3-wire picups...can they be active?

eastcoasteddie · #1 03-22-2009, 11:49 AM

The pickups in my Squier Deluxe Active Jazz V have 3 wires. White, Red and Bare (no insulation). They were wired for passive use from the factory. The White was hot to/from volume pot. The red and Bare were twisted together and grounded.
I re-wired wired the bass for passive-only and a series/parallel switch. No battery.

Started poking around the Duncan site and came across these active pickups:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...b5_active_for/

and then looked at the wiring diagram to see the suggested wiring.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/...501035-100.pdf

I see these active pickups have Red, White and bare wires. The white is to the volume pot, the bare goes to ground and the red goes to Battery.

What are the chances that I can use the squier pickups as active pickups being that they have the 3 wires???

Seems that you don't really need a preamp to use active pickups either, which I didn't know. I guess the preamp is optional. I have an empty battery compartment in the bass, and I was wondering if I can fill it with a battery and still have my V-V-T-T setup.

RyreInc · #2 03-22-2009, 11:56 AM

zero chance.

Active pups DO have a preamp built into the pup housing.

eastcoasteddie · #3 03-22-2009, 12:12 PM

Alright.
Can't blame a guy for thinking...
Reason I ask is that according to SD, you can use these pickups with or without their STC-2 or STC-3 preamp. If use with the STC-x preamp, that's like using 2 preamps in one bass.,..kind of overkill???

TrevorOfDoom · #4 03-22-2009, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eastcoasteddie

The pickups in my Squier Deluxe Active Jazz V have 3 wires. White, Red and Bare (no insulation). They were wired for passive use from the factory.

this sentence makes no sense to me. it's an Active Jazz. it's in the name. it came from the factory wired for active use. hence the name.
was it rewired for passive use?
chances are good that whatever pickups are in there now are the same ones that were in there when it was active.

TrevorOfDoom · #5 03-22-2009, 12:24 PM

sorry, i reread the post.

the only company that makes active pickups, IIRC, is EMG.
everyone else uses passive pups into an active circuit.

eastcoasteddie · #6 03-22-2009, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorOfDoom

sorry, i reread the post.

the only company that makes active pickups, IIRC, is EMG.
everyone else uses passive pups into an active circuit.

so why are these advertised as "Active replacement pickups"?

http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...jj1_proactive/

Jazz Ad · #7 03-22-2009, 12:57 PM

Bacause they are. Several companies build active pickups. None of them can be found in stock Fender or Squier instruments.
Feeding 9 V to your pickups' coils is a pretty much perfect way to destroy them.

fullrangebass · #8 03-22-2009, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorOfDoom

sorry, i reread the post.

the only company that makes active pickups, IIRC, is EMG.
everyone else uses passive pups into an active circuit.

IIRC the Barts that are on the USA MTDs are active (I may be mistaken though)

eastcoasteddie · #9 03-22-2009, 01:21 PM

I guess I'll just keep putting women's panties in that empty battery compartment then,

thanks.

4StringTheorist · #10 03-22-2009, 01:45 PM

There are several companies that make active bass pickups. EMG are just the best known for it.

If the pickups are actually working without a battery installed in the bass, then they aren't actives. Active pickups won't work without the battery.

walterw · #11 03-22-2009, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eastcoasteddie

Alright.
Can't blame a guy for thinking...
Reason I ask is that according to SD, you can use these pickups with or without their STC-2 or STC-3 preamp. If use with the STC-x preamp, that's like using 2 preamps in one bass.,..kind of overkill???

no, it's done all the time. it is a bit redundant feeding an active pickup right into another onboard preamp, but it won't hurt anything.

the fender active stuff is always passive pickups into a preamp.

walterw · #12 03-22-2009, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

... Several companies build active pickups. None of them can be found in stock Fender or Squier instruments.
Feeding 9 V to your pickups' coils is a pretty much perfect way to destroy them.

could make for some entertaining smoke effects, though.

actual active pickups have that red wire going to power a little circuitboard preamp right inside the pickup. IIRC, the squier pickup wires are just the hot and ground wires from the coil, and a bare wire to ground the shielding.