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New Bartolini Preamp Issues

#21
MoireBass said:
Sorry about that. EMG webpage shows several different 45-series pickups and all the ones I looked at were active. Do you know which exact model EMG 45 pickups you have?

It's unlikely that the red wire is ground. Ground wires will usually be green, black, or bare, power wires will often be red, and negative power wires often blue. There's no requirement or law for it, just general conventional practice. (Bartolini's NTBT-918 preamp follows that convention.)
Click to expand...

EMG 45CS - 6 string
 
#23
Also, from EMG's website: "7) SPECIAL NOTE: The diagrams shown are for EMG Active Pickups. All diagrams show the Red Wire coming from the pickups connected to the battery. If you are installing EMG-HZ Passive Pickups refer to their diagrams. The Red Wire of the HZ Pickup is NOT for battery power, it is a coil wire."
 
#24
ragetoca said:
Also, from EMG's website: "7) SPECIAL NOTE: The diagrams shown are for EMG Active Pickups. All diagrams show the Red Wire coming from the pickups connected to the battery. If you are installing EMG-HZ Passive Pickups refer to their diagrams. The Red Wire of the HZ Pickup is NOT for battery power, it is a coil wire."
Click to expand...
And their diagram is still wrong for the HZ pickups...:rollno:
Being that they are hum-cancelling dual coil pickups, the polarity of each coil has to be opposite the other. Their diagram shows identical polarity on both coils (which is wrong), and that really becomes an issue when trying to wire them in parallel.
Screenshot_20220330-182424.png

Actual p/o for the HZ pickups is;
Green: -
White: +
Red: +
Black: -
 
Last edited:
#25
The EMG 45CS pickups are active, so the link I posted earlier shows how to wire them up. The red wire of both pickups and of the Barto preamp all go to the +9v, the pickup shields and the black wire of the preamp go to the switched ground that is connected when you plug in the cable. Consult the instructions for your preamp of course, but on the Barto NTBT-918 preamp the yellow wire is the input and the green wire the output.

EMG recommends 18 volts for best operation with the 45CS pickups but that's not why you're getting no output. I'd get everything else working first. Check, double-check, and triple-check your wiring. Look for tiny strands of wire or solder that are making a connection you don't intend. (Make sure you have a fully-charged battery of course.) If you hit the strings hard and hear some distortion on the attack, then think about 18 volts but it won't make the output any louder.
 

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