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3 Way Toggle or Blend Pot? Pros? Cons?

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#21
KenD said:
@sunbeast: that is my concern as well. The blend pot would be like putting two additional resistors in the signal path.

The bass I'm working with here has two humbuckers, the 3 way toggle, one vol and one tone pot. I don't want to drill any additional holes. Your post has me thinking that replacing the 3 way with another volume pot may be the way to go. For the music I play with that bass, most of the time I would be using the neck near wide open and dialing in a lesser proportion of the bridge.

On the other hand, that would only result in two volume pots instead of three. Assuming good quality pots, would the difference be audible?
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It’s blend pots for me on my basses with 2 pickups. 3-way toggle there’s no way to blend them. They’re either on or off
 
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#24
KenD said:
Thanks for this suggestion. I have this Noll stacked blend on hand so I think I will install it and then adjust pot/cap values on the tone pot if necessary. It's 220K lin + and - and then 500K out.
View attachment 7274511View attachment 7274512
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I have been curious about these! Based on the writing on the bottom, it appears the blend section is actually an AC taper : meaning Audio/log (A) for one side and Reverse-Audio/log (C) for the other side and with some resistance on both sides in the middle position. I generally prefer an MN taper blend pot, like the diagram posted above, where each side is linear and with no resistance in the middle of the sweep.
 
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#25
KenD said:
Ebay still says it can't find the page.
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Weird! I think TB is adding some code to outgoing links. When I try the link from this forum, it doesn't work, but if I go directly to eBay, the original page is fine. So, I'll add this link to my original post AND post it here in a way that should hopefully work. :banghead:
EDIT: I think there is some site-tracking going on. Copy & paste the the text above. Do not click directly on it. TB seems to be adding a considerable amount of data to that link when you click on it. Whatever it is, TB is taking a perfectly fine link and corrupting it.

SECOND EDIT: Wave the mouse cursor over the link, but do not click. You'll see a big difference between the link I've posted and where clicking directly on the link will take you. It sounds like there was some kind of site update that is still buggy when it comes to external links.
 
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#26
sunbeast said:
I have been curious about these! Based on the writing on the bottom, it appears the blend section is actually an AC taper : meaning Audio/log (A) for one side and Reverse-Audio/log (C) for the other side and with some resistance on both sides in the middle position. I generally prefer an MN taper blend pot, like the diagram posted above, where each side is linear and with no resistance in the middle of the sweep.
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It seems that particular item has been discontinued by Noll so I can't find any direct info on his site. I have an email out to him so I'll see what comes of that.

Here is a link to the description on the site where I found and bought this:

Noll Blend
 
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#27
Malak the Mad said:
Weird! I think TB is adding some code to outgoing links. When I try the link from this forum, it doesn't work, but if I go directly to eBay, the original page is fine. So, I'll add this link to my original post AND post it here in a way that should hopefully work. :banghead:
EDIT: I think there is some site-tracking going on. Copy & paste the the text above. Do not click directly on it. TB seems to be adding a considerable amount of data to that link when you click on it. Whatever it is, TB is taking a perfectly fine link and corrupting it.

SECOND EDIT: Wave the mouse cursor over the link, but do not click. You'll see a big difference between the link I've posted and where clicking directly on the link will take you. It sounds like there was some kind of site update that is still buggy when it comes to external links.
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Nope. The link is connecting to ebay but it still says We looked everywhere......
 
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#28
KenD said:
Nope. The link is connecting to ebay but it still says We looked everywhere......
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Don't right-click on the "Copy Link", then go there. Select the text so it's highlighted, copy the text, not the link, then paste that text into another tab or window. As it stands right now, if you copy the link or just click on it, the site-data added to the link makes it unusable.

I think it has something to do with this bit of text that certain links cause to appear in certain posts; "As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases."
 
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#29
In the meantime, here are some pics of what I've been talking about. Plus, you can always find them on the site for Guitar Fuel/Tone Monster, then go from there.

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UB3TnJV.jpeg


Dammit, TalkBass! Whatever you're doing to monetize "qualifying purchases" is screwing up our ability to share links to that potential qualifying purchase in the first place! :mad:
 
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#30
Malak the Mad said:
Don't right-click on the "Copy Link", then go there. Select the text so it's highlighted, copy the text, not the link, then paste that text into another tab or window. As it stands right now, if you copy the link or just click on it, the site-data added to the link makes it unusable.

I think it has something to do with this bit of text that certain links cause to appear in certain posts; "As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases."
Click to expand...
Ah ha! Very interesting! With my three body holes that would allow for separate tone pots for each pickup.
 
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#31
KenD said:
It seems that particular item has been discontinued by Noll so I can't find any direct info on his site. I have an email out to him so I'll see what comes of that.

Here is a link to the description on the site where I found and bought this:

Noll Blend
Click to expand...
Looking at this again and turning my brain up a notch it appears that the Noll is both a blend and a master volume. If that's so, I would have the ability to use separate tone pots for each pickup.
 
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#32
KenD said:
Ah ha! Very interesting! With my three body holes that would allow for separate tone pots for each pickup.
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How would you square that? Two pickups plug into the connector, but it has only one output for both. Are you talking about a stacked-knob V/T/V/T, like on a first-generation, 1961 Jazz bass?
 
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#37
I have basses with VVT, VTVT, VBlendT and VToggleT.
In the grand scheme of things, I tend to use N soloed or N+B equal about 98% of the time. Soloed bridge is rarely used, unless the pickup is in the Ric or Stingray spot.
For my purposes, I like a master volume and prefer the toggle just a touch more than the blend. Finer blends are lost in my situations.
I do have one bass with WalterW's ungrounded blend (250K M/N). It's my favorite blend scheme.
 
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#38
sunbeast said:
A blend pot wired the traditional way is essentially like two volume controls added to the circuit, and adds a significant amount of loading if you are using passive pickups- the consequence of loading is a slightly darker sound, regardless of blend settings. Personally I prefer the dual volume setup for blending as I'll rarely use a master volume knob anyway on a passive bass. Dual volumes gives you a bit more adjustment room (physically, since you have the full sweep of both pots to dial in different mixes), and you can remove the third level control (master volume) for less loading. Switches also don't work for me most of the time as I like the sounds from partial pickup blends.
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A blend pot adds no more loading to the circuit than two volume pots. It's effectively two volume pots stacked.
 
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#39
I did the Bill Lawrence blend on a bass that had VVT.

I liked the sound of it, and the difference in sound of loading is over stated when you are playing with a band.

It really was useful in terms of master volume, and the blend was okay.

However- I'm still tinkering, and will probably wire the bass with a stereo jack. Each pickup to a different out- more like a rick and do all the balancing at the amp/mixer.
 
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#40
Surprised nobody has mentioned this, but in my experience those 3 way switches have a way of going bad, at inconvenient times. I had one on my '72 Rick. They get a little dirt in there and all of a sudden get iffy. Have to take them to the shop and get them cleaned out, or replaced. I remember watching Steve Hackett fiddling with his 3 way on his favorite guitar during concert with "Genesis Revisited," when he was trying to use the bridge solo pickup. His signal kept cutting out on him, and he was visibly distressed, couldn't clear it. Eventually he just kept the switch on his neck pickup and gave up on going bright.

I never had a blend pot go out on me. I've had vol pots get scratchy, but not blend.
 
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