Volume Blend Tone plate for passive Jazz

[bassjim]

Hello 👋 

 

Does anyone here know of or has made the change to a passive 4 string Jazz Bass from a volume volume tone to a volume blend tone?

 

If so any unwanted side effects?

 

Any advice appreciated in advance 

 

[paul_5]

KiOgon (username) on here can knock you up an excellent quality circuit that does exactly what you want.

 

Failing that you'll need a dual 250kΩ (or 500kΩ) potentiometer and wire it like this:
 

 

The two 'sources' are your hot pickup wires.

Edited July 3, 2023 by paul_5

[itu]

...and the pot has to be a Bourns MN 250k or MN 500k. MN has balance tapers.

[Bassman68]

Both my Jazz’s have kiOgon looms with blend,volume & tone.

I much prefer the single volume & can still get the sweet spot mixes 60:40 etc.

To my ears, there seems to be less volume drop when 50:50 mix too?

[spencer.b]

I find the 2 volumes so annoying I'm gonna look into this

[toneknob]

I've been curious about switching my J to this kind of setup before, driven mostly by the incessant hum of the flourescent strips in my rehearsal room causing all manner of hum when I was on anything except equal volume on both pickups.

 

So I did a bit of googling around, and at the time I remember coming across a link, probably talkbass (which of course I can't find now) that said essentially "why? that's the characteristic sound of a Jazz bass. don't mess with the recipe". Food for thought.

 

I've just tried and failed to find that thread, but instead found this one - https://www.talkbass.com/threads/benefit-of-vol-vol-vs-a-blend-knob.1018316/ - which offers a bit more of a concrete argument, "I'm sure someone else can fill you in on the "why", but there is a difference in tone between a blend knob set to the middle (both pickups at 50%) and having both pickups at 100%"

 

So is that what would happen with a blend pot? ie is the middle blend position each pickup at 50% or is it both on 100%? 

 

btw it might also be worth getting a shielding job done while you're at it.

 

 

 

 

 

[itu]

21 hours ago, toneknob said:

"I'm sure someone else can fill you in on the "why", but there is a difference in tone between a blend knob set to the middle (both pickups at 50%) and having both pickups at 100%"

 

So is that what would happen with a blend pot? ie is the middle blend position each pickup at 50% or is it both on 100%?

As said, use the MN type pot.

 

Ordinary log/audio, or linear taper starts at the other end and stops in the other. In blend tapers start from the center detent (or middle). Therefore you get 100 % in the middle.

 

Note: This is a hi-Z circuitry! Battery powered mixers (or active blends like Noll Mixpot) may have very different way of working and shouldn't be compared directly without deeper knowledge of the functions.