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PUPS without EQ?

M

Moonsoft

Aug 28, 2006
76
0
#1
Is there a way to add 2 pick ups to a bass and connect them directly somehow to the Jack exit? with the maximum volume possible without distortion?
I'm the type of bassist that doesn't mess with the bass sound ON the bass, but only on the preamp and EQ after recording, and sometimes my finger slips to the knobs and the sound changes without me noticing, only after the mastering and all that is to be done.
Help? =)
 
#2
Sure...

just wire them in parallel (both grounds together, and both hots together) and connect them to the jack. I've wired a couple of P-Basses direct to the jack, and there is a sound benefit. I really don't see much point in P-style vol/tone controls, as they're both done better on the amp.

If I was running with two pickups, I'd consider adding a selector switch. You'd the have three sounds without any comproise in tone.

Ian
 
#4
Ah... You didn't say it was an active bass...

The batteries are probably only needed for the EQ.

What sort of pickups are you using? Most pickups don't need batteries (EMG's being the main exception). The pickups then go to the EQ, which can be passive or active. If you're looking to ditch the EQ then you can ditch the batteries to. You would loose the buffering of the active circuit which may or may not bother you. Active basses ususally have stereo jack socket, and wire it so it turns the power on and off automatically. You'd probably want to replace the jack socket with a simple mono jack socket, and wire the pickups direct to that.

There's less advantage in doing this on an active bass sound wise (as the controls don't load the pickups). You could consider replacing the pots with fixed resistors, so you leave the active circuit in place, but with a single fixed sound. This a bit more complex if you're not sure what you're doing I'd consider getting a tech to do it for you.

Ian

Just as another thought - if you're just using it for studio work you could wire each pickup seperatly to a stereo jack, and record each seperatly. Then you could select your pickups at mastering. The downside being you'd not be able to use a regular lead.
 
#5
sounds likeyour running an active pickup? are you adding passive pickups? they may conflict wit each other. 2 sets of actives connected to each other will conflict too. for the purest sound, some people connect the pickup directly to the jack, bypassing the electronics. this does not work well with some active pickups. (like carvins). some pickups depend on the electronics to work well. be more specific about what you seek to do, we can give better answers. johnny a
 
#6
The bass is a ESP LTD F-104 as stated before, the pickups are from ESP, "ESP DB-4 Pick-ups". Electronics: volume, balance and ESP ABQ-2 active EQ. ESP DB-4 bridge, one 9V battery.
There is this cable that comes from the bridge...I didn't know that besides the pick-ups the brigde also did something besides holding the strings O_o'
So where should I put all this cables?
From each PUP there are 2 cables, one black and white, so that makes 4, and there is another from the bridge, now I dunno if I need the batteries or not, or if that is going to affect the "power" of the bass or not =\
 
#7
so a mono jack? but it's mono bad compared to stereo?
When I join PUP1 with PUP2 don't I get a mix of both?
From the Jack it will travel to a BOSS GT6B, and it has stereo OUT, so I dunno if this option will loose the quality because of the mono jack?
I don't wanna buy anything, I just wanted to plug in the 2 PUPs to the stereo jack, there must be a simple way to do it, no? =)
 
#9
Moonsoft said:
The bass is a ESP LTD F-104 as stated before, the pickups are from ESP, "ESP DB-4 Pick-ups". Electronics: volume, balance and ESP ABQ-2 active EQ. ESP DB-4 bridge, one 9V battery.
Click to expand...

Are there wires that come from the pickups to the battery? Or just the preamp?

Moonsoft said:
There is this cable that comes from the bridge...I didn't know that besides the pick-ups the brigde also did something besides holding the strings O_o'
Click to expand...

That's your string ground wire. The bridge gets grounded to reduce noise. Attach that wire to the ground at the output jack.

Moonsoft said:
So where should I put all this cables?
From each PUP there are 2 cables, one black and white, so that makes 4, and there is another from the bridge, now I dunno if I need the batteries or not, or if that is going to affect the "power" of the bass or not =\
Click to expand...

OK that answered my earlier question. What ever wire that came from the pickups that went to ground on the balance pot, goes to ground at the jack. The other wire goes to hot. The battery is no longer needed, nor is the preamp and anything else in the bass.

Without the EQ you don't need any power going to the bass.

The bass may not be louder without the EQ... all depends on the pickups. You can test it out before removing everything, just in case you don't like it, and it will certainly sound different. Just disconnect the pickup wires from what every they are attached to (the balance pot), and wire them to a spare output jack. Then plug that into your amp and see what you think. It might hum a bit since it's not wired up properly, and the ground from the bridge isn't connected.

If you like that tone, go ahead and remove the preamp and stuff, and wire the pickups to the jack in the bass.
 
#11
Not mine, but I can dream.

IMG_0118.jpg
 
#14
i traced where the grey cable comes from, and it's 2 cables joined, the white must be the hot, and the other one it's connected to the bridge/ground. So I should put the 2 grounds there, and the 2 hots in the white cable place, but what about the battery cable? should I just pluck it out?
 
#15
Moonsoft said:
ok you guys have great basses more expensive than my house but that doesn't answer my small question =P
Within those 3 parts in the jack where should I put the 5 cables stated above?
Click to expand...

I did tell you. The two hot connection from the pickups, that were on the blend control, go to where the hot goes on the jack. The two grounds from the pickups, along with the ground wire from the bridge, goes to the ground connection on the jack.

Just trace where the wires went. The jack has three connections... tip, which is the hot, ring, which is where the black wire from the battery clip went, and sleeve, which is the ground.

If you are unfamiliar with wiring, you can likely find some helpful schematics on line.
 
#17
Moonsoft said:
ok... I melt the wires together on it's respective place, but now I get a Pzzz sound when I'm not touching the strings =(
Should I buy a BOSS Noise Suppressor?
Click to expand...

You have either a bad or incomplete ground connection, or you didn't connect the wire from the bridge to ground.

I'm assuming you didn't have this issue before? If the ground to the bridge is good, then one thing to look for is the control cavity might be shielded with either conductive paint, or copper foil. When you disconnected the pots, you disconnected this shielding from ground. I'm guessing it's paint, so you need to reground it.

If you left the pots in the bass, reconnect the ground wire from the pots to the output jack.

If you removed the pots, you need to establish a connection to the conductive paint. Sometimes there's a screw with the ground wire attached that has been painted.
 
#20
i'm sorry, you say "check the shielding" but I dunno what you really mean. you should talk very especifically so that a dumb person would understand :p

i'm gonna upload a picture for better understanding

here

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 

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