MuseMatt Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 Been forever since I posted here, but can't figure out this one on my own so I need your help here. Trying to work out some wiring, and before I hook it all up I want to get some extra thoughts in. Storytime: I have an old Ibanez Roadgear 600 which is a joy to play, been my first proper bass that I got 19 years ago. So, not wanting to sell this instrument I decided to upgrade it. Added some WIP shots to get an idea of what's done; shielding to back cavity and PU cavities, all nicely connected. Pickups are Aguilar 4M and 4J-HCs, should be really nice. As for the wiring, I have a pretty decent schematic from fat-bass, so I will run the stacked bass/treble with mid control in push/pull to select frequency, a blend pot, active/passive switch... should be lovely. However, my question regards adding a stacked tone/volume. There's times when I don't want to use the bass in active mode, so that why I will add the active/passive switch. However, I would love to still have a tone control, but as I don't want to add an extra hole, it's where I hit a snag. Question: I tried to find a way to add a tone/volume pot to the setup, but with Aguilar's setup I couldn't really figure out how to make it work, so I decided to peek at the Nordstrand 3B-4B setup, which does have a volume/tone setup. That would be the last paint-drawn picture I added. My question is: would this work, or am I misunderstanding how to wire in a passive tone control next to an active circuit? Would love to get some feedback, tips / improvements welcome. NB: I'll have a stacked A250/B250k pot that I'd like to use for this, I have to check the orientation, but I want to use the audio taper for volume and linear taper for tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 Yes, your schematic is totally correct. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 Here's the full pots Aguilar schematic if you ave any doubts, just reassemble the pots. 😉 https://www.bestbassgear.com/wiring-diagrams/v-bl-t--msw-b-ap-tone.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuseMatt Posted July 23, 2023 Author Share Posted July 23, 2023 Thanks! Aguilar themselves were not able/willing to confirm this, so that just made me question the schematic! I will sadly not receive the pot in time for my holidays to finish the build, but something fun to do when I get back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuseMatt Posted July 23, 2023 Author Share Posted July 23, 2023 @Hellzero reading in other threads that you have such extensive experience with rewiring etc. - would you still run the ground leads from the pots if the shield is properly connected to ground? I'd of course measure connectivity from the back of the pots to the ground lug on the jack to confirm ground, but wondering what your experience says in this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 If the shielding is totally grounded (so every cavity and the bridge grounded too), no need to put ground leads to the pots (except creating ground loops). Make sure to make a star grounding too. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuseMatt Posted July 23, 2023 Author Share Posted July 23, 2023 Yeah it's all grounded, soldered leads between the control cavity and the pickup cavity, bridge wire is also soldered into the shielding (though I could wire it to the jack instead of course if needed). The bass is probably not worth it when it comes to the body/neck, but it's great bringing life back to an old instrument that I don't ever want to sell either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 Fine @MuseMatt, you've done it the right way and it's always good to bring back an old bass to life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 Do you only want the tone control to operate in passive mode? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuseMatt Posted August 9, 2023 Author Share Posted August 9, 2023 Sorry I was away on holiday - I think it wouldn't really matter to me, I think it would be good if it overrides the active controls, but it's not a must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 That will do it. It would need something a bit different to have the active and passive tone separate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuseMatt Posted August 10, 2023 Author Share Posted August 10, 2023 Cheers for that - going to try to get it all done today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuseMatt Posted August 10, 2023 Author Share Posted August 10, 2023 Everything went well, really happy with the sound. However, I'm having issues with one of my stacked pots - I can't get either of my stacked control knob options (allparts stacked and a boston stacked) to work; they're off-centre and just wobbles. Of course this has to do with the shaft size, but I can't really change that - know of any nice silver 4&6mm stacked knobs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 https://www.allparts.uk.com/products/concentric-stacked-knob-set Or 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simisker Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 (edited) [EDIT: putting my response in my original thread is neater. Go read if you're thinking of getting those 4/6mm knobs quickly from Banzai Music ] Edited August 10, 2023 by simisker Posted elsewhere to avoid sidetracking 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuseMatt Posted August 10, 2023 Author Share Posted August 10, 2023 33 minutes ago, tauzero said: https://www.allparts.uk.com/products/concentric-stacked-knob-set Or That allparts one is too wide, that's closer to 5 and 7, it's one that I have lying around spare. Thanks for the heads up @simisker - I will avoid them. Ended up going framus ones as they're 4 & 6, used guitarparscenter, they seemed a bit slow but their packaging etc. was solid. Chose a faster method than I used last time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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