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Vol/Vol/Vol?

Chace90

Chace90

Supporting Member
Feb 1, 2002
1,813
1,307
Denver, CO
#1
Hi all,

Been searching a bit on the forums, couldn't find a thread specific to this.

Anyone ever wired a passive bass for V/V/V (and tone)? My thought was this:

1 Vol pot per pickup (maybe stacked?), then a "master" vol pot, then passive tone. I love having a blend knob, but passive blends aren't great IMO. I do lots of delay swells, etc, which is much easier with master volume. This is basically the same idea (I realize) as having a volume pedal. But I don't want to carry one around when a built-in pot will do the the same job!

Wiring order could be VVTV as well, right?

I'm not against active electronics at all (pretty much use them exclusively), but I really don't find myself tweaking the EQ knobs ever. I let the amp do the work.

Thoughts? :)
 
#3
On my (passive) avatar bass, I have three pickups, each with individual concentric V/T controls. They go through a Turnstyle switch, a master concentric V/T control, and out.
 
#4
Yes. Several guitars are also wired that way, most famously Gretch Chet Atkins models, as well as some Gibson and Epiphone models (including my Alley Kat guitar). I found it redundant on bass, although useful on guitar. I have tried many wiring and switching configurations over the years, and I keep coming back to simple V-V-T, on bass, even for actives. If I need eq, 99%+ of my eq needs are met by an EMG EXB.
 
#5
iiipopes said:
Yes. Several guitars are also wired that way, most famously Gretch Chet Atkins models, as well as some Gibson and Epiphone models (including my Alley Kat guitar). I found it redundant on bass, although useful on guitar. I have tried many wiring and switching configurations over the years, and I keep coming back to simple V-V-T, on bass, even for actives. If I need eq, 99%+ of my eq needs are met by an EMG EXB.
Click to expand...

I have a Gretsch wired this way. Check out their site for wiring diagrams. They also include a 3-way toggle in addition to the three volumes, but you can easily omit that from your wiring.

As far as practical use, well, I guess that's up to you.
 

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