Question about knobs.

peetey · #1 10-07-2007, 11:06 PM

I guess this would be the right place to post this.

I have a problem with speed and timing when I need to turn the knobs on my bass during a song. First of all, I just can't get there fast enough. When I'm at home alone it's fine, plenty of time to fine tune and experiment. But in a live situation or at a group rehearsal, I just can't get there fast enough. Second of all, it seems that whenever I need to make some adjustments, either there are no breaks in the song or they're just not long enough. It's crazy.

I've never seen it mentioned here before so I ask for advice and opinions. Any one else with this little problem?

My jazz is the worst. I love that bass tremendously, I just wish it had better knobs. I've tried a lot of different basses lately and the most impressive ones to me so far were on a Ken Smith I recenly tried. Unfortunately I don't remember which one it was. I loved them. It almost felt like there was a wind up thingy inside or something. They had so much resistance to them. The Glaub is not as bad as the jazz. The volume is usually all the way up, or almost. I never have to worry about that. So it's just the tone knob. The p-bass knobs are big and they have a really big knurl on them. They also have some resistance. I usually know were to roughly set it before the song.

Curtybob · #2 10-07-2007, 11:13 PM

Just gotta remember that tweaking the knobs is part of playing. Tagging the knob just right is almost the same as making that lighning fast fun up the frets. Timing and accuracy.

If you can't possibly get it, then consider using a volume pedal, maybe a boost pedal, and an EQ pedal to move the action to other parts that are idle.

Funkus Barfucal · #3 10-07-2007, 11:21 PM

Personally, I run my bass's volume wide open. I don't understand why you'd need to adjust the volume during the song. Just use a lighter touch for softer passages and dig in for louder ones. Just MHO.

peetey · #4 10-09-2007, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curtybob

Just gotta remember that tweaking the knobs is part of playing. Tagging the knob just right is almost the same as making that lighning fast fun up the frets. Timing and accuracy.

I knew someone would mention something along those lines and I totally agree. I'm usually pretty quick at making a tweak on the tone knobs. P basses are easy. I also owned a EBMM in the past with the three seperate tone knobs and they were easy too. It's just those little black plastic stacked knobs on the jazz that are just too easy to turn. It's like pealing a banana with boxing gloves.

I was just wondering if anybody out there has changed the knobs on their jazz for that reason.

Deacon_Blues · #5 10-09-2007, 09:31 AM

This thread got me thinking are there any volume/wah style pedals that works as a tone knob? That would be great. Otherwise an eq pedal would do the trick too, I guess.

dulouz · #6 10-09-2007, 02:19 PM

I had a similar problem with my bass. I have two PUs with a volume for each. It was a pain to go from only the neck to only the bridge, so I had a 3 way toggle switch added. Problem sovled...

spindizzy · #7 10-09-2007, 03:17 PM

Funkus is right. Tone is in the hands so leave the knobs alone. I had my Fender wired full open on volume and the tone knob hardwire to the middle setting in order to force myself to learn this (which I am glad I did way before I got my first ERB). You can make tremendous tone changes just by moving your hand between the bridge and fretboard base. Volume is best control through touch so set it high and learn to play softly. Willis says "think of your hardest attack as ten and play at about five". This gives you the needed righthand "headroom" to control volume. And if you say "I play with a pick" I say "still works".

This is of course IMHO.

Spin

peetey · #8 10-09-2007, 08:31 PM

I have to admit I've been playing the jazz a lot more than the Glaub lately. And I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with the variety of tones. I'm in this state of mind now with my jazz where I'm obsessed with trying to find "the" sound, for that particular song we're playing.

Tell myself: I should leave the knobs alone and play through my fingers.

Too bad. I really liked playing with the knobs.

DaveAceofBass · #9 10-09-2007, 08:40 PM

My advice is, don't overuse the knobs. They can help you achieve a tone, and it's different in every room, venue, bass, and rig. Sometimes you'll need two different tones for two different songs. I wouldn't change much during a song, unless you just can't hear yourself or your tone is off.

Finding out what the controls do is half the battle. Sounds like you're a little inexperienced here. On passive jazz basses, you probably won't use both pickups full on most of the time. You might have to keep one turned up and one turned down, like 100% bridge and 30% neck, or vice versa. Depends on the song and the tone. The passive tone only cuts a little high end off. That's more useful for the bridge-predominant settings.

Adjusting volume on the fly is hard with two volume controls, something that's better done with your hand control or on the amp. The two volumes allow you to mix two sounds more than control the overall level.

A Ken Smith bass has active EQ, a different set of controls all together. Both active and passive have their advantages. Do a search on these and you'll find what you need to know. But, I will tell you that the master volume is easier for adjusting level IMO. The EQ controls will affect volume level and drastically affect tone, more than the passive tone control. That's my two cents.