Fender Jazz Bass wiring questions

[Jim Dandy]

I've got a couple of Jazz Bass wiring questions.

If I wire my Jazz bass so that when both pickups are in series, will there be a drop in volume when using either one alone?

What are some of the more common ways to wire the controls? I'm considering going to blender/v/t, but would consider other options.

Thanks!

 

[gumtown]

There was a time when they made them with the S1 switch, a push button into the blend knob for series.

 

[line6man]

Series wiring generally means that you do not have separate volume controls for each pickup like you do with parallel wiring.
In series mode, the two pickups are in series feeding into only one of the volume controls.

There is still a way to have independent volume controls with the pickups in series though:
(This diagram belongs to walterw, it's not one of mine.)

 

[Jim Dandy]

Thanks for the assistance!

So if you wire two humbucking J pick-ups in series with a master volume, master tone, 3 way switch (like the Tony Franklin set-up), will there be a difference in output when both pick-ups are sellected as opposed to when only one pick-up is sellected? If I understand this correctly (and I most likely don't) when both pick-ups are sellected there should be twice as much wire coil in the circut than when one pick-up is selected. Wouldn't this lead to a difference in volume output?

 

[toniwonkanobi]

Thanks for the assistance!

So if you wire two humbucking J pick-ups in series with a master volume, master tone, 3 way switch (like the Tony Franklin set-up), will there be a difference in output when both pick-ups are sellected as opposed to when only one pick-up is sellected? If I understand this correctly (and I most likely don't) when both pick-ups are sellected there should be twice as much wire coil in the circut than when one pick-up is selected. Wouldn't this lead to a difference in volume output?

Yes, there is slightly more volume when in series, since the pickups are in a series, lol. Prob wouldn't want to be switching mid song. However, some guys like to go series for chorus or some other dynamic change in the song, but that's just hokey to me. I do like the tonal versatility it offers, though.

 

[line6man]

Thanks for the assistance!

So if you wire two humbucking J pick-ups in series with a master volume, master tone, 3 way switch (like the Tony Franklin set-up), will there be a difference in output when both pick-ups are sellected as opposed to when only one pick-up is sellected? If I understand this correctly (and I most likely don't) when both pick-ups are sellected there should be twice as much wire coil in the circut than when one pick-up is selected. Wouldn't this lead to a difference in volume output?

Yes, I would imagine that there would be a difference in volume between series and soloing either pickup.

 

[edbass]

There was a time when they made them with the S1 switch, a push button into the blend knob for series.

The S1 Jazz is Volume/Volume/Tone without a blend knob. The S1 switch is in the neck PU volume, and when it's in series the controls become Volume/-Nothing-/Tone.
A lot of people don't seem to like it, I've heard the switch is low quality, but I bought mine new and it's seen a lot of hours with zero issues. Like ac3320 I think it's a nice tonal option to have available.

 

[Jim Dandy]

Thanks everyone!

So then, would it be correct that if I keep the standard control set up V/V/T, but wire the pickups in series there should not be an output drop between using both pickups full on vs using either pickup solo since the circuit has the same number of coils in it either way?

The reason I'm asking is that with the Tony Franklin Bass, I sometimes do change pickups mid song and am trying to decide how to wire my new (to me) fretless Jazz bass.

 

[gumtown]

to do that, you will need to have a way of switching the PU's from parallel to series, you probably won't want to drill an extra hole in your bass for a switch, so look at the S1 type of switch, built into one of the Volume knobs.
If there is any volume difference, fitting attenuation resistors inside with the wiring can get the levels the same (while the V pots are a max).
When the PU's are in series, only one of your V pots can be used, the other is unused.

 

[copasetic]

I rewired my old J to be switchable from parallel to series using a push-pull pot. Pretty straightforward. If you compare the series mode to parallel (with both pickups full-on), there's more output and a bit of a growl that's not part of the character of either or both pickups in parallel. It's pretty handy, if for nothing else than a volume boost from time to time.

Check out this wiring schematic for details:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[bassbenj]

Thanks everyone!

So then, would it be correct that if I keep the standard control set up V/V/T, but wire the pickups in series there should not be an output drop between using both pickups full on vs using either pickup solo since the circuit has the same number of coils in it either way?

The reason I'm asking is that with the Tony Franklin Bass, I sometimes do change pickups mid song and am trying to decide how to wire my new (to me) fretless Jazz bass.

No, you don't quite have it. First off, nobody's presented a working diagram for two volumes with pickups in series. I imagine it's similar to parallel except the pots represent a variable resistance across each pick up. I don't know how that would work. Nobody seems to do it that way. The standard circuit is the Semour Duncan one. In that circuit the second volume doesn't work in series mode.

As for loudness, it isn't the number of coils that count, but the number of coils IN SERIES. Hence in series mode you have twice as many coils in series which gives you double the output voltage. For the geeks among us that means that your output will be about 6 dB louder. Note that 3 dB is the smallest volume change most people can detect. But the series volume is noticeably louder if you don't have some sort of circuit to cut it back. The problem with such a circuit is it takes more switch positions than you can get on a push-pull pot.

Two coils in parallel don't matter how many turns you've got because they are all connected to the same terminals and thus, don't boost the voltage whether you've got one pickup or two.

For my taste, since I don't like vol/vol setups I replace the second volume with a rotary switch and wire it to give me neck only, both series, both parallel, and bridge only. That gives me enough tone variation to use live without a lot of knob fiddling when I should be playing. And with a rotary switch you can get enough contacts to put in the volume adjusting pad if you really want it. (I have only one bass where I put it in) And by the way I really dig the deeper-talkin' series mode.

On last item. When two pickups are in series, one of them is "floating" which means it may be sensitive to pickup up hum if you get near it. When they are parallel both pickups have one wire grounded so it's not a problem. Pickups in shielded cavities with the magnets (pole pieces) grounded help this problem a lot.

Good luck!

 

[Stuggi]

The reason no one does a double volume pot with series wiring is because it's completely redundant, you can not make a series wired bass with 2 volumes that would allow you dial out the sound of one pickup, since the series wiring makes the two pickups behave as one pickup. Sure, you could have a pot on the ground and hot side of the two pickups, but dialing one down would be the exact same thing as dialing the other down, so it would be completely redundant and probably annoying.

 

[oldschooler]

I'm wondering if (bassbenj) could send me a wiring diagram of the rotary switch concept on a jazz bass, it seems very interesting and might be a wonderful option on my tone search.

 

[colsmith]

I've got a couple of Jazz Bass wiring questions.

If I wire my Jazz bass so that when both pickups are in series, will there be a drop in volume when using either one alone?

What are some of the more common ways to wire the controls? I'm considering going to blender/v/t, but would consider other options.

Thanks!

I have a question, but first the statement: i prefer the sound of only the neck pickup. The bridge pickup adds a higher tone to the overall sound that takes away from lower tones and punch off the neck pickup. The problem is the 2 volume controls have to be at about the same level or you get a very noticeable hum, which i can't get away with playing thru a DI into a PA. Can the pickups be rewired to take the bridge pickup out of the equation. I've tried the series wiring but it didn't give me what I was looking for. Thanks all

 

[line6man]

I have a question, but first the statement: i prefer the sound of only the neck pickup. The bridge pickup adds a higher tone to the overall sound that takes away from lower tones and punch off the neck pickup. The problem is the 2 volume controls have to be at about the same level or you get a very noticeable hum, which i can't get away with playing thru a DI into a PA. Can the pickups be rewired to take the bridge pickup out of the equation. I've tried the series wiring but it didn't give me what I was looking for. Thanks all

Replace the bridge pickup with a pickup that has no magnets. Then you will have the neck pickup alone, but it will humcancel.