Active to Passive....How?

[rymiraflores]

I have a schecter elite5 which I believe is passive pickups and active tone control.....what is the easiest way to change to passive tone control?..Is it possible to convert what I already have or do I need to buy a new tone pot? If so, what spec do you recommend...I prefer a low /mid sound... little highs...thankyou anyone who helps....Rob from Scotland and living in Peru for 3 years now

 

[ColinGWood]

I did this exact mod to my Ibanez.. your pickups are most likely passive, and you can just take out the electronic "computer" that allows the eq to be adjusted.

All you want is this, most likely:

A Volume knob (which you have in there already)
A Tone knob (if your bass relies on the "computer", you may need to buy a capacitor)
Some sort of pickup selector.

I suggest just opening your bass up, and start off by taking out the computer. The simplicity is beatiful once you get rid of those damm eq knobs

 

[Arvin]

I, too, did this same mod to an Ibanez BTB a while back. Active, I could never dial in the sounds I was looking for. Passive, this bass is a beast. I'm really glad I did the mod. Of course, YMMV.

I'd recommend unsoldering the pickup leads from anything in the control cavity, then removing everything in the cavity. Gut it. Start over. Reboot. Go back to "Go."

That way, you can put the controls you want, at the values you need, in there, and you won't have to rely on what Schecter installed stock. Chances are, the eq pot(s) that are in there now are not the values you want.

If you post particulars on the pickups and what you want, control-wise, you'll get lots of support here as to how to wire up what you want. Pics help, too. A lot.

 

[rymiraflores]

OK...I have already previously taken the neckPU out....so at the moment is just bridge PU and 1 vol, 1 bass and 1 treble control....so I just need to know how to go passive and with only one each of volume and tone

 

[rymiraflores]

I am looking for tone controls to give better lows and mids and cut the horrible highs

 

[4StringTheorist]

One volume one tone? [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. Just ignore the fact that the P-bass pickup is in two parts on that diagram. Pay attention to the white wire and black wire coming from the pickup.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Each to their own I guess, I think the preamp in my BTB is beastly good

Anyways, A quick look on google shows it as a 2 band preamp with a volume and blend. But a picture of the cavity or someone who knows more about that specific bass will be able to help more.

Do you want to stick to a volume and blend setup?

Depending on how your bass works, it may already have a suitable volume and blend knob. The question is, what to do with the two holes you'll have.

If you prefer a darker tone, stick with a 250K pot, I'd go audio taper for the tone pot. Also, if you are after a darker tone, I'd suggest a 0.1uF cap, which will allow you to cut a lot of the highs.

A suggestion for the hole (which will be there unless you switch to vol/tone,vol/tone) is to stick in a rotary switch with which you could wire a few different caps. That way you could change the effect that your tone control gives you. If that is the way you want to go, you wire the ground connection (where the cap would usually be) to one side of the switch (I can't think as to what you would call it, the input lug I guess). And off each of the contact points, you would wire a capacitor to ground.

 

[4StringTheorist]

I am looking for tone controls to give better lows and mids and cut the horrible highs

The tone knob will cut out highs. Sounds like exactly what you're looking for.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Another option, if you decide to stick with one pickup.

You could probably have a passive volume, passive tone and keep the active bass and treble. Want to get really fancy, you could use a push/pull pot for either the volume or tone, where the switching ability will switch the preamp on or off.

 

[rymiraflores]

can I convert one of the current tone pots to a simple passive tone control?

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

By current tone pots, you mean the bass and treble controls? Most likely not I'm afraid.

 

[rymiraflores]

Each to their own I guess, I think the preamp in my BTB is beastly good

Anyways, A quick look on google shows it as a 2 band preamp with a volume and blend. But a picture of the cavity or someone who knows more about that specific bass will be able to help more.

Do you want to stick to a volume and blend setup?

Depending on how your bass works, it may already have a suitable volume and blend knob. The question is, what to do with the two holes you'll have.

If you prefer a darker tone, stick with a 250K pot, I'd go audio taper for the tone pot. Also, if you are after a darker tone, I'd suggest a 0.1uF cap, which will allow you to cut a lot of the highs.

A suggestion for the hole (which will be there unless you switch to vol/tone,vol/tone) is to stick in a rotary switch with which you could wire a few different caps. That way you could change the effect that your tone control gives you. If that is the way you want to go, you wire the ground connection (where the cap would usually be) to one side of the switch (I can't think as to what you would call it, the input lug I guess). And off each of the contact points, you would wire a capacitor to ground.

..
Hi..I used to live in Perth before I came to live in Peru after I divorced my cheating wife....brilliant here....anyway ..can I just simply convert the old vol control for the ex. neckpu into a tone control by attatching a cap?

 

[rymiraflores]

I have 5 wires coming from the pu....black, white...(not used in the cirrent active setup) red and blues and a bare wire....which of these do I use and what do I do with the others?..thanks again...what a great site this is with so many knowledgeable people

 

[Deathblade Eric]

I have 5 wires coming from the pu....black, white...(not used in the cirrent active setup) red and blues and a bare wire....which of these do I use and what do I do with the others?..thanks again...what a great site this is with so many knowledgeable people

That sounds like a 4-wire twin-coil humbucker with a separate ground. This either complicates matters or gives you further options, depending on your point of view.

Blind guess... Black & White, Red & Blue for each coil (Bare will be ground). Best to check with a multimeter though to be certain.

You can wire that up in a number of ways:

Series - likely to be quite hot, maximum output.
Parallel - Slightly scooped sound, possibly what you're after.
Coil Tap - drop one coil out altogether (for that Jazz 'burp').

You might be able to re-use the existing pots, it depends what they are. If there are any numbers/letters on 'em post them up & we'll see.

Pete.

 

[Ray C Parrish]

I just made the jump back to passive from active, man, love the "organic" tone.

 

[rymiraflores]

That sounds like a 4-wire twin-coil humbucker with a separate ground. This either complicates matters or gives you further options, depending on your point of view.

Blind guess... Black & White, Red & Blue for each coil (Bare will be ground). Best to check with a multimeter though to be certain.

You can wire that up in a number of ways:

Series - likely to be quite hot, maximum output.
Parallel - Slightly scooped sound, possibly what you're after.
Coil Tap - drop one coil out altogether (for that Jazz 'burp').

You might be able to re-use the existing pots, it depends what they are. If there are any numbers/letters on 'em post them up & we'll see.

Pete.

..thabnks .. therefore how do I do the in series...black/red...pos and white/blue neg for example?