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Make an active bass passive? Bass guitar wiring?

S

Static119

Jul 31, 2010
14
0
#1
So I've got a set of passive Lollar PJ pickups that I'm really itching to put into something. I came across an Ibanez SR800 that has the PJ pickup config but the pickups are active.

Now, I'm not very knowledgeable on bass guitar wiring or really electronics in general. I installed some passive humbuckers into a guitar once and I've taken the backplate off of all of my basses and have poked around, trying to see how everything works. I kind of get it, and I'm decent at soldering.

So, in theory, would it be possible to just throw some passive pickups in this bass and call it good? Should I buy an active preamp so all the knobs get to keep their jobs?

Could I just customize the electronics totally to my own tastes? Could I strip the pickups and the electronics out of the SR800 and put my own preamp in along with the passive pickups and wire it out the way I want it? Would it be possible to turn one of the knobs into an active/passive switch?

I'd really appreciate ANY advice here.
 
#3
It's got an active EQ. My knowledge is quite limited as I mentioned earlier.

I also just read something about pots and how you have to match the pots to the output of the pickups other wise the tone will be too muddy or too tinny. So I'll have to redo the ENTIRE thing right?
 
#4
If the pickups, themselves, are active, you'll need different pots for the passive ones. And if you want a passive tone knob, you'll have to get a capacitor and wire one yourself.
 
#5
All pickups are passive. What makes a guitar active is the preamp. How can you tell the difference? A preamp needs power (battery). I would look on line for a schematic and install your "passive" pickups without preamp. Passive schematics are extremely simple. You could try your "passive" pickups with the preamp but the results may be unpredictable. There is a bunch of engineering to match pups and amps (like impedance matching). Good luck with your project and let us know how it turns out.
 
#6
James Judson said:
All pickups are passive. What makes a guitar active is the preamp. How can you tell the difference? A preamp needs power (battery). I would look on line for a schematic and install your "passive" pickups without preamp. Passive schematics are extremely simple. You could try your "passive" pickups with the preamp but the results may be unpredictable. There is a bunch of engineering to match pups and amps (like impedance matching). Good luck with your project and let us know how it turns out.
Click to expand...

Actually, there are active, battery-powered pickups on the market. Ever heard of a little-known company called "EMG"?
 
#8
Static119 said:
It's got an active EQ. My knowledge is quite limited as I mentioned earlier.

I also just read something about pots and how you have to match the pots to the output of the pickups other wise the tone will be too muddy or too tinny. So I'll have to redo the ENTIRE thing right?
Click to expand...

Pot values are a personal preference based on how much output and treble you like.

You don't want to use 25K or 50K pots with high impedance (passive) pickups though, because the low resistance will divert most of the signal to ground.
And you don't want to use 250K/500K/1M pots with low impedance (active) pickups, because they will act as an on/off switch rather than a usable control.
 
#9
This is starting to sound kind of expensive. I think I'm going to keep scouting around for a Fender or a cheapo bass that would be easy to stick my pickups in, but if I manage to sell my GW35 I'll have enough spare cash to dive right in!
 
#10
Static119 said:
So, in theory, would it be possible to just throw some passive pickups in this bass and call it good? Should I buy an active preamp so all the knobs get to keep their jobs?
Click to expand...
In theory, without much knowledge about the bass or preamp, yes you could do that. However, the particular preamp may require active pickups, which would be incompatible with your Lollars.

Static119 said:
Could I just customize the electronics totally to my own tastes?
Click to expand...
You could always strip the bass of both pickups and the preamp and install a passive wiring harness with something like vol/tone for each pickup since there are four spots for controls.

Static119 said:
Could I strip the pickups and the electronics out of the SR800 and put my own preamp in along with the passive pickups and wire it out the way I want it?
Click to expand...
This is also possible, but may be more difficult than you'd imagine. More on that below.

Static119 said:
Would it be possible to turn one of the knobs into an active/passive switch?
Click to expand...
This is possible, but in practice it is much better to get a preamp that has an active passive switch built into it. This way, you still have the versatility of having an active instrument plus the capability to go passive, while being able to use the volume knob and possibly a tone knob. More on this below as well.

I have personally changed out the pickup and preamp on my Stingray 5 bass. I changed the stock pickup out with a Nordstrand MM 5.4 and the preamp out with a Glockenklang preamp. It was a bit of a chore to wire everything up, but once I finally did, I had a bass with a better inherent tone (my SR5 had a ceramic pickup, which I changed to a darker-voiced Alnico V pickup) that was able to switch to active/passive and has, IMO, better EQ points than the stock preamp did.
 
#11
TheMutt said:
In theory, without much knowledge about the bass or preamp, yes you could do that. However, the particular preamp may require active pickups, which would be incompatible with your Lollars.


You could always strip the bass of both pickups and the preamp and install a passive wiring harness with something like vol/tone for each pickup since there are four spots for controls.


This is also possible, but may be more difficult than you'd imagine. More on that below.


This is possible, but in practice it is much better to get a preamp that has an active passive switch built into it. This way, you still have the versatility of having an active instrument plus the capability to go passive, while being able to use the volume knob and possibly a tone knob. More on this below as well.

I have personally changed out the pickup and preamp on my Stingray 5 bass. I changed the stock pickup out with a Nordstrand MM 5.4 and the preamp out with a Glockenklang preamp. It was a bit of a chore to wire everything up, but once I finally did, I had a bass with a better inherent tone (my SR5 had a ceramic pickup, which I changed to a darker-voiced Alnico V pickup) that was able to switch to active/passive and has, IMO, better EQ points than the stock preamp did.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I'm glad to know that it is possible. And I understand that it will be a long, tedious project. However, the learning process and the end result could prove to be invaluable. :cool:
 
#13
line6man said:
That would only be the case if the preamp has a low impedance input.

Most preamps (At least that I'm aware of. I could be wrong.) have an input impedance at or above 1M , which is perfect for high impedance passive pickups.
Click to expand...
Yes that is certainly the case as far as most preamps are concerned. However, I only said that with minimal knowledge (as in, I know that the bass exists) of the bass and the pickups/preamp inside. ;)
 
#15
I know this is a very old post but I was wondering just how easy it was to do the pickup swap. I have a SR300DX also and I am thinking about doing the same job. Mine is the model that has 3 control knobs ..not 4.
 

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#16
OP originally was ref'g an SR800 with active pickups, but on last post said he installed them instead in an SR300DX, which already had passive pickups, so it was an easy swap that way.
Swapping other passive pickups into a bass that already has them is easier.
But if you are replacing single-coils or split-coils with dual-coils, you may want to change the pot value.
You haven't given any info as far as what it is you want to install, or why.
Do they fit the same routes?
What style/ tones are you going for?
What don't you like about what's already in there?
 

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