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Wiring for pj with VOL/TONE/TONE


julesb
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I think what Rich is asking, and certainly I am having trouble seeing the answer in your post, is if you have two sets of pickups and only one volume control and no pickup selector, how do you change between pickups?

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That pic doesn't tell us anything except there is 1 Vol knob and 2 Tone - it doesn't actually mean that the bass is or was wired this way as those knobs don't look original to the bass (they're Strat knobs).

I'd wire it with 2 Vol and 1 Tone, as per this diagram: https://docs.google.com/gview?embedded=true&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.seymourduncan.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F05%2FJazzBass_Standard.pdf

D.

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The problem with wiring the 2 tone controls is that while we look at the diagram of the circuit and see the circuit as 3 separate stages, the electrons in the circuit current don't think along the same lines. So the 2 tone controls in parallel will work as a pair and won't work in isolation unless you use more circuit components. So in essence, you need a pre-amp that does this.

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[quote name='deksawyer' timestamp='1484157897' post='3213165']
That pic doesn't tell us anything except there is 1 Vol knob and 2 Tone - it doesn't actually mean that the bass is or was wired this way as those knobs don't look original to the bass (they're Strat knobs).
[/quote]

Whilst it says "Tone" on the control knobs, could it be Bass and Treble controls? Obviously the term "tone" is quite misleading in a passive sense as it is just a Treble Bleed control.
Agree with Grangur that 2 passive controls won't work in isolation.
I am sure I have a diagram somewhere that uses a single capacitor between the 2 tone controls and I think this would work. It is the same principal that Fender use on Strats.
In fact here it is somewhat butchered to just show the V/T/T section. Obviously the complete diagram has a pickup switch.

[attachment=235849:V-T-T.png]

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That pic just shows a standard set of Strat knobs, deffo not original to the bass .. I bet if you look behind the plate only the one next to the jack socket has a capacitor. Vol Vol Tone is my bet, standard in 2 pup passives.
Have you tried it plugged in?

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Going on the general consensus here, my guess is the reason why the electrics don't work on this bass the OP bought is that the last owner was trying to do something that's not really practical.

I have a circuit somewhere for a 2 pup setup with a volume and tone for each pup.
But I recall the wiring was odd and didn't really make sense. And I've worked as an electronics engineer.

I started off by using the commonly used circuit for a guitar VVTT, but that didn't work. It turned out I needed to swap over 2 wires. It made no logical sense, but it worked.

Edited by Grangur
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Thanks guys, it was indeed 2 vol, one tone. I hastily jumped to the wrong conclusion of Vol tone tone because of the knobs that were on there. Next time I'll think before I post.

The bass is nearly back from the dead so I'll post when I've finished.
Cheers!

Edited by julesb
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i did actually wire up a PJ as tone tone vol as it was a particularly slow day! it worked and was a nice experiment as you could have the J pup with tone all the way up and P pup all the way down and vice-versa to get different tones, but changed back to vol vol tone when i realized i'll have the tones all the way up in the end anyway!

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