Ok, I could swear I've seen you say this in about five threads over the past few days.
VVT is the most common way to wire a PJ.
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P to PJ! What to do?
- Thread starter Stranger Danger
- Start date
Ok, I could swear I've seen you say this in about five threads over the past few days.
VVT is the most common way to wire a PJ.
VVT will "work" as well as VBT, and either is better than the switch for shading options.
i don't care for the P-J thing myself, but for most players, "balance" is a moot point. the J pickup is just there to modify the tone of the P pickup, scooping out the mids as it's dialed in.
i'd recommend a dimarzio ultra J, as it will have more "ass" than the other versions, coming closer to P pickup output.
i don't care for the P-J thing myself, but for most players, "balance" is a moot point. the J pickup is just there to modify the tone of the P pickup, scooping out the mids as it's dialed in.
i'd recommend a dimarzio ultra J, as it will have more "ass" than the other versions, coming closer to P pickup output.
walterw said:
I hear ya about the ultra J but I really like the model J tone and I figured the ability to individually adjust the height of the pole pieces would be an advantage in this setup.
I used to have a v/v only setup, but recently made it into a stacked v/t and a v. Works fine for me as I mainly use the tone in combination with the p-pu and add the J as an extra flavour.
The "undesirable artifacts" refered to by Bongonation are a matter of taste imho, but there's less of them with a reverse p, with the treble pickup placed closer to the neck and the bass side at it's original point. Might also be wise to carefully consider the exact placement of the bridge pu. I recommend the 70's position.
I'm still wondering how exactly that works, since the Squier PJ Jag is a passive beast, so each tone control has to affect both pickups. Unless they used witchcraft and ungodly wiring schemes, in which case I want to see the latter.
My PJ is a V/T/switch and I'd say that's the best balance there is considering you can get an unloaded P tone, an unloaded J tone or a healthy half-and-half mix. Just by messing with pickup heights it's easy to get a balanced volume output from each individual pickup that blends perfectly once the switch is mid-position. YMMV.
I'm still wondering how exactly that works, since the Squier PJ Jag is a passive beast, so each tone control has to affect both pickups. Unless they used witchcraft and ungodly wiring schemes, in which case I want to see the latter.
My PJ is a V/T/switch and I'd say that's the best balance there is considering you can get an unloaded P tone, an unloaded J tone or a healthy half-and-half mix. Just by messing with pickup heights it's easy to get a balanced volume output from each individual pickup that blends perfectly once the switch is mid-position. YMMV.
A la the Tony Franklin sig bass.
+1 Ears are the acid test! If you don't like the sound of a PJ that is fine but there's no way anybody can disqualify the sound,and usefulness of a PJ. Why can't two dissimilar pickups be used in a bass? Where did you think all these manufactures these days got the idea of combining single coil with humbucking on the same instrument? Did an engineer first explain that peanut butter and chocolate would taste good together? Its the same thing with a PJ; It's the lack of engineering and going with a hunch that make a PJ so cool and popular!
I have had several configs of P/Js. For me, stacked VT/VT was far and away the most versatile and offered the most tonal control and flexibilty to balance and maximize the best of each pickup. I have a Jazz bass now that I'm getting ready to convert to VT/VT.
I'm still wondering how exactly that works, since the Squier PJ Jag is a passive beast, so each tone control has to affect both pickups. Unless they used witchcraft and ungodly wiring schemes, in which case I want to see the latter.
You can isolate tone controls with fixed resistors, but it will cost you some output.
I'd suggest leaving you current bass as is and picking up a MIM bass with a pj setup from the factory. You will decrease the value of your bass the second you route out the body.
Redundant threads get the same answer. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.Ok, I could swear I've seen you say this in about five threads over the past few days.
I'm aware of that and I'm also aware that it usually works like ****, too, whether or not it's bad enough for the player to recognize the problem or not.
If the pickup qualities are such that they will mix with fewer gross artifacts you may not immediately notice the problem, but it's there to some degree, effing-up the sound of the individual pickups with a bunch of peaks and cancellations. This is one of the two reasons why people who take P and J bass sound seriously hate P/Js, the other being that P/J pickup sets are typically so bastardized in the attempt to narrow the output differential that they screw up the individual trademark sounds of the originals.
In some cases, like the HRPB, the volume controls just flat won't work in tandem except full-on/full/off. There's nothing different about the HRPB's wiring, it's just that the particular set of pickups (unique to the HRPB) are are among the worst available for this mix function.
For a P/J to really work in sounding like a P and a J , you have to do this:
Get the best pure Precision pickup you can find.
Get the best pure Jazz bridge pickup you can find.
Wire them to a switch and a single V/T pair.
Forgo the geekly mixing obsession.
Accept the differences in output.
Play the bass as a P or a J, accepting the P+J third switch position as a crapshoot that probably won't sound that great.
Admittedly the mod I did to my squier P was to a JPJ, using a VVVT set up, but that's pretty much just an extended VVT PJ, and I have to say it vastly improved my bass (it's currently dialed to PJ (with the neck pickup off) although I do usually have it in JJ) but yes, VVT should work fine.
i guess i'm one of those people, but i literally have no idea what you're talking about.
those "problems" with the P/J arrangement are gonna happen with a switch just as much as they happen with pots. if the people who like that sound like it, then there's by definition no problem.
also, i don't think i've ever encountered a P/J set that was actually "calibrated" like you're referring to. all the ones i've seen are regular P pickups with regular J pickups stuck behind them.
doesn't that bass use a stacked "noiseless" as the J pickup? i'd blame the deficiencies on that more than anything else, as those things are pretty much only worthwhile with active preamps. (OT, but in general, linear taper volumes will make blending of any two pickups better, as they offer more even control of each pickup's volume, avoiding the fast drop-off from "10" of typical fender audio taper volumes.)
that just doesn't follow how nearly all P+J players i've ever seen or met use the instrument, with the P full-on and the J either blended in a bit or also full-on, just as a "modifier" to the P-pickup.
the J by itself is almost irrelevant to most of these guys.
(especially since the usual choice is to put the J pickup in the "'70s" position, closer to the bridge and thus even less balanced compared to the P pickup.)
I have 2 PJ basses.
Each has Seymour Duncan SPB-1, STK-J2, Fender TBX tone, and 500k volume pots.
Fender JBS has VVT with a 3 way switch, the Warmoth has VVT.
Sometimes I solo either pickup, sometimes blend to various levels depending on song.
Both sound great. So does my Warmoth JJ with STK-J2 pickups. No complaints.
Each has Seymour Duncan SPB-1, STK-J2, Fender TBX tone, and 500k volume pots.
Fender JBS has VVT with a 3 way switch, the Warmoth has VVT.
Sometimes I solo either pickup, sometimes blend to various levels depending on song.
Both sound great. So does my Warmoth JJ with STK-J2 pickups. No complaints.
I have a question- Will a V/V/T/3-way switch work? Think of it this way- switch in middle position is both pickups on, with a volume for each, thus like a standard V/V/T. Switch either left or right bypasses the other pickup completely, thus the P sound would not be affected by the bridge PU.
Currently dreaming of a Precision with NP4/Big Split in P/J location, passive, with the above electronics layout.
Currently dreaming of a Precision with NP4/Big Split in P/J location, passive, with the above electronics layout.
