How to adjust vol vol tone controls?

[J-Bass RMR]

That’s what I was ready to do and have done in the past. But I like this passive tone as another flavor

Ask Audere if they can make a Jazz with a passive tone control; V/B - B/T - Passive Tone.
(it may not be possible, due to the space restraints.)
They did a Classic like that for me that I installed in a Tony Franklin.
The stereo "front-end" in the Audere also gives you smoother blending.

 

[SAlcott]

Set the amp for as loud as you're going to get and control your volume with your fingers. Play close to the end of the FB when it's mellow, and move toward the bridge as things heat up and you need to dig in.

 

[TN WOODMAN]

Change the neck volume pickup pot to a push pull pot. Wire pickups in series. Pull up that pot. That pot is now a single volume pot. Your single coil Jazz pickups are now humbucking & sound massive.

 

[BadB]

If it hasn't been said, as soon as you back off one of the volumes, the one still at 100% is so dominant that VVT seem utterly useless. Try backing off both volumes to 90-95% and never go above that. Now when you fiddle with the volumes, the blending characteristics are more apparent.

 

[juancaminos]

For me, VVT = all three full clock wise.

 

[57pbass]

It’s always a struggle for me with that configuration.. I prefer a master volume control with a blend and tone controls.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Yeh, mostly jazz, I’m on a stool and my amp is on the floor behind me. I can do most of the vol changes I need with my fingers/string attack, but sometimes I need a bump.

A volume pedal is an option if you don't want to modify the bass to vol-blend and would be relatively easy to manipulate if you are seated. But I'd advise trying it to see if you can get the fidelity of control required. If you are interested in active, you could get one of the smaller, battery-powered preamps and probably mount it on strap or belt, again if you don't want to modify the bass, and use that for overall level. In theory you could just use a potentiometer passively in a small box and mount that to your strap. Vol-blend might make more sense, though.

If you want a boost for soloing, then adding a three way switch and setting the two volumes differently might be more useful.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

hey that's cool ... what I like to do with a jazz bass is roll off the bridge volume and get some of that single coil snarl ...

also to boost try one of these

That also has the advantage that if used for a solo boost you can modify the EQ for the boost as just a louder signal might be psychoacoustically inappropriate (too bassy). Kicking in the bridge dialed to 11 would also be a big EQ change, potentially less bassy, but might not be the sound wanted too.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I totally understand your dilema. I have a PBj with VVT. I've had it for 19 years now.

For me, and this sounds simplistic and I don't want to be insulting, but I just pluck harder. I can get at least 25 percent louder off my base volume. Usually, I can bury a band when I do that.

These basses are pretty responsive. If you can't get get a 15-20 percent boost plucking harder, you are probably plucking too hard to begin with. And if 20% increase isn't good enough your band needs to adjust. JMO

It depends on action. For various reasons I have very low action so in terms of perceived volume increase, I might be limited. YMMV. But I use force partly as a gateway to different sounds, not necessarily just dynamics.

 

[definenredefine]

My suggestion is a pickup switch, a tone control, and a master volume - with the volume control wired the right way, like on a P bass, not backwards like on a J. You have 3 tones, with a tone control that does what you think it should (more or less), and a master volume that works like a volume control. Compared with a VVT setup, that is real progress.

That's what I did, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I didn't find that the tone was meaningfully different from before modding.

 

[JPK_DK]

I have seen Frans Vollink (Dutch bass player) use a Roland guitar synth interface as a master volume solution on his jazz bass.
One of these: https://www.thomann.de/dk/roland_gk3_midipickup.htm (the bass version, of course)
And here it is on the bass (sorry for the lousy photo quality):

 

[India_Sierra]

It’s always a struggle for me with that configuration.. I prefer a master volume control with a blend and tone controls.

It definitely takes a little more thought and care to use a VVT system. My preference has typically been for VBT over VVT because that always seemed to make more sense to me. In passive basses, I never found there to be any particular benefit hidden in the VVT setup.

However, in some active basses like my Basslab L-Bow I had found that some really interesting tones can be found by tweaking the balance (it's fitted with Kent Armstrong soapbars and a DaCapo preamp). The neck pickup is inherently full and solid and the bridge output is hotter and, when put in a certain relative balance to the neck pickup, can produce a pronounced bump in the upper mids. I fell in love with that and now I wouldn't want that bass as a VBT.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

Change the neck volume pickup pot to a push pull pot. Wire pickups in series. Pull up that pot. That pot is now a single volume pot. Your single coil Jazz pickups are now humbucking & sound massive.

This is what I was going to suggest.
You can only do this with VVT, but you'll get a universal volume control.
I have that feature on all 4 of my jazz basses, because I like the tone. I've never had to adjust my volume mid song, but this setup would allow it.

 

[Portamenti]

I’ve got 2 JBs: both have the CS62s in them.

One is VVT, one is VBT.

VBT will give you what you’re looking for, although there are other less intrusive/less permanent ways to do so as others have noted. For me playing live: I’m wireless and might be 30’ from my rig if I want to boost… so it works better to just run the volume at 8, so I’ve got a little extra headroom in case any guitar players get smart.

as others have noted: you are stuck with the balance ratios on you pot, and can’t just ‘dial in a little neck’ if you want more bass, or ‘turn up the bridge’ for a little more cut. But there are nice and interesting tones in that balance knob range too.

good luck!

 

[lark_z]

I feel your pain, my old PJ was a VVT and I hated it. For me, I added a switch that when engaged, sent the bridge straight to jack, when disengaged, I was back to VVT. So, I had two tones ready with just a quick tap on the switch.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I have seen Frans Vollink (Dutch bass player) use a Roland guitar synth interface as a master volume solution on his jazz bass.
One of these: https://www.thomann.de/dk/roland_gk3_midipickup.htm (the bass version, of course)
And here it is on the bass (sorry for the lousy photo quality):
View attachment 4936592

I have one of these on a Jazz bass, so I can try it out and report back for the OP, although it seems an expensive way to do it.

 

[sikamikanico]

I’d probably do a selector switch rather than blend, for simplicity and brighter tone. I never did find passive blend controls useful for blending, tho I hear some pots work better for that. Nevertheless, if you want good blend control, VVT might be better. Or active.

one way to do a passive boost is also a series switch. It does darken the tone, but it could work if you only use it sometimes.

 

[kumimajava]

My jazz combo plays with a lot of dynamics. Any song can get a lot quieter or louder depending on who is soloing and their volume and phrasing. Fingers can only do so much in this context, turning around to reach down to the amp is out of the question. I don’t want to be dragging a pedal and extra cord around, it’s bad enuf (from other jazz player’s standpoint) that I’m no longer playing upright. I’m gonna try the vol, blend, tone rewire. If that doesn’t work I’ll go back to VVT, get some knurled knobs and try to effect a ‘double volume swipe’ up or down.

Thanks to all!

I'm also with the VBT crowd on this, but another option would be:

A stacked vol/vol pot, which you can easily 'adjust i proportion' for both volumes at the same time.

For me, the most 'fun' sound out of a jazz is both coils in series - so if you're doing a rewire, why not add a push/pull series/parallel toggle on the tone pot? That's also another way of getting a bit of a 'volume boost' while playing

 

[Bikeguy57]

I bought a Fender Roadworn Jazz, with the above control layout. I was thinking I would hotrod it to active, but I’ve become intrigued with the stock passive sound. But I’ve only ever had basses with a master volume, so in the middle of a song when the band gets louder, I can’t turn up with either of the vol controls without changing the tone. Do you have to adjust both vols equally? That seems difficult on the fly. And I can’t really turn around and adjust the amp. Don’t want to use a pedal. Suggestions?

Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Use a pedal.

 

[JPK_DK]

although it seems an expensive way to do it.

It's all relative... those should be available for less than 200 usd, and it lets you keep the bass pretty much as is.