Project bass

[tsquare67]

Hey Bassists,
I have been working on an old Squire Athena P-bass project for my son-in-law. So far its turned out fabulous, Red Sadome/Black Cherry stain with Minwax laquer and it looks as if it came of the showroom floor!!
Pickups!! The bass had Pj style pickups and this is where I get confused. Active and Passive, if i got it rigth, Active requires a battery to work and a passive does not?! But can an Active pickup be wired to work as a Passive? If I understand Active pickups correctly, they have a printed circuit board attached to the pots, is this also referred to as a preAmp and thats the reason for the 9V battery? If you used the pickups, minus the preamp or printed circuit board, then no battery required?
This bass Im working on is a Xmas present and my son-in-law does not play but wants to learn, what is a good, inexpensive pj style pickup to use for a learner? I dont want a Geezer Butler EMG in case he doesnt want to play but I dont want the cheapest Chinese pickup avaiable either. Thank you everyone for any info you have!!

 

[sikamikanico]

Active usually means passive pickups + active EQ/preamp (the "PCB" part as you put it). there are also active pickups, but they are rare. Anything active will require power (battery is most common). But if you have passive pickups, you can use a switch to bypass the active preamp if so desired.

The simplest wiring is completely passive and does not use any active components. Active circuitry adds complexity and cost, and is not worth it in your case, imo. I'd wire it with a switch to select pickup combinations + volume and tone.

As for pickups, I'd try to get some used DiMarzio or Seymour Duncans - they are fairly inexpensive, but classic designs with good reputation... The classifieds here are good, there was recently a DiMarzio PJ set for sale. Right now someone is selling some Peavey PJs for $45, I guess they'd work just fine for a project (no affiliation with the seller). Or you can mix-and-match, but that's a bit of a gamble... if you don't mind modifying the pickuguard, someone is selling Yamaha P pickups, and there's a DiMarzio Model J for sale too... might work well

 

[tsquare67]

Thank you sikamikanico, I never even thought of looking for pickups on here. I was looking at Clagic ( i believe that how they are spelled) and Dragonfire pickups. Im getting my son-in-law started so Im trying to keep costs reasonable in case he doesnt like it. I usually pick up beat up instruments, clean them up and donate them, usually guitars. This is my first bass. I was left outside and it was rusted really bad, so I got all new parts and pickups pplus pots are what I need to complete it. Thanks for the info!!