SB-2 rewire = tone control?

Jorgito2000 · #1 03-23-2008, 03:53 PM

Hi everybody,

I am just looking for some advice regarding the re-wiring of a SB-2 to have one knob for volume and one for tone control. I don't want to do it myself, I just saw a current ebay-ad for an SB-2 that claims to have this feature and wanted to see what is your opinion/experience. I tested the SB-2 once and really liked the instrument, but found the no-tone-control design annoying. Would this re-wire fix it? Thanks in advance for your comments!

sunbeast · #2 03-23-2008, 04:21 PM

The most common tone control mod for the SB-2 involves adding a stacked pot to have volume/volume and tone, I did mine with a stacked pot for bridge pickup volume/tone with the neck pickup control by itself. With only 2 pots like you suggest, there could be no pickup blending (which is one of the strengths of the SB-2)- I guess both pickups would be full-on all the time? In any case, I found the tone control to be invaluable on my SB-2....

Karl

butchonbass · #3 04-03-2008, 05:32 AM

I make a replacement harness with the stacked volume and a tone control. Check out my website.
Thanks.

Infernal Affair · #4 04-03-2008, 06:13 PM

I have a semi-related question. I'm getting an SB-2 with the tone mod, but I've never played a stock SB-2 before. Would it be safe to assume that with the tone controls on full that it's the stock sound or...?

butchonbass · #5 04-04-2008, 06:55 AM

It should. I make a lot of the harnesses, but I don't have one my SB-2. I don't use much of the bridge pickup, and to my ears the P doesn't need any tone cut.

Jason P Bass · #6 04-04-2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infernal Affair

I have a semi-related question. I'm getting an SB-2 with the tone mod, but I've never played a stock SB-2 before. Would it be safe to assume that with the tone controls on full that it's the stock sound or...?

Does "the tone mod" mean you still have independent volume controls?

Infernal Affair · #7 04-04-2008, 12:17 PM

Yes. It's stacked volume/tone knobs.

butchonbass · #8 04-04-2008, 03:07 PM

Actually what I do is a stacked volume control - one knob for each pickup, and a tone control pot. SB-2's come with only two volume pots, and no tone control.
It would be possible to put in two stacked pots with volume and a separate tone for each pickup, but I really don't see the need for a treble cut for the P pickup.

Infernal Affair · #9 04-04-2008, 04:21 PM

Oh I meant on the bass that I'm getting soon. It appears to be stacked vol/tone on each knob. Might be excessive though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by butchonbass

but I really don't see the need for a treble cut for the P pickup.

I thought a lot of people wire the tone control for the P pickup and not the J?

rbrown13 · #10 04-05-2008, 05:00 PM

I did mine the same way, I used a stacked 250/500 CTS pot on each pickup and a .33 cap on the neck and a .47 cap on the bridge tone pots. It sounds amazing.

rok51 · #11 04-06-2008, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbrown13

I did mine the same way, I used a stacked 250/500 CTS pot on each pickup and a .33 cap on the neck and a .47 cap on the bridge tone pots. It sounds amazing.

A wiring diagram, if you please!

thanks,

Kim

butchonbass · #12 04-06-2008, 04:51 PM

This is the same, except for the cap values: http://www.fender.com/support/diagra...190209CPg2.pdf

sunbeast · #13 04-07-2008, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infernal Affair

I have a semi-related question. I'm getting an SB-2 with the tone mod, but I've never played a stock SB-2 before. Would it be safe to assume that with the tone controls on full that it's the stock sound or...?

A tone control on full is still cutting high end and loading the signal- a pot is just a variable resistor- when a 500K tone pot is up all the way it means there is 500K of resistance between the input signal and the capacitor to ground (or if you wire it the other way - 500K resistance between the capacitor AND ground). With a 250K tone pot, there is even more tone loss with the pot up full. In order to completely bypass a tone control, you need what is called a "no load" pot. Fender makes them, or you can make one yourself really easily- you basically just scrape off the very end of the resistive film ring on the inside of the pot (requires opening it up) so that when the pot is up all the way, there is no longer an electrical connection between the input wiper and the wiper to ground (meaning that the tone control is essentially pulled out of the circuit completely).

This is what I did on the tone control of my old SB-2 just for the hell of it (I'm a born tinkerer!)- I never did a comparison myself with the G&L, but the difference has been very obvious to me with other instruments on past occasions. It can really "open up" the tone of some instruments, for the lack of a better term...

Karl