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Onboard OD or Compressor, one for neck PU, one for bridge PU (?)

T

TheAskHole

Guest
Sep 26, 2017
22
1
#1
Hi guys, I am thinking about re-doing my bass' electronics. We are familiar with separate volume and tone for each pickups, but has anybody here done separate OD (or compressor) for each pickup? In my head, I imagine that I might be able to mix dirty bridge with clean neck. Well .. for science.

Cheers!
J
 
#2
Welcome to TalkBass!

Never thought about it. Not even sure if it's practical. But please start a thread here with lot of pics along the way while you try it. It's an interesting idea for sure.

What bass are we talking about? What sound are you going for?
 
#3
two fingers said:
Welcome to TalkBass!

Never thought about it. Not even sure if it's practical. But please start a thread here with lot of pics along the way while you try it. It's an interesting idea for sure.

What bass are we talking about? What sound are you going for?
Click to expand...

I have just decided to switch from guitar to bass, I bought a cheap Yamaha RBX 375 for some experimentation. I currently am painting it all white, mimicking Fieldy's bass - not that I'm a fan, though. I will do a proper NBD thread once it's finished.

Not quite sure what sound I'm going for, but I always like textures in sound when I was playing guitar. I normally put overdrives in parallel, sounds good to my ear. I'm thinking to tweak my tone straight from the instrument, since it's not an expensive bass, I might have no problem experimenting with it. I'm planning to put separate OD and blend knob on each pickup.
 
#5
RoadRanger said:
Have to say I've thought about an onboard OD in case I ever run into a sound*** who insists on a DI direct from the bass :smug:. Is there anyone making onboard fx?
Click to expand...

I have a friend who studied electronics and happened to build custom pedals, I want to see what he's capable of doing. I'm planning to redo all electronics in my bass, something like this:

Drive Section (4 knob, 1 switch)

Neck Drive Knob
Neck Blend knob
Bridge Drive Knob
Bridge Blend Knob

Drive On/Off Switch

Pickup Section (4 knob, 3 switch)

Neck Volume Knob
Neck Tone Knob
Bridge Volume Knob
Bridge Tone Knob

Series/Parallel Switch
Neck Coil Tap Switch
Bridge Coil Tap Switch

I was about to go nuts by putting parametric EQ onboard, but dual concentric pot is nearly impossible to find around..
 
#7
I remember Vox made something that looks like a violin bass that has a tuner, booster and OD onboard, so you should be able to get something like that
Wouldn't that be too many knobs? (it's a matter of taste, i like to keep everything tidy but it's your bass, not mine )
Can't wait to see it finished!
 
#8
Some things might sound like a good idea on paper, but they don't work out to have any practical value. There is almost no use for having compression on one pickup but not the other. Whatever the compressor squashes down will be reintroduced into the signal path by the other pickup. Likewise, separate compression for each pickup offers little that cannot be achieved with one compressor on both pickups.

As for overdriving one pickup, it is usually easier to just use a pedal/preamp/whatever with a dry mix in knob.
 
#9
line6man said:
Some things might sound like a good idea on paper, but they don't work out to have any practical value. There is almost no use for having compression on one pickup but not the other. Whatever the compressor squashes down will be reintroduced into the signal path by the other pickup. Likewise, separate compression for each pickup offers little that cannot be achieved with one compressor on both pickups.
Click to expand...

Normally I'd agree, but in conjunction with the separate drive circuits it might do....something?

Of course then OP has to decide if he wants the comps pre or post the drives. Or both.

There's also multiband compression (outboard) to consider, which might accomplish what he's going for better.
 
#11
line6man said:
Some things might sound like a good idea on paper, but they don't work out to have any practical value. There is almost no use for having compression on one pickup but not the other. Whatever the compressor squashes down will be reintroduced into the signal path by the other pickup. Likewise, separate compression for each pickup offers little that cannot be achieved with one compressor on both pickups.

As for overdriving one pickup, it is usually easier to just use a pedal/preamp/whatever with a dry mix in knob.
Click to expand...
Respectfully disagree.

I run separate signal chains per pickup on my pedalboard, by way of Rick-o-sound output. Compression on the neck pickup and high frequency expander on the bridge. Because the bridge pup has a HPF in line, I'm essentially doing multiband compression, keeping the lows big and present even as I move up and down the neck, dig in for more growl, pluck closer to the bridge, etc.

The result is far more dimensional than the effects simply run in series from the mono output of the bass.

And this is without getting into the possibilities opened up by using more standout effects such as chorus or synth, rolling off tone or volume on each pickup separately, disengaging the HPF, hard switching between signal chains, etc. etc.
 
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#12
callofcthulhu said:
Respectfully disagree.

I run separate signal chains per pickup on my pedalboard, by way of Rick-o-sound output. Compression on the neck pickup and high frequency expander on the bridge. Because the bridge pup has a HPF in line, I'm essentially doing multiband compression, keeping the lows big and present even as I move up and down the neck, dig in for more growl, pluck closer to the bridge, etc.

The result is far more dimensional than the effects simply run in series from the mono output of the bass.

And this is without getting into the possibilities opened up by using more standout effects such as chorus or synth, rolling off tone or volume on each pickup separately, disengaging the HPF, hard switching between signal chains, etc. etc.
Click to expand...

Tell me, what happened when you overdrive one pickup and not the other.
 
#15
Get yourself one of these
image_64030.jpg
 
#16
Well, it suddenly becomes quite a large project. Not sure how long until it finished. After it's done, it should be like this.

bass_control.png

Not sure about its practicality, but when it's done, it should be a massive tonal palette .. hopefully. I will totally do a proper post once it's done.
 

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