Finally, a lightweight Metro P/J 5 appeared and I snapped it up. 8.9lbs..should be here by Friday. Swap the pickguard for black and we are good to go! 
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IMHO, you're too technically oriented here, as opposed to practically oriented.
Given the sensitivity issue, again, I've literally had no problem whatsoever getting pickup blend I was happy with... from less to more burpy or less to more bassy (of course fully blended or soloed is a no brainer). I would suggest that the additional minute variances offered by a more linear system that you can't either get, or get very close to, with a passive blend, would be too minute to worry about... especially in a live mix, and maybe even in a studio mix (tho I'd personally grant more latitude to the argument in that kind of pristine environment.)
Ironically, I'd say it's the greatness of the Sadowsky preamp (and I suppose custom picukps, as applicable) that makes the lack of a more finely grained adjustment a non-issue!
Dude, you are going to be SO F'N happy with that bass. That's the total sister to mine. Ash/maple, 8.9 pounds, PJ5. I was just playing mine again last night and boy does it have that magic!Finally, a lightweight Metro P/J 5 appeared and I snapped it up. 8.9lbs..should be here by Friday. Swap the pickguard for black and we are good to go!
IMHO, you're too technically oriented here, as opposed to practically oriented.
Given the sensitivity issue, again, I've literally had no problem whatsoever getting pickup blend I was happy with... from less to more burpy or less to more bassy (of course fully blended or soloed is a no brainer). I would suggest that the additional minute variances offered by a more linear system that you can't either get, or get very close to, with a passive blend, would be too minute to worry about... especially in a live mix, and maybe even in a studio mix (tho I'd personally grant more latitude to the argument in that kind of pristine environment.)
Ironically, I'd say it's the greatness of the Sadowsky preamp (and I suppose custom picukps, as applicable) that makes the lack of a more finely grained adjustment a non-issue!
Thanks a bunch for all the insight. All points by everyone well taken. I have only limited experience with Sadowsky basses (Metros @ a local music store), & am looking forward to putting those points into practice w/ my own Sad. in due course.
Again - Thank you bros.
B.
I'm still not convinced that a blend pot gets you 100% of the relative volume combinations available with vol/vol (100%/90%, 100%/75%, 50%/100%, etc.). Or, if those ratios do exist somewhere on that blend pot, then as you say, they must happen over an extremely small range of the pot.
Either way, I'm just so much more comfortable dialing in tone using a vol/vol setup (and I like the idea of having one less potentiometer in my passive signal chain). But I know that other folks prefer their vol/blend, and if that works for them, then it's all good, I suppose.
Tom.
The issue is not 'blend' versus 'volume/volume', but rather active versus passive. The volume/volume standard passive circuit has the same issues as the blend... it almost acts as an 'on/off' rather than a continuous blend (i.e., 90% of the impact is in the first very minor 5% of the travel on each of the vol/vol pots). You can verify this by, for example, comparing the relative pickup 'tone/volume' change per pot travel between a Sadowsky (passive blend) and your Alleva-Coppolo's (passive volume/volume). The function and impact of those two designs is almost identical, although that of course doesn't mean some don't prefer one over the other knob configuration.
A rare example of an active vol/vol or blend is the Celinder Greengrove circuit, which has infinite, relatively even pickup volume slopes across the entire taper of the pots (whether you get blend or volume/volume on that circuit). However, there is no free lunch, and the huge negative to these types of circuits (from my limited understanding of all this) is that you have to give up your passive bypass... since if you bypass the pre, the active blend or vol/vol would no longer work.
So, no free lunch. IMO and IME, this is a very small deal, since you can get all the various blend percentages with both a passive blend or vol/vol. However, you need to become the master of that 5% of taper on either side of the blend detent, or the 5% of the taper of each of your volume/volume controls. Once you get used to it, it works fine.
Vic is right on here in general though... for the passive blend or vol/vol controls on most basses, there are basically 5 settings... both on full, bridge off-neck on, neck off-bridge on, neck 'favored', bridge reduced, and bridge 'favored' and neck reduced. The amount of favoring for a bass with single coils is limited to the amount of SC hum you want to deal with. There is a 'magic spot' that allows you a relatively strong favoring of either pickup while still maintaining a large amount of the hum cancelling that you get when both pickups are full on. That's really all you need, as the rest of the 'boom versus burp' level is easily controlled with right hand position and attack.
Dude, you are going to be SO F'N happy with that bass. That's the total sister to mine. Ash/maple, 8.9 pounds, PJ5. I was just playing mine again last night and boy does it have that magic!
Most definitely..And by waiting as long as I did to get one...I was able to get one with the vintage tint finish!
This one is one of those cases where even if I had ordered an NYC..I probably would have ordered it just like this one...So, I went with a Metro this time. Now, do I get it re-wired to vol/vol? Just kidding! I am actually a vol/blend guy myself.
- Apr 3, 2003
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No, I was just talking about cases where you wanted, for example, 70/90. You'd have to use both the vol and the blend to get that ratio, not just the blend. This is a case where in both cases, you'd have two knobs to twist.
In both cases, you should be able to get anything you want with one or two knobs. Just in the case with the blend control, you can most typically set that once and then adjust overall output "only", without having to upset and then have to reset the blend, which I find very useful.
How would you set a vol/blend to equal the same ratio and overall volume of a vol/vol set to, say, 100%/60%?
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
- 19,945
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Not to derail too much (more), but I see those as separate issues, and FWIW, my comments were aimed mostly at functionality in the passive mode.
Actually, two of my three Sadowsky's are wired vol/vol, and it is my intent to have my WL4 modified to complete the set.
As we've all noted, though, it's mostly just personal preference, and what you've become accustomed to. But I, for one, do feel that I can dial in some vol/vol settings that I can't exactly duplicate on vol/blend.Ah, but even with this analogy, the vol/vol option gives you 2x that 5% of taper to play with...
Ok, I think I see your confusion. It looks like you believe that each pickup is attenuated to 50% at midpoint, and one comes up while the other goes down as you pan. That's not the case.
The thing to understand about a blend control is, at midpoint, you have both pickups at 100%. As you pan to one side, all you do is fade one down. One stays at 100%. So that's easy, pan to 60% on one side and leave the vol at full.
Think about it, if this weren't true, then a fully blended blend equipped bass would be the same as a vol/vol with both vols at 50%, which we both know from personal experience is not the case.
C'mon, gimme a hard one.
Ok, I think I see your confusion. It looks like you believe that each pickup is attenuated to 50% at midpoint, and one comes up while the other goes down as you pan. That's not the case.
The thing to understand about a blend control is, at midpoint, you have both pickups at 100%. As you pan to one side, all you do is fade one down. One stays at 100%. So that's easy, pan to 60% on one side and leave the vol at full.
Think about it, if this weren't true, then a fully blended blend equipped bass would be the same as a vol/vol with both vols at 50%, which we both know from personal experience is not the case.
Now I'm REALLY confused. With the blend full up on either pup, the output volume is higher than when pups are blended right? So even if it's not 50% attenuation, there is still something similar resulting as I hear it. Just sayin'.
Nope. Let me try again...
Again, when fully blended, both pickups are 100% and both connected to the output.
As you move the pan towards one end, all that happens is one fades away to leave you with the other one still at 100% (solo'd). Going from center to one end does not actually make the one pickup twice as loud and the other fade away.
Nope. Let me try again...
Again, when fully blended, both pickups are 100% and both connected to the output.
As you move the pan towards one end, all that happens is one fades away to leave you with the other one still at 100% (solo'd). Going from center to one end does not actually make the one pickup twice as loud and the other fade away.
Not twice as loud - but can we agree that 1 pup soloed is LOUDER than the 2 blended?
If it is, it's only because when you connect two pickups together they load against each other. The same thing happens on vol/vol.
No problem.
For the tech nerds here, I found a page that explains it in a bit more detail with a schematic representation (link below). The pan pots we use in passive blend controls are represented in case/figure "B". The application is a bit different, so the artifacts of its use are also slightly different, but the description of how the control works is spot on.
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/funwithtubes/Amp-Bal.html
Just so you guys don't think I'm making all this up.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
- 19,945
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Ok, I think I see your confusion. It looks like you believe that each pickup is attenuated to 50% at midpoint, and one comes up while the other goes down as you pan. That's not the case.
The thing to understand about a blend control is, at midpoint, you have both pickups at 100%. As you pan to one side, all you do is fade one down. One stays at 100%. So that's easy, pan to 60% on one side and leave the vol at full.
Think about it, if this weren't true, then a fully blended blend equipped bass would be the same as a vol/vol with both vols at 50%, which we both know from personal experience is not the case.
C'mon, gimme a hard one.
I was under the impression that it is not always the case that both are at 100% when set to the middle. At least I was told this by another luthier (not Roger), but I have not empirically tested this, personally. But again, this may not always be the case.
I think I know why this is, but it should be only a slight difference. This is the part where a blend circuit looks like three pots instead of two. The way I understand it is you get an overall slight attenuation compared to the more basic vol/vol, but it shouldn't affect tone much or blending ratio capabilities.
Don't be.
The real truth is, it gets even uglier if you really wanna' get down to brass tacks since we're dealing with both reactive loads (the pickups) as well as static loads (the resistance of the pots) and the fact that we're not dealing with DC... we're dealing with an audio signal.
HOWEVER, you don't need to know all that to understand how the control works, and just understand (and this speaks to Tom's preference for it) the simpler vol/vol circuit will have a slight tonal advantage.
