Another Bad Idea From The Bad-Idea-Monger You Love To Hate

[R. Laevinus]

...okay, so, I was thinking today about people wanting effects onboard their basses - namely, to go from a clean to an overdriven sound, and back - without standing next to a pedalboard all night.

And I got a great idea. Assume the bass in question is passive, and dig it:
1. Replace the mono output jack with a stereo jack.
2. Install a SP3T switch - either a mini or a Gibson style toggle, your choice - that toggles the hot output to the tip, the ring, or both.
3. Wire up a box that has a stereo input jack running tip and ring to two separate mono outputs, and also two mono inputs merging into one mono output.

You see where I'm going with this, don't you?

There've been a number of threads on the subject, and they always conclude that it's a bad idea - but with a box like this, and a bass wired up like this, and a TRS cable, you could select a clean or an effected tone from the bass alone without messing with your boxes - and the best part is, that lacking any part of the setup - the splitter/merger box or the TRS cable - you could just leave the switch in one position and play through a standard instrument cable.

In fact, if you used a push-pull as your switch, the entire mod could be removed transparently, without affecting the resale of the instrument at all.

I've outgrown the desire to stuff effects in my bass - but for some, an idea like this might be useful. What do the experts here say? Could an idea like this work?

[line6man]

If you aren't already using the ring terminal to switch the battery to ground with an active bass, that should work fine.
That's essentially the same thing as having stereo outputs, but instead of a pickup to each output, you have your bass signal A/Bing between the outputs.

You would need a DP3T switch though (4PDT On/On/On), not a push/pull, as you need to ground the unused output to avoid getting an "open cable" buzzing sound.

[R. Laevinus]

Excellent point as to the grounding.

I knew there must be a way to do this... strangely enough, I don't even want to - I just wanted to figure it out.

Cheers!

[line6man]

Oh, come to think of it, you can't do a DP3T switch either, it would have to be a rotary switch instead. You won't have a way of selecting both outputs together with only one pole available for output switching.

[lolaviola]

Reminds me of Jerry Garcia's custom guitar. He had a regular output cable, plus a stereo send/return that could be switched in or out.