Downgrading pots in passive bass - what route to take

[Berberdeng]

I have a Fender Aerodyne with Dimarzio Area pj DP 251 pickups in and 500k pots. I'm finding that the pickups are *extremely* loud and sensitive. I love the growl I get from them and tone but there is a LOT of high end snappiness to them. I was thinking downgrading the pots would help even things out. I don't want to lose the growl but just some of the super high end and volume. So, the manual suggests 500k volume pots and a 250k tone pot. Do you think that would make much of a difference, or should I go 250k all the way across the board? Or we can get radical and do volumes at 250k and tone at 500k.

I am not well versed in any of this. I leave it up to my technician usually. I'd love to hear some feedback from everyone. Thanks!

 

[LoveThatBass]

250K pots will cut some of the highs of a pickup compared to 500K pots. Also I have noted more controllability of volume by using 250K pots. On bass I prefer 250K pots for this very reason.

 

[andare]

250k audio pots are the default for bass. I use 500k for humbuckers because they are muddy otherwise.

 

[markanini]

You could also turn the tone pot down to 7 for the same effect.

 

[ctmullins]

You could also turn the tone pot down to 7 for the same effect.

This. That's exactly what the tone control is for.

 

[Berberdeng]

You could also turn the tone pot down to 7 for the same effect.

I ideally want to lower the output of the bass without having to sacrifice too much tone in the process.

 

[ctmullins]

Then turn the volume knob down a bit. That will lower overall volume and (in a typical passive circuit) shave off a bit of the high frequencies too.

 

[dwizum]

Or drop the pickups a little lower away from the strings.

 

[smtp4me]

Not sure how much you know, and I am not an expert. What I do know, is that pots are variable resistors. Passive single coil guitars (bass and 6 string) normally use 250k pots, because the pickups naturally allow more high frequencies through. Whereas hum-buckers and multi-coil pickups (active or not) do not allow as many high frequencies, therefore 500k pots are used. The higher the number, the more high frequencies get through.

 

[halfwound121]

You could also consider swapping the capacitor on the tone control to to a higher resistance. If you have .047, which is standard P-bass, or .022 which is standard J, then try going to .1 or .047 respectively. This would take less effort and cash than swapping the pots.

 

[fhm555]

250k audio pots are the default for bass. I use 500k for humbuckers because they are muddy otherwise.

Mine aren't muddy at all and i use all 250K pots with both my Model J loaded J bass and my Ultra J loaded J bass.

 

[Kukulkan61]

Too much high end and snappiness sounds like you use roundwounds, try some flats...

 

[mikecd1]

250k pots with .047 or .1 cap would be my starting point for non-humbuckers. There's already a thread with some sound samples about these pups and some discussion about pots. Dimarzio Area PJ Set

 

[Matthijs]

Try the 250k tone pot first, if it's not enough you can alway replace the volume pots later on. But you also can get a preview now. If just turning down the tone pot does it for you, there's your answer.

 

[andare]

Mine aren't muddy at all and i use all 250K pots with both my Model J loaded J bass and my Ultra J loaded J bass.

I believe most noiseless versions of traditional single coil pickups actually require 250k pots but Dimarzio recommends 500k for volume and 250k for tone for the Ultra J.but good pickups always sound good

 

[iiipopes]

In addition to 250 pots, of which I prefer CTS, but Bournes are good, and a couple of companies like DiMarzio get CTS pots made to their proprietary taper, kind of a hybrid-audio taper, which I have a set in one bass and they work well for me, lower the pickups slightly.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

250k pots for both volume and tone seems like a good idea for what you're trying to achieve but probably not enough.

Also, like others have already suggested, a higher value tone cap might be worth trying. Not only will it enable you to roll off more highs and lower the cutoff frequency, it will also lower the frequency of the resonant peak, which can give you a slightly fatter/darker/warmer tone when rolling off the tone.

On P-basses I generally prefer 250k pots and a .068 uF cap. It will of course depend on personal taste but I find .100 uF a bit too dark/muddy, especially with flats and .068 to be my "goldilocks zone". But all basses are different, even P-basses.

Still, some basses/pickups are just inherently bright and changing pots+cap won't always give the desired results. Maybe you could try experimenting with pickup height? In fact, that's probably where I would start. It won't cost you anything, it's 100% reversible and all you need is a screwdriver.

And strings... A mellower set of strings can potentially change your tone more than any of the above. Finding the right type is strings for a particular bass can be expensive though. Just don't expect a specific type of strings to sound great on a bass just because you've liked them on a another bass. Matching strings and basses is a HIGHLY underestimated part of getting a great tone IMO. I generally like a warm, mellow tone so I tend to prefer pure nickel or flats on Fenders but I often like brigher stainless steels on darker sounding basses like T-birds. But there are no rules here and the results are not always as expected.

 

[fhm555]

I believe most noiseless versions of traditional single coil pickups actually require 250k pots but Dimarzio recommends 500k for volume and 250k for tone for the Ultra J.but good pickups always sound good

If you prefer a really strong mid forward sound then 500k pots will help get you there.
There's also the fact that Dimarzios are side by side coils versus stacked coils which is what most bass aftermarket humbuckers are so they have a lot more low and low mid than their competition, or do to my ears.

 

[Berberdeng]

250k pots for both volume and tone seems like a good idea for what you're trying to achieve but probably not enough.

Also, like others have already suggested, a higher value tone cap might be worth trying. Not only will it enable you to roll off more highs and lower the cutoff frequency, it will also lower the frequency of the resonant peak, which can give you a slightly fatter/darker/warmer tone when rolling off the tone.

On P-basses I generally prefer 250k pots and a .068 uF cap. It will of course depend on personal taste but I find .100 uF a bit too dark/muddy, especially with flats and .068 to be my "goldilocks zone". But all basses are different, even P-basses.

Still, some basses/pickups are just inherently bright and changing pots+cap won't always give the desired results. Maybe you could try experimenting with pickup height? In fact, that's probably where I would start. It won't cost you anything, it's 100% reversible and all you need is a screwdriver.

And strings... A mellower set of strings can potentially change your tone more than any of the above. Finding the right type is strings for a particular bass can be expensive though. Just don't expect a specific type of strings to sound great on a bass just because you've liked them on a another bass. Matching strings and basses is a HIGHLY underestimated part of getting a great tone IMO. I generally like a warm, mellow tone so I tend to prefer pure nickel or flats on Fenders but I often like brigher stainless steels on darker sounding basses like T-birds. But there are no rules here and the results are not always as expected.

Yeah, I've definitely done all of the above already and changing the pots is kind of my last resort. I've went through many many different strings and ended up with Daddario Nickel balanced tensions with the 120 gauge (I play in a lower tuning). The pickups are currently as low as they'll go. Adjusting the volume of the knobs helps out but it still picks up some of the really high frequencies. Once I go down past 7 on the knobs I start to lose tone and it just sounds crappy. So, that's how I ended up with this conversation. It sounds like the general consensus is to go to 250k pots and change the cap. I will give it a try. I love the sound of the pickups so I really don't want to give up on them, but if this doesn't help perhaps they're just too hot in nature for my liking.

 

[SteveCS]

Don't bother with a 500k tone pot - all that happens is the effective control range gets squeezed into the last 1/2 turn of the knob but with no real change at the 'open' end.

500k volumes will add a little brightness and volume. I prefer linear 500k in a VVT setup as it seems to give finer control over the blends with less volume loss compared to 250k.
YMMV.