Wiring my warwick passive - what do i need?!

jasonbraatz · #1 10-24-2002, 11:44 PM

ok, my volume pot on my thumb is darn near going out. so i'm going to rewire it passive until i have the cake for a u-retro.

it has active pickups, and i'd want it to be volume, blend, tone. (so i'm going to follow EMG wiring diagrams) unless volume volume tone is drastically better tone wise i'd much rather have the blend because

which pots do i need? i want the BEST tone possible out of this rig. it's been so long since i've played a passive bass - is there a way that i can get a bass boost? like, having twin tone controls perhaps with different settings?

what about push-pull for parallel/series? is that possible?

or should i just keep it simple?

please - someone point me in the right direction. i have no clue what i should be looking for in terms of pots.

merlin · #2 10-25-2002, 06:03 AM

Try the Search function and see what you come up with. I know this has been covered. Infact its in a recent thread down the list on page one of Setup.

Merls

jasonbraatz · #3 10-25-2002, 09:34 AM

wah...i'm not a newbie you meanie!!!

anyways yeah i did a search and i didn't find what i was looking for. i know i need 25k pots (for everything?) but i'm wondering about my options as far as series/parallel, and the different tone control question, and who makes the best sounding pots.

Chasarms · #4 10-25-2002, 10:47 AM

OK. I am no meanie.

25K is waaayy to low for a passive rig. You'll need at least 250K pots for the volume and probably for the tone as well.

I have used allparts pots for the last few projects and they are of excellent quality. Evey thing I mention in this post can be bought through them (except maybe the 9-pin push/pull). They can be purchased most cheaply at:

http://www.internetmusicsupply.com

You can wire a blend on a passive, duel single coil type setup (jazz bass). I have never tried it myself, but it should work. You'll need a 250K or 500K blend pot for the job. 250K is better if it works. 500K guarantees that you'll get a full pan but will also be less sensitive.

The volume, volume, will give you the same flexibility, be easier to wire and cost less.

You will also need to replace all of the other pots with higher impedance pots. If you have the same pots in your thumb as I had in the Streamer, you probably won't want to reuse them anyway, as they are very weird. and integrated into the circuit using a IC board style that is a pain to work with.

Remember that tone control in a passive rig doesn't boost anything, but rather bleeds it off. That is a tone knob at full is really the natural tone and rolling it back simply bleeds off some of the higher frequencies to ground.

You'll need something like a .022 value capacitor to use in your regular tone control.

And, the only way to create a "bass boost" would be to filter it out in "regular" mode and then the "boost" would really be just adding in back. Bad idea IMO.

It would very very easy to use a push/pull volume knob (if you can find a 9-pin push/pull) to create a series/parrallel swith and would offer you more tone variety. A very good idea IMO.

Later,

Chas

jasonbraatz · #5 10-25-2002, 11:32 AM

everything i read says that with active pickups like EMG's you need 25k pots, and MEC's are active pickups just like EMG's. correct or no?

will the tone be sacrificed at all going volume blend tone? i do some effecty type stuff with the volume knob that i don't want two knobs for.

any links to a wiring diagram for that series/parallel switch?

how much does tone capacitor value change the tone control? ideally i'd like to get the same warwicky tone at full on, with a p-bass/uprighty vibe with the neck pu soloed and the tone control down.

Chasarms · #6 10-25-2002, 11:54 AM

Good question. I have no clue. When you said, "wire passive," I thought you meant "wire passive."

So you are saying that you want to go from active-active to active-passive. If that is the case, then you will indeed use the lower value pots.

Are the MEC PUs active? I have no clue without looking in the cavity.

I don't think your tone will be sacrificed by using a blend pot. They are available in 25K. They are just a PIA to wire.

Chas

Chasarms · #7 10-25-2002, 12:34 PM

Ok. I was a good boy and looked at Warwicks site. The Thumb doese indeed have active pickups. Although that fact doesn't make the use of 25K pots a given. For example, active SD basslines jazz PUs use 100K pots.

EMGs would be considered ultralow impedance PUs. Without knowing the output of the MECs, it would be hard to guess the right pot values.

You can try to figure it all out, or just guess.

If it were me, I'd guess. And I would use 100K pots. I doubt you'll find a 100K blend, so use a 250.

jasonbraatz · #8 10-26-2002, 02:20 PM

got this email back from allparts....

Quote:

I'm not sure if the pickups would funtion if they weren't wired to an active circuit.
Sorry,
Allparts Music

right...then why do they sell 25k volume pots for active pickups?

Chasarms · #9 10-26-2002, 10:15 PM

We use active and passive in general terms, but there are really four types of wiring:

passive-passive: That's a completely passive circuit, like an old Fender and about 1000 other basses.

passive-active: passive PUs with an on-board preamp, like bartolini's designs. EBMM, Ken Smith basses, etc. This is probably the most common "active" bass.

active-passive: Like EMGs. (unless you add the BMT system) The preamp is built into the PU itself and the tone controls are passive.

active-active: like your thumb is now. Like my LX is now.

It seems possible that you can go from active-active to active-passive. I am not familiar enough with the MEC stuff to know, but I would try it at least.