Hi rawrOOO,
What is the "+6 mod"? I did a search for it and only found your post. Thanks!
Aaron
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Hi rawrOOO,
What is the "+6 mod"? I did a search for it and only found your post. Thanks!
Aaron
Never mind--I think I found it.
I'll have to see if my SR300e preamp has that connector and the option to perform a +6 dB mod.
OK, so I ran into a problem trying to install the BH2 pickups. First off, the stock pickups were attached to the three-way toggle switch with connectors. See wiring diagram below:
Each connector had a black wire a red wire and a white wire, as shown below:
The BH2 pickups have five wires: black, red, green, white, and bare wire, as shown below:
I attached the black, green, and bare wires together and connected them to the black wire on the connector (which was labeled GND). I also connected the red pickup wire to the red wire on the connector and the white wire to the white wire on the connector. I plugged in the connector (correctly) and tried to get a sound out of the bass--nothing.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
Each connector had a black wire a red wire and a white wire, as shown below:
The BH2 pickups have five wires: black, red, green, white, and bare wire, as shown below:
I attached the black, green, and bare wires together and connected them to the black wire on the connector (which was labeled GND). I also connected the red pickup wire to the red wire on the connector and the white wire to the white wire on the connector. I plugged in the connector (correctly) and tried to get a sound out of the bass--nothing.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
Are you certain the black & green wires from the pickup should be grounded? Some pickups have extra wires for features like coil tap, etc. - the ones I've seen where these features aren't used, the extra wires are often left un-connected, or connected to each other & not the rest of the system.
I'm not sure at all, really. Below is a picture from elsewhere on this thread re the BH2's wiring, which at least one member said appears to be wrong. Confused at this point. I will need to do some more experimenting tonight.
I wish @Ach would chime in! He appears to be the resident guru on Bart pickup wiring here.
I'm not sure at all, really. Below is a picture from elsewhere on this thread re the BH2's wiring, which at least one member said appears to be wrong. Confused at this point. I will need to do some more experimenting tonight.
I wish @Ach would chime in! He appears to be the resident guru on Bart pickup wiring here.
View attachment 4835661
I had a look-through on Bartolini's website and found a few different wiring setups. I think this one may be most similar to yours?
Pickup Wiring 4-Conductor Original Quad Coils - Bartolini Pickups & Electronics
From this diagram (particularly the part referring to blend-pot connection), and the Ibanez one you posted, it looks as if you should:
connect the red & white wire from the pickup to each other.
Black goes to black on your harness/plug, as you have it;
the bare wire will connect to white on the harness;
and the green from the pickup will go to red on the harness.
This is what I would go with if it were me, but others with more expertise may have better suggestions
From this diagram (particularly the part referring to blend-pot connection), and the Ibanez one you posted, it looks as if you should:
connect the red & white wire from the pickup to each other.
Black goes to black on your harness/plug, as you have it;
the bare wire will connect to white on the harness;
and the green from the pickup will go to red on the harness.
This is what I would go with if it were me, but others with more expertise may have better suggestions
I'm going to try it! Last night, I should have used alligator clips to temporarily connect the leads to see if they work. I used to do this when I worked on vintage radios years ago, but I just forgot about that technique.
That way, I can try different setups to see what works and what doesn't.Thank you @KaraQ for chiming in.
I'm going to try it! Last night, I should have used alligator clips to temporarily connect the leads to see if they work. I used to do this when I worked on vintage radios years ago, but I just forgot about that technique.
Thank you @KaraQ for chiming in.
Hope it goes well
It did not go well. I gave up trying to install the BH2s. I just couldn't figure out how to wire it up, even after trying many different configurations.Hope it goes well
So I tried reinstalling the stock pickups and I'm getting zero sound out of the bass. I've literally bricked my bass. I didn't even think that was possible.
Unfortunately, I've done that before, also fried a tuner pedal once, from mis-wiring grounds 
In your case, it might not be permanent, but I think it's probably beyond my ability to help without seeing/testing it in person.....
In your case, it might not be permanent, but I think it's probably beyond my ability to help without seeing/testing it in person.....
Unfortunately, I've done that before, also fried a tuner pedal once, from mis-wiring grounds
In your case, it might not be permanent, but I think it's probably beyond my ability to help without seeing/testing it in person.....
I wonder if I fried the preamp module? It's a $20 part. I wonder if I should start by replacing that? Thoughts?
You've probably already checked, but make sure no wires/connections have gotten broken or come undone, and check the battery?
Beyond that, I would get somebody that's competent at troubleshooting electronics to check it --- it could be any of the electronics, or even the battery could have shorted. I've seen stranger things.....
One of the reasons I think you should have it checked is, whatever may be damaged could cause any new parts to have problems, and you'd just be "chasing your tail" with replacing part after part.
Someone here with more experience than me with your particular electronics package may be able to recommend a better solution?
I'm not sure at all, really. Below is a picture from elsewhere on this thread re the BH2's wiring, which at least one member said appears to be wrong. Confused at this point. I will need to do some more experimenting tonight.
I wish @Ach would chime in! He appears to be the resident guru on Bart pickup wiring here.
View attachment 4835661
Let’s debug your situation. Can you measure the resistance between each possible wire pair of both pickups BH2 and you old pickups and post it here (please indicate the wire colours and resistance)?
the issue is that We do not know what exactly the switch in your preamp is doing. So let’s figure this out first.
BH2 does not use US Bartolini color coding.I had a look-through on Bartolini's website and found a few different wiring setups. I think this one may be most similar to yours?
Pickup Wiring 4-Conductor Original Quad Coils - Bartolini Pickups & Electronics
View attachment 4835689
From this diagram (particularly the part referring to blend-pot connection), and the Ibanez one you posted, it looks as if you should:
connect the red & white wire from the pickup to each other.
Black goes to black on your harness/plug, as you have it;
the bare wire will connect to white on the harness;
and the green from the pickup will go to red on the harness.
This is what I would go with if it were me, but others with more expertise may have better suggestions
OK @Ach, here are the measurements on the stock pickups:
Bridge: Red + Ground = 3.86 kOhm; White + Ground = 7.92 KOhm. When I connect the red and white together and measure that, I get 3.86.
Neck: R + Gr = 4.09 KOhm; W + Gr = 8.18 KOhm. Again, when I connected red and white together and measure, it's 4.09.
In terms of the Bartolini pickups, I'm not sure which wire combinations to measure. There are five wires: red, green, black, white, and bare. Which combinations should I be measuring?
Thank you for your help!
Aaron
Last edited:
What I meant is, I'm connecting the red (or white) wire to the red test lead on my multimeter and connecting the black wire (the ground) to the black test lead.
Understood. According to @Ach, these BH2 pickups use a different color-coding scheme than US-made Bartolinis. I'm waiting for him to tell me which pairs to measure!
