• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

fender tone knob

Bayou_Brawler

Bayou_Brawler

The most hurtful thing ever realized
Oct 23, 2003
2,055
11
47
Ann Arbor, MI
#1
my fender tone knob on my jazz bass seems screwy. when i turn the tone knob up the first few centimeters do nothing, then there is a HUGE jump in tone, then it is very sensative in the next centimeter then for the rest of the last half of the turn the tone moves up slowly and nicely.

to get the tone i want i have like .00000001 centimeters of wiggle room. if i'm off by that much the tone is way off. :scowl:

my concern is for lives shows i won't be able to make easy adjustments.

what's up with that?

also, do most people on here play with their tone knob on their bass all the way up or all the way down and make adjusments on the amp or do you play around with both?
 
#4
Kaz said:
You just have a sensitive pot. Happens to all of us occaisionally.

The trebel pot on my TBC is either click, or thud. But if you're careful, you can dial in a sweet tone. Just takes a while to get used too.
Click to expand...

exactly. i can find the sweet spot......but my concern is at a show.....satge noise.....etc, i won't be able to find it.


how can i change my pot? do i need new hardware?
 
#9
Bayou_Brawler said:
got a link to any info or parts.....this is all new to me.
Click to expand...

Invalid Link Removed

Invalid Link Removed

Control pots and knobs

Control pots are typically wired to control the volume or tone of your instrument. In some other case they are used to blend to sources or signals together, or can be wired to control onboard effects.

250K vs. 500K
Generally, 500K-ohm pots are used with humbuckers and 250Ks are used with single-coil pickups. 25K pots are used for active systems.

You can use any value you like, but a 250K will give a slightly warmer tone than a 500K pot. The 250K pot bleeds off (attenuates) some of the high frequencies to ground. A 1Meg-ohm pot will attenuate even less than a 500K pot, so if you want to hear your guitar "wide open" you may want to try one.


hth.gif

Treena
 
#10
Did this always happen, or just start happening recently?

If the second, I don't know what's causing it.

If the first, as someone alluded to it sounds like you've got the wrong pot type in there. Audio taper pots do most of their cut (from full) in the first quarter turn due to the way the ears work. We hear it as being a smooth cut down. When used for tone controls, it sounds exactly like you say.

Linear taper pots should be used for tone controls, they're easy to get but ease of replacing depends on your soldering skills etc
 
#11
davidmwilson said:
... it sounds like you've got the wrong pot type in there. Audio taper pots do most of their cut (from full) in the first quarter turn due to the way the ears work. We hear it as being a smooth cut down. When used for tone controls, it sounds exactly like you say.

Linear taper pots should be used for tone controls, they're easy to get but ease of replacing depends on your soldering skills etc
Click to expand...
Are you sure that is true for instruments?

In normal electronics, you put the signal across the track, and take the attenuated signal from the wiper, and the bottom of the track. In a passive bass you put the signal across the track and wiper, and take the attenuated signal from across the track. This prevents one pick-up volume pot from shorting out the other one.

Audio taper or log pots are designed for normal electronics. Will the taper still be the right way round if you use them backwards?
 
#12
I'm not sure what you mean about using them backwards? I'm just talking about replacing an audio taper pot with a linear taper pot. I've always wired passive basses this way, but of course this might not be the answer to the posters problem.

Here's some resources I've used in the past.

Invalid Link Removed

From http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/schematics.php

Potentiometers:
A potentiometer ("pot") is simply a resistor with a third terminal which connects to a "wiper" which slides along the resistor, changing the resistance between the wiper terminal and the terminals at each end. Potentiometers are measured in ohms, as are fixed resistors. Most American made Strats use 250k pots for volume and tone (those with TBX use a ganged 5k and 1meg pot). Most American made Les Paul style guitars use 500k pots.

There are two main types of potentiometers, linear taper and audio (or log) taper. The latter are the kind used most often in guitars. Audio taper (or just "audio") pots are constructed so that the amount of resistance change per degree of shaft rotation varies from one end of the pot to the other. It's essential to use an audio taper pot for the volume control. The tone control could easily use a linear taper pot but the manufacturers have pretty much stuck to using the same part number as the volume control -- doubtless to reduce manufacturing inventories.

Often, one end terminal is "disregarded" by either not having anything attached or by being shorted directly to the wiper arm -- in these cases the pot is being used as a simple variable resistor (tone controls). In other cases, a signal is applied across the two "ends" of the pot and the wiper arm is connected to the next "stage" of a circuit -- thus, when the pot is turned, the amplitude of the signal "picked up" from the resistor is varied (volume controls).
Click to expand...
 
#13
davidmwilson said:
Did this always happen, or just start happening recently?

If the second, I don't know what's causing it.

If the first, as someone alluded to it sounds like you've got the wrong pot type in there. Audio taper pots do most of their cut (from full) in the first quarter turn due to the way the ears work. We hear it as being a smooth cut down. When used for tone controls, it sounds exactly like you say.

Linear taper pots should be used for tone controls, they're easy to get but ease of replacing depends on your soldering skills etc
Click to expand...

it's always happened.

so i need a linear taper pot? they probably cost around 10 bucks?
 
#15
davidmwilson said:
I'm not sure what you mean about using them backwards? I'm just talking about replacing an audio taper pot with a linear taper pot. I've always wired passive basses this way, but of course this might not be the answer to the posters problem.

Here's some resources I've used in the past.

Invalid Link Removed

From http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/schematics.php
Click to expand...
This is what I mean by using them backwards -
Invalid Link Removed
- it is common when you have two pickups, but I am not sure whether you can still use audio taper pots in this situation. It is also about volume controls, which is not what this thread is about - sorry.

Re-reading this thread, there is another solution which we have not yet considered. If a tone control is a pot in series with a capacitor, then dirt on the track could prevent the wiper making contact for the first part of the rotation. As you get past the dirty bit, the pot starts to work, and you have control over your tone. On that basis, the cheapest, safest option is to take off whatever gets you to the back of the pots, and squirt switch cleaner into the casing of each, and then move the wiper around, and then squirt it again. It is easier than soldering!
 
#16
I just saw this thread and it occurs to me that problem you are describing is a classic case of a reverse-wired pot. Try swapping the hot and ground wires on the pot and see if the problem resolves itself. A reverse-wired pot will be EXTREMELY touchy and may be completely unusable.

And I would totally disagree that tone pots should be linear taper. That's simply not true. Passive basses have always used the same pots for volume as for tone--logarithmic (a.k.a audio taper) not linear, and most commonly 250k resistance. The only difference is that the volume and tone pots are wired differently and a tone pot has a capacitor wired up to it.

I wouldn't put it past Fender, since the last bass I bought (a MIA 1975 RI didn't have the bridge ground connected). If you have any further troubles, pm me.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back