stewblack Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 (edited) Excuse my ignorance but can an active bass be easily converted to passive? Or are pick ups different in an active bass? Not really interested in replacing the pups just if it was a quick dab of solder here and there. Edited February 27, 2019 by stewblack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyerseve Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 (edited) you can have pickups that require volts through them to work but you can also have passive pickups used within an active circuit. we would really need to know which pups you have or see the back of the pickups and a shot inside the control cavity. also, why do you want to go from active to passive? Edited February 27, 2019 by dyerseve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Please give some more information about your system. There are just few pickups that are active by nature. EMG is the most known. It has a lo-Z coil and an amp integrated to an epoxy filled case. Only works with battery. Most systems on the market are passive with just active tone controls. This kind of tone capsule is easy to bypass with a DPDT-switch. If you buy a pot with such a switch, you do not need to make extra holes to your instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 https://guitarelectronics.com/active-passive-true-bypass-switch/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 Thank you guys. I think I guessed my question was too vague and the only real answer would be it depends! At least I know it's feasible. I want to change as I have an active bass which is broken and rather than repair it I'd be happier to simplify it but only if it was an easy process. As to why? Just indulge me. I have issues with active basses which will seem silly to some but make sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 From what i remember, pickups that are designed from the factory to be used with a preamp usually have a lower output than pickups designed with passive electronics. The active preamp boosts the output, so the pickups can be wound with less output. Basses with passive electronics tend to have higher output because there's no active preamp to boost them. That could be total BS though 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassalarky Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 You may have already thought of this but the simplest way might be to solder the output of one of your pickups to a socket, plug in your cable and see how it sounds? If it sounds ok to you then just replace the controls with standard passive circuitry and you're good to go. I have done this with a Vintage (the brand) musicman copy and it worked just fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, fleabag said: From what i remember, pickups that are designed from the factory to be used with a preamp usually have a lower output than pickups designed with passive electronics. The active preamp boosts the output, so the pickups can be wound with less output. Basses with passive electronics tend to have higher output because there's no active preamp to boost them. That could be total BS though Pickups with a significant (noticeable) lower output will tend to have a preamp built in to allow level and/or impedance matching with a standard amplifier input. Edited February 27, 2019 by BigRedX 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Pickup preamps do not have to be boosters. So you may get exactly the same output from an active or passive system. Then we usually talk about a buffer, not about an amp/booster. Active tone control itself may be a buffer, but the adjustments may be that powerful that the system is a frequency dependent booster (or cutter). Pickup can be hi-Z or lo-Z and there may be an amp after it - or not. I would first concentrate on sound and if needed, then tone tweaking possibilities. Bad pickup will sound bad even after a good preamp. I suggest you to find the suitable pickup first and then continue through the signal path, that is: Pickups - Active/Passive blend - A/P volume - A/P tone - output. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 From the somewhat foggy picture I can see that your neck pickup live wire is cut. It should be soldered back to its place. The treble (?) pot (lower left corner) has not got cover and may be in bad shape. I suppose it may be the same value as the bass (?) pot, linear 30 k. Pickups are passive, there is no power supply to them. Dual opamp (JRC 4558?) gives a hint that it is for tone control. It may provide some boost, too. Blend pot is probably passive. Somewhat sharper pictures of the front and back of the board would give quite a lot of understanding, what it is there for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 Thank you all. I'm sorry the picture appears 'foggy' I must confess it looks fine on my phone perhaps it doesn't translate well to other devices. I'm aware of the broken connection and broken pots. As has been suggested maybe I should suck it and see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 It really depends on the system. Most active basses can be passive as well with no real problems. Obviously if they have active passive switches then they can be left passive. The only things that would be a problem would be actual active pickups, where the preamp is in the pickup itself, there aren't many of those around (and they are normally EMGs), and a few others that are lower impedence, which would be quiet, although you can always turn it up. I would personally try it and see (actually, that is not true, I would just put another preamp on it, I wouldn't be interested in having a passive bass). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 8 hours ago, fleabag said: From what i remember, pickups that are designed from the factory to be used with a preamp usually have a lower output than pickups designed with passive electronics Almost never the case. The only time you get that is the other way round, Leo Fender did a lot of experimentation with low output pickups for sound benefit which needed a preamp, but generally the preamp is not used for boosting at all, they are just for impedance matching. If you have a properly set preamp the output level should be exactly the same passive as active, as long as your amplifier impedance is good. With my ibanezs, the only way I know that it is active or passive is to change the bass control - doesn't work with the G&L, as the bass and treble are active anyway. The whole point of the buffering is that the tone is shaped by either the controls on the bass, or the controls on your amp, not the cable you are using, and also to prevent noise from in the system by providing a low impedance source. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 I said maybe it was BS. Seems it was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 7 hours ago, fleabag said: I said maybe it was BS. Seems it was But it sounds so feasible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 19 hours ago, stewblack said: . . . . can an active bass be easily converted to passive? Or are pick ups different in an active bass? Not really interested in replacing the pups just if it was a quick dab of solder here and there. Most pickups in active systems are passive, so you can easily convert any bass from active to passive and vice versa, but why would you? What problem would you be fixing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 1 hour ago, stewblack said: But it sounds so feasible That is the reason for 90% of the 'news' stories on facebook! 1 hour ago, chris_b said: Most pickups in active systems are passive, so you can easily convert any bass from active to passive and vice versa, but why would you? What problem would you be fixing? I would normally say that, but in this case, the fact it is currently broken is the problem to be fixed. Oh, another things, the pots in there at the moment (although they look a bit knackered), won't necessarily work well running it in passive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Pots may work, if the preamp is that very common "passive mix - active tone" system. The other tone is 30 k linear but there are no visible texts on that blend or vol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 Two pots won't work they've disintegrated, why am I toying with this idea? As I mentioned I don't like active basses any more or at least I prefer passive ones. Madness to some sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Makes perfect sense to me. My MM Sterling is now passive, sporting a P bass pickup and different electrics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 IMO there is little point in active basses unless the electronics do something that can't already be done by the tone controls on your amp or they allow individual tonal adjustments for each pickup. If that was my bass I'd take out all the electronics and replace them with a simple passive volume and tone control for each pickup. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 42 minutes ago, BigRedX said: IMO there is little point in active basses unless the electronics do something that can't already be done by the tone controls on your amp or they allow individual tonal adjustments for each pickup. The tone controls on an active bass are only there as a byproduct. The main point is the buffering to stop the loss in the leads, enable you to present the same sound regardless of amplifier and lead combination and to prevent mains hum induction. I would have an active in any bass even if it had no tone controls (which I never really use anyway) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown_User Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 If the pots are knackered and you just want to strip the active circuitry right out, would it just be a case of finding a wiring diagram for that bass, buying three new pots and a capacitor and wiring them up to the pickups? Do the pots operate like the ones on a jazz bass? There are lots of wiring diagrams for that setup on the Internet. Maybe even get a cheap breadboard so you can practice getting the wiring right without having to mess around soldering and resoldering. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Ask Kiogon to make you a passive loom. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 35 minutes ago, pete.young said: Ask Kiogon to make you a passive loom. There is your solution. Right there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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