carlsim Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 Hi all… some advice needed. I have an Xotic XJ-1T and love the bass… the electronics, not so much. pups are great, although I am considering seeing if something works better… but for now, I am really looking at a preamp mod. basically, when in active mode, the passive high cut is still working which to me, totally negates the purpose of having a high, mid and bass eq control. Some may disagree, but I find it counter intuitive when making tonal changes. anyway, the Xotic has 6 pots. Vol, blend and passive tone control plus the 3 band eq. hardly any preamps have 6 pots so I have settled on the Glockenklang 3 band eq, the treble becoming a passive tone control in passive mode. They have good reviews and seem to be a nice transparent pre. anyway… I will be left with a spare hole. toggle switch was my first thought - a kill switch maybe? Save unplugging during breaks? Is that doable? wire the switch to the battery positive to kill the battery feed? any other thoughts? I’m not clever endings to get in to coil tapping, besides I’m sure the pups are single coil. Plus I’m quite happy with a standard jazz blend. any other ideas?? carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 Beware pops with such switches. But maybe a ser/par might do the trick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 5 hours ago, carlsim said: any other ideas?? Blanking grommets, cheap and reversible 👍 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsim Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 I may well go with a blanking something of some sort… will make it a lot easier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 A volume knob for the guitar player 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 I'd fit a DFA knob so you can be seen to turn down when someone says the bass is too loud. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 29 minutes ago, FinnDave said: I'd fit a DFA knob so you can be seen to turn down when someone says the bass is too loud. Best possible advice. Can also be used when someone (like our old singer) says "I wish you played a ....... like our old bassist did", you can engage the '......bass switch'. They're amazingly effective, especially for some reason, with singists 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 32 minutes ago, FinnDave said: I'd fit a DFA knob so you can be seen to turn down when someone says the bass is too loud. Exactly what I was going to suggest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 Great minds 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 1 hour ago, FinnDave said: I'd fit a DFA knob so you can be seen to turn down when someone says the bass is too loud. Or the Lee Sklar variant: the Producer Switch. 😉 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 Install something useful, like a two-way switch to run both pickups in serial. Wire the pickups direct to the switch and from there to your blecnd pot so that you can have your usual parallel Jazz blend (which gives the J it's famous scooped sound) but also run one into the other to give a more middy and aggressive tone, a handy option to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suburban Man Posted May 28, 2023 Share Posted May 28, 2023 Apart from the 'Producer Switch' option, which is always a good one 🙂 I'm a big fan of a 'mute' switch. Just a 2 pole on/off that shorts live and earth on the outgoing jack socket. It won't save battery, but it sure will mute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted May 28, 2023 Share Posted May 28, 2023 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Suburban Man said: Apart from the 'Producer Switch' option, which is always a good one 🙂 I'm a big fan of a 'mute' switch. Just a 2 pole on/off that shorts live and earth on the outgoing jack socket. It won't save battery, but it sure will mute. Shorting hot/signal (I assume you mean) and earth, excuse me for my ignorance, won't short the battery on a bass with an active preamp? Which, if this is indeed the case, would spell disaster. Also why have the switch short hot/signal with earth, rather than just cutting/intercepting the hot/signal connection? Edited May 28, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suburban Man Posted May 28, 2023 Share Posted May 28, 2023 On an active preamp the battery connection is usually made across the earth side - in other words when you put the jack plug into the bass its the ground/earth part of the connector (not the tip) that joins battery negative to preamp negative. You can just cut the hot/signal connection if you want, but it leaves a nice little RF antenna in place of your neatly grounded pickup. That may or may not cause a noise problem, but grounding the hot/signal connection definitely stops any cr@p getting into the nice high-gain front end of you amp as well as muting the pickup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 On 28/05/2023 at 13:27, Baloney Balderdash said: Shorting hot/signal (I assume you mean) and earth, excuse me for my ignorance, won't short the battery on a bass with an active preamp? Which, if this is indeed the case, would spell disaster. Also why have the switch short hot/signal with earth, rather than just cutting/intercepting the hot/signal connection? The battery positive isn't connected to the signal. There would generally be a capacitor on the preamp output to block DC anyway. With a SPDT switch, the ground could be connected to either the battery negative or the signal via the switch, which would mean the battery wouldn't drain if it was left plugged in with the switch switched to off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.