Am I missing something

[Mr Gaston]

Recently got a modern player jazz bass after only having played a P Bass before. It came with a volume knob for each pickup rather than a master volume and a blend pot. I knew this when I bought it but it didn't occur to me how inconvenient that would be. I can't just quickly turn one knob while playing to adjust the volume. I have to adjust two and try to get the blend that I want on the fly.

I have already ordered a blend pot and will install it ASAP.

My question is, does anyone prefer this two volume knob setup? Is there some advantage that I'm missing?

 

[Gorn]

I think most people prefer volume/volume/tone. I don't. I recently had my PJ converted from vvt to vbt.

I read several threads on this and people generally tend to say that two volumes allows for better blending than a blend knob. It may or may not but I greatly prefer the convenience of one volume control.

 

[OutToPlayJazz]

It is strange, isn't it? Most basses with more than one pickup either have a pickup pan/blend control, or a toggle switch to move between pickups/coils. The Jazz system has always been an oddity. Most people have everything full up for everyday use of a Jazz bass, but you can turn the front pickup off and halve the tone for a Jaco style back pickup sound and you can also just slightly back off one volume control to favour the other pickup more. It is inconvenient, especially for theatre work, or when you need to be ready to play fast. But Jazzes have always been that way.

Oddly enough, Fender have never adopted hum cancelling single coils, either. They just make them the way they did in 1960 when it comes to the passive basses.

 

[Mustang Surly]

I like the 3-knob arrangement on my Reverend Dub King: master volume, master tone, pan knob to blend the two pups in a continuous sweep (no pup selector switch). There's a soft detent halfway through the pan knob travel which provides an easy-to-feel reference point. Makes for a wide range of tones with the possibility of subtle blending.

 

[Davo-London]

I TOTALLY agree. Gotta have a master volume, or a single volume. I really want VTVT masterVol.

I play a lot of worship music in services and it's up down up down maybe 10 times. Having 2 vols is crazy unless you just play the bridge PU!

Davo

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I LOATHE 2T/2V, don't get it, can't understand why it's considered a good layout. Why adjust pickup blend with two knobs instead of one? Maybe I just missed something too, can somebody explain the advantage over a master volume/master tone/blend? If I bought another Jazz, that's the first thing I'd change. That's the one thing I never liked on my Rick 4001, although in that case it makes some sense if you are running stereo. I'm building one now, mulling over how to set up the electronics for master tone/volume/blend.

 

[esa372]

My question is, does anyone prefer this two volume knob setup?

VVT works for me!

 

[scourgeofgod]

2v, 2t works well if you set it and forget it, I can see how it may bother some people if you like to adjust settings on the fly though.

 

[bholder]

I LOATHE 2T/2V, don't get it, can't understand why it's considered a good layout. Why adjust pickup blend with two knobs instead of one? Maybe I just missed something too, can somebody explain the advantage over a master volume/master tone/blend? If I bought another Jazz, that's the first thing I'd change. That's the one thing I never liked on my Rick 4001, although in that case it makes some sense if you are running stereo. I'm building one now, mulling over how to set up the electronics for master tone/volume/blend.

Because you can get settings that you simply can't with a single volume and blend. That's important to some folks, others prefer single volume and blend. I go with whatever's on the bass I'm playing, since I have enough basses to have all sorts of different control setups. Learning the controls for a particular instrument is no different than learning the feel of the neck for that instrument. So I don't get too excited either way.

 

[darthplagis]

The audience dont care bow many knobs you have or if its easy to adjust.......

As long as air is moving from your lows. Thats all that counts.

I personally hate jazz basses, and despise VVT set ups. I like the jag bass set up with a good pre.

 

[MD]

All my playing is on single pup basses, but my preferred "jazz" layout would be 2V, 2T, Master V + 3 way toggle (neck, bridge, both).

 

[rockscott]

This is the way the J bass has been since day 1, is it not? I like the VV T myself!

 

[alembicbones]

I really don't have a preference either way. I put a Marcus Retro in my MM5 and the pan works really well. My Alembic is 2 vol 2 filter with a pickup selector. This configuration works well for me too. I guess I'm more of a set it and forget guy when at a gig so the ability to do a quick tone change is not that important to me.

Bones

 

[xUptheIronsx]

Started playing on a P bass, so I was originally used to V/T

Got a J bass, and got used to being able to manipulate the 2 volumes pretty quickly, but rarely ever need to cut volume quick. Usually just a quick mute of the hands does the trick if that's the case.

Anything beyond 2 knobs is overkill in my world so I would never consider it. Most likely due to laziness or having grown up in the "plug and play" world of punk, but I have never been the type to micro manage tone via the pups.

I have always played with all pups on full blast, and get tone from my amp/pre-amps. On the bass itself I change the tone by playing in different areas with my fingers given the sound I want, so I have to have the pups all on in order to facilitate that.

 

[AltGrendel]

I have found that with the Jazz bass V/V/T setup the neck is the meat and potatoes and the bridge adds that bit of salsa you want to spice things up.

 

[strictlybass_ic]

Better blending... yes. Swells, quickly muting, and any other volume manipulation... really quite annoying.

 

[Matthew_84]

Better blending... yes. Swells, quickly muting, and any other volume manipulation... really quite annoying.

Agreed, but volume pedals are better for the swells and quickly muting, IMO anyway.

 

[pacojas]

am i missing something here?!!
i see this as a definite non-issue!

 

[darwin-bass]

There is an electrical difference which will cause a difference in sound. The blend pot adds another 250k or 500k ohm path to ground which will load the pickups more. The VBT system will be darker than VVT using the same parts.

How about VVT plus a mute toggle to short the output to ground? Then you can cut volume on the bass super fast without upsetting your tone.

 

[strictlybass_ic]

Agreed, but volume pedals are better for the swells and quickly muting, IMO anyway.

Also agreed. That's what I ended up doing as well. Much easier to do on the fly than trying to twist knob(s) smoothly.