Is it possible to use active MEC pickups without the preamp? (like EMGs)

[Massan]

Your diagram is fine, just remember that even active pickups have a ground wire. Tie those to the same point the bridge ground and output jack ground are tied.

Those don’t have ground wires afaik

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Looks like there’s a braided wire around the white wire? That’s the ground.

 

[Massan]

Looks like there’s a braided wire around the white wire? That’s the ground.

Yes they are probably coaxial
Not sure how to solder that correctly

 

[LUpton]

Look at this video for tips on dealing with coax-style instrument cables:



He is soldering connectors on the ends of the raw cable, but the stripping, prep and solder techniques apply almost everywhere.

Good luck!

 

[Killed_by_Death]

There are three conductors, but one is the shielding in the white wire. That goes to chassis ground, but I think we all know that already.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Yes they are probably coaxial
Not sure how to solder that correctly

View attachment 3263195

These are EMG’s but this is one way to attach the shield to the back of the pot. Another is to strip some extra of the outermost insulation and “unbraid” some of the shield, twist it together and solder to the pot.

 

[basvox]

After seeing the prices of replacement pots, I simply removed all controls. Just 3 holes in my Thumb body Connecting the MEC to the jack output, without pots or batteries, works just fine. I use my amp for tone and volume. Minimizing any filter in my sound.

 

[Massan]

After seeing the prices of replacement pots, I simply removed all controls. Just 3 holes in my Thumb body Connecting the MEC to the jack output, without pots or batteries, works just fine. I use my amp for tone and volume. Minimizing any filter in my sound.

cool!
still I'd like to do V/V/V at least for my build, just so I can do different blends

 

[basvox]

Volume/Volume/Volume? :-D

 

[James Collins]

I would point out that the actual wiring in the diagram @Killed_by_Death posted uses a 500k linear pot. A 25k pot might be wrong, but I've only used that value on a balance pot.

Edit: Nevermind I'm dumb. Two 25k pots wired in parallel is basically a balance pot. Proceed.

 

[Level5wizard]

Yeh, thats understandable. But in the studio application I'm fine with outboard EQs.
Also these pups are split coils, so no toggles for parallel/series etc. Just 2 leads - hot/battery

So probably the wiring should look like this? Sorry I'm a complete wiring noob
a pair of 25k pots and a stereo jack obviously
View attachment 3262086

Would this work for the MEC jazz pickup set?