Switch to pass directly to amp
 

Heya.

So I'm thinking about rewiring/properly grounding my J bass, mostly just for something to do. While I've got the soldering iron out, I'm thinking of adding a push/pull pot to pass the signal directly to the jack.

What sorts of tone should I expect in doing this? Would it be the exact same tone as having all the controls open wide or would there be a change? I'd imagine the volume would go up, but i'm not sure. I know Neil Young has one of these switches on his guitar.

Both pickups in parallel?
That will require a 3PDT On/On mini toggle. Push/pull switches only provide DPDT switching.

The tone will be the same as increasing the pot values. You will be raising the input impedance on the coils, and thus, shifting the resonant frequency up a bit to give a bit more treble and volume.

You will get more highs than with all controls wide open.

I have a stock J, 250k pots. Should I just up them to 500k giving me the same effect? Seems like that would be alot easier than putting a switch in.

I've done this. Saw it in Bass Player about 20 years ago.

Works great.

It's on a p/j loaded witha Duncan 1/4lb P and vintage j. I use 2 on/off/on mini toggles.

The j does sound better but it's not a massive difference.

The 1/4 p on the other hand becomes a monster.