Noobie wiring P bass

[hooky_lowdown]

I want to install new pups, pots, capacitor and jack to a cheapo P bass. I want to do it as I've never done it before.

 

Are there any tips/advice of things I need to know to wire everything up? I've seen a few youtube vids, so have an idea of what to do.

 

Also, any suggestions on which soldering iron, wiring, pots, capacitor and jack I should buy and where to buy them? I don't want to use cts pots because they have larger than standard poles, which would mean enlarging pickguard holes, and getting new knobs to fit. So ideally looking for standard size pot poles to fit cheap knobs.

 

[Thunderbird]

Alpha pots neutrik Jack and don't run the iron to hot oh and 0.47 cap is fine 

[jrixn1]

I use https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/ 

Also http://www.wdmusic.co.uk - they can advise which of their knobs which fit which of their pots.

Edited February 10, 2018 by jrixn1

[Grangur]

Get a good soldering iron. It will last your lifetime if you look after it. Maplin stock some good ones. 

Get good quality pots. The cost is negligible but the difference in quality is significant.

Edited February 10, 2018 by Grangur

[BassBunny]

Have just done one.

I used CTS 250k  Linear Pot's as they give much more control over the Volume and Treble Cut.  Standard Pots are 250K  Log Pots and these always feel like they are more like On/Off switches. I also used a 0.1uf capacitor instead of the 0.047 as it gives the bass a nice "thump". Coupled to a switchcraft jack and job done.

Edited February 10, 2018 by BassBunny

[jrixn1]

Probably a typo - but to clarify, there is no "audio linear" pot.  There are two types, each of which go by various names:

• "audio" or "log" or "A"
• "linear" or "B"

The classic/standard P bass has 250k log pots. Often marked "A250K".

The standard cap is 0.047µF (not 0.47).

You also asked about wiring - you want 22-gauge stranded.

Since soldering often requires three hands, get a "helping hand" to hold things in place.

Consider wearing eye protection when soldering.

[Grangur]

surely, @jrixn1, the "audio" bit is a red-herring? 

Both pots are suitable for audio, or we wouldn't be able to use them for sound?

The important bit is they are either "log" or more accurately "logarithmic"  or the other being linear.

The difference being this:

Where with the linear scale(shown here as Arithmetic) a quarter turn means the volume will go up/down by 25%. With a Log. scale, the sound will change by either very little, or a lot, depending on what end of the scale you are.

 

[hooky_lowdown]

Thanks everyone. @jrixn1 - I have some piers I'll use to hold things in place with.

 

So, I think I will be going with the following:

Alpha A250k pot + Alpha B250k pot

Switchcraft jack

Panasonic 0.1uf capacitor

22awg pickup wire

 

 

[jrixn1]

1 hour ago, Grangur said:

surely, @jrixn1, the "audio" bit is a red-herring? 

Both pots are suitable for audio, or we wouldn't be able to use them for sound?

 

Where with the linear scale(shown here as Arithmetic) a quarter turn means the volume will go up/down by 25%. With a Log. scale, the sound will change by either very little, or a lot, depending on what end of the scale you are.

Yes, the word "audio" in general means pertaining to sound.  But I think specifically when regarding pot tapers, "audio" is a synonym for "logarithmic". So if you go to an electronics shop and asked for "an audio-taper pot", you will get sold a logarithmic pot.  As such, saying "audio linear" might be unclear what you are after.

BTW I didn't come up with the nomenclature...  don't blame me

I am not an expert - but my basic understanding is that the log pot will actually sound more linear than the linear pot, due to the way ears work.  In my own P bass, I used two log pots, and both vol and tone are smooth and useful across the whole range (not "on/off").  Of course everyone has their own preference - at the end of the day, pots and caps are only a couple of quid each, so it's not prohibitive to experiment.

[BassBunny]

@jrixn1Corrected my posting.

Must remember NOT to use a smartphone for entering comments on BassChat as it never seems to come out as I intended.