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passive tone in a box?

i mean is there any other outboard equipment like this that does this? i love a passive tone control, and i notice alot of guys are changing to active preamps that also have a passive tone control, but i figure i can save a whole lot of money by just using this with my active basses if i want a passive tone. the internals are pretty much just a 500k pot with a .047 cap. (i think thats the same as a fender tone control)

thoughts?
 
the internals are pretty much just a 500k pot with a .047 cap. (i think thats the same as a fender tone control)

If you are playing an active bass through it, you won't want to use a 500K pot, it won't do much until the end of the rotation.

Ideally, you could build a box with a 25K pot and a 250K or 500K pot, and an "impedance switch" to toggle between them, depending on what kind of signal you are running through it.

Also, why only the one cap value? Put in a rotary toggle, or at least a 3 way switch, to select between a few different frequency cutoff points.
 
Do this. And choose some good values for the caps, and youll have sounds lots of.

SIMPLEVARITONE.gif


Or you could put 12 different value caps in and use this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-Pole-12-Pos...Supplies_ET&hash=item3a6412c453#ht_1578wt_698
 
yes, ive noticed this with my active basses, and they are the whole reason im doing this. my passive basses already have a tone knob. so you're saying a 25k pot should fix this?

If you are playing an active bass through it, you won't want to use a 500K pot, it won't do much until the end of the rotation.

Ideally, you could build a box with a 25K pot and a 250K or 500K pot, and an "impedance switch" to toggle between them, depending on what kind of signal you are running through it.

Also, why only the one cap value? Put in a rotary toggle, or at least a 3 way switch, to select between a few different frequency cutoff points.
 
a passive tone knob by definition has to be before all the active stuff, including before the preamp on the bass.

a "passive tone" after the preamp is a non-sequiter. you can put a low impedance tone pot after the preamp, but it's not the same.
 
ok, thats why i asked in my first post "can i do this?" also maybe we're just getting into semantics here, im calling it a passive tone knob. so let me rephrase, if want to use a "high frequency rolloff" similar to what is in a passive fender style bass, can i put one in a pedal and use it with active basses? will it do anything to the tone or will it just be useless? are there variations to the design that could make it work?

a passive tone knob by definition has to be before all the active stuff, including before the preamp on the bass.

a "passive tone" after the preamp is a non-sequiter. you can put a low impedance tone pot after the preamp, but it's not the same.
 
a passive tone knob by definition has to be before all the active stuff, including before the preamp on the bass.

a "passive tone" after the preamp is a non-sequiter. you can put a low impedance tone pot after the preamp, but it's not the same.

What are you talking about?

Why would a passive tone have to run before anything active to be a passive tone? It's nothing more than a pot and a cap. There are no active components, so a passive tone control is, itself, passive, regardless of the application it's used in.

People do use lower value tone pots after active pickups/preamps. For example, with EMG pickups, it's common to use a lower pot value with a higher cap value.
 
this guy claims that you do need a buffer with an active bass
Link Removed

That's my site in the link. Based on my experience with my Reggie Hamilton bass, I needed to use an active buffer before the passive tone control. This way it worked well with my bass in either active or passive mode. If your bass is purely passive, a simple passive control pedal will work. As long as it your first pedal on the chain.

Edit: My intent with this blog post is to show how you can use a passive control with a bass that has both an active and passive mode. By placing a buffer between the passive tone control and your basses electronics, you can use a pedal with a 250K tone control with a 47nF cap in both passive and active modes. You can also place the pedal anywhere in your signal chain.