Considerations for more knobs than available holes

[StringCanvas]

Yes, for my next bass I'm planning the ever-popular "add the mm to a p" setup.
I'm just in the early stages of deciding what I want, but I'm planning on a P body, J neck, and a humbucker/p-bass. I'm not planning to use a PJ body, since I want the humbucker farther from the bridge than the usual J pickup.

As with most people doing this kind of thing, I'm just curious about options for the knobs. Obviously, if I stick with the classic P guard, I'm one hole short for the typical volume, volume, tone, jack arrangement. I'm just weighing some options.

I'd also be interested in hearing any personal experience of loving/hating any of the options.

In no particular order:

• Stacked pots, one pot per pickup-- Have one stack run the humbucker (volume and tone) and the other the P (volume and sound).
• Stacked volumes, one tone pot-- Stack the volume pots so the inner runs the P and the outer runs the humbucker. The second knob is just overall tone.
• Use a pj pickguard and route extra out of the body to fit it-- I'm not sure how much extra space is required on the body or how close the fit is. It's not my first choice simply because I have so many unknowns about how much I'd need to modify for it.
• Just ignore the tone pot entirely (like a Joe Dart or Mark Hoppus bass)-- originally I wasn't even going to consider this, but the more I think about it, I almost always leave my tone all the way open and eq through pedals and amp. Very rarely do I end up adjusting the brightness at the bass level anyway, so I'm interested. However, I'm worried the humbucker may get a little wild without any tone control.
• Use a regular p pickguard and add a side jack-- I'm pretty ambivalent about this option. I think I'd prefer to have the jack on the guard, but I don't hate the idea of a side mount
• Other options I'm not considering-- Do you have a better option that I'm forgetting?

 

[ardgedee]

Fender's Precision-body PJs have three knobs and a top-mount jack. I'm not sure why you feel limited in this respect.

If you're building the body from scratch you could also have a rear-entry control cavity and mount the controls directly in the top wood. Then you don't have to worry about the pickguard.

 

[StringCanvas]

I'm not planning to build the body from scratch. I'll probably use some kind of player-series p bass body. I'd use a pj body, except that the j pickup is too far back for where I'm planning to route the humbucker.

 

[ardgedee]

I'm not planning to build the body from scratch. I'll probably use some kind of player-series p bass body. I'd use a pj body, except that the j pickup is too far back for where I'm planning to route the humbucker.

Fair enough, although if you can route a pickup hole, you can also have the means to enlarge the control cavity.

 

[OldManNewBass]

I think two stacked pots and a top-mount jack would be the way to go; but...

You could go crazy, put in three toggle switches and a top-mount output jack:

• Three-way toggle - P/Both/MM
• Two-way toggle - Series/Parallel (when in Both Mode)
• Two-way toggle - Split the MM

No volume (get yourself a volume pedal) or tone, just straight full output to the jack...! ;^p

 

[StringCanvas]

Fair enough, although if you can route a pickup hole, you can also have the means to enlarge the control cavity.

That's a good point, and I can definitely do the enlarging! I've just never seen how much more a pj pickguard covers. I didn't know if it was just as easy as routing out more room on the jack side and running new screw holes.

 

[J-Bass RMR]

FWIW: My 2 Ps that are PJs both use traditional P pickguard / harness layout:

Single Pot for the P pickup
Stacked Pot for J Vol / & (master) Tone
It just seems "intuitive" that way - no additional routes, no pickguard mods.

For me, dual stack knobs w/ one stack Per Pickup (V/T - V/T), gets "quirky" - w/ diminishing returns.

 

[Jefenator]

I find that stacked knobs can be kind of tedious to use in the heat of the moment. I concur with whoever decided that an instrument with 2 pickups should have 3 knob spots.
I really like having a good passive tone circuit – but I don't need one for each pickup.

 

[pb9717]

Side jack. No routing. Just a 3/4 hole.

 

[rojo412]

+1 for side jack.
Easy mod, normal for a lot of basses like this, and opens up all 3 on the top for configuration.
You can even do the Deluxe layout, drill a 4th hole in the guard, have even more to play with.

 

[ardgedee]

I really like having a good passive tone circuit – but I don't need one for each pickup.

It doesn't work the way you want it to anyway... unless the pickups are isolated by buffers the tone pots are going to affect both pickups. There's potential for some interesting sounds that way but it's kind of unpredictable.

And if the pickups are isolated you effectively have an active bass and may as well use a proper EQ instead of tone pots.

 

[c-ba55]

Can we make 'ask your mother' jokes? Asking for a friend.

 

[pwilson]

I did something similar. I never liked the blend pot, so I had volume, tone, pickup selector (switch from a les paul) and output jack...

 

[callofcthulhu]

Can we make 'ask your mother' jokes? Asking for a friend.

I was going to say try switching to a liberal arts major.

 

[Mister Magic]

Yes, for my next bass I'm planning the ever-popular "add the mm to a p" setup.

Is the MM + P becoming popular or is this sarcasm? (I didn't read the entire post). I'm uncool so I have no idea what is currently cool.

I ask because I have been considering MM + P on a P body. I think it is badass configuration.

Also considering double J + P.

 

[Empap]

Have you considered switches? 3-way Blade or Toggle close to the P pickup, Master Vol, Master Tone, and Jack at the last hole. À la Tony Franklin:

Or, Stacked Master Vol-Tone, Toggle Switch where the Tone is, and Jack. No need to modify pickguard.

Orrrrr custom pickguard shape to add more knobs to avoid Stacking?, I found this a year ago and i really like it, kind of rickenbacker-esque, and allows for many different knob/switch configurations.

 

[RLK]

I would go two stacks: Master volume/Master tone nearest, then Neck volume/Bridge volume.
It would be nice to tweak the pu levels AND have a master volume handy. Offers quick on-stage volume adjustment (or muting).

 

[Flamingo21]

If you never use the tone pot anyway, by all means leave it out. Vol-Vol-Jack.

 

[StringCanvas]

Have you considered switches? 3-way Blade or Toggle close to the P pickup, Master Vol, Master Tone, and Jack at the last hole. À la Tony Franklin:

I hadn't really considered it. When I had a strat, I wasn't a huge fan of using the switch selector (not only because I'd occassionally bump it, but because sometimes I felt sometimes I wasn't really getting the balance I wanted). It's a great suggestion, but probably not a good fit for me. I was a much bigger fan of being able to independently control volume like on my J bass.