Jazz Bass mod idea...

JohnDavisNYC · #1 01-27-2008, 01:47 PM

sooo... I'm thinking of doing a mod to my '77 jazz bass, electronically speaking...

I NEVER use either pickup on it's own... I always have them both on full all the time... this makes things like volume swells sort of, well, really hard.

I want to rewire my bass with both pickups straight to one volume pot. I found an old thread regarding series vs. parallel wiring as well, and I am just looking for some ideas and thoughts... I will probably try both, but I am not very knowledgeable in the workings of pickups....

oh, and the pickups will be Antiquities, I think...

I also want to put in a new value for the tone pot, to have a lower cutoff, as i would like it to get much darker than the stock tone cap value.

I would be putting this in a new '62 Jazz control plate, so it would look 'stock'.. (if '77 basses had '62 electronics...)

cheers,
John

J.Stone · #2 01-27-2008, 01:57 PM

If you've got a Volume/Volume/Tone setup, you could replace one volume with a blend. Just incase you want to change pickups. :>

Drucocu · #3 01-27-2008, 02:05 PM

I have an interesting mod for ya. I got a bass (LeFay Herr Schwarz) with also 3 knobs:
tone, volume and 4way-knob (bridge, serial, neck, parallel).

that would be a killer mod!

JohnDavisNYC · #4 01-27-2008, 02:19 PM

i want as little flexibility as possible... in 6 years of owning this bass, i have literally NEVER used anything other than both on full... i really love jazz basses with both on full, and i really want no options, other than a tone knob voiced low to get rid of ALL the high end if i want...

john

jsm81 · #5 01-27-2008, 02:41 PM

I'd suggest taking a look at http://www.has-sound.com/ , Stan's got some great electronics available, and he also does custom wiring harnesses avail. I'm looking at getting a harness with a master volume, blend, and a varitone for a tone pot. Take a look, he's got some really crazy stuff on there, and you can get a minimalistic or as extravagant as you'd like.

Band Dad · #6 01-27-2008, 02:49 PM

Get rid of all the pots and wire directly to four jacks! Jack 1–bridge only, jack 2–neck only, jack 3 both, jack 4–both with a different roll-off. I think I'm on to something!

jsm81 · #7 01-27-2008, 03:09 PM

Are you kidding me, that would be nuts, having to unplug and re-plug every time you want a different sound. LOL

xJasonSmithx · #8 01-27-2008, 03:18 PM

You could just buy a volume pedal for swells maybe? For me it is easier than working with the knob while playing.

JohnDavisNYC · #9 01-27-2008, 03:38 PM

ummm... so yeah, i don't want options.

i guess i will simplify my question into two simple questions:

how do i wire jazz bass pickups in series to one volume pot?

how do i wire my jazz bass pickups in parallel to one volume pot?

john

fenderbassabuse · #10 01-27-2008, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnDavisNYC

i want as little flexibility as possible... in 6 years of owning this bass, i have literally NEVER used anything other than both on full... i really love jazz basses with both on full, and i really want no options, other than a tone knob voiced low to get rid of ALL the high end if i want...

john

Then why not get volume, blend, tone, but have the tone wired as two .1pf caps in series. That should take care of it...

Unless I missed something...

A9X · #11 01-27-2008, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnDavisNYC

i want as little flexibility as possible... in 6 years of owning this bass, i have literally NEVER used anything other than both on full... i really love jazz basses with both on full, and i really want no options, other than a tone knob voiced low to get rid of ALL the high end if i want...

john

Wire both pickups to the top of the tone pot in parallel. Simple.

JohnDavisNYC · #12 01-27-2008, 04:56 PM

ok... so, for parallel, both pickups would be wired hot to the volume pot and cold to ground, and then onto the tone pot, and then to the jack?

for series the neck pickup would be cold to ground, hot to cold of the bridge pickup, bridge pickup hot to volume pot, tone pot, etc....

i want to understand the wiring schemes correctly.

as for the blending suggestions, i don't want any blending, just a volume pot and a tone pot...

what is the science behind cap values and cutoff frequency for a tone circuit?

this bass will have two knobs... volume and tone. i would like absolutely no way to change the blend of the two pickups, except by using a screwdriver to raise or lower them....

john

A9X · #13 01-27-2008, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnDavisNYC

ok... so, for parallel, both pickups would be wired hot to the volume pot and cold to ground, and then onto the tone pot, and then to the jack?

I didn't think you used the VC.
If you do, then yes. If you don't want the VC, wire both pickups to the top of the tone pot.

JohnDavisNYC · #14 01-27-2008, 05:27 PM

yeah, single VC, just so i can do swells or fades without using a pedal...

thanks for that... how about wiring series? do i have that right?

john

DavidRavenMoon · #15 01-27-2008, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drucocu

I have an interesting mod for ya. I got a bass (LeFay Herr Schwarz) with also 3 knobs:
tone, volume and 4way-knob (bridge, serial, neck, parallel).

that would be a killer mod!

I had a P/J fretless bass I set up like this back in the 80's.

If anyone is interested I can post the schematic for the switch.

A9X · #16 01-27-2008, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnDavisNYC

yeah, single VC, just so i can do swells or fades without using a pedal...

OK, then wire as you said before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnDavisNYC

thanks for that... how about wiring series? do i have that right?

If you're gonna do a series wire of the two pups, I'd add a switch to do series/parallel. Good tonal variation there.

DavidRavenMoon · #17 01-27-2008, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnDavisNYC

yeah, single VC, just so i can do swells or fades without using a pedal...

Who does swells and fades on bass? I turn the volume control all the way up and control dynamics with my picking hand.

The volume control is for between songs and breaks.

ChrisG19 · #18 01-27-2008, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidRavenMoon

I had a P/J fretless bass I set up like this back in the 80's.

If anyone is interested I can post the schematic for the switch.

I'm very interested, please post!

JohnDavisNYC · #19 01-27-2008, 06:09 PM

that's funny... evidently i do them occasionally... and evidently you are better than me for that reason.

so, anyway, i think i have a better understanding of this stuff now... i found a cutoff calculator and with the antiquities and a cap value of .1mfd i will have a cutoff at 177hz...

i will just have to try out series vs. parallel and see which suits me better... i want to just hard-wire it as one or the other, and my goal is pretty much maximum bass... having a switch could be cool, but for this bass i want it to be as option free as possible.

we'll see which one wins.

john

**NYCBass** · #20 01-27-2008, 06:15 PM

Get a volume pedal and don't break the solder joints. If you ever want to sell it some FREAK might give you more money with the solder untouched.