How do I wire up a 1988 Aria Pro II with active pickups?

[Alex_SG]

Hey all
I rewired the above as a passive bass, as the electronics from 1988 didn't seem to be working too well.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, a friend who is an electronics tech has tested and cleaned up all the original 1988 components, and given them all a clean bill of health!
When I rewired it, I did take "before" photos of the control cavity, but they aren't too clear. (see below photos). Now I'm not so sure I can put it back to standard, which would be uber cool!
The mini toggle is not original, it was put in only a few years ago by the previous owner, so I really don't want to put that back. It was a kill switch, as the PO was a gigging bass player.
I am fairly competent at soldering and assembling wiring harnesses (I have rewired numerous electric guitars), so I would like to give it a shot myself first.
Any ideas?
Cheers... Alex

 

[line6man]

Wire it in what way?

 

[PortlandBass77]

This might help? http://ariabasses.blogspot.com/2010/11/aria-pro-ii-sb-1000-wiring-schematics.html
or this? http://www.talkbass.com/threads/aria-pro-ii-wiring-help.675922/

 

[Alex_SG]

Wire it in what way?

I want to re-wire it up as it came from the factory, minus the mini toggle kill switch.

 

[Alex_SG]

This might help? http://ariabasses.blogspot.com/2010/11/aria-pro-ii-sb-1000-wiring-schematics.html
or this? http://www.talkbass.com/threads/aria-pro-ii-wiring-help.675922/

This is a slightly different bass, the SB1000 series. Mine's a XRS Series from 1988,and has a pre-amp with a built in pot and a double stacked pot.
The original 1988 components are in the pic below.
The main thing I'm confused about is where the red and black wires coming from the pre-amp pcb board go to. If I or someone else can work that out, it shouldn't be too hard from there...

From top to bottom on this photo, the pots are:
1 - Neck Volume
2 - Bridge Volume
3 - (on PCB board), Master tone

The components are laid out on my bench the same way they are fitted in the bass, with the battery connector in a separate cavity to the left, and the stereo input jack being on the far right of the control cavity. (The pic needs to be rotated counter-clockwise!)

Here's a slightly clearer pic than the ones in my previous post...

Another thing, the neck volume pot is double stacked, which is something I'm not used to dealing with, as most normal electric guitars don't use them. However, if someone can give me some ideas I'm happy to try them out!

Cheers

Alex

 

[Alex_SG]

Alternatively, would this diagram from Seymour Duncan work?

The only problem is I have single conductor wiring on my pickups (hot and ground) unlike the dual conductor wiring in the diagram.

So bearing that in mind, if this plan is feasible, how would I wire it? Hot on both pickups to the battery and ground to the pots?

 

[cleary]

Hey, dual thread action

The SD diagram is for active pickups, there's no preamp in the diagram.
You're hooking your passive pickups to a preamp. The Preamp needs power, not the pickups.

As mentioned previously, start simple - work out how the preamp is wired first, get it working with the simplest possible layout, then worry about the rest from that point.

 

[Alex_SG]

Ha! You caught me out!!!
I just saw this diagram this morning, and wondered if it was the "easy" way out!
I was just going to see if it was possible...
I'm pretty new to the active pickup thing, so I'm still trying to get my head around it.
Thanks for putting me on the right path! I'll do the "other way" you suggested.

 

[RobbieK]

I've just seen your post on obf. It's easy to work out which wires are which with those close ups you posted.

The neck vol pot has a switch for some reason. It looks like a battery cut. (It's interesting to see this in an 80's aria! THere's so much discussion about this on this board. Using a pot like this is really the best way to wire a batt cut.)

That other volume pot has a cap soldered to its casing. Looks like it started life as a passive tone pot.

So originally this bass had: 2 vols, one with a battery cut when turned all the way down, a three-way pickup toggle, and an active tone control of some sort. Right?

What are you gonna do with the extra hole?

Looks like who ever installed the kill switch didn't know what they were doing. The electrician's tape is a bit of a give-away!

 

[Alex_SG]

Hi Robbie. You are correct about the neck vol pot. When I first bought this bass, the pot did turn the pickups off when turned all the way on... I don't know if that's the way it was designed or if it was a later mod, but all the electronics were glitching out, hence the reason I stripped everything out.
The extra hole (kill switch hole)... I was told by someone on the Matsumoku forums that the switch is stock, and was designed as a phase switch. This was modded as a kill switch later on down the line.
I would like to bring the electronics back to the way they were when the bass left the factory, so the mini toggle will be replaced and wired as a phase switch, if it can be ascertained that it was originally there for that purpose.
And I agree the PO was a hack at wiring!!!

 

[RobbieK]

A shame you aren't in vic, I wire this sort of stuff all the time.

Do you remember these basses as stock? Have you played one like this in the past?

The reason I ask is that modern basses rarely have pickup toggles and phase switches for a reason, if you get my drift...

The single active tone circuits from the 80's that I've heard are also generally pretty unimpressive, if I'm honest... Those 2nd gen opamps really don't sound great at low voltages. They were designed for hifis with 30v supplies.

It's great that you are going to the trouble to "un-mod" this back to stock, and I'll happily eat my words if it sounds great in the end, but don't get your hopes way up there, my friend...

 

[Alex_SG]

Hi mate.
To be honest, I haven't played another like this... This is actually the first bass I have played! I normally play electric guitar!
And you are probably correct that this thing won't sound brilliant... But I would like to hear what it was like originally. As a passive bass (the way I currently have wired it) it has absolutely no balls. There's no deep thud as you would expect - it's more like a baritone guitar.

 

[RobbieK]

Well all the best. I would think this is a japanese made bass, so it sould be fairly sound otherwise, but I'm not sure. Certainly the japanese yamahas of the 80's that I've seen are really well made. I'm surprised to hear you say it is really trebly in passive mode. Perhaps some new strings might be a good idea also. I'd also check that the pickups are OK too. THose simple single active tone controls from that period, generally make things even brighter...

 

[Elba Hizta]

Hi , maybe this picture can help , I can show you more pictures If you need them ........ I own that same bass Aria Pro II XRB-2A and Im looking for the --- wiring diagram --- but I cant find it , mine is making a little noise ( maybe by shielding the body cavity and P/Us this problem will be solved ) and also is killing the batteries in 3 or 4 days , this is a made in Korea model ( Im almost sure ) , I used to have one in 1988 was my second bass , I sold it the next year , I have to wait 25 years to find other one identical I bought this bass in october I paid 85 Dlls ( 1,200 mexican pesos ) , the bass sounds pretty good as is , mine has no modifications at all ... about the controls : the little switch is to power on/off the active mode , the 3 way switch is the pick up selector ( P-PJ - J) , the first pot ( neck ) is a volume with an on/off switch all in the same pot if you move it all the way down you can hear a " click " like the pots in those old radios is like a bypass switch , the second pot ( center ) is a tone control this one work with the passive mode , the last pot work with the active mode you have 3 options to the left you get more treble , in the center is flat to the right you get more bass . sorry for my bad english I dont practice too much , Yo hablo español . salutes !!

 

[Alex_SG]

Thats awesome, man. Thankyou! Oh, and your english is better than my spanish!
Like my first picture, your one is also very hard to follow.. There is a lot of wires in a small space - it almost looks like a pot of spaghetti!
But thanks anyway. Muchas grazias Elba!

 

[Elba Hizta]

Thats awesome, man. Thankyou! Oh, and your english is better than my spanish!
Like my first picture, your one is also very hard to follow.. There is a lot of wires in a small space - it almost looks like a pot of spaghetti!
But thanks anyway. Muchas grazias Elba

por nada !! ... Im going to take better pictures to show you the connections of my bass , salutes !! .

 

[Alex_SG]

Thanks! That would be great! Myself and a few guys on this forum and another, have been trying to rewire this thing properly for a couple of weeks, and it's twisting my brains!
Any help appreciated! Salute!

 

[cleary]

Hi , maybe this picture can help , I can show you more pictures If you need them ........ I own that same bass Aria Pro II XRB-2A and Im looking for the --- wiring diagram --- but I cant find it , mine is making a little noise ( maybe by shielding the body cavity and P/Us this problem will be solved ) and also is killing the batteries in 3 or 4 days , this is a made in Korea model ( Im almost sure ) , I used to have one in 1988 was my second bass , I sold it the next year , I have to wait 25 years to find other one identical I bought this bass in october I paid 85 Dlls ( 1,200 mexican pesos ) , the bass sounds pretty good as is , mine has no modifications at all ... about the controls : the little switch is to power on/off the active mode , the 3 way switch is the pick up selector ( P-PJ - J) , the first pot ( neck ) is a volume with an on/off switch all in the same pot if you move it all the way down you can hear a " click " like the pots in those old radios is like a bypass switch , the second pot ( center ) is a tone control this one work with the passive mode , the last pot work with the active mode you have 3 options to the left you get more treble , in the center is flat to the right you get more bass . sorry for my bad english I dont practice too much , Yo hablo español . salutes !!

For reference, here's the obf thread:
Invalid Link Removed

We're gradually building the diagram up (ie as a learning exercise), you might find some info on the 3rd page specific to your battery issues.

 

[Elba Hizta]

For reference, here's the obf thread:
Invalid Link Removed

We're gradually building the diagram up (ie as a learning exercise), you might find some info on the 3rd page specific to your battery issues.

thank you !!

 

[Elba Hizta]

Hi , I tryed to make better pictures but in the process one of the wires from the battery Holder Clip Snap Connector went out of his place , that piece is old Im going to buy a new one tomorrow to fix it , the bass now doesnt sound active , just passive , and also Im going to try to make a Diagram .. salutes !!