Jazz bass - stacked knob compared to V / V / T

[ead]

I've tried a few searches on here regarding this, but so far I've either not found the magic search term or, less likely, there are no threads on the topic so...Has anybody on here tried the two variations back to back, and if so do you notice a real difference?

[Old Horse Murphy]

I've tried both and prefer the Stack knobs as it gives you more tonal variety than just the one tone knob for each pickup.

Not entirely sure why Fender changed other than maybe for cost reasons.

[BassBod]

I've swapped - the stacked version has a bit less output, and seems a bit warmer/smoother. It could just be a gain difference, but I felt there was a bit less "burp" to the back pickup. Overall, I prefer the three knob version - less to think about, and frankly the more subtle tone variations are lost on most gigs!

[ikay]

Some comments on this subject from talkbass here
- http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/vintage-jazz-bass-stack-knob-vs-vvt-741038/#post10441608

[Stacker]

The VVTT puts a greater load on the pickups plus the original pots values were 250/250, not 250/500, though that circuit was discontinued in the early days of the Jazz. As above, loads of stuff on Talkbass about this.

FWIW most modern stackers just have the caps in place rather than the resistors and this helps with the output signal. I have a Jazz with 250/250 plus the caps and resisitors and it is a bit quieter but still very funky.

[iiipopes]

For gigging, I prefer the V-V-T so that adjustments can be made more confidently on the fly. There are few things worse than grabbing the wrong knob in the middle of a set or song and floundering to get out of the mess.

Edited October 8, 2012 by iiipopes