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Pickup Blend Dilemma

petersenbass

petersenbass

Aug 16, 2001
1,449
1
Nashville, TN USA
www.facebook.com
#1
I have a Schecter Stiletto Studio 6string that I've had for several months now. I really like the way it plays and sounds.

The only thing is the pickup blend. On most my basses, I like to run almost center, but favor the bridge a hair.

My blend seems to be a pickup selector almost. I believe it has the Tone Pump or Tone Pump Jr, and I think Bart makes it.

Is it the electronics? ...or can I change out a new pot to fix it?

I'm not looking for a BROAD blend, but something more useful than a "knob/switch"

Thanks

-I recently became a supporting member. I'm so happy to see bassists helping each other out.
 
#2
petersenbass said:
I have a Schecter Stiletto Studio 6string that I've had for several months now. I really like the way it plays and sounds.

The only thing is the pickup blend. On most my basses, I like to run almost center, but favor the bridge a hair.

My blend seems to be a pickup selector almost. I believe it has the Tone Pump or Tone Pump Jr, and I think Bart makes it.

Is it the electronics? ...or can I change out a new pot to fix it?

I'm not looking for a BROAD blend, but something more useful than a "knob/switch"

Thanks

-I recently became a supporting member. I'm so happy to see bassists helping each other out.
Click to expand...

This is one of the inherent issues with blend pots as it is two reverse wound volume pots. In the center it is 100/100% with each side rolling offthe volume of the other pickup.

If you think of it in terms of a V/V setup this makes sense. If you have both on and then roll one pickup back by 5% you hear a major difference in sound. Keep rolling theknob back, and you don't hear a great deal of difference until you are 100/0%. This is why the blend seems as a switch as the major difference in sound are noticed at 100/0%, 55/45-45/55%, and 0/100%. The thing that is nice about a blend setup vs. a V/V is that you get a master volume so when you change the pickup mix you still keep more or less constant volume.

Some companies such as Audere and ACG claim to have burffered blends to correct this, but I have little experience on how these work in practice.
 
#3
JMDT said:
100/0%. This is why the blend seems as a switch as the major difference in sound are noticed at 100/0%, 55/45-45/55%, and 0/100%.
Click to expand...

On the Schecter I'm speaking of, I seem to have 0/100% , 100/0%, or 50/50%. Not the 45/55 I desire.

I have a OBP-3 in my Jazz that blends great for me.
I wish it was more like that, is that the electronics? or the pot? It seems like it'd have to be the pot.
 
#8
petersenbass said:
I have a OBP-3 in my Jazz that blends great for me.
I wish it was more like that, is that the electronics? or the pot? It seems like it'd have to be the pot.
Click to expand...

The OBP-3 doesn't handle blending at all; it's a typical single channel preamp. All blending/mixing is done passively before the signal hits the preamp. Your jazz just has a combination of pickups and pots that work pretty well together passively. Often this is not the case - as your Schecter unfortunately demonstrates.
 

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