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60s Jazz bass pots?

#24
Fogoverla said:
The exposed poles are oxidized to a nasty brown color. It is a crappy Fernandes bass so the picks were crap to begin with, looking to completely overhaul it. It's not worth keeping them
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That's just rust. You can clean it.
Fogoverla said:
Is there a place where I can find these wiring diagrams? I can follow a wiring diagram (probably easier than wiring up a multi-stage furnace!) but I am not entirely confident I understand what you guys are talking about otherwise lol
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[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#25
The pups are rusted but I want to upgrade them as they were pretty crappy to begin with. If I am doing all this work on the bass, I want to get new pups on it.

Another question...would a blend and a tone pot ruin the vintage sound I am trying to achieve? I want to make sure it will sound good in a mix? I am planing on using a gold anodized pick guard and control plate, only see the control plates with 4 holes (V/V/T/Output), anyone know where I can get a 3 hole gold control plate? O.o
 
#26
Fogoverla said:
The pups are rusted but I want to upgrade them as they were pretty crappy to begin with. If I am doing all this work on the bass, I want to get new pups on it.

Another question...would a blend and a tone pot ruin the vintage sound I am trying to achieve? I want to make sure it will sound good in a mix? I am planing on using a gold anodized pick guard and control plate, only see the control plates with 4 holes (V/V/T/Output), anyone know where I can get a 3 hole gold control plate? O.o
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The difference between pot values is only slight.

If you choose the proper value for a blend pot, the resistance can be the same as with a VVT setup.
In the case of VVT with three 250k pots, that would be a 500k blend.
 
#27
Thanks David and line6man for backing me up. Indeed Fender used (and still uses) all audio taper, but what happens is you end up trying to do all your blending between about 10 and 8 and once you get below 8 that pickup pretty much completely drops out of the mix. When you use linear volumes you have much more control over the blend and the dropoff is much more gradual. In a P-bass you DO want to use audio for both. As noted, this can be a controversial topic, but I've never switched someone to linear volumes in a jazz bass and had them prefer the audio tapers, ymmv. And this is generally only true for us bass players... guitar players still prefer audio volumes in a 2 volume setup because they like to use their volume controls as a way to clean up their signal when using an overdriven amp - that's not applicable to most of us. So it really just depends on the situation and your personal taste.

...and as David noted, a blend pot is a great alternative too!
 
#28
iiipopes said:
Meaning, CBS, to cut costs, went to the Ajax....

Traditional Jazz bass wiring is 250kohm CTS pots with a .047 tone capacitor.

I believe the poster above has it backwards. For volume, a linear taper pot will tend towards having to roll the knob more than just a number or two to change significant volume. It is the tone pot that can benefit from being linear taper instead of audio taper for that same reason: finer gradation of control.

Now, that all said, here is how the differences work:

Change out for 500kohm pots: slightly higher resonant peak tending towards the upper mids, i.e. more presence.

Change out for .022 tone capacitor: well, guitars have that. not as much tone variety. I like a .033 so that some more mids are retained when the tone knob is rolled down.

Add a .01 capacitor in line between the bridge pickup hot lead and its volume control: gets rid of the "drop out" that tends to occur on all Jazz basses when both volume controls are dimed out.

Change the tone capacitor to .1: rolled off dub tone, especially with flats.

One other variant I do is to keep the 500 kohm volume pot for the bridge pickup to give good presence, and then solder a 1 meg resistor over the two outside lugs of a 500 kohm neck pickup audio taper volume pot. This makes the pot effectively a 333 kohm pot with a hybrid curve, gives just a hair more presence without getting edgy, which sits better in the mix, and gives a hybrid "ramp" for better control of the volume level in the mid-travel of the control. This, with the .01 inline capacitor to the bridge pickup and a .033 tone pot practically assure no problems for any sound guy keeping the bass properly slotted in the mix.
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Still trying to draw out the diagram and it's making my brain hurt, do you have a drawing of it somewhere by chance?
 
#29
spacebassed said:
...Fender used (and still uses) all audio taper, but what happens is you end up trying to do all your blending between about 10 and 8 and once you get below 8 that pickup pretty much completely drops out of the mix. When you use linear volumes you have much more control over the blend and the dropoff is much more gradual. In a P-bass you DO want to use audio for both. As noted, this can be a controversial topic, but I've never switched someone to linear volumes in a jazz bass and had them prefer the audio tapers, ymmv. And this is generally only true for us bass players... guitar players still prefer audio volumes in a 2 volume setup because they like to use their volume controls as a way to clean up their signal when using an overdriven amp - that's not applicable to most of us.
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well said (including the part about guitar overdrive, where audio volumes are better).

i've been a proponent of linear volumes for basses for a while now. i used to get more pushback about it around here, usually from engineering types linking quotes about power curves and the logarithmic nature of hearing ;), but most folks that have actually tried it discover the linear volume just works more smoothly through normal clean bass rigs.

the difference is even more important with 500k volumes; 500k audio volumes on basses just act like on/off switches between "8" and "10".

my only disagreement here is to say that linear volumes work better for P-basses too!

even when you're not blending two volumes (where audios put the most critical range of the blend right in the jumpiest part of the pot) the linears are just more even from off to full-up.
 
#32
Did not realize I started or restarted such a hotly debated issue! All of this has been great information, some over my head but I have time to digest it all! Just need to figure out what set up to use! Moving back to chrome hardware so I am still stuck on VVT vs, Blend/tone. I assume I can get a CTS pot with a center detent?
 
#34
All I can add to the audio taper / linear taper debate is that with a lot of pots having the two-wafer construction, try using a 500 kohm audio taper pot with the outside lugs bridged with a 1 meg resistor to even out the curve. I really like the resulting ramp and resonant peak characteristics.
 
#35
Fogoverla said:
I suppose if I am going with a Blend/Tone Configuration I need a Linear Taper Pot for the Tone? If I do so how do I wire it up?

I find myself less exasperated by stripping the poly finish off the old bass! Hard work but only my hands hurt then!
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Use an audio taper for tone.

I wouldn't even bother removing poly finishes. Too much work!
 
#36
iiipopes said:
All I can add to the audio taper / linear taper debate is that with a lot of pots having the two-wafer construction, try using a 500 kohm audio taper pot with the outside lugs bridged with a 1 meg resistor to even out the curve. I really like the resulting ramp and resonant peak characteristics.
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I used to do that on blend pots too.
 
#37
SGD Lutherie said:
Use an audio taper for tone.

I wouldn't even bother removing poly finishes. Too much work!
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This finish is coming off relatively easy, once I figured out the best technique for the heat gun. I am trying to keep this project as inexpensive as possible, and seeing as I am replacing EVERYTHING but the body...and this is the first full scale bass I ever owned, so I would like to keep something from it!

Already looking at spending ~700+ depending on the pickups I use, still trying to figure out if there is a good pickup comparable to the Lindy Fralin Pickups that aren't 300 dollars, and I am hearing a lot of mixed reviews on the Fender Custom Shop 60's Jazz Bass Pickups :hmm:
 
#38
those fenders would be just fine, as would duncan vintage jazz pickups, for less than $70 each.
iiipopes said:
...with a lot of pots having the two-wafer construction, try using a 500 kohm audio taper pot with the outside lugs bridged with a 1 meg resistor to even out the curve.
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what do you mean by "two wafer construction"?

as for the dropping resistor, sure, it seems to make an overly jumpy audio volume a little more smooth while also loading it down to a lower total resistance.

you could also put a resistor across the two hot lugs of the audio volume, flattening its curve without changing the overall load. a resistor that's say a third the value of the pot seems to be a good range to try.

i still find a straight-up linear volume to be smoother than either one for bass, though.
 
#40
The finish is old and chipped to hell, the body is a 4-5 piece 3TS that just don't look good. If I am replacing the pickups and the neck (truss rod nut is broken), why not just invest the extra time to truly make it something I am proud of?

I am spending more on the hardware and neck than I did on the bass originally, so I don't want the body, arguable the largest most visable part of the bass, to look cheap.
 

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