wired in series).
Hey, so would it be possible to have a push pull pot that has a switching mechanism on the bottom and a blender on the top? I'm thinking they don't exist, but that would be cool because then you could have your neck, both, and bridge positions only on the switch part, but you could pull up and blend the two if you had the middle position selected. Then you have a master volume and a tone control next to that.
Also, I'm thinking of putting in some sort of bass boost/bass cut or some other such useful type of tone control doodad in there. Any suggestions for that?
Also, I'm thinking of putting in some sort of bass boost/bass cut or some other such useful type of tone control doodad in there. Any suggestions for that?
line6man
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hannaugh said:
I'm not sure what you're asking. A concentric rotary toggle and potentiometer combo, with a single shaft, and push/pull mechanism to select which gang of the pot the shaft controls? I don't think I've ever seen such a thing.
If you want both a pickup selector switch, and a blend pot, you will need to use a 4PDT On-On-On/DP3T mini toggle for the pickup selector, rather than a typical SPDT/DPST, because it is necessary to rewire the pickups to the output of the blend when soloed, otherwise the blend will attenuate the volume, since only one input would be getting a signal.
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