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put a switch in that empty whole!!!
- Thread starter spidersbass
- Start date
spidersbass said:how would i wire all this together? would i have to put a capacitor or something in there as well? i know next to nothing about capacitors and what not...
It's a simple mod, although I've never actually done it. But I can get you started and give you at least a general idea and whoever can followup. You just need a switch to break the circuit basically like a light switch in your house does. A $2 SPDT switch from radio shack should do it. Just break the negative (black) from the battery clip going to the jack - running from the battery clip to the switch, then from the switch to the terminal on the jack where the wire from the clip ran before. A capacitor may be needed just to prevent a pop when switching on and off.
Dharmabass will get this and he'll know for sure and will verify or correct it. Or someone else can who know's for sure. I'm not up to snuff on wiring anymore cause 99.9% of the time the only thing in my bass is 2 passive pickups and two jacks - no preamps, no batteries, no switches, no pots. I just have some idea of what can be done from wiring I've done in the past - and from responding to threads like this.
But it's as simple a mod as they come.
it sounds easy enough, but i'll wait to see what Dharmabass has to say... i dont' want to mess anything up, and i dont' want someone elses hands all over my baby!!!
well, i'll wait for Dharmabass or anyone else whose 100% SURE about this.
so i need one of these:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
... and a capacitor right? but which kind of capacitor. i went to that radio shack website and i found like 50 different capacitors!
so i need one of these:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
... and a capacitor right? but which kind of capacitor. i went to that radio shack website and i found like 50 different capacitors!
spidersbass said:
You might not need the capacitor at all but seems I recall mention of on/offs popping without one - amp on/off switches will do the same thing. Haven't seen a post by Dharma since these so who knows what's going on in Australia. PM Davidwilson, he's on regularly and is more helpful and prompt than he probably should be. Maybe New York is more tranquil at this point in time. Wish I knew off the cuff but don't and I'd have to do the same surfing you would to find it.
The RS switch you linked to is OK, but has more terminals than you need, but that will be fine. We can use one for something else.
Use the RS switch you linked to earlier. Add [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] as I've shown it drawn in the pic.
I'm not 100% sure of the way EMG have their terminals and wires arranged so I can't give you a more detailed diagram.
If you buy a different switch, let me know and I'll adjust the drawing, as I've used the bottom RH terminal (which is 'spare') as a convenient place to connect the cap negative terminal. The toggle direction as marked in the drawing is just to show where it will be 'on'. Obviously if you want on the be 'on' with the toggle down when it's mounted on the bass, connect exactly as shown, then rotate the switch 180 degrees when you mount it and tighten the nut.
Please make sure you observe the correct polarity on the cap; the negative terminal is clearly marked.
HTH and sorry for the delay. I've only been online from work where I don't have a scanner 'till I got home tonight. Work is hell at this time of year and I'm very tired.
Ask if anything's not clear.
Use the RS switch you linked to earlier. Add [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] as I've shown it drawn in the pic.
I'm not 100% sure of the way EMG have their terminals and wires arranged so I can't give you a more detailed diagram.
If you buy a different switch, let me know and I'll adjust the drawing, as I've used the bottom RH terminal (which is 'spare') as a convenient place to connect the cap negative terminal. The toggle direction as marked in the drawing is just to show where it will be 'on'. Obviously if you want on the be 'on' with the toggle down when it's mounted on the bass, connect exactly as shown, then rotate the switch 180 degrees when you mount it and tighten the nut.
Please make sure you observe the correct polarity on the cap; the negative terminal is clearly marked.
HTH and sorry for the delay. I've only been online from work where I don't have a scanner 'till I got home tonight. Work is hell at this time of year and I'm very tired.
Ask if anything's not clear.
thanks so much for that drawing!!! i'm pretty new at this whole wiring thing, so please bare with me.
i didn't know that swith had so many terminals, and i have two problems...
1. the capacitor is connected to the bottom 2 terminals right? is it marked on the cap which wire is + and which is - ?
2. and i don't understand what that "pre" is.
i'm stupid, i know... but i'm a newbie here.
i didn't know that swith had so many terminals, and i have two problems...
1. the capacitor is connected to the bottom 2 terminals right? is it marked on the cap which wire is + and which is - ?
2. and i don't understand what that "pre" is.
i'm stupid, i know... but i'm a newbie here.
The switch you linked is a DPDT or Double Pole, Double Throw, so it can actually switch two seperate circuits between two terminals. For example, you could use it in a stereo hi-fi amp to select between CD and DVD players, for both channels on the one switch. It does have more switching capability than you need, so I used a 'spare' terminal as a convenient place to mount the capacitor.spidersbass said:
The 'minimum neccessary' switch you need is called an SPST (S=single), and it only has 2 terminals not the 6 of a DPDT, but I used what you indicated.
Yes. The negative terminal will be marked on the cap.
Pre is for preamp. I'm not sure of the EMG preamps, and how they're wired, so I just marked that the wires go to the appropriate '+' and '-' terminals for power on the preamp itself. You'll need to see what they are for yourself (look at the instructions).
The only stupid question is the one not asked.
will it be much easier to use the SPST switch instead? cuz i'll use that to make it easier on myself since i'm not so good at this yet.
will this work?
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
these are the instructions for my pickups and electronics, mine is wired like it is in diagram 2:
Link Removed
i didn't see anything about where the - or + terminals are... i'm not even sure what exactly the preamp is (remember, newbie).
will this work?
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
these are the instructions for my pickups and electronics, mine is wired like it is in diagram 2:
Link Removed
i didn't see anything about where the - or + terminals are... i'm not even sure what exactly the preamp is (remember, newbie).
well, i'll use the SPST switch, or whatever type of switch you would suggest to be the easiest to wire up for a newbie like me.
Not really; both are easy enough and instructions follow.spidersbass said:
Yes. Look at the picture on the RS page; it only has two terminals, one in the middle and one at the end and the toggle is pictured in the 'up' position, away from the end terminal. When you connect it up, with the toggle this way, the power will be on to the pickups. Just remember for later so you can screw it into the bass with the toggle switching in the direction you want it to.
OK, I get it now, you just have the EMG pickups and some pots and a socket. For some reason I though you had an EMG BTC preamp in there too, but you don't, so here's the revised instruction.
Look at Diagram 2 on page two of the EMG .pdf. On the right side, there is a pic of the battery clip and a red wire (crosshatched in the drawing) going off to the left. This wire you are going to cut, before it gets to the 'Y' in the cable, and solder to the centre pin of the SPST switch (RS PN 275-612).
Then connect the other part of the red wire you just cut to the end terminal on the switch. Now the switch is effectively joining the cable again. Clear? You may need to add a short piece of wire to extend the red wire if it isn't long enough when you add the switch in - if so wrap some electrical tape securely around the join when it's soldered (not just twisted together!)
Now it's time to add in the capacitor. If you look at the capacitor, the '-' lead will be marked clearly on it's case. This end is to be soldered to the output jack on the same terminal on the jack, as the black wire that comes from the battery clip. Soldered a piece of wire onto the '+' terminal of the capacitor and then solder the other end of the wire to the 'end' terminal of the switch.
One last point; you don't want the capacitor flopping around in the cavity, so secure it to something like the back of the pickguard or the cavity cover with a dab of glue. Think about the layout, ie where you're going to mount things and lengths of cables etc before you start. I don't have the bass in front of me so I dunno how to tell you to do that.
I've tried to upload the pic I made, but it's too big. Email me through the forum and I'll email it to you directly as an attachment.
Sorry for the delay in replying, but I'm moving house.
EDIT: I will send you two drawings; one for the SPST and one for the DPDT switch, so you can use either depending on which switch you are able/choose to buy. The DPDT has the advantage that you have somewhere convenient to mount the capacitor on the spare terminals. The drawings are based on the EMG page 2 and should make sense of what I tried to say above.
thats cool, i hope its easy for me too. i just sent an email to Dharmabass to send me the drawings, its much easier for me to see it that way. i think i'm going to use the DPDT switch.
Dharmabass said:
Ok, I tried to do this mod yesterday. I did it once without a capacitor, and as expected there was a nasty pop. I wired in a capacitor, it was a 10uF electrolytic cap. This effectively killed the pop when turning the pups off, but the pop when reconnecting the circuit was unaffected.
This makes sense according to my knowledge of electronics. When you turn the switch off, the abrupt stop in current that would normally occur is being replaced by a fade out, because of the capacitor discharging. When you turn the circuit on this wouldn't happen because the cap is wired in parallel with the switch, so you are still directly connecting the the leads and the cap is having no effect on the rate at which current/voltage is introduced into the circuit.
So am I missing something? How do you get this switch to not pop when you turn it on?
(I am runnin EMG's @ 18 volts to a passive V/V/T setup)
I vote for this suggestion, it's a natural for my sound guy, he always wants me to crank it down and has no idea if I do or not, it would really make him smile to acctually see me "turn something down"SteveC said:Nothing dumb about a spare knob. When someone asks you to "turn it down" or "change your tone" in some way, you can say "OK" and turn your "volume" knob...
Keep the phat boost in, or whatever it's called... but take out the thing that holds it on the pole... If someone uses your bass... when you get it back pull off your extra pot and say "what did you do!?" lol... man... I'm tired...
stubi19 said:EMG Afterburner. 20db Variable Boost on a single push/pull pot. I like that little toy
Interesting. Could I put one of these, say into my Sterling if I got a hole routed out? That's exactly what I need. IF only there was a switch form to take up less room...
