Question about the YAMAHA BBNE1 Nathan East Pickup

[Eason Du]

Need help, does anyone know about the Pickups of Yamaha BBNE1 Nathan East Bass? I want to install (upgrade) a Bartolini NTMB preamp on it, but the original pickup has 3 lead line: 1-non-braided shield wire, 2-red wire, 3- white wire.

Now I just follow the NTMB wiring diagram, but it shows only 1 wire to the Blend pot for each pickup. so I thought that might be active pickups, then I wired the red wire to battery wire, white wire to Blend pot, shield wire to ground.

but it really Buzz now, especially when I use just Neck or Bridge pickup, it noise really loud. I research some of the information, the Yamaha Alnico Pickups are not active pickup, but why it has red and white wire? and how should I wire it?

Please help if anyone understand the wiring works, thanks a lot.

 

[Burner5]

Hey. I faced the same problem. I bought the same bass on which Bartolini's preamp and original pickups already stood. Noise when you turn the balance knob. In a central position like on jazz bass there is no noise. It turns out that the pickups are designed for a symmetrical connection (as if it were not a pickup, but a microphone) and they are connected to a symmetrical wiring diagram. I was lucky as one of the pickups on my bass was open (not filled with glue) and I was able to experiment with it.
1) First, I connected three wires that go from it to the XLR connector and directly to the mixer in the microphone input and the background has disappeared. But you can’t play like that, because you need JACK output.
2) By connecting the wires at the base of the pickup, I was able to achieve the HUMBACKER mode. The signal has become stronger, but less transparent. Unfortunately, my second pickup was completely flooded with glue from the inside and I could not do the same with it and it remained noisy even with the balance in the middle.
Conclusions: I like the sound of two singles together (like in jazz bass) and I won’t change anything. But if I wanted, then there would be two solutions.
1) gently using a tooth drill to remove the gum resin from the second pickup and connect it like a regular HAMBACKER in series at the base of the pickup. In this case, the active / passive mode will remain and it will be possible to use the balance knob
2) buy a balanced connection diagram or assemble it yourself and place it under the cover next to the electronics. But in this case the passive mode cannot be used. Hope this helps you. Good luck.

 

[Burner5]

Today I installed Yamaha RBX775 pickups instead of my native pickups. The result was amazing and exceeded my expectations. I recommend that you supply the bartolini ntmb 919f electronics and Yamaha RBX775 dual-coil pickups.