Silky999 Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 Hi all, I’m new to the world of changing pups etc and wanted some general advice. i have two large soap bar Mighty Mite pups on my C4. They are105mm so I am looking at upgrading to EMG45DCX for both. I have some EMGX on my SR800 MIJ and really like the sound. These were already on that bass. The C4 has a master volume, pup blend, bass and treble pots. The master volume is also a push/pull for active/passive. Can I just wire the EMGX to the existing pots or do I need to replace everything? I expect that I would lose the active/passive option and it would be permanently active. If I need to replace everything, what EMG setup would I need? i have looked at the EMG website and it isn’t clear...... Sorry if this is a basic question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 It looks like both the 45DCX and the EMGX series are both Active pickups so have a small pre-amp built into the pickup themselves. They will ned a constant battery supply so although it "could" be possible to install 45DCK's it would need some modifying of the supplied solderless wiring harness. They also might be too "hot" for your pre-amp. If you are stuck on using EMG's look for the passive equivalent which should be a straight swap and keep all your original functionality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silky999 Posted November 14, 2019 Author Share Posted November 14, 2019 Thanks for the reply. I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the MM pups were active? Are they in fact passive with the battery supplying a separate preamp? So if I want to go the EMG route I would need to use their pots etc and remove all the old stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 (edited) Pretty sure the MM pickups are passive and as you say, the battery is for a separate preamp. You may be able to use the EMG's but would need to supply them with a battery feed and as they already have a preamp in the pickups, there may be a compatability issue. Do EMG not do a passive version of the 45DCX? Edited November 14, 2019 by BassBunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silky999 Posted November 14, 2019 Author Share Posted November 14, 2019 Yes they do. Would they make much difference to the sound if I keep the existing preamp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 That's the 64 thousand dollar question. You won't know until you try. Welcome to the world of swapping out bits of a bass guitar. It could be the preamp that is not giving you the sound you want in which case a pickup swap might not solve the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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