Here is a great mod for any J-Bass!! This was done on a SX short scale fretless J-Bass but will work for any J-Bass or other similar bass.
This mod is definately a major electronics overhaul and not reccomemded as a first time project. I've been doing all kinds of mods lately and had been experimenting with different capacitors. I decided to build a 12 position decade switch with 11 different capacitors. Also I don't like the 2 volume controls so I built a 5-way rotary selector switch to select between: Neck – Both – Bridge – Series – Out of Phase. Finally after finding that the decade switch was giving me a bit of a muddy tone especially with the higher value caps, I added a concentric pot that gives me volume control and a fine tuning of the decade switch. If you look at the schematic below you will see I added a 47k resistor across the tone control for the decade switch. This effectively makes the pot a 50k pot with a lot finer control over the tone spread.
Here is a pic of the final assembly. The body on this bass is smaller than a normal J-Bass, and the original pots were all mini pots, so the whole thing barely fits in the cutout.
This pic shows a side view of the assembly. There's a lot of electronics there! In some spots there is less than a 1/64 inch space between the electronics and the cavity sidewalls. It sure made for a tight squeeze!
The capacitors are all “snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug” in a small space between the volume/tone pot and the neck pickup.
The finished project. Purchased a set of Fender concentric knobs for the volume/blend control. And even though the other two knobs are now controlling switches rather than pots the whole setup retains the stock appearance. Aslo bought a new brown tortoise pickguard from Jeannies.
This setup is really great and I highly recommend it for any J-Bass. The 5-way selector allows you to easily choose which pickup you want. The series position really bumps things up a notch and many feel it's similar to a P-Bass. The “series out of phase” takes out some of the bottom and leaves you with a thin trebly kind of sound. Different but usefull!!
The fun part is the decade control with the fine tune pot. 1st position is a true bypass taking the entire tone control out of the circuit. Pickups go direct to volume. Positions 2 – 12 gradually cuts the frequency further and further down starting from 2.1k all the way down to 100hz. Like I mentioned I added the fine tune pot because, with the full cap value acting on the tone, things often would get muddy. Now I can just use the fine tune control and back the mud off a bit. And with the extra 47k resistor across the pot it really smooths out the drop off. This setup is truly the ultimate passive tone control!!
Finally a little tribute to my favorite bass player Mio from K-On as seen in my Avatar. A bit of Guitar Jewelry. Maybe I'll start a new trend!!
Thanks everyone and I look forward to your comments!
This mod is definately a major electronics overhaul and not reccomemded as a first time project. I've been doing all kinds of mods lately and had been experimenting with different capacitors. I decided to build a 12 position decade switch with 11 different capacitors. Also I don't like the 2 volume controls so I built a 5-way rotary selector switch to select between: Neck – Both – Bridge – Series – Out of Phase. Finally after finding that the decade switch was giving me a bit of a muddy tone especially with the higher value caps, I added a concentric pot that gives me volume control and a fine tuning of the decade switch. If you look at the schematic below you will see I added a 47k resistor across the tone control for the decade switch. This effectively makes the pot a 50k pot with a lot finer control over the tone spread.
Here is a pic of the final assembly. The body on this bass is smaller than a normal J-Bass, and the original pots were all mini pots, so the whole thing barely fits in the cutout.
This pic shows a side view of the assembly. There's a lot of electronics there! In some spots there is less than a 1/64 inch space between the electronics and the cavity sidewalls. It sure made for a tight squeeze!
The capacitors are all “snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug” in a small space between the volume/tone pot and the neck pickup.
The finished project. Purchased a set of Fender concentric knobs for the volume/blend control. And even though the other two knobs are now controlling switches rather than pots the whole setup retains the stock appearance. Aslo bought a new brown tortoise pickguard from Jeannies.
This setup is really great and I highly recommend it for any J-Bass. The 5-way selector allows you to easily choose which pickup you want. The series position really bumps things up a notch and many feel it's similar to a P-Bass. The “series out of phase” takes out some of the bottom and leaves you with a thin trebly kind of sound. Different but usefull!!
The fun part is the decade control with the fine tune pot. 1st position is a true bypass taking the entire tone control out of the circuit. Pickups go direct to volume. Positions 2 – 12 gradually cuts the frequency further and further down starting from 2.1k all the way down to 100hz. Like I mentioned I added the fine tune pot because, with the full cap value acting on the tone, things often would get muddy. Now I can just use the fine tune control and back the mud off a bit. And with the extra 47k resistor across the pot it really smooths out the drop off. This setup is truly the ultimate passive tone control!!
Finally a little tribute to my favorite bass player Mio from K-On as seen in my Avatar. A bit of Guitar Jewelry. Maybe I'll start a new trend!!
Thanks everyone and I look forward to your comments!
