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How Do YOU Set Your Pickup & Tone Knobs?

How do YOU set your pickup and tone knobs?

  • P bass, tone closed

    Votes: 25 7.3%

  • P bass, tone halfway

    Votes: 54 15.8%

  • P bass, tone wide open

    Votes: 77 22.6%

  • Two pickup bass, neck fully favored, tone closed

    Votes: 11 3.2%

  • Two pickup bass, neck fully favored, tone halfway

    Votes: 15 4.4%

  • Two pickup bass, neck fully favored, tone wide open

    Votes: 21 6.2%

  • Two pickup bass, neck moderately favored, tone closed

    Votes: 6 1.8%

  • Two pickup bass, neck moderately favored, tone halfway

    Votes: 28 8.2%

  • Two pickup bass, neck moderately favored, tone wide open

    Votes: 31 9.1%

  • Two pickup bass, centered at 50/50, tone closed

    Votes: 8 2.3%

  • Two pickup bass, centered at 50/50, tone halfway

    Votes: 53 15.5%

  • Two pickup bass, centered at 50/50, tone wide open

    Votes: 92 27.0%

  • Two pickup bass, bridge moderately favored, tone closed

    Votes: 6 1.8%

  • Two pickup bass, bridge moderately favored, tone halfway

    Votes: 33 9.7%

  • Two pickup bass, bridge moderately favored, tone wide open

    Votes: 18 5.3%

  • Two pickup bass, bridge fully favored, tone closed

    Votes: 4 1.2%

  • Two pickup bass, bridge fully favored, tone halfway

    Votes: 7 2.1%

  • Two pickup bass, bridge fully favored, tone wide open

    Votes: 18 5.3%
  • Total voters
    341
#42
I have a P/J and a Jaguar bass. For the P/J, its all P, tone full and for the Jag its both pickups full, tone full. Tone full always. No disrespect but, I don't understand why people spend thousands on equipment only to not experience its full potential. EQ the amp the way you want and let the instrument sing!
 
#45
EighthNotes said:
I have a P/J and a Jaguar bass. For the P/J, its all P, tone full and for the Jag its both pickups full, tone full. Tone full always. No disrespect but, I don't understand why people spend thousands on equipment only to not experience its full potential. EQ the amp the way you want and let the instrument sing!
Click to expand...

Im betting you never spent any time playing classic R&B. The Motown Sound is tone knob all the way off! Most of the way down anyways.
On my P/J 5 i use mostly P with just enough tone and J to cut through the mix.
 
#46
Lambic said:
...a bass without knobs would look silly, wouldn't it? :D
Click to expand...

Not to me...
030-3.jpg

GLJazzBass.jpg

:D
 
#48
StereoPlayer said:
BUT.....wired stereo!
Vol's or switches...no tone. 2amps Pedals on treble PU only.
Click to expand...

Tone controlled at the amps and yes, effects (Mutron III & Sans Amp for distortion) on the the treble P/U only.

I took a suggestion 30 years ago to keep the tone knobs wide open and control the tone at the amp....haven't changed that since with my other basses that have tone controls.
 
#51
Yeah, I left my knobs there for cosmetic reasons. The pots just aren't attached to anything. I'm thinking about replacing them with toggle switches, though, so I can turn off the bass when I want to do something rather than going to the amp and muting it.
 
#53
deeptubes said:
So, what basses don't come with some sort of tone control? ;)
Click to expand...

Um, basses that don't have a tone control. Basses that have the pickups wired directly to the output jack. Or basses that have no tone control and just a volume. Is that a trick question?

My Yamaha ATT-LTD II's P pickup is wired straight to volume, then output.

All I was saying is that most passive tone controls do not work in the same fashion that an active control. Is it still some sort of tone control? Sure. You win the internets.
 
#58
Regarding tone controls - on a passive bass the tone knob is nothing but a treble cut control. The capacitor bleeds some of the highs to ground. Flat = wide open.

Generally on an active bass, the tone controls are both boost and cut with the center detent being flat.

Of course with a passive bass the blending of pickups can produce some boost effect (bass at the neck and treble at the bridge) but the tone management is an entirely different animal.

Guitar players seem to use active electronics for overdrive/output, hence the association with metal. Bass player seem to use active electronics for the purpose of tone management at the fingertips.

You often hear guys talk about going back to all passive basses but I'm inclined to go the other way - dump all the passives for active.
 
#59
I use a p/j bass. For regular finger playing, I roll the bridge and the tone completely off; for slap, everything wide open; and using a pick, I roll the neck down just a little bit from the max to take off the excess boom or completely off for harder picking.

Those are my main settings.
 

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