Wariwck LXBN5 pre is dead- can I make it passive?

SamLXBN · #1 05-15-2009, 06:47 AM

Ive owned my warwick LX BN5 for just over 2 years.

Earlier this week, the preamp has died and I can get no sound from the bass at all. Contacted warwick, they say to get a new pre and harness for £160!

Is there anyway I can make the bass passive or are the MEC's not capable of this?

Sorry if this question has been asked before, Ive searched but couldnt find anything on the model ive got.

many thanks,
Sam

Stealth · #2 05-15-2009, 08:17 AM

I may be off on this, but...

Do the pickups have silver lettering or gold lettering on them? If they're silver, the pickups themselves are passive and you can wire them that way. If they're golden, the pickups are active... you might still want to wire one of the pickups to the jack, then the other, and test them that way.

SamLXBN · #3 05-15-2009, 08:34 AM

Thanks for the reply. I think theyre gold so it may not be possible. I am tempted to get some passive bartolini's to replace them and just do the rewire myself.

Once the active MEC stuff is out of the bass I can take my time to test everything and try to fix it.

Any idea if bartolini do any direct replacement soapbars? I will measure the MEC's tonight and then try to find a good match. I think I will need 6 string spacing though as the string spread is deff over 80mm at the bridge.

Stealth · #4 05-15-2009, 09:57 AM

Bartolini is actually known for its replacement soapbars - I can't think of any soapbar pickup they haven't done yet.

SamLXBN · #5 06-09-2009, 04:19 AM

Well, thanks to bestbass gear ive now got some Bartolini's and passive pots/caps etc to install.

I could do with some advice on what Im planning to do with controls etc.

My idea was to have each pickup going to an individual tone pot, then both these going to a blend pot an finally master volume.

Has anyone done something similar? or are there any reasons why it may not be a good idea? Im pretty new to wiring guitars and basses but I can solder well, its just sorting out schematics and diagrams before I start.

many thanks,
Sam

Stealth · #6 06-09-2009, 05:53 AM

Without a preamp individual tone pots won't give you the flexibility you expect, as tone pots interfere with each other. If you want, take a look into the Gibson wiring diagram which somehow makes it all work, but I haven't come around to analyzing it yet.

SamLXBN · #7 06-09-2009, 06:37 AM

cheers stealth, I was thinking of doing this so I can use all 4 pots that will be put back on the warwick. I really want to keep it passive, so I may just leave 1 pot in as a dummy and do a standard volume, blend, tone config.

thanks for the advice.

Stealth · #8 06-09-2009, 07:04 AM

Yes! Make the fourth one a carrot knob.

Or, better yet, turn it into a Black Ice Overdrive control - basically, the same principle as wiring a tone control, except you have two anti-parallel (one's head towards the ground, the other's towards the pot) Zener diodes. Again, not sure on the breakdown voltages you need, but look them up - you might just get that extra bit of grit into your tone at will.

As far as where to connect it, just put it between the current tone knob and the output jack, just as volumes go before the tone pot. Same deal, really.

jimbilly · #9 06-09-2009, 04:19 PM

The EMG BTC will work as a preamp with the MEC's, I've got one in my '04 Thumb5 BO. My preamp crapped out, and it was going to be over $500 us just for the electronics!, partly because they don't sell the preamp all by itself. I think the EMG pre is good in there, I think you have to swap out the volume pot as well, the stock wiring is a little bit complicated.

Angus · #10 06-09-2009, 04:56 PM

Even if the MEC pickups are active, you can still run it without a preamp. You just need a battery to power the pickups, but you still treat the rest of the circuit as passive (tone/volume).

WarriorJoe7 · #11 06-09-2009, 04:59 PM

angus is correct