I have one of these now. It's going in my 'bitza bass' I'm building. Has anyone tried it with Quarter Pounders?
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Stellartone---Best passive mod ever!
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
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I fitted a Tonestyler Bass Ten to my US Precision a month or so ago.
Initially I loved the wide open setting most, but was less than impressed with the settings from about No.3 position on.
There was a horrible (to my ears, some would love it) honkyness in the sound.
As a result I had been playing it wide open all the time, or maybe on click 2, or 3 at a stretch, pretty much defeating the purpose of having it fitted in the first place! There were seven other positions I was ignoring because of the honk.
Just yesterday it occurred to me that maybe I could identify the honk and EQ it away.
It worked!
The honk is situated at about 490-500Hz on my bass.
I selected that frequency with my amp's sweepable upper mid adjustment, then backed the gain adjustment off to about 10 o'clock and it disappeared!
Now the Tonestyler sounds awesome everywhere.
I fitted a Tonestyler Bass Ten to my US Precision a month or so ago.
Initially I loved the wide open setting most, but was less than impressed with the settings from about No.3 position on.
There was a horrible (to my ears, some would love it) honkyness in the sound.
As a result I had been playing it wide open all the time, or maybe on click 2, or 3 at a stretch, pretty much defeating the purpose of having it fitted in the first place! There were seven other positions I was ignoring because of the honk.
Just yesterday it occurred to me that maybe I could identify the honk and EQ it away.
It worked!
The honk is situated at about 490-500Hz on my bass.
I selected that frequency with my amp's sweepable upper mid adjustment, then backed the gain adjustment off to about 10 o'clock and it disappeared!
Now the Tonestyler sounds awesome everywhere.
Sounds like you made it sound more like a regular tone knob 
Just kidding...I say go with whatever works for you. Those lower position sounds can come across as a little honky sometimes.
Just kidding...I say go with whatever works for you. Those lower position sounds can come across as a little honky sometimes.
I'm interested in this mod for my J-bass, which currently has DiMarzio model J's and a series/parallel switch. I don't want to give up the s/p switch, so I'm wondering if the Tonestyler Duo would work with my setup. When in series the two pickups are basically wired like one big pickup.
Any thoughts on how I could make this work?
Any thoughts on how I could make this work?
This is indeed interesting.
I'm restoring and upgrading an Ibanez Destroyer. I purchased DiMarzio DP126 pickups for it and was shopping for some new pots and jack. I would like to try one of these, probably the ten. My bass has a BVT configuration of pots. Could this be a direct replacement of my tone pot?
Cheers!
MJW
I'm restoring and upgrading an Ibanez Destroyer. I purchased DiMarzio DP126 pickups for it and was shopping for some new pots and jack. I would like to try one of these, probably the ten. My bass has a BVT configuration of pots. Could this be a direct replacement of my tone pot?
Cheers!
MJW
azwipe, I have no clue how to make it work, but Don at Stellartone could tell you how to make it work and probably has a couple different options you could consider. I'd probably try calling since your question's a bit involved. He's a fountain of info.
Dj, yes it can. You might prefer the Duo Ten since you have two pickups, though. But they can put together an entire harness for you with the knobs you want + the Tonestyler. Let them know what you want and they'll custom wire you a harness and save you the hassle.
Dj, yes it can. You might prefer the Duo Ten since you have two pickups, though. But they can put together an entire harness for you with the knobs you want + the Tonestyler. Let them know what you want and they'll custom wire you a harness and save you the hassle.
Nice. That is a beautiful thing!
Thanks JimmyM for the heads up! You have impeccable timing.
Cheers!
MJW
Welp, I emailed Stellartone about using the Tonestyler with my series/parallel switch and Don sent me a very quick and detailed reply. I'll just paste it below, as it's really informative.
Hello, xxxxxx -
Thanks very much for your eMail.
The correct models for your J-bass are the ToneStyler BASS DUO SIX and the BASS DUO TEN. Both models are currently available for sale at Best Bass Gear www.bestbassgear.com
Both models are currently sold-out at Stellartone; new B-D6 inventory is scheduled for availability next month on about 10/11, and new B-D10s will arrive on about 11/1.
Both BASS DUO controls are specifically designed for J-basses and similar "vol-vol-tone" control plans. Instead of the Fender factory plan, where the tone control is incorrectly connected to the output jack, "post-volumes".... the two independent tone circuits are now correctly connected directly to the pickup outputs, "pre-volume", at 100% signal strength.
Performance is vastly improved over the original 1963 Fender wiring plan, which only allows tone adjustments to weaker "post-volume" blended signals. When the tone pot is set to strong settings while at lowered pickup volumes, this original wiring causes phase cancellation, comb-filtering, and signal strength losses.
This new dual signal flow design allows the two ToneStyler circuits to each properly-control each pickup at all loudness and blend settings, "pre-volume". This is electrically-equivalent to the proper wiring seen in a "vol-vol-tone-tone" instrument, such as most Gibson models. Most importantly, the independent tone circuits allow both pickups to be instantly switched between series and parallel connection modes, with no issues.
Installation is super-easy, and you won't disturb your current connections or series/parallel functions! Just solder each of the two color-coded ToneStyler cables directly to the ends of each of your pickups... exactly where they are presently wired. No other changes are needed. I've attached the basic wiring drawing for your review.
Stellartone inventory is almost sold out at Best Bass Gear, so please place your order soon.
Please write again or call if you have additional questions? Thanks again for your interest!
Best regards,
Don
This is the customer service we've all come to expect from them. Talking to Don on the phone is even better. His knowledge is incredible.
Great thread. I recently bought the 6 position model and installed it on a Frankenbass project. It's a plywood body with a maple/maple neck and a chinese hipshot bridge knock off. The pickup is a 62 RIP. Strings - GHS Flats (old, I don't remember the model, but not used much).
The verdict: Oh yeah! At first I was a little put off by the mid presence, but playing with a dense band mix, the honk is a perfect "nose" for the bass line. I find the honk to be fairly complex in harmonic content, and ultimately very musical. So far my favorite setting is the the deepest. Playing over the tenth fret, and taking into consideration the Fender '62 RIP bark, the sound is rich, present, and massive for driving bluegrass/rock. The mid shape and flat string envelope makes for a wonderfully rhythmic bounce.
The verdict: Oh yeah! At first I was a little put off by the mid presence, but playing with a dense band mix, the honk is a perfect "nose" for the bass line. I find the honk to be fairly complex in harmonic content, and ultimately very musical. So far my favorite setting is the the deepest. Playing over the tenth fret, and taking into consideration the Fender '62 RIP bark, the sound is rich, present, and massive for driving bluegrass/rock. The mid shape and flat string envelope makes for a wonderfully rhythmic bounce.
Ya, it takes a little getting used to the extra mid presence because rolling treble off the typical passive tone knob gives you a mid scoop that you don't get with the TS. But one you get used to it, it's really hard to go back to a typical tone knob.
This is quite an interesting product. Has anybody pulled one apart to see what is going on internally?
From the descriptions on here it would seem that it comprises a 10-way rotary switch with capacitors connected to nine of the poles. I guess these capacitors are, in the main, smaller in value than the conventional 47 nF and 22nF capacitors seen in basses and guitars? I've experimented with smaller caps before and liked the results. Something like a 1nF capacitor takes off just enough treble to be noticable, but almost seems to compress the signal as a result.
I've messed around with varitone projects in various basses as well. Does the Stellartone include an inductor? I included one in my varitones and then had a conventional tone control in the circuit as well. The inductor retained treble, thus making the varitone a crude, passive, notch filter of sorts. Another trick was to remove the inductor and use the varitone (or decade switch, in this config) as a 'cap selector' for a conventional tone knob. All good fun, but clicky and flimsy as well. if the Stellartone gets round these problems then I guess it is a cool product!
From the descriptions on here it would seem that it comprises a 10-way rotary switch with capacitors connected to nine of the poles. I guess these capacitors are, in the main, smaller in value than the conventional 47 nF and 22nF capacitors seen in basses and guitars? I've experimented with smaller caps before and liked the results. Something like a 1nF capacitor takes off just enough treble to be noticable, but almost seems to compress the signal as a result.
I've messed around with varitone projects in various basses as well. Does the Stellartone include an inductor? I included one in my varitones and then had a conventional tone control in the circuit as well. The inductor retained treble, thus making the varitone a crude, passive, notch filter of sorts. Another trick was to remove the inductor and use the varitone (or decade switch, in this config) as a 'cap selector' for a conventional tone knob. All good fun, but clicky and flimsy as well. if the Stellartone gets round these problems then I guess it is a cool product!
Does anyone know how the ToneStyler would work with an 'ungrounded' blend pot in a Jazz? or would it even matter?
Thanks,
Jeremy
Thanks,
Jeremy
I had my Gibson TBird rewired to V/B/StellarTone. Not sure if it's ungrounded or not as he never said. But it sure works well and sounds good.
Thanks!
All of the wiring diagrams on Stellartone show grounded blends, but I'm not sure if that's because it's necessary or if it's because that's the most common way of doing it.
Jeremy
All of the wiring diagrams on Stellartone show grounded blends, but I'm not sure if that's because it's necessary or if it's because that's the most common way of doing it.
Jeremy
