THIS MONTH - BASS ELECTRONICS EXPLAINED
Bass Player|December 2020
Dan Veall closes this issue with a guide to on-board electronics
Dan Veall
THIS MONTH - BASS ELECTRONICS EXPLAINED

Welcome! Ever been confused by all the electronic stuff under the hood of your bass? As I see it, buying your first bass is tough enough, even before you figure out what its electronics actually do.

This is about passive versus active basses, right?

Yes! The former require no batteries and perform no amplification when controls are adjusted. On Precision- and Jazz-type basses, you’ll find a single tone control, based on just two components. The first is the knob itself, also referred to as a pot in abbreviation of its full name, potentiometer. The second is a capacitor in a network that progressively rolls offtreble frequencies as the knob is turned anti-clockwise. This creates a sound that is perceived as more bass-heavy.

You make passive basses sound pretty simple.

This story is from the December 2020 edition of Bass Player.

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This story is from the December 2020 edition of Bass Player.

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