I’m planning to convert my bass (an EHB1005F) to a fully passive bass.
In terms of controls, it has one toggle switch and four knobs.
The portion of the planned conversion that I’m most hoping is possible consists of the following controls:
* An On/On/On switch to toggle between serial/parallel/parallel out of phase
* Two push/pull volume knobs, one for each pickup, that toggles between split coil and humbucker on push/pull
* A rotary knob that’s a custom varitone circuit, bypass option included
The last knob I have two ideas for, but I’m unsure based on what I’ve been reading if the interaction between the circuits would have unintended effects on the resulting eq.
The first, and the one I probably prefer to install assuming it won’t interact negatively with the varitone circuit, is a push/pull knob that switches between a bass cut and a treble cut.
The second option is a rotary knob that switches between predefined high/low pass filters. I would install the filter knob assuming the cut knob interacts poorly with the varitone and the filter doesn’t, otherwise I would install the bass/treble knob and only use it when the varitone is bypassed.
With all that said, I’m looking for some advice on building up the base electronics knowledge to understand diagrams and design this myself. There’s a lot of knowledge out there, I don’t have to do everything from scratch, but I don’t want to Frankenstein other people’s designs, I want to understand what I’m doing. I have the Art of Electronics marked down as a worthwhile reference source; if the answer is just buy a book and stare at diagrams until you comprehend them I’ll be a little sad, but I’m up for it!
More confident in the resources I know of with regard to soldering, which will involve practice regardless of knowledge…
If it changes anything, I’m planning on running this converted bass into something like a zvex SHO (high input impedance clean gain pedal). I’m not worried about a little signal loss, just bad interactions from the electronics.
In terms of controls, it has one toggle switch and four knobs.
The portion of the planned conversion that I’m most hoping is possible consists of the following controls:
* An On/On/On switch to toggle between serial/parallel/parallel out of phase
* Two push/pull volume knobs, one for each pickup, that toggles between split coil and humbucker on push/pull
* A rotary knob that’s a custom varitone circuit, bypass option included
The last knob I have two ideas for, but I’m unsure based on what I’ve been reading if the interaction between the circuits would have unintended effects on the resulting eq.
The first, and the one I probably prefer to install assuming it won’t interact negatively with the varitone circuit, is a push/pull knob that switches between a bass cut and a treble cut.
The second option is a rotary knob that switches between predefined high/low pass filters. I would install the filter knob assuming the cut knob interacts poorly with the varitone and the filter doesn’t, otherwise I would install the bass/treble knob and only use it when the varitone is bypassed.
With all that said, I’m looking for some advice on building up the base electronics knowledge to understand diagrams and design this myself. There’s a lot of knowledge out there, I don’t have to do everything from scratch, but I don’t want to Frankenstein other people’s designs, I want to understand what I’m doing. I have the Art of Electronics marked down as a worthwhile reference source; if the answer is just buy a book and stare at diagrams until you comprehend them I’ll be a little sad, but I’m up for it!
More confident in the resources I know of with regard to soldering, which will involve practice regardless of knowledge…
If it changes anything, I’m planning on running this converted bass into something like a zvex SHO (high input impedance clean gain pedal). I’m not worried about a little signal loss, just bad interactions from the electronics.
Last edited: