I'm now ALL G&L

[cb56]

OK simple is best for me right now. Do you ever feel like you're talking to a passenger on an airplane who has to land the plane 'cause the pilot just died?
Anyway I got brave and clipped the two ends at the switch and it works just as you guys described. No hum, still has bass boost but maybe not as much (a good thing IMO), More highs but not piercing, MORE volume but I can cure that by turning down at the bass' volume control. I'm going to leave it this way. Any reason why I shouldn't clip the two braided wires going from the disconnected caps to the treble control or should I just leave it as is. I covered the caps cut wires with electrical tape and kind of moved them to the back of the control cavity out of the way.

[DavePlaysBass]

Originally Posted by cb56

OK simple is best for me right now. Do you ever feel like you're talking to a passenger on an airplane who has to land the plane 'cause the pilot just died

lol

Sounds like you got the results. I would leave things as they are so you can easily fix things in the future if your tastes change or you decide to sell it. I remember a guy telling me that nearly ever bass you buy you will ultimately think about selling. For me that is true. The only one I have not thought about selling is the 61 Jazz.

I have a graph for you on the previous post in case you missed it. Looks like we were posting about the same time.

Dave

[cb56]

Cool, thanks alot again,
Now both my basses L1505 and L2500 have improvements that you suggested.

[spideyjg]

Originally Posted by DavePlaysBass

And if you really want to get crazy, I have the ultimate mod getting drawn up at this time. I will first do surgery on the Climax (simpler) and then move on to the L-2000 if it works out. Don't ask unless you want more geekdom ....
Dave

Whatcho doing to the Climax Dr. Dave? I drew up an L1K type mod for the pup switching and then got thinking about a passive/active w regular treble boost and/active w Climax treble boost job but need to do the resistance math to figure it all out before gutting it.

Jim

[DavePlaysBass]

Originally Posted by spideyjg

Whatcho doing to the Climax Dr. Dave? I drew up an L1K type mod for the pup switching and then got thinking about a passive/active w regular treble boost and/active w Climax treble boost job but need to do the resistance math to figure it all out before gutting it.

Jim

Sounds like you are going down the same path I am thinking. I have done the math. There is a resistor on the preamp board that needs to be pulled and replaced with a 21K or so. That is in the sticky area the Pit. And then you wire it like the L2K diagram where you switch a 10K in parallel with the 21K on the preamp board. There is a resistor on the preamp board that gives you more treble as it gets reduced. I even considered putting a 25K pot there and you could have an active treble boost knob. I just don't want to drill any new holes.

The Climax mod I am considering is:

Preamp Switch => 3 way like the L2K with the preamp modified to be like an L2K

Pup coil switch => 3 way like the L1K

Treble pot replaced with a 500K push pull pot => Use DPDT switch on the push pull to do two things. If in parallel mode, I will get the other single coil when pulling up (pole 1 on the DPDT). If in series mode, I will add the bass boost capacitor when pulling up (pole 2 on the DPDT). I have a feeling that the bass boost mode on the Climax could be killer given my experience with bass boost series on the bridge pup of a L2.5K.

And if all this works out, I move on to the L2K. I will wire it volume / volume so I can blend pickups (bass and treble done on a concentric 500K x 2). And I will have a seperate 3-way switch for each pickup. I am really interested in blending a parallel neck pup with a series bridge pup.

I was going to sell the Climax and the Sadowsky, but then common sense kicked in and I am going to keep them all.

Dave

[DavePlaysBass]

Originally Posted by cb56

Cool, thanks alot again,
Now both my basses L1505 and L2500 have improvements that you suggested.

Glad to help. I like hearing other people's experience on the qwest for tone.

DAve

[sunbeast]

Originally Posted by DavePlaysBass

Sounds like you are going down the same path I am thinking. I have done the math. There is a resistor on the preamp board that needs to be pulled and replaced with a 21K or so. That is in the sticky area the Pit. And then you wire it like the L2K diagram where you switch a 10K in parallel with the 21K on the preamp board. There is a resistor on the preamp board that gives you more treble as it gets reduced. I even considered putting a 25K pot there and you could have an active treble boost knob. I just don't want to drill any new holes.

The Climax mod I am considering is:

Preamp Switch => 3 way like the L2K with the preamp modified to be like an L2K

Pup coil switch => 3 way like the L1K

Treble pot replaced with a 500K push pull pot => Use DPDT switch on the push pull to do two things. If in parallel mode, I will get the other single coil when pulling up (pole 1 on the DPDT). If in series mode, I will add the bass boost capacitor when pulling up (pole 2 on the DPDT). I have a feeling that the bass boost mode on the Climax could be killer given my experience with bass boost series on the bridge pup of a L2.5K.

And if all this works out, I move on to the L2K. I will wire it volume / volume so I can blend pickups (bass and treble done on a concentric 500K x 2). And I will have a seperate 3-way switch for each pickup. I am really interested in blending a parallel neck pup with a series bridge pup.

I was going to sell the Climax and the Sadowsky, but then common sense kicked in and I am going to keep them all.

Dave

This is exactly what I did to my L2500- thats funny! I started with the push/pull 500K treble pot to get "single w/ bass boost" for both pickups + more treble, then I took out the preamp altogether (the push/pull took up too much room, considering how tightly its already packed together!). Actually, I started with your 3-way switch mod....
I had always wanted the 2 volumes, but wasn't sure if I should use dual 1Meg pots or 500Ks- the fact that a dual 1Meg pot would have to be special ordered kinda made up my mind on that one (and that it would cost around $40 at the only place I could find one)...When I took out the preamp, I made that switch into a seperate 3 way for the bridge pickup- I'm probably going to try to fit the preamp in again somehow though, since I don't need the pickup selector switch anymore (I could also save some room by swapping out the current 4PDT on-on-on switch with a normal DPDT like the other switches).
My favorite (at the moment) is neck in single w/ bass boost and bridge in single coil- I just dial in enough bridge pickup to add a nice edge- which I probably wouldn't even need if I'd kept the darn preamp in there (although there is something cooler about being a "passive only" kind of guy ).

The funny thing is that I just did all these mods, and now I'm just stuck on my new SB-2...it wails in a way that no other bass I've ever had can.


Karl

[spideyjg]

Originally Posted by sunbeast

The funny thing is that I just did all these mods, and now I'm just stuck on my new SB-2...it wails in a way that no other bass I've ever had can.

Karl

I had my SB-2 out today doing an A/B with the El Toro on bridge pickups. That SB-2 is really bright compared to the 'hog ET but the ET has a "richer" sound to it.

Jim

[DavePlaysBass]

I played a Tribute SB-2 a couple years back that was basswood / rosewood and whaled like a mother. Should have bought it for the $300ish price tag. When I went back it was gone. The good ones go quick around here.

Dave

[sunbeast]

I was never really a big Cliff Burton fan (or anything to do with Metallica past or present,for that matter), but I'm surprised how closely my SB-2 can sound to his Rickenbacker when I play it cranked through an all-tube amp (which is to say that I really like that sound all the sudden!)- I may have to give him a second chance!

Karl

[eastcoasteddie]

Lately, I've been LOVING the Series mode on my L2500, but the HUM is driving me nuts. I don't have the stock preamp (have a Pesa/Shur) and it does away with the treble boost setup.
When in series mode, I have to totally roll off my bass pot, otherwise I will overload my preamp. However, when in parallel, I keep the bass pot 1/2 way up. If I clip the caps, exactly how mych bass will I lose? Would it be about the same as in parallel?

[eastcoasteddie]

I de-soldered the braided end of the caps that is pretty much ground (soldered to the treble pot case).
It did change a little, some of the funky frequency (sounds a little like a flanger pedal) is gone...but I ony lost maybe 20% of the bass frequency, if that. I now keep the bass pot at 1/4 instead of 0 in Series mode. Tone-wise, it sounds a lot like parallel mode except with a lot more balls.
That's what I loved most about series mode, the fullness of the sound, the mid range that parallel just doesn't have. Parallel sounds like it has no mids at all.

I'll play it this way for now and see if I miss that weird mid-high frequency that is gone.
Oh yeah, and most improtantly, the HUM is gone!!