making an OLP MM2 active... help?

[ghostjs]

sweet. well ill decide whether to get a preamp later. i guess ill save for that pup

 

[mcnach]

yes please! thanks for the info! im hyped now!

ok, I'll sort something out, probably tomorrow... watch this space...

 

[mcnach]

Ok, here are some pictures for you:

The guitar after the "operation". I didn't care much for the black knobs that came with the preamp so I have chrome ones now (this is before the change):

This is the back, I routed a cavity for the preamp and battery and put a cover I got on eBay. Not the smoothest job, but it works:

Full frontal

The two OLPs...

 

[mcnach]

And now some of the actual surgery...

First, lifting the scratchplate, the original pickup still in place. I had copper-shielded it all previously, it made it noticeably quieter (except when I hit the strings!)

Now routing:

I had drawn the shape of the cover on the bass, and removed 2mm or so, to male the cover flush once fitted. For size comarison, the battery and preamp are next to it. The preamp has a big blob of velcro stuck... you can cut it out and make it smaller...
I then drew roughly the shape to cut further, leaving a bit so that the cover could rest on it, and be screwed in.

A little more cut out... It was quite easy, basswood seems pretty soft.

It wasn't a very smooth job... but it was my first experience routing and I was a bit impatient...

Next time it'll be better. It was VERY easy to do... and with just a bit extra care, and not rushing I could do great job.

I hope this helps!

 

[wyleeboxer]

My experience with most MM pups is that they are designed to work with a pre-amp, Ive had a SD MM set up as passive in a Jazz bass of mine that I routed out years ago, its never sounded right especially b/c of the low output of the SD MM and honky mids, once again most MM pups should be used with a Pre-amp that is specifically designed for MM pups.

On another note, work with what you have my freind especially if your not going to be learning something by doing the work yourself. I would suggest saving your money for a better bass down the road and keep the OLP as a back if you can. If not, then Dave at SGD can set you up with a MM pup that is made for going passive, around $100 and easy to install.

 

[ghostjs]

thanks mcnach! that looks great and i'll probably look into getting a luthier do that for me since i dont own those tools or a soldering iron. looks sweet and i hope to do the same soon. i'll get the SMB-4d first and then get the pre later and get the luthier to do the dirty work.

 

[mcnach]

thanks mcnach! that looks great and i'll probably look into getting a luthier do that for me since i dont own those tools or a soldering iron. looks sweet and i hope to do the same soon. i'll get the SMB-4d first and then get the pre later and get the luthier to do the dirty work.

Learn to do it yourself!

Seriously, it's easy enough (I learnt to solder when I was like 14, after seeing my dad do it... not much to it) and cheap, very cheap, to do it yourself... Soldering especially. My first soldering iron was a cheap chinese one that came with solder and all, not great, but it worked just fine. If you're going to be gigging you don't want to worry about loose connections, a duff jack socket or anything... you and your solder iron can take care of everything!

The router, as I said, was an ebay thing, very cheap too. You could do the same with a drill using a router bit with it... just be careful and do it slowly...

But at least the solder iron thing... every guitarist should own one. It saves so much time, hassle and worries.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.