Volume pot impedance/tonal effect

[B.Flat]

In a previous question about installing a concentric volume pot on a pj bass I was told that the extra pot would darken the tone.
Due to life intervening (as usual) I have not done the mod yet. However, while turning the idea over in my mind, I was thinking that as the original pot was 500K would a dual con. 250K prevent this "darkening" ? The bass is an IBANEZ RS924, which also has a switchable preamp ( bass/treble boost/cut) which shares the vol. pot and passive tone pot remains active. Would either configuration have an effect on the preamp?

A final question is, could I fit a ghost coil or other device (buffer ?) to reduce hum when in passive mode ?.

[ikay]

Generally speaking the higher the pot value/resistance the brighter the tone. A dual 500k pot would be darker than the original single 500k vol plus 3-way switch configuration (2 x 500k in parallel = 250k). A dual 250k pot would be darker still (2 x 250k in parallel = 125k). In passive mode I'm sure you would hear a darkening of the tone. In active mode probably less so or not at all (and you can boost the EQ anyway if needed).

[B.Flat]

Thankyou for the replyikay.

Can any darkness be compensated for with amp eq, or are the frequencies no longer in the signal to boost?

[ikay]

The higher frequencies are attenuated so 'less present' in the signal rather than lost altogether. Active eq will be able to compensate for this to some extent but the basic signal from the pickup will be darker so the eq will have less headroom for adding extra sparkle.

Edited November 15, 2017 by ikay