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Bass Switches

IME, disconnecting and reconnecting active outputs without proper decoupling can lead to all sorts of nasty pops. A kill-switch on an active setup would be better placed across the volume pots (so same as turning the volume to 0) rather than disconnecting the output. Can still be done with a DPDT switch.

It'd be great if you could create a diagram or give me an idea, so that along with line6man's diagram I could have the perfet set up. It might be best to see what line6man comes up with and then you can advise me further? Although by the sounds of it, line6man has come up with the solution!
 
I've never heard of anyone doing a blend plus two volumes. That is unnecessary and impractical.

Having a blend pot with a series/parallel switch presents an issue. Standard wiring causes the blend pot to behave as a volume pot when you are in series mode. You can either live with this, or choose one of two alternatives. The first is to use a 3PDT switch for series/parallel switching, taking advantage of the third pole to bypass the blend pot. The second is to opt for a different switching scheme (on a standard DPDT switch), in conjunction with an "ungrounded" MN taper blend pot.

I had a Ric 12-string with a switch, two vol, two tones, and a blend. And yes it was weird.
 
One of the old Rickenbacker guitar lines had a volume pot feeding into a second volume pot, or something like that. It was quite strange.
Yep, it was a 1964 360-12. The volume for the Neck pickup fed into a second volume pot (the one with the smaller knob). I guess it was meant to be a blend of sorts but it never made sense to me since it affected the volume of the neck pickup even when only the Neck was selected with the switch... odd.
 
I've never heard of anyone doing a blend plus two volumes. That is unnecessary and impractical.

Having a blend pot with a series/parallel switch presents an issue. Standard wiring causes the blend pot to behave as a volume pot when you are in series mode. You can either live with this, or choose one of two alternatives. The first is to use a 3PDT switch for series/parallel switching, taking advantage of the third pole to bypass the blend pot. The second is to opt for a different switching scheme (on a standard DPDT switch), in conjunction with an "ungrounded" MN taper blend pot.

Hi,

Have you managed to draw up any diagrams yet?

Don't worry if not, just let me know when you have.

It's very much appreciated!

Many thanks

Sam
 
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Follow your preamp's instructions for wiring the EQ pots and battery. Also, be sure that the back of each pot gets a connection to ground, whether it be with dedicated wires running to the sleeve terminal of the jack, or through a control plate/shielding.
 
IME, disconnecting and reconnecting active outputs without proper decoupling can lead to all sorts of nasty pops. A kill-switch on an active setup would be better placed across the volume pots (so same as turning the volume to 0) rather than disconnecting the output. Can still be done with a DPDT switch.

Hi,

Is there any chance you can show me a diagram for this?

I have been soldering tonight and I do in fact get a pop from the kill switch!

Many thanks

Sam
 
yeah a kill switch wired like this can sometimes still pop. But in line6's defence, it's not the switch. For whatever reason, not all preamp output caps and amp/pedal/di etc input caps have earth reference resistors. If the kill works fine (both for on and off) with the bass in passive mode, then it sounds like you need a resistor across the output of the pre. If this is the case, it will probably pop when un-muting in active mode because the output of the pre is floating while the bass is muted. If this is the problem, then (using the posted diagram), I'd use a 100k-220k resistor connected from the top right lug of the active-passive switch to the bottom left (earth).

If the kill switch still pops in passive mode then, first I'd double check all the wiring, and if it still happens, then I'd get someone to look at your amp/pedal/di. You could put a high value resistor (1meg) across the output jack, but this will be there always, and will load the passive sound slightly, possibly taking a little treble away.

(Oh, and BTW, even if the kill switch is working perfectly, if you are playing a note, or the strings are ringing etc, when you use it, there's often a little pop anyway. Best to use the kill switch while holding the strings.)
 
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Thank you for all your responses! Very helpful!

Just to let you know, I have changed anything yet or added the resistor but just to give some more information on it.


So when the bass is in active mode and I turn the bass on and off it pops. And when it's in passive mode it doesn't pop when I turn the bass on and off. However if I'm in passive mode and switch to active mode it also pops.

Any more thoughts? I will try the resistor later and let you know how I get on.

Many thanks,

Sam
 
For this you can use dual-gang (not dual concentric) pots, using one gang for the active circuit and the other for your passive circuit.

Nah, that won't work mate. Active and passive tone pots are usually different in resistance by a factor of ten. Not to mention the different tapers. You could make one pot from two, if you know what you are doing. (I've written detailed posts about pot modding.) Oh and you'll need yet another different diagram for the active-passive switch so the passive tone half of the custom made pot is out of the circuit in active mode.

So when the bass is in active mode and I turn the bass on and off it pops. And when it's in passive mode it doesn't pop when I turn the bass on and off. However if I'm in passive mode and switch to active mode it also pops.

Yep it sounds like one or both ends of the preamp need a resistor to tie those coupling caps to earth. Try the 100K one on the output first, as I described, this should fix both pops. If the preamp also has a floating input cap, you may still get a little pop on the active-passive switch, and you may need a high value resistor across this. I'd use a 1meg, also wired on the switch, from the "preamp input" lug to the one directly below (earth).

Oh, and use 1/8 - 1/4 watt, metal film resistors if you can.

Best of luck man. And let us know how you go!
 
So I have used a 100k resistor on the active/passive switch from the top right to the bottom left (ground) and it's made no difference.

And just to clarify, when the bass is in passive mode the bass doesn't (and never has) popped when using the kill switch.

Thanks once again for all your help so far!
 
Bummer. Well go ahead and try the other resistor I mentioned - the 1 meg across the preamp input. If the active-passive switch still pops after this, then you may have something wrong with another part of the wiring or possibly the preamp itself.

TBH, from a design pov, it's more likely (and understandable) for an input cap to be left floating than an output cap. Output caps are more likely to be polarised due to their larger capacitance and therefore need an earth resistor. Plus if a preamp was never designed for true-bypass active-passive switching, then the input cap will always have an ohmic earth connection through a pot or the pickup coil itself so that resistor is not really needed. On top of this, adding an input resistor will lower the input impedence of the preamp, and will very slightly alter the treble response, and possibly the sweep of the volume controls. That's why I always recommend tying the output first, and if that doesn't work, the input.

In the (pretty unlikely) event that you notice some tonal changes with the 1 meg resistor, you may actually be better off with a non-true bypass active-passive switch. But that's prety unlikely...
 
Bummer. Well go ahead and try the other resistor I mentioned - the 1 meg across the preamp input. If the active-passive switch still pops after this, then you may have something wrong with another part of the wiring or possibly the preamp itself.

TBH, from a design pov, it's more likely (and understandable) for an input cap to be left floating than an output cap. Output caps are more likely to be polarised due to their larger capacitance and therefore need an earth resistor. Plus if a preamp was never designed for true-bypass active-passive switching, then the input cap will always have an ohmic earth connection through a pot or the pickup coil itself so that resistor is not really needed. On top of this, adding an input resistor will lower the input impedence of the preamp, and will very slightly alter the treble response, and possibly the sweep of the volume controls. That's why I always recommend tying the output first, and if that doesn't work, the input.

In the (pretty unlikely) event that you notice some tonal changes with the 1 meg resistor, you may actually be better off with a non-true bypass active-passive switch. But that's prety unlikely...


Hi,

Having spent a while playing the bass, the pop when turning the bass on in active mode and the pop wheb switching between active and passive mode is a problem. I think I may have to go with the non true bypass, but I don't know enough about these things to be sure. Can you or someone advise me/give me diagrams to sort both of these pops out?

Many thanks,

Sam