Bass wiring questions . . .

[Cooper]

Hello. My fiance plays a Peavy Foundation in our alt country band. It is two-pickup bass, with a volume knob for each pickup and a master tone. She doesn't like this control configuration.

She would like to change to a tele-like control setup. 3-way switch, one vol, one tone. What pots and caps would make this setup work? Could I just use the pot values from a J-Bass and wire it like a Tele?

I've never seen a bass setup this way. Is there a reason bass players stay away from this simplistic setup?

[Tim Armstrong]

Originally Posted by Cooper

I've never seen a bass setup this way. Is there a reason bass players stay away from this simplistic setup?

Yeah, most bass players don't actually USE the controls!

That approach ought to work just fine, seems to me...

Cheers, Tim

[reddogbass]

I use the T model Megaswitch from StewMac, and wire it according to this diagram. The only change is to snip the cap off the volume control. The tone cap is either .05 or .1 mf.

The other thing you could do is use a blend pot, and change out one of your volume posts for a tone pot. That would probably be a better solution with less modifications to the bass.

[Dave W]

My (former) Rick 4004 was set up that way. So was my old Vox violin bass, although the selector switch was a rotary switch. I'm sure there are more.

The reason it's done V/V/T on so many two-pickup basses is because of the popularity of the Fender Jazz. It's worked well for many bassists for many years. But if she doesn't like it, there's no reason you shouldn't change it. I'd use the same pot and cap values it has currently.

[Ben Harmless]

Actually, since the Tele switch is different that say, a Les Paul selector switch, I'd use the LP wiring scheme, (adapted for master V and T) with Jazz bass component values. Best of both worlds!