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Ibanez SR800 Pickup Problem

#21
I have one of the first 5-string RB-800 basses.. it's an 885LE. I bought it new back in 1988 or so.

The preamp in the photo here is exactly the same as mine... three PC boards.. one is the preamp and then a separate PC board for the high and low EQ with the little black inductors on them.

Mine had two active Jazz style pickups called "Regulated LO-Z" They are single coils, with the preamp built in, and under each pickup was a dummy hum canceling coil, that was one bobbin from a guitar humbucker. They sounded good, but they hummed.

I'd say you have a pretty old model, the next one after the one I have.

[EDIT] Cool... here's my bass (all the way at the bottom...) http://ibanezregister.com/Gallery/basses/sr/gal-sr885.htm
 
#22
Just an update on this thread.

I ordered some DiMarzio P/J replacement pickups for my SR800 that had the rumbling problem.

I read the specs on the DiMarzio and I measured with my oscilloscope the output of the AFR Ibanez crappy dying pickups I had in my bass. It was 800mV on the Ibanez versus about 200mVish on the DiMarzio. So I knew I'd be taking a bit of an amplitude hit.

I installed these pickups and I kept the existing pre amp (on the volume knob circuit board). So I still have 4 knobs. The closest one selects between the P and the J, one is volume and one is treble and one bass. I just wired in the DiMarzio where the active pickups were and the only thing the battery is powering now is the preamp. Before the preamp and both pickups were using the 9 volt feed.

I love the results! No more rumbling. It is a little warmer than before but it seems so much more sensitive and the knobs actually produce more distinguished sounds than before. I can crank the amp all the way up so that the slightest bump will slam the speakers but I hear virtually no noise and no hum. It's great! I didn't have hum or noise before (other than the rumbling that would cut in and out).

So the moral of the story is if you have a bass with active pickups and preamp, you could have success switching to passive pickups and still use the preamp and have it sound pretty damn good.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/DiMarzio-DP126-PJ-Neck-Bridge-Bass-Pickup-Set?sku=302285

So in the end, I paid 250 for the guitar and 90 for new pickups..

-Jeff
 
#23
zootjeff said:
So the moral of the story is if you have a bass with active pickups and preamp, you could have success switching to passive pickups and still use the preamp and have it sound pretty damn good.
Click to expand...

The real problem is the Ibanez pickups are not very good at all.

The preamp isn't bad though, so any pickup, active or passive will be an improvement.

My bass sounded great with EMG J's.
 
#25
Tbirdbassist said:
The Ibanez SR800... none of the versions have Active pickups, only active EQ's with passive pickups.

If you bass has four knobs it does not have two tone knobs. It has a Master volume, blend knob, treble and a bass knob.


Are you sure the pickups are stock? You say you got it used. Do the pickups have a brand name?
Click to expand...


right, im pretty sre EMG is the only company that actually makes active pickups
 
#26
iplaybassguitar said:
right, im pretty sre EMG is the only company that actually makes active pickups
Click to expand...

My Soundgear had active Ibanez pickups. They sounded good, but were noisy.

Duncan/Basslines also makes active pickups. The ones I have heard sounded very good.

Bartolini also makes active pickups.

And of course Alembic, which pretty much invented "active" basses.

Really any pickup made to work with a preamp is an active pickup, even if the preamp is not inside the pickup, as is the case with Alembic, and the pickups I make.

One of the benefits of "active" pickups is that you can use less windings for a clearer tone (you get more highs and lows) and then use the preamp to boost the level back up. The nice part about not having your preamp inside the pickup is you can try different preamps, and also use series/parallel wiring on the pickup coils.
 
#28
iplaybassguitar said:
i think those are all active electronics though, not the actual pickups
Click to expand...

There's really no such thing as an "active" pickup. All pickups are basically the same... a magnet with wire wrapped around it. The only thing that makes something like an EMG pickup active is they have a preamp built into the pickup housing. The difference between an EMG and Alembic pickups are where the preamp is. After the buffer amp, you can have your onboard preamp with tone controls, but you don't even need both if the onboard pre can handle low impedance pickups.

The Ibanez "Regulated Lo-Z" pickup in my Soundgear had the electronics built in just like EMG's, as do the Basslines and Bartolini actives. They all run on 9V and wont work without a battery. That's what is considered an "active pickup."
 

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