Re: I hate batteries...so I modded my basses like so...


"theWord" <any1@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:92def$4c374877$407e2fdb$14267@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
So I modded my basses. There might be some of you out there who could use
these tricks so I'll post them.
I have a1998 Fender American P-deluxe (great solid playing piece of
lumber, big fat P-bass neck), and a newer Fender Jaguar (lots of tone
possibilities and a nice neck too).

First the P-deluxe. I never was really happy with the active EQ in this
bass after the "new bass" honeymoon died out. It just didn't seem to cut
like I thought it should. So I took out the actives and replaced them with
a 250K volume pot (a 500K pot makes it a little too bright). I also kept
the blend pot in there for choosing a pickup. No tone pot or caps. Sounds
good, changing pickups alters the tone a bit for three basic tones, one or
the other, or both. Great for Rock or Punk. Ok that was simple. (BTW I
took the active EQ and put it in a box, if I need to actify a passive bass
I can do it. The Jag active EQ sounded like crap, but this EQ makes the
Jag sound like it is on steroids!)

Now the Jag. I took out the active circuitry and gave the circuit board to
a friend of mine at work. I wired the indivdual pickups to the two 500K
pots that use to control the active treble and bass boosts. Now I have a
neck and a bridge volume control. The switch that was up there to turn the
actives on/off is now my series/parallel switch. The two knobs down by the
output jack are now a 5-way rotary switch, and a tone pot which uses the
tone cap selected by the rotary switch. I also put copper shielding tape
in all the cavities. The three switches down by the lower horn do nothing
now, they are basically three extra switches in case I break my
series/parallel switch. This Jag is nice and quiet now that it is properly
grounded. The actives in it sucked IMHO, and honestly it did not really
sound any DIFFERENT with the actives engaged. These Jags are really
passive players. I thought about putting some Ultra Jazz DiMarzios in
there because they have a higher top-end to them, and when put into series
it will (probably) keep the tone crisper, but these single coil Jag
pickups are fine for now. Maybe later, but I just do not see the need.
Total cost: one 5 way rotary switch, and one 250K audio pot (plus some
solder, 24 gauge wire, some caps I got for free, and some time).
Now I am not at the mercy of the dreaded dead battery, or the cost of a
new one (9V batteries are expensive!)!

Excelsior!!!
Word.



.

Relevant Pages

  • I hate batteries...
    ... So I took out the actives and replaced them with a 250K ... No tone pot or caps. ... The Jag active EQ sounded like crap, but this EQ makes the Jag sound ... The switch that was up there to turn the actives ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)
  • Re: Active or passive
    ... True passives will generate tone no matter what as long as the signal gets to your amp. ... Actives will require an on board pre amp, ... Active tone circuits usually consist of boost/cut, boost only controls, whereas passive tone controls are pass/no pass. ... Therefore if one uses passive pickup and then adds a powered tone shaping circuit to the signal chain one gets the ability to switch the tone control/preamp in or out of the signal chain as desired. ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)
  • Re: Active or passive
    ... Actives will require an on board pre amp, ... Active tone circuits usually consist of boost/cut, ... Therefore if one uses passive pickup (which require no power ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)
  • Re: EMG stuff...
    ... switch, and is used in guitars with two or more EMG Pickups. ... reversing is superior because it maintains the quietness of an EMG ... actives, you really get the signals done first as usual, no noise or ...
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  • Re: Preamp question
    ... my basses are loZ actives now, all with passive tone controls. ... Passive with a preamp are still subject to noise interference which I'm ...
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