This. You don't even need to bother with the switch. Just wire it in series and you probably won't go back.
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In Your Words...P vs. J ??
- Thread starter rydin4lifebass
- Start date
I doubted this at one time but now I can vouch for it. I have one of the best PJs out there, Lull passive with VVT. It gets close but only close. To do the job, I should have got a switch to bypass the J pickup.
Yup - I've owned atleast 5 or 6 passive P/Js, and there is no doubt in my mind... Actives are a different story, but they usually have a blend knob, also...
- georgestrings
"In a typical vvt wiring scheme...."
Ok. Like I said somewhere here, I dont like fiddling with two volume controls so as I hate any bridge pickup with the tone rolled off, I wire my bridge pickup, via a push pull pot, straight to the output jack.
This means that when both pickups are on the volume pot merely cuts the p pickup leaving the bridge doing its thing. It also means that I still have two 250k pots instead of three and when the bridge pickup is switched off its not even in the circuit.
It works for me because the only time I use the volume is for for violin effects.... rolling in synth like sweeps. The only thing that I lose is the ability to do this in pj , well pmm in my case, and that I have no standard type volume control in bridge only mode either.
I never alter my volume before my di as I don't want to upset the foh mix which I am in no position to judge from the stage. If I'm too loud on stage then I turn my amp down. Everything else is down to playing harder or softer.
This set up gives me everything from a p to a supercharged pj to a far more useable bridge tone with all the controls near to hand. Those about to say that they wouldn't want to lose the volume controls on their jazz could perhaps show us a video of how they turn their bass up and down without messing with two controls at once?
This wiring scheme also avoids those bizarre jazz bass interactions between pickups and tone control which I'm sure some of you are going to suggest are a good feature?
Ok. Like I said somewhere here, I dont like fiddling with two volume controls so as I hate any bridge pickup with the tone rolled off, I wire my bridge pickup, via a push pull pot, straight to the output jack.
This means that when both pickups are on the volume pot merely cuts the p pickup leaving the bridge doing its thing. It also means that I still have two 250k pots instead of three and when the bridge pickup is switched off its not even in the circuit.
It works for me because the only time I use the volume is for for violin effects.... rolling in synth like sweeps. The only thing that I lose is the ability to do this in pj , well pmm in my case, and that I have no standard type volume control in bridge only mode either.
I never alter my volume before my di as I don't want to upset the foh mix which I am in no position to judge from the stage. If I'm too loud on stage then I turn my amp down. Everything else is down to playing harder or softer.
This set up gives me everything from a p to a supercharged pj to a far more useable bridge tone with all the controls near to hand. Those about to say that they wouldn't want to lose the volume controls on their jazz could perhaps show us a video of how they turn their bass up and down without messing with two controls at once?
This wiring scheme also avoids those bizarre jazz bass interactions between pickups and tone control which I'm sure some of you are going to suggest are a good feature?
For me, jazz. My playing style is more intricate and my band has only one guitarist which gives me more wiggle room with my tone, which Jazzes match better than precisions. With my experience, precisions are good in bands with many guitarists where their deeper tone is more recognised, while jazzes are better with less guitarists where they can show off their sharper tone.
A P-bass has a more meaty, growly sound, while a J-bass has more of a mid-rangy, treble clarity to it.
For me, it's just the opposite - a P bass works better in a 1 guitar band, while a Jazz works better in a 2 guitar band because of it's ability to cut thru better... Whatever works for ya, though...
- georgestrings
I agree with you about that georgestrings. A jazz bass (with poth pickups on) may cut through a dense mix better. The bass cut effect of the two singles in parallel may help too as less bottom end can clean things up.
I once played in a band with two guitarists and keyboards. The band leader demanded that I use a dub reggae like tone. I used various p basses and a jazz bass and both worked well.
The lack of mids and top from my basses left a huge sonic space for the guitars. I even tuned bead in order to exploit as much of the low end spectrum as I could get.
I have to say that the jazz worked very well in this situation. Another aspect of the bands signiature sound was to pull the levels right back for the verses, really let the chorus jump out and hell for leather for middle sections and solos.
I discovered that if I played the quieter sections with both pickups on I could just roll back the bridge pickup and I would get a huge thump from the front pickup on it's own.
I don't know how effective this technique would be for people using a standard sort of full range tone however.
I used to send the di signal from the low pass crossover output on my preamp and turn over at around 250hz. It was amazing even with a steep filter how much finger definition I could get by cranking at 800 hz yet without any harshness or zing.
Obviously not everyone wants such a dark and heavy tone but I think it supports your point about the varied requirement for being able to cut through or not. The p with its bottom heavy tone fills out space below where the jazz goes and that's especially useful with one guitar mixes.
I once played in a band with two guitarists and keyboards. The band leader demanded that I use a dub reggae like tone. I used various p basses and a jazz bass and both worked well.
The lack of mids and top from my basses left a huge sonic space for the guitars. I even tuned bead in order to exploit as much of the low end spectrum as I could get.
I have to say that the jazz worked very well in this situation. Another aspect of the bands signiature sound was to pull the levels right back for the verses, really let the chorus jump out and hell for leather for middle sections and solos.
I discovered that if I played the quieter sections with both pickups on I could just roll back the bridge pickup and I would get a huge thump from the front pickup on it's own.
I don't know how effective this technique would be for people using a standard sort of full range tone however.
I used to send the di signal from the low pass crossover output on my preamp and turn over at around 250hz. It was amazing even with a steep filter how much finger definition I could get by cranking at 800 hz yet without any harshness or zing.
Obviously not everyone wants such a dark and heavy tone but I think it supports your point about the varied requirement for being able to cut through or not. The p with its bottom heavy tone fills out space below where the jazz goes and that's especially useful with one guitar mixes.
It's worked well enough for most of us for, oh, 50 years or so? It's all good-you just don't like the jazz bass generally, so you made something else. Great! But dual volumes are a big part of the jazz bass sound. They really need to be there, IMO, as they have, again, for fifty-odd years. It's no big deal. It works fine.
If swells are a big part of ones repertoire, one could get a volume pedal.
- Jan 12, 2011
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Yeah, my P Basses lose their edge and struggle a bit to be heard in the mix when I play in a 2 guitar band, but do quite well in a 1 guitar setting... I get my best results in a 2 guitar band with a Jazz in series, everything wide open - that way, I still get a fair amount of low end thump, and some increased mids, but also retain some of that Jazz bass cut thru the mix thing... I also have excellent luck with EBMMs and my Gibson T-bird in the 2 guitar setting - in that band, both guys are using Gibsons(Les Pauls and Explorers) thru Triple Rec halfstacks - it can be a battle to be heard thru all that...
- georgestrings
To me, it has always been funk and reggae on the jazz, country and blues on the P, but I've had people ask for the jazz on country gigs, and the P for funk gigs.
The biggest difference for me is that the P has a fatter neck, and way more volume. The jazz has a smoother sound with subdued mids where the P sound is very aggressive and loud. I prefer the jazz for soloing. Also, I find that the jazz (now this may just be my own personal instruments) has a quicker transient attack, making it better at accentuating staccato lines, where the beginnings and endings of notes on the P are more fuzzy.
A jazz bass is the like the flashy soloist to the precision being the groove master dominating the pocket.
precision = work horse with a plow
jazz = show horse
precision = work horse with a plow
jazz = show horse
If swells are a big part...."
They aren't generally but I like to do them with one of the projects that I get involved with and I do have a volume pedal. I like to travel light if I'm recording and go by scooter. I take your point though.
It's true that I don't like playing jazz basses on the whole and that two knob thing is a big part of it.
I'm perfectly happy for those of you who do like them to keep fiddling with those volumes for another 50 years. I love the way other folks make them sound. I love playing strats but hate the sound some people make with them. I'm probably just a bit odd lol.
They aren't generally but I like to do them with one of the projects that I get involved with and I do have a volume pedal. I like to travel light if I'm recording and go by scooter. I take your point though.
It's true that I don't like playing jazz basses on the whole and that two knob thing is a big part of it.
I'm perfectly happy for those of you who do like them to keep fiddling with those volumes for another 50 years. I love the way other folks make them sound. I love playing strats but hate the sound some people make with them. I'm probably just a bit odd lol.
It just seems that way. Both instruments produce sound at the same rate, but the jazz bass tone is pointier and this makes it seem quicker. It really isn't.
