This turned into a fun discussion! It helps me remember that the only control system I don't like is pickup switches. Pickup blending is where it's at for me - VVT and VBT both work fine.
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blend knobs - yay or nay?
- Thread starter Bass V
- Start date
I'm late to this party but as someone who recently went to VBT for the first time i'm still on the fence.... sort of.
I changed my Jazz fretless to VBT and it is so much easier to adjust volume...obviously.... and easy to change from all neck all the way through to all bridge. However, I am convinced that it has changed the tone somewhat. I am sure that the all neck pickup sound previously was different.... more to my liking. It may be because with the blend set to all-neck there is still a slight amount of bridge pickup in there. I was all prepared to try rewiring it back to VVT but thought the better of it as it really is SO much easier to adjust volume now and literally nobody except me will ever notice the different tone of the VVT setup.
I changed my Jazz fretless to VBT and it is so much easier to adjust volume...obviously.... and easy to change from all neck all the way through to all bridge. However, I am convinced that it has changed the tone somewhat. I am sure that the all neck pickup sound previously was different.... more to my liking. It may be because with the blend set to all-neck there is still a slight amount of bridge pickup in there. I was all prepared to try rewiring it back to VVT but thought the better of it as it really is SO much easier to adjust volume now and literally nobody except me will ever notice the different tone of the VVT setup.
I used to think blend was the only way to go. Then for a while I though VVT would be the best, but found that there really isn’t a lot of difference between one pickup turned down 25% and turning it off all the way. Plus I don’t like to have to turn down 2 volumes to silence my bass. So I guess now I prefer a toggle switch. Going with a 4 way rotary switch on my next bass though.
I have to say that I don’t mind the Rickenbacker/Peavey T40 style controls where you get both switch and VTVT.
My theory is a switch gives you 3 distinct sounds, neck pickup/both/bridge pickup. The sounds in between are just too subtle/not that useful to me.
I have to say that I don’t mind the Rickenbacker/Peavey T40 style controls where you get both switch and VTVT.
My theory is a switch gives you 3 distinct sounds, neck pickup/both/bridge pickup. The sounds in between are just too subtle/not that useful to me.
It's very possible. Having modded several Stratocasters in the past and being familiar with different wiring schemes, I can tell you that a lot of guys have their pickups wired directly to the jack so as not to lose anything through the tone pots. If I recall there are pots that can actually turned to an "off" position. If I am recalling correctly they are called "no load" pots.
I think one advantage to an active system is having control over the bass, mids and trebles. While a simple tone pot is easy, it quite limited, especially when controlling two pickups. While fussier, if passive I would prefer VTVT, with perhaps a switch. I do like the blender knobs on my basses and considering that when I get to a gig the sound has to blend and they guy on the board never gets it right anyway... so there's only so much you can do. And like you said, the audience doesn't know and doesn't care.
