Different ways to configure a PJ....

[red_rhino]

(With apologies to Paul Simon)

“The problem’s all inside your bass.”, she said to me. “Just bump the midrange and the low end carefully. Reverse the pickups, switch the caps out and you’ll see there must be, 50 ways to tweak a PJ.”

Just put in a side jack
Get a new tone stack
Add a string tree, Lee
Just listen to me.

Get a fret job, Bob
Ya don’t need a paint job!
Just getcha some tort, Mort
And set your bass free.

 

[Chris_315]

series parallel on the P can give noiseless comb filtered tones that the J may be capable to do, without adding the buzz from the J. treble bleed on Volume.

 

[Anthony Fury]

P/J ?! How about a J/P? The J at the neck would sound weak but the P at the bridge may be killer!

Fact-checked: J/P is magic

 

[InvisibleMan]

Series/Parallel on a P/J is really good. Enable it, turn up the tone, roll off the volume by 10% and it feels like you've switched to active mode, despite no preamp! Shut my eyes and my passive P-J Warmoth build sounds convincingly like my Fodera when it's in series mode. Definitely worth having the option!

 

[stevensivak]

I can't see any good instructions regarding "cutting a trace- Does anyone have a suggestion...

 

[DuluthDank]

Is it possible to do a 3 way switch, volume and tone, but also a pickup blend that only works when the 3 way selector is in the middle? This would be my ideal setup, but i don't know if it can work that way.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I can't see any good instructions regarding "cutting a trace- Does anyone have a suggestion...

The first post talks about cutting the potentiometer trace plus more minutia about blend pots then you ever thought possible!

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ultimate-no-load-ungrounded-blend-pot-pics.1096449/

 

[micguy]

Fact-checked: J/P is magic

that's the right way to do a J/P - with the P in it's normal position, not slammed up against the bridge. Do you like your Wilde pickups?

 

[Anthony Fury]

that's the right way to do a J/P - with the P in it's normal position, not slammed up against the bridge. Do you like your Wilde pickups?

After I got this one running, I installed them in all of my basses. (I have tried most big name stuff in my life.) I keep meaning to do a signal-to-noise video on my J+J - it’s just unreal. Viva Bill & Becky!

 

[Anthony Fury]

Is it possible to do a 3 way switch, volume and tone, but also a pickup blend that only works when the 3 way selector is in the middle? This would be my ideal setup, but i don't know if it can work that way.

I think in “both” mode, you could send one pickup directly to the tone pot and have the “volume” be the adjustment for the other, but (the volume knob) wouldn’t work as a master volume (the one sent to the tone pot would be “perma-dimed”). Workable if you really planned it out with your rig and really only wanted 1 vol and 1 tone.

 

[Charley Umbria]

I can't see any good instructions regarding "cutting a trace- Does anyone have a suggestion...

I wouldn’t worry so much about trying to make a DIY no-load blend pot. Just get a good quality M/N taper blend pot and I think you’ll be happy with how it sounds.

 

[Honkey tonk]

More volume
more volume knobs in a complete rig the better

 

[Kevin Wolfe]

Volume, blend, tone. I just did one while re-converting and old, active modded P/J back to passive.
I love it.
I’m pretty share there’s a better choice for the stacked pot but it’s what I had on hand in my amp repair parts bin. I’m a one setting guy anyway.

 

[Kevin Wolfe]

I wouldn’t worry so much about trying to make a DIY no-load blend pot. Just get a good quality M/N taper blend pot and I think you’ll be happy with how it sounds.

I would agree. You’d most likely not even notice the other pickup at either end of the full rotation. Not worth the trouble.

 

[fig]

Searching around I found this on TalkBass:

Posted by Walter...

I've seen this wiring diagram around alot. Added a schematic, if anyone's interested. Since a two-layer blend pot is the same as two separate volume controls, this is exactly like two separate volume pots with the ground removed from each.

Since blending has been mentioned alot in this thread, here's a blend that uses a regular pot for blending. This allows the full rotational range of the pot to be used instead of just half the rotation of a two layer blend pot. This allows finer control. A TB member showed this to me.

 

[SharpCat]

I've seen this wiring diagram around alot. Added a schematic, if anyone's interested. Since a two-layer blend pot is the same as two separate volume controls, this is exactly like two separate volume pots with the ground removed from each.
View attachment 5234197


Since blending has been mentioned alot in this thread, here's a blend that uses a regular pot for blending. This allows the full rotational range of the pot to be used instead of just half the rotation of a two layer blend pot. This allows finer control. A TB member showed this to me.
View attachment 5234200

Ooo, that’s interesting! Bumps the controls up to 4 + jack though, so some layout thought also required.

 

[bdplaid]

I've seen this wiring diagram around alot. Added a schematic, if anyone's interested. Since a two-layer blend pot is the same as two separate volume controls, this is exactly like two separate volume pots with the ground removed from each.
View attachment 5234197


Since blending has been mentioned alot in this thread, here's a blend that uses a regular pot for blending. This allows the full rotational range of the pot to be used instead of just half the rotation of a two layer blend pot. This allows finer control. A TB member showed this to me.
View attachment 5234200

But doesn't this eliminate the ability to control the absolute volume of the whole bass?

 

[SharpCat]

But doesn't this eliminate the ability to control the absolute volume of the whole bass?

No, there’s still the same master volume pot and tone as VBT. A blend pot has one pickup full and the other lowered at some proportional resistance based on which side of center the pot is set. Here, the switch chooses which pickup to lower instead of the half of the blend doing that.

 

[SharpCat]

Using an ON-OFF-ON switch gains a center cut setting, which some may like. Might pop though.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Ooo, that’s interesting! Bumps the controls up to 4 + jack though, so some layout thought also required.

Not necessarily. I think you could use a push pull pot to select which pickup is being blended.