SB2 - Tone knob via EQ?

[Jason P Bass]

I got a beautiful 3-bolt neck SB2 in transparent red with a maple board this week. (It was listed at bassnw in case anybody saw it there.)

I'm doing my best getting used to 2 volume knobs but I really miss the ol' P bass with the tone knob at 0 or just barely cracked open.

I play through an Ampeg B2RE with a 9 band EQ (and at times a Line6 Pod XTL - I have plenty of EQ options). Any suggestions on how I can cut the EQ to sound like a tone knob at 0.5?

I'd love to experiment and just figure it out but I only get to play loud through my full rig when I'm gigging, and nobody wants to hear me experiment with my settings for half an hour. Last night I completely cut the top 4 bands of the EQ and it helped but it really sucked all the clarity out of the sound. I think that somewhere in the lower range of the EQ something should be cut, and leave the high end unmolested.

After a week of playing this SB2 I'm beginning to think I would have been better off with a SB1. Ah well, I can always put a tone knob on it if I truly need it. Aside from the lack of a "tone knob at 0.5" sound, I really appreciate the variety of other sounds. You can truly play this thing with the volume at 3.

[Nedmundo]

At band rehearsal, I've been using the band leader's Hartke rig, which has I think a ten band EQ. With my SB-2, I roll off the highest band about halfway, and the next highest band about a quarter. To my ears, that's something like cutting the tone control on a P-bass about a quarter. Sounds great to me.

[earlgray]

Originally Posted by Jason P Bass

I got a beautiful 3-bolt neck SB2 in transparent red with a maple board this week. (It was listed at bassnw in case anybody saw it there.)

I'm doing my best getting used to 2 volume knobs but I really miss the ol' P bass with the tone knob at 0 or just barely cracked open.

I've found that cranking up the bridge pickup just a touch off 0 will help give punch & clarity. I don't think the SB-2 will ever sound exactly like a P-bass, but it can do a pretty nice job.

I use TI Jazz Flats on my SB-2 and they also really give a nice old-school thump. Not sure if you've got the stock strings still on the SB, but you might consider the TIs.

hth.

[quickervicar]

Bridge = 0, Neck = 7 Thumps & blossoms wonderfully with your right hand near the neck. Dig in a bit deeper nearer the p'ups & it'll growl to cut through when needed.

[earlgray]

Originally Posted by quickervicar

Bridge = 0, Neck = 7 Thumps & blossoms wonderfully with your right hand near the neck. Dig in a bit deeper nearer the p'ups & it'll growl to cut through when needed.

Agreed -- I usually back off the neck pickup just a bit -- 7-9 range and pull the bridge in just a tiny amount for bite.

I play fingerstyle between the neck & the split pickup and it sounds great in there. Of course, I adjust my position as needed.

[willsellout]

I play mine how it should be played, Neck on full, bridge at 75%.
Seriously a tone knob just cuts the highs right? So cut the highs on your EQ. Or mod the SB2 with the tone knob like mine has


Dan

[bthiemann80]

You know, if you convert the P style pickup from a series to parallel you will get more of a vintage tone. i just did this on my sb-2 and it made the p output about dead even with the output of the j style pickup. I was considering installing a tone knob but this has done the trick, I can control the EQ enough w/ my amp and my technique to allow for some great sounding tones.

[Chef]

This is mostly what I do. I find the "truest" P sound is bridge at about 40, neck at about 90, and your right hand (you're right handed?) playing the strings up by the neck...

Originally Posted by willsellout

I play mine how it should be played, Neck on full, bridge at 75%.
Dan

[sunbeast]

I personally tried all sorts of settings with my SB-2 when I got it and could not get "the tone" I was looking for. With the addition of a tone knob, now its got "the tone" in spades. It is a fairly easy and fairly cheap modification, and from what I've seen, it doesn't seem to hurt resale values on the SB-2 noticeably (I think the lack of a tone knob is probably what makes the SB-2 such a "sleeper" bass in the first place- it scares people off...).

Karl

[CB3000]

Originally Posted by bthiemann80

You know, if you convert the P style pickup from a series to parallel you will get more of a vintage tone. i just did this on my sb-2 and it made the p output about dead even with the output of the j style pickup. I was considering installing a tone knob but this has done the trick, I can control the EQ enough w/ my amp and my technique to allow for some great sounding tones.

i did the same thing! and it's great! i put in a tone knob too. i almost put a push/pull on the neck volume so i could do series/parallel. i really liked the series sound but it was always overloading my gear.

[rok51]

Originally Posted by CB3000

i did the same thing! and it's great! i put in a tone knob too. i almost put a push/pull on the neck volume so i could do series/parallel. i really liked the series sound but it was always overloading my gear.

Parts list and schematic, please!

Kim

[CB3000]

i used a jazz bass type of wiring diagram, vol, vol, tone. i can't remember where i got it-i think from guitarelectronics.com.

as far as parts--you can get a stacked pot from basspartsresource.com (or many others) i got the knobs from them too. i got a 500k/250k stacked pot and wired two 1meg resistors across the outer lugs of the 500k pot to make it a 250k pot. you can find an explanation of this here: http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/potm.htm

if i keep the bass ( i am selling it nowas i am broke) i will probably put in a switch for series/parallel and put another stacked pot in so i can have vol/tone for each pickup. or not- i seem to want to mod stuff all the way out but when it comes down to it i really like the simplest possible controls when i am gigging.

[spideyjg]

Butch makes a tone setup at Bayou audio cables

Jim

[TomB]

Originally Posted by Jason P Bass

I
After a week of playing this SB2 I'm beginning to think I would have been better off with a SB1. Ah well, I can always put a tone knob on it if I truly need it. Aside from the lack of a "tone knob at 0.5" sound, I really appreciate the variety of other sounds. You can truly play this thing with the volume at 3.

If you decide the SB-2's not the one, keep your eye out for an L-1000. I think it would not only excell at the tone you seem to be looking for, but give you a number of ways to achieve it without goosing your amp's EQ. ...and they're reasonably priced.

[Jason P Bass]

Thanks to everyone for the serious responses. I've been playing 20 years, posted that question, and thought, "Man, what an amazingly dumb question."

I'm playing:
SB-2 into a Pod XTL (not the bass version) into an Ampeg B2RE with BBE Sonic Maximizer in the effects loop. I have a 2x10 with variable horn and a 1x15 cabinet.

I ended up cranking the treble on the Pod from around 9 to a 2. Everything else is run pretty much flat, and even the knobs on the BBE are around 2.5ish. I use the Pod's emulation of a Tech21 Sansamp pedal for pretty much all the EQ.

With the SB-2 wide open on the front, it kinda gets that brash snap of a P bass. With the front volume around 5, it's more thump and slightly muted tone, but still plenty of volume. A little J pickup gives lots of refinement.

Diming both volumes is a little much, in my opinion. I guess if that's your thing then go for it, but there's so many other great sounds that putting everything on 10 is just boring.

I really dig the SB-2 now that I've got a handle on the tone. I do think of the instrument as a P bass a funky tone knob. You can get lots of P bass tone and do a pretty good jazz as well.