• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

wiring a 3 pickup bass [ 2 jazz and a p] any ideas on most sensible way?

sorry to revive my own thread here but seems the best place to ask...
is there anyway at all to add another switch or similar to allow the 2 jazz pickups to be put into series???
just noticed that the jazz copy I am playing at the moment, although I am using a fair bit of the different
tonal options we have noticed that I am using the series mode on this 2 pickup jazz copy at least 50% of
the time....
so I guess this means I do need to have series mode available...
if that isn't possible maybe I could get a more common jazz but with series switch diagram, and add a p
pickup by pretty much copy and pasting a single pickup from your diagram above "next to" the jazz circuit...
oh and I would need a way of on-off switching the jazz portion if I did the copy and paste the switch and p
from the above diagram into the "uber jazz" [so a jazz with a series switch.]. I'm surprised there isn't an article
explaining how to add a switch to put the 2 jazzers into series ... even if it bypassed the others , so wed just
have a series jazz pair with the master volume and tone when hitting the series switch I could live with that.

in an ideal world I would have a jazz setup with blend and master tone and volume,
a 3 way switch to do off-parallel [blend works] -series [I would assume youd want the blend bypassed here.
and then an on-off switch as shown in the above diagram, to switch the p pickup in and out
I think I can do that by just finding a good jazz diagram with the series switch etc and then copy and paste in
one of the 3 "legs" in your above diagram kinda splice those 2 elements together?

Starting to think I am going to have to pay one of those companies that make custom wiring looms [harness,
whichever terminology you prefer lol] and just get a nice pre made one as described above
thats probably the real answer to this find out if this approach would work and pay a pro to make it to spec
from the wisdom contained in this thread lol

New member Ross, bassist/teacher from Atlanta

Hey everyone,

Ross here, from just outside Atlanta, GA.

I've been playing bass for about 22 years, studied at Santa Fe University of Art & Design, and along the way got to sit in with Les Claypool (Primus) and do some session work with +Ultra out of Denver. These days my musical identity is really centered on teaching and composing rather than performing. I teach bass and 6-string guitar, and also produce/make beats in Ableton.

I came up through rock and jam bands, but discovering Robert Glasper and J Dilla completely changed how I think about harmony and rhythm. This unexpected shift is basically what's driven most of my playing and teaching focus since. Lately I've been deep into how technique and articulation shape groove, which led me down a rabbit hole of adapting guitar-world techniques (selective picking, two-hand tapping) into bass-specific applications.

Found my way here after a thread on the Abasi Concepts Micro-Aggressor and ended up jumping in since I'd used it on bass for a recent project and had thoughts to add.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here — this place clearly has decades of knowledge I'm just starting to tap into.

New Compressor consideration for Talkbass

Adding to this because I had a really similar reaction. Picked one up recently and used it on an original composition, a hip hop-leaning groove, built around Tosin's selective picking technique adapted to bass (plus some Victor Wooten-style tapping for contrast).

What got me was exactly what you're describing, being able to dial in compression on specific frequencies rather than the whole signal. On the percussive/hammer-on sections it kept everything tight without squashing the low end, which is usually the tradeoff I run into with compressors that aren't built with bass in mind.

If anyone wants to hear it in a bass-specific context (rather than the guitar demos most of the coverage on this pedal focuses on), here's the piece: Login to view embedded media
Curious if anyone else here has tried it on more straightforward groove-based playing vs. the more technical stuff — wondering how it holds up outside of a showcase-y context.

Why somebody want to have a NO P-BASS sound like one?

I love watching reviews on youtube, but I hate the fact that they ALWAYS say things like " oh this pick ups are so good, they really sound like a P or like a J".... or worst " lets see if they geet close to a P bass souns " and they are maybe reviewing a TOTALLY DIFFERENT BASS.
After digesting the rest of this thread, I think this is what's really going on:

They aren't talking about an actual Precision Bass or Jazz Bass (both of which could be many things as we've seen in the discussion here).

They are comparing the instrument being reviewed to received notions of what each kind of bass sounds like. The terms "P Bass" and "J Bass" are just shorthand for two opposing classes of tone color. We could also call them "tubby" and "barky" but that wouldn't be nice. If you're auditioning a new instrument, it's good to know whether it has flexibility to get a range of tones that include something like these two.

I know there are a lot of players on this forum who have owned and auditioned many basses over their careers, including multiple vintages of the same product. There are others who have tried many pickups and changed the pickups in their instruments many times. The description in the review videos is not for them. They don't need help perceiving differences in tone color on their own terms.

The descriptions are for people who vaguely know the differences and like having a label to apply.

Heavy Metal . . . . Lifted

My favorite crane story was a plant being installed in an existing building that had been a dempsy dumpster plant. It had several large cranes but they didn't have any really heavy duty stuff. We installed a plasma cutter and a decoiler in line to drop a coil of hot rolled 14 ga steel on and roll it out nice and flat to be cut up by the plasma cutter. before the decoiler came we had our coils precut and delivered as sheets. Once the decoiler came in we were going to be loading and unloading coils from flatbeds then on to the decoiler as needed. Only problem was we were using 55,000 coils and we had a well work 30,000 overhead crane to handle those coils. I tried to warn the plant manager that he was playing with fire to trust that crane but he was determined to avoid any further delay so when the first coils arrived, we backed them into the bay and rigged the coil for pickup. As the slack came out of the cable the gantry started to sag rather than the coil coming up. I stopped lifting and set it back on the truck and went looking for my boss. He decided we would get the coil up just enough for the truck to pull out, then set it down and use a forklift to push it out of the aisle. I tried my best to talk him out of it but he was sure it would hold and he was the boss. When the slack left the cable, again the overhead started to sag, he kept at it until the coil cleared the truck bed enough for it to pull out. About the time the truck got clear, there were multiple reports that sounded like gunshots, but it was just a bunch of rivets in the gantry popping, quickly followed by a folding gantry as the coil crashed to the floor, we got a crane repair crew in ASAP, but they deemed the thing a worn out relic not worth reviving.
I was a partner in company that owned a 56,000 s.f. industrial warehouse in Pittsburgh, with 5 overhead cranes. They have to be inspected monthly and certified to meet OSHA requirements. Insurance companies do not want to handle these buildings, due to the high number of accidents involved. Our largest crane was a 100' bridge span with a 25 ton and 5 ton lift on the trolly. It was almost impossible to get parts, we usually had to have them fabricated. The crane had originally been at a shipyard, used to build ships for WWII. The part of the warehouse it was in was built around it when it was moved in.

A welder was killed by a 10 tom crane in the fabricating area, due to mismanagement by our lessee. They used the crane to lift a sheet of heavy steel plate to flip over and the chains came loose, fell on the guy. Like in your situation, that is not how you use a crane.

I still have nightmares about that warehouse.
  • Like
Reactions: fhm555

How does the Bass of Doom have all that flame??

I did my Master's thesis in 1993 on Jaco, WAAAAY before the book (chock full of inaccuracies) came out. I spent thousands flying my broke college a** back and forth to Florida and NY talking to family members, band members and folks who knew him. This was when I was at Ohio University.

The Hiroshima Bay incident was with the natural 4 string on the back of the Invitation disc. It wasn't his #1 or #2. Unless of course, early onset of mental decline (aka...I'm old) has betrayed me I have my Master's thesis in a box somewhere. I gotta go digging.


I Would love to read the thesis if you decide to dig it up and post it. I feel like many of us bass geeks would enjoy that read !


EDIT : just read further into the thread.
Well…if you go crazy, find it, and decide to get web hosting for that 100 page beast of a story/book/thesis, I’d love to read it. Maybe it could be scanned and done as an e-book and you could make a little $$$ on it…. I think a lot of us bass geeks would pay $10-20 to read it.

Just a thought.

:)

Double Bass Community Orchestra Yay or Nay?

If I heard correctly, one amazing guitar player at that jam just so happens to be 2d chair bassist in the CSO! 😳 Yeah - I'm eager to embarrass myself there!
Yeah, the rumor proved true. One of the several phenomenal guitarists at that jam plays bass w/ the CSO. I made a mistake of having my bow in my quiver, and he kept goading me to use it. I wish I had resisted the temptation. :rolleyes: Incredibly nice guy, tho.

Shouldn't there be some sort of rule that someone who is amazingly good at one instrument, ought not be allowed to also excel at another? ;)

The highest level jam I've played at in some time. So many excellent pickers, they may split into 2 groups - the venue has plenty of space. Now that I've got my initial intimidation outta the way, I can have some fun! :D Have to get my BG chops back to speed... Gives me something to focus my practice on.

Tube amp resurrection with an unusual circuit

Thanks for all the replies folks!



Yeah, I need to decide which way to go with it. For the preamp I could add another 12ax7 and tone circuit which would be pretty minimal work. Or go with 2 6SL7s following one of the B-15 versions which would be not much more work and maybe sound better.

On the 5AR4 swap, wouldn't the current power transformer work? The chassis I have is the complete power supply and power amplifier together. But it only has a single 12ax7 preamp/phase inverter and no tone control.

The 5AR4 heater draws 1.9A@5V, the 5u4GB draws 3A@5V so you should be fine. But check the data sheets. The early B15 used a 5U4GB but switched to a 5AR4 for less distortion and more headroom.

My choice would be using the 6SL7’s if you have the space. The B-15 is a proven design but note what power supply voltages the transformer delivers. One concern is the health of an old power transformer. Can it deliver to spec under sustained conditions. There’s not easy way to tell till you try it in the amp.

Some schematics. The vintage-blue ones are excellent. The TB wiki has useful information on building the tone circuit.



Haze basses on ebay? Anybody own or play one?

Hey guys and gals,

I was flicking through eBay and looking at some 5 strings when I came across an Australian seller that had a few "Haze" basses for sale. Link:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I know they're probably just a re-branded instrument from a wholesaler, but the price doesn't seem too bad, the looks are nice and it's definitely my style of instrument.

Has anyone played one though? There are a few things that are off-putting; there appears to be a gap in the neck pickup route and something doesn't look quite right with the bridge. Just curious if anyone knows about them.
i own a haze! i own the chameleon haze bass (349$ aud free shipping) it is a little heavier than my other basses, and its quite a bit taller. it plays well, and is nice to play icl. i actually prefer it to my other basses! only issue i have is string buzz after ive been using it for 4+ hours

Gotoh 206 bridge

I've got one on my Ibanez RB800, as the one that I got with it was pretty much broken when I got it (I just never messed with the intonation, so it was fine until I tried...or was I changing strings?) Nonetheless, its a solid bridge, altho in my opinion a pain to set the intonation because you have to unscrew the screw holding down the saddle (although it keeps the saddle from moving) and then turn the screw for the saddle to move.

Overall, its good.

Good bridge, but if someone over-loosens the hold down screws while adjusting intonation, the threaded half moons at the end of the intonation screw can rotate out of their position from being flat with the bridge plate, and sometimes crack the saddle carrier by being tightened down onto.

Gotoh 206: Rants and raves

This decent bridge is over complicated, and many people crack the saddle carrier back end by over tightening the hold down screw while the intonation screw thread pivot half-moons rotate so they are not flat on the bridge plate and thusly push up on the hollow underneath the saddle slide. Quite fiddly, but the time it takes to set up is often worthwhile, as there is zero play or rattle.

Latest Classifieds

w/Mono Case, 7.5lbs!
$1,950.00
4 watching
Location
Connecticut, United States
Brand new and unopened. I'll ship to you one pack for $28 total
$28.00
1 watching
Location
Austin Texas, United States
Greetings Tb, Up for sale is a package deal of broughton royal MK filter preamp and Studio boost mini. Both in excellent condition only used in my...
$300.00
1 watching
Location
San Diego California, United States
Fender Custom Shop ’60s Jazz Bass Pickups Genuine Fender Custom Shop ‘60s Jazz Bass pickup set in good working condition. Neck and bridge set...
$165.00
Location
Shreveport Louisiana, United States
PA
$80.00
Location
Palmerton Pennsylvania, United States 18071

Filter

Staff online

  • TBird1958
    As a matter of fact....I am your Queen!