jazz bass with 500k pots

[Jjones32]

I planed on moding my G&L tribute jb-2 (for those who don't know its basically just a jazz bass with a p bass body) with a push pull pot for series/parallel, So i went to guitar center (regretting that already) and asked for a 250k push pull pot he gives me this http://www.beyondeleven.com/500K-Pus...-pull-4286.htm
which on mine didnt even have a rating on the pack so i figured it was 250k but apperently its 500k. Anyway so now i have a 500k pot, and i was thinking about just making them all 500k. I know this will mike it brighter, but i'd like to here if there are jazz players who use 500k pots, and how do you like them.
thanks all.

[bassolp]

im interest in that ahah but i'll rather say just try it and youll know

[Jjones32]

thats what i'm leaning towards but i'm wondering now if i just put the 500k as the tone and leave the volumes with 250K how that would work out.

[guroove]

I personally would only use 250k pots, but I don't think it makes that much of a difference especially if you are only changing one pot. I tend to like warm sounds, and shy away from brightness.

[Jjones32]

well i like brightness a lot anyway, which is why i considered this anyway.

[Stereo Joe]

I have 500k pots in my jazz bass. They were installed by the previous owner along with DiMarzio humbucking pickups. I didn't like the DiMarzios, so I switched the pickups back to Fender single coils but I left the 500k pots.

In terms of the sound, the bass is definitely capable of being a little brighter, with extra top end sizzle. If I'm not in the mood for that much brightness, I just use the tone knob!

[brekfustuvluzer]

not to hijack this thread, but why change the pots? how much of a tonal difference does it make?

[Jjones32]

well me personally i'm only going to change the tone pot because the guy at guitar center gave me the wrong part and i'm not going to order a 250K pot for shipping but i've heard it makes a pretty good difference in pots with different impedance.

[darkstorm]

Yup 500k pots due sound a tad brighter to me too. Prefers and uses 250's mostly. Replaceing 500k with 250's is often able to eliminate a sense of harsh treble imo. But useing 500k in a bass thats a bit overdark, lacking a little in treble content does work fairly often to add a little more top end.

I did have a mix of 250's and 500's in a guitar I once had. I noticed no problems. Perhaps the combo makes it act like 375k pots would tone wise? Inbetween the two. Not sure, but is possible I think.

[walterw]

nothing at all wrong with a higher value tone pot and a stock volume. if you roll the tone back until it has 250k resistance, you'll be exactly the same as a stock 250k tone on "10". (for an audio taper "A" pot, that's like "9".)

this is not true with volume pots, which use all three lugs in a slightly more complicated way. a higher value volume actually moves the resonant peak a little, changing things slightly as well as brightening up the sound, so you can't just roll back a 500k volume to the point of "250k volume on 10".

that said, i like fender basses with 500k pots, the extra "zing" translates well with slightly compressed, grindy rock playing. you really hear "P-bass" or "J-bass" in the mix, rather than just "bass".

[Jjones32]

alright then i just need to find my soldering gun and i'll be adding in the parallel/series switch i'll be sure to tell you all how it goes.

[Sparkdog]

I like to have a lot of high end on tap with a Jazz bass. When I had DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pups installed it was an improvement over the stock units, but still not quite there.

My tech suggested swapping out the tone pot for a 500K version. He told me the bass response would be unchanged, but it would open up the treble response. He was right...that change put it over the top in terms of brightness and presence.

Dialing back the tone knob tames it right down, but I like knowing I can dial in some real snap when I need it.

[Jjones32]

so some things came up and i've not been able to do the project yet and I'm now just getting into it anyway i have this diagram http://www.seymourduncan.com/support...c=jass_bass_sp but since i have a 500k tone pot i was wondering what type of capacitor I would need. sorry for bring back a dead thread.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by Jjones32

...since i have a 500k tone pot i was wondering what type of capacitor I would need.

shouldn't be a factor, whatever cap worked before will work the same.

.05μF is a good value for single coils.

[M.R. Ogle]

I'm doing the same experiment, but with a P bass.

[Jjones32]

alright then the stock capacitor it is then thanks.

[Ric5]

On jazz and p-basses I prefer a 250k ohm volume pot but I sometimes use a 500k ohm tone pot. This seems to be less harsh but still adds brightness.