What's Different?

[KingRazor]

I was just listening to some sound clips from the Lakland website, and the P bass and P/J with the neck pickup solo'd sound ever so slightly different.

I know that the mere fact that there is a J pickup there and that the wiring for it will alter the sound to a degree, but what I'm curious about is how does this change it? Is it possible to simulate this without the J pup being there?

[SurferJoe46]

I just know that this is gonna open all sorts of doors to discussion - but the absence of that other pickup and then minus it's resonant freqs and load to the system is going to change something.

Even the extra wires that are missing will cause changes to the signal going to the amp.

The total amount may be so small as to not count - but I know (here come da flames) that I can hear a P/J and a P as totally different animals and it's not bad in either case - just different.

There's just a lot fewer things in the signal train to modify the output, that's all.

So - ultimately, if the sound is to your liking then who cares?

[line6man]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

but the absence of that other pickup and then minus it's resonant freqs and load to the system is going to change something.

What are you talking about?


When you turn the J pickup's volume pot all the way down, or the blend pot all the way to the P side, the J pickup is directly shorted out at 0 Ohms. The J pickup has absolutely no affect on the circuit from an electronics perspective.

The only difference in the wiring is the fact that the resistance from the volume pots parallel to the signal is lower with two volumes or a volume and a blend than it is with only one volume pot. (The exact resistance can be calculated as R_Total=1/([1/R₁]+[1/R₂]+...[1/R_n]) .) And the wiper of the P pickup's volume pot being wired to the pickup instead of the output, causing a variable impedance loading effect as the volume is adjusted.

The pot values can be increased if you have two volumes or a volume and a blend, so that the resistive load parallel to the circuit is equal to the 250K you usually have in a P bass, and if you keep the volume at "10," it's affect will be the same whether the wiper terminal is the input or the output.

Wiring should not be a factor concerning the perceived difference in tone between a P and a PJ, because you can modify it if needed to be function identically on either.

[SurferJoe46]

Everything associated in the wiring and hard parts of a circuit affects the tone (bad choice of words, but it's what's being discussed here) and even a little extra solder on a joint causes harmonics and/or frequency shifts and just slightly messes with the output.

Not very perceptible - but it"s there.

I know we are talking audible energy forms here - not RF - but in a radio circuit it is very obvious.

Obvious too is the fact that most of us have stood in front of Wattage at high volume and low freqs for a while and our ears are not what they were when we were born, so our personal perceptions have shifted too.

It's all relative, but ANYTHING in a circuit - active or passive - even wires running parallel to each other change (in this case) the sound and signal/power and purity.

[line6man]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

Everything associated in the wiring and hard parts of a circuit affects the tone (bad choice of words, but it's what's being discussed here) and even a little extra solder on a joint causes harmonics and/or frequency shifts and just slightly messes with the output.

Not very perceptible - but it"s there.

I know we are talking audible energy forms here - not RF - but in a radio circuit it is very obvious.

Obvious too is the fact that most of us have stood in front of Wattage at high volume and low freqs for a while and our ears are not what they were when we were born, so our personal perceptions have shifted too.

It's all relative, but ANYTHING in a circuit - active or passive - even wires running parallel to each other change (in this case) the sound and signal/power and purity.

Do you know anyone who can hear the difference with a little extra solder on a joint?
Even if you have the golden ears to pick up on such subtle differences, you sure won't be able to once the band starts playing.

[SurferJoe46]

Originally Posted by line6man

Do you know anyone who can hear the difference with a little extra solder on a joint?
Even if you have the golden ears to pick up on such subtle differences, you sure won't be able to once the band starts playing.

Not a valid reply. You stated in formula and 'proof' that I don't know what I'm talking about.

My answer was to your insinuation that I am ignorant to the physics involved, and never stated that one could actually hear a difference.

You just flatly denied the existence of a situation whereby the unused or even fully closed pot would NOT be a factor.

it is a factor - in every way and form.