• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Squier Jazz Pots Question

L

LB75

Aug 29, 2009
200
10
Austell Georgia
#1
I recently acquired a black '91 Squier Jazz Standard in immaculate condition. I want to change the VVT setup to a VBT setup and have done the research and found a schematic. When I opened up the bass to check things out I was surprised to find that the pots are all 500K. Looking at the parts list for the standard Jazz on SquierGuitars.com it indeed lists 500K pots. Have any Squier Jazz owners here replaced their 500ks with 250ks and what were the results? This bass does seem a little harsh with the treble turned up. I think when I order the blend pot I will also get 250k volume and treble pots and just replace everything. Is this a good idea?

Thanks!
 
#2
After looking at the wiring more closely I found that it had been wired wrong. After fixing the problems it sounds much better but the tone control is still harsh when turned up. I guess I will replace the 500K pots with 250k when I add the blend control and see what effect that has. My only bass for years has been a Carvin LB75 with active electronics and I'm used to all the controls sounding smooth and being predictable. I don't know if the Carvin has linear or audio taper pots but the audio tapered ones on the Squier are pretty much useless until the last quarter turn which makes for really touchy adjustments. I may look into getting linear taper 250k pots.
 
#7
Going from a VVT setup to VBT is already going to decrease a lot of your output, comparative to switching to 250K pots.

Two volume pots on full at 500K is 250K.
One volume on full and a blend at 500K is 166.667K.
Two volume pots on full at 250K is 125K.
One volume on full and a blend at 250K is 83.33K.
 
  • Like
Reactions: peter-j
#8
Baldwin:I haven't looked at AllParts, I check them out, Thanks.

megadan:Did you notice a big drop in output? Where they audio or linear taper? Thanks.

line6man:I understand what you're saying but I don't understand the technical electrical stuff. If I could get more even adjustments I could live with two volumes. Maybe I'll try linear 250k with out the blend and see where that gets me. Thanks.

Thanks for your advice!
 
#9
line6man said:
Going from a VVT setup to VBT is already going to decrease a lot of your output, comparative to switching to 250K pots.

Two volume pots on full at 500K is 250K.
One volume on full and a blend at 500K is 166.667K.
Two volume pots on full at 250K is 125K.
One volume on full and a blend at 250K is 83.33K.
Click to expand...

Wrong - You do NOT lose volume. A blend control (like the one I got from guitarpartsresource) is a stacked pot. Middle is 0 resistance for both - I measured it with an ohm meter. And what is nice is that there is a center detent, so you know when you are in the middle. I did mine like on Duncans site [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] except I used a .022 cap, which is just my personal preference.

I LOVE the blend control. I run my bass volume at about 8, so I have some room to go without having to go back to the amp, as well as if I go to the bridge pickup and back off the tone, I need to kick it up a little. I liked the setup so much, I converted my Explorer style active bass back to passive and used V/B/T and I can consistently bounce betwen a bunch of different sounds. Take the advice from someone who has done it and tested it.
 
#10
andk5591 said:
Wrong - You do NOT lose volume. A blend control (like the one I got from guitarpartsresource) is a stacked pot. Middle is 0 resistance for both - I measured it with an ohm meter. And what is nice is that there is a center detent, so you know when you are in the middle. I did mine like on Duncans site [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] except I used a .022 cap, which is just my personal preference.

I LOVE the blend control. I run my bass volume at about 8, so I have some room to go without having to go back to the amp, as well as if I go to the bridge pickup and back off the tone, I need to kick it up a little. I liked the setup so much, I converted my Explorer style active bass back to passive and used V/B/T and I can consistently bounce betwen a bunch of different sounds. Take the advice from someone who has done it and tested it.
Click to expand...

I was referring to the resistance from the signal to ground, not input to output.

A blend pot is essentially two volume controls running backwards into each other, with makes for three pots altogether with the master volume.

Having three pots rather than two decreases the resistance from signal to ground, which automatically kills some output and treble.
 
  • Like
Reactions: peter-j
#11
OK, I guess I will go for the blend since that's what I really prefer and keep the 500K pots for now. And if I understand you correctly line6man, adding this blend control will have a similar effect of going to the 250K pots by grounding some of the higher frequencies but not as drastic as switching to the 250k pots. As far as the capacitor goes, with the treble turned all the way up it doesn't really matter which value cap you have because it's basically not being used. But with the tone control all the way down the cap is eliminating (grounding) all the high frequencies that it's capable of based on it's value. Right? And a .022 cap will ground less of the high frequencies than a .047 cap will with the tone turned all the way down. Right?

Thanks
 
#12
LB75 said:
As far as the capacitor goes, with the treble turned all the way up it doesn't really matter which value cap you have because it's basically not being used.
Click to expand...

No, it's definitely still being used.
With the tone knob all the way up, the full resistance of the pot is being applied between the signal and capacitor, but this resistance in not infinite...
Some highs are still being cut, though it isn't as noticeable (obviously) as with the tone rolled down.
You can definitely hear the difference between a tone control on full and bypassed if you were to switch between them.
 
#13
LB75 said:
OK, I guess I will go for the blend since that's what I really prefer and keep the 500K pots for now. And if I understand you correctly line6man, adding this blend control will have a similar effect of going to the 250K pots by grounding some of the higher frequencies but not as drastic as switching to the 250k pots. As far as the capacitor goes, with the treble turned all the way up it doesn't really matter which value cap you have because it's basically not being used. But with the tone control all the way down the cap is eliminating (grounding) all the high frequencies that it's capable of based on it's value. Right? And a .022 cap will ground less of the high frequencies than a .047 cap will with the tone turned all the way down. Right?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Adding a blend pot is basically the equivalent of adding a third volume pot parallel to the other two.
When you combine resistors in parallel, the resistance is decreased...
You automatically lose some output and treble that way.
A 500K blend pot is *somewhat equivalent to* one 250K volume pot, as two 500K pots parallel to each other is 250K.

Yes, with the tone control all the way down, there should be 0 ohms resistance between the signal and the capacitor, so it is working to it's full affect.

The higher the value, the more treble you cut.
 
#14
line6man, thanks, that clears up a lot for me. So using say a .1 cap with the tone all the way up there will be less treble than a .047 turned all the way up. True? I've noticed too that you can buy caps from $1.00 to $10.00. In practice what difference do you hear between the cheap and expensive ones?


Thanks,

Don
 
#15
LB75 said:
line6man, thanks, that clears up a lot for me. So using say a .1 cap with the tone all the way up there will be less treble than a .047 turned all the way up. True? I've noticed too that you can buy caps from $1.00 to $10.00. In practice what difference do you hear between the cheap and expensive ones?


Thanks,

Don
Click to expand...

By "all the way up", do you mean all the way down?
The higher the value of the capacitor, the more treble it cuts.

Some people claim that expensive capacitors sound better, but I think the reason for this is that the tolerance on cheap ceramic capacitors is ridiculous, so when you switch to something of a higher quality, you notice a difference.
IMO, there will be a difference in sound quality between a 10 cent ceramic, and a decent quality capacitor, but there won't be much difference between that decent quality capacitor and a $50 one.
Just get something decent and don't pay attention to all those overpriced ones.

Personally, I use Orange Drop capacitors. They cost me $1.49
 
  • Like
Reactions: peter-j

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back