In the early 90’s I had parts maker Paul Chandler put together a Jazz Bass. It’s been my go to bass every since. Sure my vintage Silvertones are usually in my hands, but I always had the Jazz bass hanging around in case I needed a”real bass”. So, over the years I keep changing its set up to suit whatever I’m into. Last year I switched out the electronics to an Audere 4 band active set up. It’s been amazing.
A few months back I switched my strings to the heaviest LaBella tapewounds I could get. And I’m really loving it. But I keep wanting to be able to just roll my tone knob but now it’s 3 knobs?!?!
This morning I was transcribing songs for the upcoming Lovin’ Spoonful tribute and I kept getting distortion from my amp… I realized the Pre-amp needed a new battery. As I started taking the screws out of the jack plate I decided to switch back to passive. Within 10 min it was done. I plugged in and instantly missed the boost and boom of the active circuit. So, I played for a bit and found that as I switched from song to song I could quickly switch my tone around to suit the needs of the song. Yes, I could have got the same control with the active, but there would be much more messing around.
Playing a bass you’ve played for 25 or so years has a level of comfort and it feels like part of you. So welcome back tone knob.
