Going from active to passive, need ideas for the five holes in my top

Dec1975

Dec1975

Aug 30, 2006
402
697
4,876
Cedar Park, TX
#1
I have a rear-routed Warmoth Jazz bass. It is currently using SD Ultra Jazz pickups and an Audere pre-amp. In total, there are five holes in the top of the bass for the Audere controls. I'm really more of a passive guy, and want to pull that pre-amp out. How would you re-wire it and still use all of the control holes? I was thinking LP style- 2 vol, 2 tone, three-way switch. I'd like to keep it as simple as possible.
 
#2
Two tones on a bass is fairly impractical, because they will either interact, or you will have to make compromises to get them to work independently. If if were my bass, then I would go for two volumes, a master tone, a rotary switch to select the capacitance, and a pickup selector switch. Alternatively, two volumes, bass and treble cuts, and a pickup selector switch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NoiseNinja
#3
Thanks for the input. Two volumes with bass and treble cuts sounds like a good idea.

I seem to recall Fender made a Jazz 24-fret, which had similar rear-routing and top holes. Maybe I can find a diagram for that and see how they did it.
 
#4
Dec1975 said:
Thanks for the input. Two volumes with bass and treble cuts sounds like a good idea.

I seem to recall Fender made a Jazz 24-fret, which had similar rear-routing and top holes. Maybe I can find a diagram for that and see how they did it.
Click to expand...

To my knowledge, Fender has never done such a scheme on any instrument.

What you want is the G&L diagram, plus a pickup selector. From a quick Google search, this suffices, although the tone control is wired backwards, for some reason. Swap the first and third terminals on the tone pot, and it will behave nicely.
Diagram1c_WEB.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Clark Dark, Will_White and Dec1975
#6
line6man said:
To my knowledge, Fender has never done such a scheme on any instrument.

What you want is the G&L diagram, plus a pickup selector. From a quick Google search, this suffices, although the tone control is wired backwards, for some reason. Swap the first and third terminals on the tone pot, and it will behave nicely.
Diagram1c_WEB.jpg
Click to expand...

Awesome! That looks like a great idea. Time to order some parts.

By the way, I did find the Fender Jazz 24- they were active basses, and nothing like what I was looking for.
 
#7
I considered the G&L bass cut circuit on my passified Thingray, but I decided against it--it probably makes sense on the L1000 with it's neckward pickup and OMG mode, but for other basses I'm not so sure. (Also, the 1 meg reverse log taper pot is a bit hard to find.)

So instead, I'd second the suggestion for a series-parallel switch, and I'd add a toggle or rotary switch to give you two or more treble cut capacitor options. (Or you could buy the commercial version--a StellarTone Tone-styler). So your five controls would be: series-parallel switch, vol, vol, tone, capacitor switch.

84d54debeb244ddb3e1ba8666ee40ae3.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dec1975
#8
Yup, two volume pots, a rotary capacitor switch, a master tone pot and finally a 4 way pickup selector switch including one position for series connection is probably the way I would go too if it were my bass.

And might I add, if I had the patience it would take to do so with my soldering skills and capability to understand electronic diagrams.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dec1975
#12
With the ultra jazz you have two coils in each pickup. I would have a switch which makes each pickup's own coils series or parallel. Then I would do a typical series switch, which makes both pickups on series with each other.

Then a blend, master volume, and tone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NKBassman
#14
line6man said:
To my knowledge, Fender has never done such a scheme on any instrument.

What you want is the G&L diagram, plus a pickup selector. From a quick Google search, this suffices, although the tone control is wired backwards, for some reason. Swap the first and third terminals on the tone pot, and it will behave nicely.
Diagram1c_WEB.jpg
Click to expand...

Which control is wired wrong, the treble or bass?
 
#17
line6man said:
Two tones on a bass is fairly impractical, because they will either interact, or you will have to make compromises to get them to work independently. If if were my bass, then I would go for two volumes, a master tone, a rotary switch to select the capacitance, and a pickup selector switch. Alternatively, two volumes, bass and treble cuts, and a pickup selector switch.
Click to expand...
Two tones on a bass is a standard Warwick practice. All passive warwicks have this very set up and it works quite well, imo & IME. The cats at stellartone seem to think it's a good set up too, as they told me when I emailed them looking for information.
 
#20
superHEAVYfunk said:
Obviously.

It is fact though, that V/V/T/T is a standard, albeit not the most popular, practice. And to Warwick has been wiring their passive basses this way for decades.
Click to expand...

Fender did it in the 1960s, before switching to VVT. Just because it is a common practice does not mean that it is ideal. That's why there are a plethora of wiring options to choose from. You don't have to like my opinions, but you should at least defend VVTT wiring by citing one of its advantages, rather than trying to appeal to tradition.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back