No Shop will install my BQC System!!!

JDM2010 · #1 09-12-2012, 01:01 PM

Guys I got a problem. I live in KY....and there are NO shops around me that will Install My BQC System in my Warwick Corvette five stringer. Every shop near me that I have went to gives me this line of horseshit...it sounds something like this "We cannot install your preamp because your pickups are active and already have a preamp in the back of the pickups" My corvette has Active EMG J set installed I just need a shop that has a QUALIFIED TECH to install this 4 knobs. I don't have to patience to read the wiring diagram and the soldered connections on the back of the diagram confuse me. I want it wired 18v too. I'm getting tired of trying. Looks like my wood chipper might have a new snack soon if no shop will work on it. I have a budget of $80 as well due to the fact that KY lacks decent guitar repair shops.

Smilodon · #2 09-12-2012, 01:08 PM

The time spent on finding a shop to do it could be spent trying to figure it out yourself.

It isn't difficult, and if you are stuck we are here to help you out.

Out of curiosity; what kind of pickups does your bass have at the moment?

FunkMetalBass · #3 09-12-2012, 01:25 PM

I'm impressed that they know what exactly an active pickup is, but refuse to install a preamp made by EMG - the leading manufacturer of active pickups.

DWBass · #4 09-12-2012, 01:28 PM

If you're ever in Southeast Virginia, my guy will do it for you! He knows EMG systems like the back of his hand!

crguti · #5 09-12-2012, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDM2010

I don't have to patience to read the wiring diagram and the soldered connections on the back of the diagram confuse me.:

Pilgrim · #6 09-12-2012, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDM2010

I don't have to patience to read the wiring diagram and the soldered connections on the back of the diagram confuse me.

You're passing up a great opportunity to learn something new and build your skills.

JimmyM · #7 09-12-2012, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crguti

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

I agree to an extent. However, due to a very small cavity, I toasted the first BQC I got for my P Lyte by touching two boards together trying to diagnose what turned out to be not flipping the one connector that needs to be flipped. So as long as you're not dumb enough to touch two boards together while it's plugged in, it's not all that hard and doesn't take too long, either.

The trick is not to look at the entire diagram and be mind-boggled. Look at one single item at a time, only that item, and don't look at anything else unless that one thing is done, then proceed to the next single item. If you take that approach it's butt simple, and even an impatient person like you could do it.

And while you're at it, try to develop some patience. Can't be 12 forever, bro

TheAngryPocket · #8 09-12-2012, 04:30 PM

Have you tried searching for "how to" videos on YouTube? I've never soldered in my entire life(my father did all of it back then). Also, EMG has a few vids on installing their systems, but kind of generic. Also, I have taken into account that your 'wicks EMG's don't have the plugs that come on the one's sold aftermarket. I just put EMG DC40's and a BQC setup in a Warmoth Gecko5. It was plug in and play. If I had only ordered the right size hole for the jack(3/4 not 1/2), I wouldn't have had to solder ANYTHING. Look on YouTube, read the wiring diagram over and over, and ask questions here(search first). Good Luck!

grendle · #9 09-12-2012, 05:51 PM

It's a really easy install. Stay off the coffee and get the add under control and it will take you about an hr going slow. Hell papal someone here 80 and I'm sure they would walk you through it on the phone or skype lol

SGD Lutherie · #10 09-12-2012, 06:11 PM

Worse comes to worse you can pack the bass up and ship it off to someone qualified. I've have people send me basses like that on a few occasions.

imtiaz3 · #11 09-13-2012, 08:19 AM

Hey I think you should try installing them. For me if I ****ed up, my band had a spare P bass I was able to use that if my main bass was out of commotion.

I got 2 EMG DC 40s and the BQS system, installing it was actually pretty easy. EMG's system is designed so you need to do very minimal to almost no soldering.

I was able to figure it out over the span of 2-3 days and I didn't even have all the cabling! I pull cables from an old computer fan to get the connections right, and in the end it works and sounds great.

The only soldering I had to do was attaching the wires to the output jack, everything else used pin connectors which can be plugged/unplugged rather easily. The EMG instructions are also very straight forward and very detailed and tons of people have said that EMG customer support is always very helpful about this.

Give it a shot, it's pretty fulfilling to get it done

and asks questions here, tons of people can guide you bit by bit especially if pics are provided

cmassa · #12 09-13-2012, 08:42 AM

Looking at the website for EMG, BQC is push on. The cables fit pins.

DWBass · #13 09-13-2012, 09:08 AM

Unless it's an older system which requires soldering. I had my tech install some EMG's in a Jazz bass once and I was expecting the newer modular system but when he opened the box, it turned out to be an older system. If it's modular, it should be an easy install. My tech is an EMG expert. I've seen him install a full modular system (pickups and preamp) in about a half hours time! A soldered system in less than an hour.

SGD Lutherie · #14 09-13-2012, 09:33 AM

The old system is easy to install also. The new system is a bit more fiddly IMO. I'd rather solder.

Any so-called tech should know how to install a preamp.

DWBass · #15 09-13-2012, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

The old system is easy to install also. The new system is a bit more fiddly IMO. I'd rather solder.

Any so-called tech should know how to install a preamp.

Should...is the key word!

**Ric5** · #16 09-13-2012, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smilodon

The time spent on finding a shop to do it could be spent trying to figure it out yourself.

+1

line6man · #17 09-13-2012, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDM2010

Every shop near me that I have went to gives me this line of horseshit...it sounds something like this "We cannot install your preamp because your pickups are active and already have a preamp in the back of the pickups"

I wouldn't want anyone so absurdly uneducated to work on my bass, anyway. Any technician/repairman worth his/her salt would know that the input impedance of preamps suitable for passive pickups would also be suitable for active pickups, since their output impedance is even lower than passives. The exception is when certain preamps are engineered to interact with the real and/or complex impedance parts of a high-impedance pickup to provide a certain loading effect in the resonant circuit. This is not only uncommon, but unheard of with EMG preamps. There is a theoretical concern of having active pickups with internal preamps that boost the gain, then feeding into preamps with low headroom, but that is not the case with EMGs, unlikely to be an issue anyways, and usually an issue that would be improved by opting for higher supply voltages.

Go tell the shops you visited to get their **** straight so they can better serve other customers, then find someone that knows what they are doing, or do the job yourself.

walterw · #18 09-13-2012, 09:41 PM

+1

any tech who can't be bothered to even read the instructions where it says right at the beginning that EMG pickups work just fine into EMG preamps is not somebody i want messing with my stuff; count yourself lucky, they did you a favor by taking themselves out of consideration.

i don't know who DWBass's guy in southeast VA is, but i deal with active stuff in general and EMGs in particular all the time.

i gotta say though, their new plug-in systems are much more of a pain for me than the older soldered stuff, and the manuals for them are way more confusing (especially since i stopped even needing the diagrams for the older stuff a long time ago).

DWBass · #19 09-14-2012, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterw

don't know who DWBass's guy in southeast VA is, but i deal with active stuff in general and EMGs in particular all the time.

Chris Kohlman/Kohlman Bassworks out of Newport News. He also built my custom bass for me. Very convenient for me since I also live in NN. I have used you in the past (you modded my Lakland JO5 w/Nordies/Audere) as well as Kenny at AL&M. Chris, in fact, just modded my P-Bass by adding an EMG P/J setup (newer modular). Passive tone at the moment. Gonna add a BTC.

SGD Lutherie · #20 09-14-2012, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterw

i gotta say though, their new plug-in systems are much more of a pain for me than the older soldered stuff, and the manuals for them are way more confusing (especially since i stopped even needing the diagrams for the older stuff a long time ago).

+1

The older system was a lot easier to install, ironically.