• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Music Man wiring - 5 way switch, active/passive switch and series/parallel switch.

PikeoftheLake

PikeoftheLake

Oct 11, 2005
1,181
409
Whitby, Ontario
#1
Hi and thanks in advance for your help.

I bought this Harley Benton Music Man copy as a bit of a project. I like the bass; it is a lot of instrument for $250 CAD and I could see really enjoying playing it live.

I wanted to trick it out as much as possible so I took it to shop in Toronto (The Twelfth Fret) to do the following:
  • Wire the 5 way switch to make every setting hum cancelling.
  • Install a series/parallel switch.
  • Install an active/passive switch.
The tech called and said that it was impossible to install the active/passive switch and so he just installed a new 5 way switch and wired it up. He didn't install a series/parallel switch.

So I got the bass back and he has installed the 5 way swich but position 2 and 4 are way lower volume than 1/3/5. Those positions select the coils I wanted but I think he put 1/3/5 in series and then 2/4 in parallel? Also 1/3/5 have a nasty buzz and 2/4 are pretty quiet.

Either way, I could go back to the shop (that is 45 minutes away) and ask him to fix it or try to mess with it here.

A few questions for the gurus:
  • Is it really true that you can't put an active/passive switch in this? I thought that was really easy?
  • How hard is it to put in a series/parallel switch?
  • If you look at the picture I have included, is it just a matter of re-wiring the 5 way switch to get what I want?
I have wired up my p bass and jazz bass and soldered everything myself so I would consider just re-wiring things. I'm hesitant to take it back to a shop that didn't listen to me in the first place.

PXL_20260404_184237831.jpgPXL_20260404_184817789.jpg
 
#2
It's possible he couldn't add the extra switches because there was no easy way to fit one into the compartment.

It's also possible that, depending on how the preamp is designed, you can't bypass it without also losing access to the volume controls.

It's unclear to me how you wanted the switches set up. The active/passive is self-explanatory but the combination of the 5-way plus a serial/parallel is not.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fig, MaxSpinrun and birminghambass
#3
ardgedee said:
It's possible he couldn't add the extra switches because there was no easy way to fit one into the compartment.

It's also possible that, depending on how the preamp is designed, you can't bypass it without also losing access to the volume controls.

It's unclear to me how you wanted the switches set up. The active/passive is self-explanatory but the combination of the 5-way plus a serial/parallel is not.
Click to expand...
Okay that's very helpful. Thanks.

Is it possible to have the 5 way switch work to select different pickup poles, but then with a toggle switch make it parallel or series?
 
#4
PikeoftheLake said:
Is it possible to have the 5 way switch work to select different pickup poles, but then with a toggle switch make it parallel or series?
Click to expand...
In theory, yes. In reality it depends on what pickup combinations you want and how the pickups are built and how the existing electronics are designed.

If each humbucker has only one or two leads in addition to a ground wire, they can't be treated as two separate pickups for your purposes, and that limits your wiring options.

If the preamp buffers each pickup from the other it would might mean you can't connect the pickups in serial or parallel to each other.

When guitars and basses are designed with a lot of possible pickup combinations, they usually ship with a switch that selects a subset of possibilities, because the ones left out don't sound good enough or don't offer a sufficiently distinctive tone to be worth complicating things. In performance you don't want to have to turn too many switches and knobs, it increases the risk of getting it wrong and it holds up the show.

I would start by contacting the tech who added the switch, to ask them how the pickups are connected in each switch position. That can provide a clue about your next possible steps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fig, KidAmnesia and PikeoftheLake
#5
On my EB 5HH position 2 and 4 work like split single coils and have a bit of volume drop stock. I used to champion all the positions, but lately have had the best luck just parking it on position 5, bridge humbucker. It just sits better in a full mix. I can't speak to the correctness of your wiring, but expecting every switch position to have identical volume is a big ask.
 
#8
Medicine Man said:
On my EB 5HH position 2 and 4 work like split single coils and have a bit of volume drop stock. I used to champion all the positions, but lately have had the best luck just parking it on position 5, bridge humbucker. It just sits better in a full mix. I can't speak to the correctness of your wiring, but expecting every switch position to have identical volume is a big ask.
Click to expand...
Wow, I had no idea about this.

What you're describing is exactly how he wired it. Position 2 and 4 have that split single coil sound and the volume drop. Do you get a bad hum like I do on positions 1/3/5?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Medicine Man
#12
ardgedee said:
It's possible he couldn't add the extra switches because there was no easy way to fit one into the compartment.

It's also possible that, depending on how the preamp is designed, you can't bypass it without also losing access to the volume controls.

It's unclear to me how you wanted the switches set up. The active/passive is self-explanatory but the combination of the 5-way plus a serial/parallel is not.
Click to expand...

ardgedee said:
In theory, yes. In reality it depends on what pickup combinations you want and how the pickups are built and how the existing electronics are designed.

If each humbucker has only one or two leads in addition to a ground wire, they can't be treated as two separate pickups for your purposes, and that limits your wiring options.

If the preamp buffers each pickup from the other it would might mean you can't connect the pickups in serial or parallel to each other.

When guitars and basses are designed with a lot of possible pickup combinations, they usually ship with a switch that selects a subset of possibilities, because the ones left out don't sound good enough or don't offer a sufficiently distinctive tone to be worth complicating things. In performance you don't want to have to turn too many switches and knobs, it increases the risk of getting it wrong and it holds up the show.

I would start by contacting the tech who added the switch, to ask them how the pickups are connected in each switch position. That can provide a clue about your next possible steps.
Click to expand...

Medicine Man said:
On my EB 5HH position 2 and 4 work like split single coils and have a bit of volume drop stock. I used to champion all the positions, but lately have had the best luck just parking it on position 5, bridge humbucker. It just sits better in a full mix. I can't speak to the correctness of your wiring, but expecting every switch position to have identical volume is a big ask.
Click to expand...

bass player 53 said:
The first diagram that I sent seems to have all the shown combinations in parallel. Sorry, I don’t know what additional thing would need to be added to put all 5 settings in series.
Click to expand...

Thanks Everyone for the help.

So I got the tech on the phone yesterday and he said that with the way the preamp works he couldn't install an active/passive switch or a series/parallel switch. The bass is just limited to the 5 selector switch and the 3 band preamp.

Does this track with everyone? I thought it was relatively easy to install these switches? That said I am not at all well versed in this level of tech prowess with bass electronics.

I think these are the pickups: Music man style 5-string Bass Pickup / Ceramic – Roswell Pickups
And this is the bass: MM-85A SB - Harley Benton

I was really hoping to have the passive option if nothing else.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back