pu's direct to jack

[GaryOpenhill]

I was inspired by jamsires tapladder with a single labeled "knob ->" and wanted to do som experimenting on my krappy with two bill lawrence humbuckers wiring them the simplest possible way. And it seems that wiring it all straight to the jack, skipping both volume and tone controls, actually works really great and even keeps the sound at its fullest and best (i mean it sounds different and probably better than running it trough the pots even if they are both turned full on)? I'v read in some bass forums that this is a fact....to some.

what do you all think about that? I always have all pots turned full on anyway. Could it be that tone and volume pots never can give a true bypass mode, and therefor always will eat at the output a bit, so i dont really need them and should skip them alltogether?

Im just doing both pu's to the same mono output jack, but what if i wired each straqigth to its own output jacks, getting two monos and true stereo with no mixing and bleeding and the very best sound. Or is this crazy talk! (i'm dying to test this, but its late and everybody is sleeping and i have to wait until tomorrow to get on with it...)

[traktor]

In my experience, this is true.

In several cases, working with prototypes, I've wired straight out to jack.

Because even if you use 500KOhm pots, as we do. Or even if you could find 700 KOhm pots or 1000 KOhm pots, you're going to have a little of the top end eaten by the pot.

How much? The higher your pot resistance, the less, but I reckon it will pretty much never get to zero.

So no pots at all have the maximum brightness to the ear.

The only reason that we all use pots is so we can adjust relative volume and tone at the instrument. But if that's not needful in your situation, you can save some component cost and wiring time.

[PhoBucket]

Yes, many bass heavyweights do or have done this. Anthony Jackson is the biggest proponent of this that I know. Gary Willis also had basses like this for a while, but eventually conceded to use volume knobs when his signature model came out.

The main arguments for it that I have heard are a) it's all in the hands, and b) you can get better quality electronics outside of the instrument becuase you know longer have the space concerns.

If you end up running the signal through cheap volume pedals, you're probably negating the gain you made with the wiring. Still, I like the idea. Let us know how it turns out.

[GaryOpenhill]

Yep, theres no doubt that they sound brighter and fuller, when skipping the pots. Being a simple guy, i like it I even had 250 ohms to these passives so the difference is much bigger than if i had 500's, if i understand traktor correctly. Still, these Bill Lawrence USA pickups turnes out to be crappy for tappers, and theres nothing that can change that! :P :)

[PhoBucket]

Are the pickups too bright? What don't you like about them?

[gvella]

I've got 2 single blade Lawrences on my 1st tapper I made.I had to file the blades down to remove the arch but they seem pretty good.The strings are of equal volume but like most tappers you really need a pre amp.

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by PhoBucket
Are the pickups too bright? What don't you like about them?

Im not sure i can exactly put my finger on what it is.
The bass strings doenst sound very nice. They are either clanky or sounds too much like cardboard depending on the eq. No middle road. Also they pickup the attack in a distinct and weird and annoing way, but i dont think the pu's have become microphinic (loose wired copper). Yes they are brigth, but thats what i was after whn i bought them. Also they were the cheapest in the store. Btw, i understand that there are two types of bill lawrence pu's, one made by bill lawrence and one made by the guy who owns the "bill lawrence" tradmark. So i'm not saying that lawrence pickups are bad or that the type i got wont work as blues guitar pu's. But something strange is going on!

i need to order a new pro made tapper that i will not tamper with. what will it be!? SO many to choose from.

[traktor]

Originally posted by gvella
I've got 2 single blade Lawrences on my 1st tapper I made.I had to file the blades down to remove the arch but they seem pretty good.The strings are of equal volume but like most tappers you really need a pre amp. Hi, George,

In my experiments I also filed down some arched pickups.

I am not certain, but I think it affected the magnetic metal piece I was filing.

I also had some prototypes made with a flat blade. The first prototype I made tall, to stick up high above the coil. I don't remember what the problem was, exactly, but it sounded crappy!

So then I had some prototypes made with flat blades, but only sticking up a little. Suddenly it sounded good. But remember, these blades weren't filed. They were made flat in the first place. (Now used as our custom 'Flat Top' dual-rail pickups for the TrueTapper Eclipse.)

I suspect, but don't know how to tell for sure, that filing *may* change your sound.

[Jim_D]

The billlawrence.com website mentions how grinding magnets can affect the magnetism within the magnet (magnetically I guess ;))

http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Pickupology/magnets.htm

I've sometimes wondered what Lawrence L-500's would sound like in my megatar.

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by Jim_D
The billlawrence.com website mentions how grinding magnets can affect the magnetism within the magnet (magnetically I guess ;))

http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Pickupology/magnets.htm

I've sometimes wondered what Lawrence L-500's would sound like in my megatar.

wow, never knew that grinder thing.

[gvella]

It mentions using a grinder or sander which produces heat could harm the pickup.I used a file which still can heat up the magnet but not to the extent of using a grinder.As I mentioned my Lawrences still sound good.I actually compared them the other day to the Lace alumitones I have in my other tapper.The Lawrence pu's had a more even tone.The bass response seemed ballsier.The high pitched strings had more volume.
I'm not recommending you file anything.I did and I honestly can't say if it had a difference or not since I never heard the pu before the fact.