Passive tone stack

[Korladis]

If you didn't have loss when the tone circuit is put in the signal pathway, a boost would run out of headroom.

Probably not what most people want, but that might be kinda cool for my purposes.

I don't care if it's active or passive, but IMO the Fender Tone Stack is the foshizzle!! It is exactly what I want out of a bass sound.

Lol, we appear to have very different tastes. The Fender tone stack can sound very good... but for what I want, it has very, very few useful settings on bass, and the mid control may as well not even be there. The sounds that I really have any use for are all in a very narrow range on it, and anything outside that just... well... doesn't work for me. I would like it if I could have a separate, active mid control.

You could almost say that the passive tone stack has a bass and treble boost only. The mid control is just a volume control for the eq.

I read recently that the tone stack was developed for guitars because the pickups were so mid focused they lacked bass and treble. So, if you put all the tone stack controls at 50% you get a mid scoop which then gives a "flat" response for guitars.

Do bass pickups suffer the same mid focus as on guitar? Not sure, maybe for passive pickups? Maybe someone can explain.

Yep, the bolded is my thoughts on the Fender tone stack.

As for bass... even with passive pickups, to me the Fender tone stack is very limited, and too mid scooped. I've found all the way up to be the only useful setting for my mid control when playing bass through my amp. It's a good sounding amp at a couple settings, but the passive EQ section is not really that useful for me.

Guitar, as you mention, is a different matter. I actually quite like the Fender tone stack for guitar sounds.

 

[Bassmec]

In general practice, yes. It's possible to build a passive cut/boost tone control circuit, but it's complicated and AFIK rarely done.

Here's a couple my second genius son Robin Harwood knocked up earlier, Pultec EQP 1a clone plus switchable Meq 5 section addition, got a few extra bells and whistles like all tube or all FET Switchable preamps and a Urei clone compressor and a Neve clone limiter.
How many would you be needing?.

 

[Mr. Foxen]

I would like it if I could have a separate, active mid control.

On the Burman Pro2000 I use the eq section is FMV with fixed mid, plus an active boost only mid control. Its great. Dunno where the flat setting is but everything in the middle, maybe a tweak up on the mid and treble is just what I'm after.

 

[Korladis]

On the Burman Pro2000 I use the eq section is FMV with fixed mid, plus an active boost only mid control. Its great. Dunno where the flat setting is but everything in the middle, maybe a tweak up on the mid and treble is just what I'm after.

Yeah, that would be a very nice EQ, I would think.

Because while I love my D-180, the fact that the only thing I can do with the mids is cut is a little irritating, when the bass and treble are pretty much boost-only. It's a good thing I find its sort of "default" tone to be so good.

 

[beans-on-toast]

but for what I want, it has very, very few useful settings on bass, and the mid control may as well not even be there. The sounds that I really have any use for are all in a very narrow range on it, and anything outside that just... well... doesn't work for me. I would like it if I could have a separate, active mid control.

Maybe the right parametric EQ pedal would meet your needs.

 

[Korladis]

Maybe the right parametric EQ pedal would meet your needs.

Right now what I have works. Normally, for my folk/rock band, around "flat-ish" works mostly (with a slight bass boost). For metal, I turn the graphic EQ on, and boost the mids that way. Also makes the sound more overdriven, which is nice, too. It just seems like a weird way to do things, and I wish I could do everything I wanted to just with the rotary EQ controls.