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I had another question; I noticed that each pickup has two ground wires, the majority of them go to the master volume pot lug and one is soldered on the pot itself. The new pickups I got only have a single hot and ground. When I install them should I mount the grounds in the cluster or where that single ground is soldered? Learning as we go, I appreciate the help!
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Doesn’t really matter. As long as all the connections to ground are good, it’s fine. Sometimes people have had issues when the ground has a loop, so avoid that. Shorter is better as well. Think of the ground lug on the output jack as the root, and try to minimize wire length without too much complications.
Old thread... but this is the dead easiest mod to do to a pot, even disassembling and doing it. The first one I tried took about 10 minutes, disassembling each gang and cutting the traces. The second one took 2 minutes. The top trace for the neck PUP gang was a little tricker, as you can't easily remove the whole thing, and the wiper hub kinda gets in the way a bit.
Both test perfectly fine on the multimeter, will install in my Jazz and PJ this weekend.
Both test perfectly fine on the multimeter, will install in my Jazz and PJ this weekend.
"The volume has no more effect on tone [...]"
Do I understand right, that with this already awesome mod, you don't even need to apply treble bleed to compensate the rolled back volume's dampening effect on the tone?
(Asking for passive MIJ Fender JB pups.)
I would imagine it depends on which tabs you're using as input and output. When you cut the traces, you're likely making a slightly uneven surface for the wiper to pass over. If you have the wiper (middle pad) as your output, then when the wiper moves over the cut traces, it might pick up some of that as sound. Whereas if you make the middle pad the input, and keep the output on the opposite end of where you cut the trace, then the pickup input signal will be faded out by the time it passes over where you cut the traces. So, having your outputs be on the outside and inputs be on the inside should be the quietest method of operation
I finally got around to installing the MN100K blend pot with cut traces (un-grounded) in my Jaguar. The blend was WAY better than MN250K ungrounded. Way more usable range throughout the sweep.
Did replacing the 250k with a 100k alter the tone? I replaced an MN250K blend with a MN100k on a G&L MJ-4 several years ago, and it turned a gutsy bass into a wimp. I put the 250k back in and just had to deal with it acting more like a switch than a blend pot.
Did you have the MN pot grounded? If you’re only using it to add series resistant between input and output rather than a voltage divider to ground then the MN100K is the equivalent of the first little partial turn of the MN250K. In the center they’re the same, and at the extremes of the 100K is like the 250K being turned 40% of the way and stopping. The tone should be no different.
If you had the MN pot sending some lugs to ground, then that’s the equivalent of running your volume under 5 all the time.
If you had the MN pot sending some lugs to ground, then that’s the equivalent of running your volume under 5 all the time.
I first wired it in ungrounded but didn't cut the trace. (I've ruined a couple pots trying to cut the trace, so I don't try that anymore.) When that sounded thin, I grounded it. Still sounded thin. I re-installed the MN250k and the bass sounded great again. I should mention that, this bass had an active preamp, which probably had something to do with that. Obviously, the preamp was designed for the 250k (and I was told by a G&L expert that it was actually designed for a B250k blend pot, but mine came with an MN250k. Maybe a previous owner had swapped it out??) I've owned basses that only have toggle switches for pickup selection (Mosrite Celebrity; G&L L-2000), so I just treated the blend pot as if it was a toggle switch since that's how it acted. Eventually, a friend made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and I sold the bass.
These days for blend I wire the individual pickup volumes to a set of concentric pots then wire that to a master volume. It's perfect, and still only occupies two holes like a master volume and blend do.
These days for blend I wire the individual pickup volumes to a set of concentric pots then wire that to a master volume. It's perfect, and still only occupies two holes like a master volume and blend do.
Well, in any case, since I’m working on adding the ability for my bass to run in stereo, even though I just finally installed the MN100K to satisfy my curiosity, I’m actually going to be replacing it with an EMG ABC active blend, which should be the ideal option compared to trying to do it all passively.
I'm looking to add a series resistor to each pickup to further help with the pickups loading each other while blended. Any thoughts/suggestions in what their values should be?
So, I did the experiment with a 100k MN (technically it was 90k/90k) and I still found it to be “mostly” center focused. It had a bit more range than the MN 250k.
Then I replaced it with an EMG ABC active blend. Couldn’t be happier. Most of the sound change is still in the center quite frankly, but it feels much smoother panning between pickups. And, crucially, when I cut the power it completely isolates the pickups from eachother so that I can have them go to a stereo output.
This let me put in a switch that toggles between Active Mono and Stereo. Pretty sweet
Then I replaced it with an EMG ABC active blend. Couldn’t be happier. Most of the sound change is still in the center quite frankly, but it feels much smoother panning between pickups. And, crucially, when I cut the power it completely isolates the pickups from eachother so that I can have them go to a stereo output.
This let me put in a switch that toggles between Active Mono and Stereo. Pretty sweet
Yeah the EMG active blend isn’t my favorite take on it as far as taper goes, but still more useful than any passive solution I’ve tried yet. The active blend on John East preamps is the best I’ve tried, I’d be curious to know his secret and wish he offered a separate blend board
I asked the Lusithand folks if they offer a version of their preamp where the knobs are separate from the boards, they didn’t quite grasp why I wanted that. Tried to explain the weird layout with the Jaguar bass but it’s pretty clear they don’t have any plans to offer more flexible versions of their preamp. Would love a Wal-style filter for both pickups
