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Question about jbass electronics

Musicman1901

Musicman1901

Jun 1, 2012
2,190
2,183
Rochester, NY
#1
hey guys, so I have a Mexican jazz bass and I have recently decided I'm gonna do all kinds of upgrades to it. Planning on getting lollar pickups, badass II bridge, and an all maple neck. The last thing I was thinking about is replacing the electronics/wiring. I was wondering if there is a kit/way that I can wire it so my knobs function as maser volume, pickup pan, and tone. I hate having separate volumes for each pickup. I love having a master volume and then a knob to pan between pickups. Curious if this is possible and what I'd need to do it. I don't know anything about this kind of stuff so forgive me if this is a silly question haha. Thanks everybody.
 
#2
Yes, it's easily do-able. People even sell pre-made wiring harnesses that "drop in" your existing control plate, some even use little screw terminals to connect the pickups so there's no soldering at all. Do an internet search for a "VBT" (volume, balance, tone) wiring harness for jazz bass. You really don't need to buy an expensive harness, there is no tone improvement to be had from "quality" pots, pricey tone caps, or cloth-covered 'pushback' wire.
 
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#3
The only thing needed to change to V/B/T is 1 pot, a 500k, or 250k ohm m/n taper dual pot (could even be called a blend pot), which would replace one of your volume pots. CTS, and Bourns make very good ones, used a lot in bass and guitar. If you can solder, it isn't a difficult change, and there's plenty of diagrams online, and lots of discussion on TB about it., that setup sounds a bit different than V/V/T, but, you can read a bunch doing a search here....It's not a silly question at all.
 
#5
Musicman1901 said:
Alright awesome, thanks guys! I'll definitely do that. Also, will the lollars and the badass II for my bass without have to make alterations? I didn't k ow of the measurements were tailored to American models.
Click to expand...

The BadAss II is for Standards (MIM) and the Lollar's will drop right in assuming you do not have one of the oddball years when they used different sized pickups. It is always best to confirm measurements prior to purchase though.
 
#7
Musicman1901 said:
hey guys, so I have a Mexican jazz bass and I have recently decided I'm gonna do all kinds of upgrades to it. Planning on getting lollar pickups, badass II bridge, and an all maple neck. The last thing I was thinking about is replacing the electronics/wiring. I was wondering if there is a kit/way that I can wire it so my knobs function as maser volume, pickup pan, and tone. I hate having separate volumes for each pickup. I love having a master volume and then a knob to pan between pickups. Curious if this is possible and what I'd need to do it. I don't know anything about this kind of stuff so forgive me if this is a silly question haha. Thanks everybody.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest contacting Kellingsound on ebay. He can make you whatever you want (Even crazy stuff with multiple push/pull switches, etc.) for a pretty reasonable price. Usually he charges between 50-75 dollars for a whole harness. He can make the harness solderless so that you only have to screw down the pickup leads--no need for a soldering iron. He uses high quality components as well.

This one looks like it might be right up your alley :

Jazz Bass Control Plate Series-Parallel Mid Control Solderless KellingSound

^^^ That has a pan pot for pickup selection, a series/parallel switch, and a custom dual-function tone pot. The tone pot can cut mids, or functions like a normal tone pot depending on how you have another switch set.

Check these out for other ideas :

Jazz Bass Control Plate 6 Way Varitone 6 Way Pickup Switch Custom KellingSound

Jazz Bass Control Plate Bourns Pots 6Way Custom Varitone Solderless KellingSound

Jazz Bass Control Plate 5 Way Pickup Switch Mid Control Solderless KellingSound

Jazz Bass Control Plate Series Parallel 12 Way Varitone Solderless KellingSound

If you contact him and request a custom build he'll do it.

Anyway, I have no affiliation truthfully. I just dig his stuff.
 
Last edited:
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#8
Antisyzygy said:
I'd suggest contacting Kellingsound on ebay. He can make you whatever you want (Even crazy stuff with multiple push/pull switches, etc.) for a pretty reasonable price. Usually he charges between 50-75 dollars for a whole harness. He can make the harness solderless so that you only have to screw down the pickup leads--no need for a soldering iron. He uses high quality components as well.

This one looks like it might be right up your alley :

Jazz Bass Control Plate Series-Parallel Mid Control Solderless KellingSound

^^^ That has a pan pot for pickup selection, a series/parallel switch, and a custom dual-function tone pot. The tone pot can cut mids, or functions like a normal tone pot depending on how you have another switch set.

Check these out for other ideas :

Jazz Bass Control Plate 6 Way Varitone 6 Way Pickup Switch Custom KellingSound

Jazz Bass Control Plate Bourns Pots 6Way Custom Varitone Solderless KellingSound

Jazz Bass Control Plate 5 Way Pickup Switch Mid Control Solderless KellingSound

Jazz Bass Control Plate Series Parallel 12 Way Varitone Solderless KellingSound

If you contact him and request a custom build he'll do it.

Anyway, I have no affiliation truthfully. I just dig his stuff.
Click to expand...

Holy crap... I think I found a new hobby, that's some serious coin for a few bucks in parts and ten minutes of time.
 
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#9
DiabolusInMusic said:
Holy crap... I think I found a new hobby, that's some serious coin for a few bucks in parts and ten minutes of time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if you can do it yourself it can be cheaper. Not always though unless you know where to get the parts and order bulk. For example putting together a harness from parts you buy on Ebay from specialty shops will likely wind up costing you close to what Kellingsound charges.

However Kellingsound prices are actually quite low compared to his competition. For a harness with the features he provides, and without needing to hassle with soldering or designing the circuit, you can't really beat the price. He comes up with some creative stuff like those 3-function tone knobs which for many of us aren't trivial to design ourselves.
 
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#13
measure twice , cut once ... as they say ..

look up the pup spec sizes ... measure you current pups .. !

in the past , i've ordered a prewired harness or 2 , from BestBassGear ... pick the pots , caps , etc ... tell them what you want , they make it ...
 
#14
Antisyzygy said:
I'd suggest contacting Kellingsound on ebay. He can make you whatever you want (Even crazy stuff with multiple push/pull switches, etc.) for a pretty reasonable price. Usually he charges between 50-75 dollars for a whole harness. He can make the harness solderless so that you only have to screw down the pickup leads--no need for a soldering iron. He uses high quality components as well.
Click to expand...

I'll second this. I just bought a harness from him that I custom ordered to my specs with a control plate. His prices are very cheap once you start looking at alternatives. I ordered the solderless hookups too and it's top quality. All I need to do is unscrew my old plate, clip and trim the wires, screw them in, and screw in the new plate. Literally a couple minutes of work for installation. Unfortunately I have yet to install it because I'm waiting for my shielding tape to come in to line the cavities (the amazon seller sent me the wrong item...). Once I get the shielding finished I'll do a proper review.

There's a short thread about his stuff here: solderless P bass harness from Kelling Sound on ebay
 
#17
Bodeanly said:
If he's already replacing the neck, the pups, harness, and bridge, you are pretty much saying that he should just build an entire bass. No?
Click to expand...

He's already building a new bass. It'll just have a recycled body.
Calling it "upgrade" is ridiculous when there's only going to be one original part left.
He may as well sell the original, use that money to buy a body and start from scratch.
 
#18
lz4005 said:
He's already building a new bass. It'll just have a recycled body.
Calling it "upgrade" is ridiculous when there's only going to be one original part left.
He may as well sell the original, use that money to buy a body and start from scratch.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize he's exchanging the neck as well. Yeah, I see what you mean now. Nothing except the body will be original, so resale value might be better overall if he just sells the whole bass and starts from scratch.
 
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#19
Antisyzygy said:
I'd suggest contacting Kellingsound on ebay. He can make you whatever you want (Even crazy stuff with multiple push/pull switches, etc.) for a pretty reasonable price. Usually he charges between 50-75 dollars for a whole harness. He can make the harness solderless so that you only have to screw down the pickup leads--no need for a soldering iron. He uses high quality components as well.

This one looks like it might be right up your alley :

Jazz Bass Control Plate Series-Parallel Mid Control Solderless KellingSound

^^^ That has a pan pot for pickup selection, a series/parallel switch, and a custom dual-function tone pot. The tone pot can cut mids, or functions like a normal tone pot depending on how you have another switch set.

Check these out for other ideas :

Jazz Bass Control Plate 6 Way Varitone 6 Way Pickup Switch Custom KellingSound

Jazz Bass Control Plate Bourns Pots 6Way Custom Varitone Solderless KellingSound

Jazz Bass Control Plate 5 Way Pickup Switch Mid Control Solderless KellingSound

Jazz Bass Control Plate Series Parallel 12 Way Varitone Solderless KellingSound

If you contact him and request a custom build he'll do it.

Anyway, I have no affiliation truthfully. I just dig his stuff.
Click to expand...
This exists?? Thats awesome, I've been looking for a certain active/passive configuration that is only made by very costly boutique companies. And solderless?? This sounds like a great alternative, thanks!
 
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#20
Antisyzygy said:
I didn't realize he's exchanging the neck as well. Yeah, I see what you mean now. Nothing except the body will be original, so resale value might be better overall if he just sells the whole bass and starts from scratch.
Click to expand...
Well it's two things. First off, the bass was a gift and I don't want to sell it. Second, the resale value of a Mexican j bass is probably like 300 bucks. For the pickups, wiring harness, bridge, new maple neck, and fresh strings I'm looking at 700 total. So for 700 I can have it exactly the way I want it or sell the Mexican for 300 and pay for a body....then throw the 700 into a neck, pickups, wiring harness, bridge etc haha. If the resale was higher I guess I would understand but a Mexican jazz doesn't go for much used.
 

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