Alright I'm Confused As ****

[bassrocker521]

Alright here's the deal,

I've been looking into replacing the EMG HZ's on my Schecter Stilleto Elite 5 which are passive and replacing them with either some Bartolini actives or EMG actives. I popped open the back of my elite and I remember that I have a 9V in the back, now I'm new to the pup game but aren't passive pups not supposed to require a 9V? I'm so confused and any help would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks,
Luke

[SoLongJake]

It isn't the pickups that require the 9volt, its the pre-amp.

[bassrocker521]

do passive pickups usually have a preamp? sorry for the noobishness, like I said I'm just getting into the internal electronics buisness...

[SoLongJake]

I did a quick check on musicians friend, your bass has a 2 band active eq. Generally if a bass has separate bass/treble boost knobs it will have some sort of pre-amp in it.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by bassrocker521

do passive pickups usually have a preamp? sorry for the noobishness, like I said I'm just getting into the internal electronics buisness...

Typically, no. A passive bass usually has passive electronics.

But keep in mind that two kinds of active basses exist out there, and most of those active basses have passive pickups.

The more common type uses passive pickups that are wired to an active preamp installed in the control cavity. This is the sort of thing you'll see on Musicman basses, active Fender basses, Warwick basses, and numerous other common active basses. This includes Stiletto Elite, Studio and Custom models, too.

The less common type (which includes active EMG pickups, but not HZ) has pickups that require power to operate. Why? Because these have integrated active preamps - they're built into the pickups themselves.

That's why EMG's control sets tend to be EQ controls, designed to best manipulate the built-in preamps of the active pickups.

[bassrocker521]

thanks to both of you, one more question can i replace the HZ's in my bass with a pair of truely active pups?

[GreyBeard]

Originally Posted by bassrocker521

thanks to both of you, one more question can i replace the HZ's in my bass with a pair of truely active pups?

I don't know why not. Just make sure the pups are a direct replacement size wise.

[bassmanrocke]

As MysticBoo stated, most replacement pickups are passive. What makes them active is that they are wired to a separate preamp mounted somewhere in the bass(Usually the control cavity). While it is possible to find truly active pickups, all this means is that the preamp is miniturized and located within the pickup. The only reason this would be more desireable is if there are real space limitations within your bass' control cavity. Even this has become less of a problem with options like aguilar OBP1 or 2, or similar downsized preamps. Additionally, having the separate preamp allows options like passive/active switching that is not an option to "Active pickups." Most of the upperend pickups you can find will be passive, and will work exceptionally well with several different upscale preamps. Don't get hung up on the pickups being active. Get the best pickups and the best preamp you can afford.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by bassrocker521

thanks to both of you, one more question can i replace the HZ's in my bass with a pair of truely active pups?

Of course - I did it to one of my Schecter Stilettos before. But you'll have to do some soldering and re-wiring. EMG-HZ pickups use a 5-pin wire, while the active EMGs use a 3-pin wire.

You will need to change the volume pots, too. The pickups will come with replacement pots if you buy them new, so you'll have that covered. The EQ pots won't change.

The reason is a matter of impedance - so you'll need pots of a different value. IIRC, the current pots in your Schecter are 250K-Ohm, and the replacement EMGs will be 25K-Ohm.

Once your active EMGs are properly installed, you can easily swap them out for another type of active EMG pickup by disconnecting it from the 3-pin cable it attaches to. It's a nice plus if you ever want to change from EMG-DC to EMG-CS or EMG-P, etc., etc.