In my 20s I worked at a bike shop next door to Long and McQuade Music in Winnipeg. One day the manager gave me a bare BC Rich Eagle, no hardware. Someone had returned it, said it had a bad neck. They ordered a new body/neck and switched the hardware over for him. I fixed it up with just two volume knobs and a tone. It's still my main axe. I dial in the tone I want using the volume knobs to blend the two pickups, and roll off the high end if necessary with the tone control. People sometimes ask what all the holes in the body are for!When I restored this Eagle, it took a bit of work to rewire it. I really only use the neck pickup, volume and tone. But it’s not like the other controls get in my way
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To knob or not to knob?
- Thread starter Katoosie
- Start date
Yeah I pretty much only touch the volume knobs on my basses too. The extra knobs don’t always annoy me though. As long as they are out of the way I don’t really mind. The one situation where it does is on my fender jazz because it has the three knobs relatively close to each other (vvt). I never roll the tone knob back intentionally but with that bass I do adjust the two volume knobs a bit and it can get annoying when I accidentally move the wrong knob. I might end up just removing the tone pot on that bass and using the two outer knob positions for each pickups volume so they are spaced apart farther.Hey everyone! Hope the pandemic isn't too harsh on all of you
There has been something brewing in my head for a little bit, brought on by my own Jackson CBX V.
I've been looking at her, playing and thinking to myself "All these knobs on the body, I don't need those."
My bass has a a very typical set of knobs such as volume/tone/high/mid/bass and the more I see them, the more I realize how of little use they are to me. The only one I use is the tone to roll it off a bit because it makes the sound a bit more punchy to my ears,
otherwise all I use is the amp knobs.
I do understand that this might be different if you're on a stage but come on, I've never even played her outside of the apartment, let alone any stages.
Suddenly all these classical fender Ps and Js look way more inticing, which I find really funny because when I started playing bass I absolutely hated the look of fenders, I thought they looked "generic".
But, alas... The more my playstyle and outlook on bass playing evolves the more I start to realize what I like/dislike about different instruments and my taste is evolving, accordingly.
A year ago the thought of owning a fender was so bad it felt almost insulting and now I start thinking to myself "... what if I owned one?".
Slippery slope.
What do you make out of it? Do knobs on basses annoy you, do you use them, do you care?
Thanks
The best things about this post are all the different configurations I'm reading about here. Such great information from the TB community. So many different ways to wire up your bass. Expirement and go for what works for you.Hey everyone! Hope the pandemic isn't too harsh on all of you
There has been something brewing in my head for a little bit, brought on by my own Jackson CBX V.
I've been looking at her, playing and thinking to myself "All these knobs on the body, I don't need those."
My bass has a a very typical set of knobs such as volume/tone/high/mid/bass and the more I see them, the more I realize how of little use they are to me. The only one I use is the tone to roll it off a bit because it makes the sound a bit more punchy to my ears,
otherwise all I use is the amp knobs.
I do understand that this might be different if you're on a stage but come on, I've never even played her outside of the apartment, let alone any stages.
Suddenly all these classical fender Ps and Js look way more inticing, which I find really funny because when I started playing bass I absolutely hated the look of fenders, I thought they looked "generic".
But, alas... The more my playstyle and outlook on bass playing evolves the more I start to realize what I like/dislike about different instruments and my taste is evolving, accordingly.
A year ago the thought of owning a fender was so bad it felt almost insulting and now I start thinking to myself "... what if I owned one?".
Slippery slope.
What do you make out of it? Do knobs on basses annoy you, do you use them, do you care?
Thanks
Hey everyone! Hope the pandemic isn't too harsh on all of you
There has been something brewing in my head for a little bit, brought on by my own Jackson CBX V.
I've been looking at her, playing and thinking to myself "All these knobs on the body, I don't need those."
My bass has a a very typical set of knobs such as volume/tone/high/mid/bass and the more I see them, the more I realize how of little use they are to me. The only one I use is the tone to roll it off a bit because it makes the sound a bit more punchy to my ears,
otherwise all I use is the amp knobs.
I do understand that this might be different if you're on a stage but come on, I've never even played her outside of the apartment, let alone any stages.
Suddenly all these classical fender Ps and Js look way more inticing, which I find really funny because when I started playing bass I absolutely hated the look of fenders, I thought they looked "generic".
But, alas... The more my playstyle and outlook on bass playing evolves the more I start to realize what I like/dislike about different instruments and my taste is evolving, accordingly.
A year ago the thought of owning a fender was so bad it felt almost insulting and now I start thinking to myself "... what if I owned one?".
Slippery slope.
What do you make out of it? Do knobs on basses annoy you, do you use them, do you care?
Thanks
Yer mellowing with age, M'lad! Been there m'self...in audio, I always wanted more highs, I find I like a fuller sound...same thing with guitar (at least)...always on the bridge pickup...in the last number of years I flipped the switch to the front or both pickups...I'm just getting back int bass, having gotten a Thunderbird carcass to build up, so I'll probably do some "combinatin'", too...
CosmicRay
Supporting Member
CosmicRay
Supporting Member
Very similar body style to your Peavey....This is the only active bass that I still own and if not for the Jazz-like neck and thin body, I'd probably sell it too. However, I love the way it plays so I overlook the "extra" knobs.All of my other basses are V/T or V/V/T and I really love the simplicity of the controls at this point in life.
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I'm a tweaker so however knobs there are on a bass, as long as they do something tangible to the sound I am fine. One of my basses has 9 knobs. I have a set of three for each pickup, (vol/filter/variable Q) then an overall master volume, pickup selector knob and led brightness knob.
I have an abundance of knobs and switches to deal with if you add to my bass all of the knobs and switches on my new GK Legacy. What got me back into more knobs and switches was in Boca Raton about 20 years ago when I was in a 3-member group, and in a praise band (with about 12 members), and in an orchestra. I suddenly had no room to carry around 3 or 4 basses. So after a little research I moved to a German Warwick with two humbuckers, Active or Passive option, and for a while had flats on it. Back to rounds now but not all my strings are from the same company. Added a good limiter/compressor pedal for that. As I found myself playing lead on several songs each week in the praise band I needed a little more options. Added a bass Chorus pedal for those. Two humbuckers with each having a 3-way switch gives me a lot of options. So I have more options on my bass now than I ever had before. And I have to practice and make notes so I can do a fast change between songs. I sold the extra basses eventually, and gave several cheap-o ones away to students. I think there is a lot more to playing bass than just playing bass.
It sounds a like too much work for me; however, I'm glad it works well for you! Also, giving those basses to students was a really nice thing to do.
I rehearse every day here at home with the same rig I will be using at the gig. I go back and forth so I can do it quickly and without having to 'think about it' at the same time. Sometimes I cannot get it to work and I have to change so I change it at home. My BL thinks I'm a fast thinker but I'm actually a slow practice-er. If someone asks you to play bass for a musical you want something like 'Grease.' It's fun, it's easy to learn and you can just use a P-bass with flats on every song. Don't start out with 'Joseph and the Amazing Dreamcoat.' Your joints will lock up and your fingers will fall off. It was not fun. Just some words of wisdom here from one who's tried and it did not smell nice.
I like simplicity when it comes to basses and amps (I like passive basses). Pedals are a different story..
I like everything within hand's reach and in my own control, so i like a lot of knobs. The tone is unquestionably in the hands, but the room is in the knobs, if you know what i mean...
This is the happiest I have ever been with any bass.
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So here is a slight twist: In the interests of simplifying things I recently replaced my tone pot on my PJ with a 3 way switch that has a 0.047 cap one way and an 0.022 cap the other way, center off, on the basis that the tone pot was just being used either full on or full off so what was the point of a pot. Sounded great, 3 useful options that were quick to select.
Then a few weeks back I got my first pedal, a Wampler Ego compressor. Now with the pedal engaged both of the tone cap positions sound real muddy (sounds fine with the tone caps out of the circuit in the off position), so perhaps I might go back to a tone pot and see what it sounds like with various gradients of tone roll-off. OR I could just blank off the hole!
Then a few weeks back I got my first pedal, a Wampler Ego compressor. Now with the pedal engaged both of the tone cap positions sound real muddy (sounds fine with the tone caps out of the circuit in the off position), so perhaps I might go back to a tone pot and see what it sounds like with various gradients of tone roll-off. OR I could just blank off the hole!
Most instruments don’t have tone options. Everything is in the playing and the music, as it should be. And really, of all instruments, the one least in need of electronic gadgets is bass guitar. The tone knob on a precision bass is more than enough.
They certainly don't annoy me.Hey everyone! Hope the pandemic isn't too harsh on all of you
There has been something brewing in my head for a little bit, brought on by my own Jackson CBX V.
I've been looking at her, playing and thinking to myself "All these knobs on the body, I don't need those."
My bass has a a very typical set of knobs such as volume/tone/high/mid/bass and the more I see them, the more I realize how of little use they are to me. The only one I use is the tone to roll it off a bit because it makes the sound a bit more punchy to my ears,
otherwise all I use is the amp knobs.
I do understand that this might be different if you're on a stage but come on, I've never even played her outside of the apartment, let alone any stages.
Suddenly all these classical fender Ps and Js look way more inticing, which I find really funny because when I started playing bass I absolutely hated the look of fenders, I thought they looked "generic".
But, alas... The more my playstyle and outlook on bass playing evolves the more I start to realize what I like/dislike about different instruments and my taste is evolving, accordingly.
A year ago the thought of owning a fender was so bad it felt almost insulting and now I start thinking to myself "... what if I owned one?".
Slippery slope.
What do you make out of it? Do knobs on basses annoy you, do you use them, do you care?
Thanks
If they did, I would've bought one of those weird Nikki Sixx or Joe Dart basses.
Other than that, better to have something extra than not to have it, just in case.
I have two L2000s.
If I ever need to play in active mode, I can.
Can't say the same thing for my Thunderbird.
I see no screws in the pickguard.
If it's on with adhesive, you could lose that too and simplify it even more....and expose more of that nice wood.
