V,V,T,T and a three way switch.........Why?

[Ken R]

The bass in question is a Samick Saturn bass. P and J pickups. Was active when new, now passive. Found it in a pawn shop, working.
When it was new, I believe it was wired V,V, bass, treble.
My question is this, the volume, volume, tone, tone setup allows for the choice of pickup sound sent to the amp and how much of each pickup gets sent. The three way switch does that too, but just front, both, back.
Why is the switch there?
Seems to me that the switch was installed by the Department of Redundancy Department.

Thoughts?

Pix to be posted in a minute.

 

[Ken R]

Pix

 

[Sean150]

I like that setup on my Les Paul. It essentially allows you to set up different tones from neck and bridge pickups and then switch back and forth between lead and rhythm tones without turning knobs. Less common on a bass but could still be useful.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

Neck on 10,
Bridge on 7,
the switch instantly moves you from 100% Neck to Neck plus a bit of bridge.
I'd appreciate it.

 

[Ken R]

I could see that.
Interesting........

 

[MD]

VT, VT, 3 way, plus master volume. The MV was useful when blending PUs.

 

[RSBBass]

The switch also is faster and more accurate if you are changing during a song.

 

[Warpeg]

That setup works great on a Ric.

 

[ThudThudThud]

Worked on my Washburn B-20.

 

[Ken R]

I guess it's more common that I realized.

Lesson learned.

 

[B-Mac]

I guess it's more common that I realized.

Lesson learned.

There’s a lot of hollow and semi-hollow basses set up like that too, except usually just one tone for both.

 

[Jeff Scott]

There’s a lot of hollow and semi-hollow basses set up like that too, except usually just one tone for both.

Not on most Gibsons or Guilds, for a couple examples.

 

[B-Mac]

Not on most Gibsons or Guilds, for a couple examples.

VVTT w/push-pull V coil split for neck pup & 3-way switch Semi-Hollow

VVTT w/2 push-pull V coil split for neck pup and bridge pup & 3-way switch Semi-Hollow

VV MT & 3-way switch Hollow

VV MT & 3-switch Hollow

VVTT & 3-way switch (chambered body)

VVT MV & 3-way Switch Hollow

VVT MV & 3-way switch Hollow

VV MV 3-way pup switch 3-way tone switch (Sealed Hollow)

VV MV T & 3-way switch (Chambered)

VVTT 3-way switch

However, all my Ibanez Hollow and Semi-hollow (AGB200, AGB205 & AFB200)
2 pup are V T & 3-way switch
My Dean Stylus is VT & 3-way switch semi-hollow

 

[micguy]

Switches allow you to set up a couple sounds, and literally at the flick of a switch, switch between them. Trying to do that with a VVT setup is slow and imprecise (among other things) - playing live, you really want to have things dialed in and just switch from one sound to another.

My basses are wired with a switch and 3 controls - one volume and two tones. The switch selects between a neck only mode and a blended (both pickups, but blended with a crossover - it's a bit complicated). I don't have a bridge only mode (bridge pickups alone are too thin sounding for me). Each mode has its own tone control - there is no interaction between them, as the tone circuit not in use is not in the circuit.

Anyway, the point is, I can set up two sounds I like, and...without any fuss, either one is available instantly. Dual volume control setups don't do that, but a switch can.

 

[ColdEye]

Had that on my Jazz. Pretty cool.

 

[Artman]

OEM spec on early Pedulla Buzz bass:
Knobs: Volume - Volume - Passive Tone - Boost when in Active mode
Mini Toggle: Active/Passive
Big Toggle is Pickup Selector.

 

[GIBrat51]

I guess it's more common that I realized.

Lesson learned.

No worries. As others have said; it seems like overkill, but... it can be very useful, depending on what you play. I won't bore you with all the basses like this that are living in my 23-bass herd. Including a Gretsch with a master volume as well...

 

[bassbrad]

I wired up this bass that way to give me more versatility.
My main bass is also set up that way.

The guitars I prefer are also set up the same way.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

It allows a tonal change at a flick of a switch as opposed to fiddling with dials.
Ive found it very helpful.

 

[MarkA]

I like that setup on my Les Paul. It essentially allows you to set up different tones from neck and bridge pickups and then switch back and forth between lead and rhythm tones without turning knobs. Less common on a bass but could still be useful.

The switch also is faster and more accurate if you are changing during a song.

That (VVTT + 3-way switch, a la Les Paul) is the setup on my main player, a modified Fender Power Jazz Bass Special (a reverse P at the neck plus a J at the bridge).

I like it for the reasons people have mentioned -- it allows for quick changes between bridge, blended, and neck pickup tones that I can dial in (that, and I'm one of those foolish souls who thinks he can hear a difference between a truly soloed pickup and one that's loaded down a bit by the other -- not that that's always bad). Typically, I'll have the bridge full up and the neck backed off just a hair, but sometimes I'll flip that. I can set the tone controls where I like for each switch position, too. No setup is perfect (with two tone controls in the circuit when the pickups are blended, there might be some small compromise necessary in how you set the tone controls to work in both soloed and blended positions) but, overall, I dig this setup well.

My bass is also wired to put the neck and bridge pickups in series with each other when I pull up the volume pot. I rarely use this setting -- it's not my favorite sound -- but, if I'm stuck playing a thin-sounding rig or for whatever reason need some instant beef in a mix, it comes in handy.

I've used and liked other (simpler) setups, too, but I dig this one and find it easy to use in practice.