ian Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 (edited) hi im taking the j east out of my jazz and hopeing to replace with some EMG jazz pick ups do i need a pre amp or are they passive ? thanks in advance ian Edited April 26, 2009 by ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 [quote name='ian' post='473001' date='Apr 26 2009, 11:04 PM']hi im taking the j east out of my jazz and hopeing to replace with some EMG jazz pick ups do i need a pre amp or are they passive ? thanks in advance ian[/quote] Active EMGs have a preamp already. Only passive pickups would need a preamp, its the preamp that makes them active. You can put an addtional preamp after actives though. You get passive EMGs also. Basically, if you get a set of active EMGs, they just need pots and a battery. If you get any passsive pickups, you can either go without, or add a preamp, which will make it an active bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 if you can be more specific about what kind of EMG pickups you want to put in the bass, perhaps it might be possible for people to be clearer on how they think they can help you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 ok another question if anyone can help.what emg jazz pick ups do i need for my jazz bass but its now passive many thankls ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 [quote name='ian' post='473681' date='Apr 27 2009, 08:34 PM']ok another question if anyone can help.what emg jazz pick ups do i need for my jazz bass but its now passive many thankls ian[/quote] That really depends on what you want it to sound like. Is it a Fender Jazz? Or an 'in the style of'? Most of what I've read about what EMGs sound like didn't seem to agree with what I heard when I put them in my bass, so reading about them is not the way. Get hold of something with MEGs in and have a listen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_C Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 [quote name='ian' post='473681' date='Apr 27 2009, 08:34 PM']ok another question if anyone can help.what emg jazz pick ups do i need for my jazz bass but its now passive many thankls ian[/quote] As has been said above, you can buy both active and passive EMG pickups, if you buy active ones (J/H-J/J-X etc.) then you'll need a battery and the appropriate pots (usually supplied with the pickups), if you buy passive ones (J-HZ) then they'll work with a standard set of jazz bass pots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 [quote name='ian' post='473681' date='Apr 27 2009, 08:34 PM']ok another question if anyone can help.what emg jazz pick ups do i need for my jazz bass but its now passive many thankls ian[/quote] Going back to your original post, the EMG pickups I'm aware of are active and don't need a separate preamp. If you get active pickups and add a preamp you'll end up with an additional stage of gain which will make the bass run "hot" unless you can turn the gain down on the additional preamp (so get one with a gain trimpot if you need the extra tonal control). I don't personally know anything about "passive" EMG pickups. I wasn't aware they made any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_C Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 [quote name='Crazykiwi' post='473748' date='Apr 27 2009, 09:49 PM']Going back to your original post, the EMG pickups I'm aware of are active and don't need a separate preamp. If you get active pickups and add a preamp you'll end up with an additional stage of gain which will make the bass run "hot" unless you can turn the gain down on the additional preamp (so get one with a gain trimpot if you need the extra tonal control). I don't personally know anything about "passive" EMG pickups. I wasn't aware they made any.[/quote] [url="http://www.emginc.com/products/index/179"]http://www.emginc.com/products/index/179[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Thanks for that. I'll keep an eye out for them in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Active EMGs sound really nice run on 18V through passive electronics. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Keep the J Retro and put the EMGS in too. I have EMJ J's and a J Retro in my Jazz, just connect the battery wires together and they can both run off a single 9v battery. My bass sounds amazing, I tried the EMG's with the standard 25k pots and with the Retro it is monster. I bet you've got rid of the Retro, haven't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.