Can I put passive hum cancelling or humbucking Jazz pickups in my active bass.

[David Houldworth]

Hi All,

 

You have helped me out with 2 questions so far, maybe you can help with a third ?

 

So, My new Sadowsky RSD active 5 string jazz bass arrived, and to cut a very long story short - I love the fit and finish, worthy of a much higher priced guitar, love the neck - but the active and single coil elements are causing lots of EMI when my bass is plugged into my PC via my audiobox interface. During home practice I use the PC 90% of the time.

 

My bass teacher kindly offered me his Ibanez bass to try and see if it was the Sadowsky or if any bass would be affected. When I plugged in the Ibanez active 5, there was no noise, even when volume was up higher than I would usually have it.

But - the Ibanez has humbucking pickups.

 

The Sadowsky is all boxed up and ready to back, but the thought occurred - how easy in terms of wiring would it be to get J bass shaped humbucker or noise cancelling pick ups and fit them into the Sadowsky ?

 

Dos anyone know, would humbucking/noise cancelling pickups be compatible with the active circuitry. Would the wiring be compatible ?

 

Being able to do the above would enable me to keep a really nice guitar. 

 

(I have swapped out many pickups, jack sockets, pots over the years, and am pretty good at soldering, so the actual work would present no issues)

 

As always, any help greatly appreciated

 

Cheers

 

[MichaelDean]

Yep, they should be fine with the preamp. I think most noise cancelling jazz bass style pickups try to emulate the original sound, so will have a similar output. It'll add a pretty penny to the overall cost though. A very quick Google suggested £160+ for a set of Fender noiseless 5 string jazz bass pickups. 

[David Houldworth]

Hi Michael,

Thank you for responding.

 

Man, £160+ that's about a third of the value of the bass...

[PaulThePlug]

DiMarzio Model J...

[asingardenof]

3 hours ago, David Houldworth said:

Hi All,

 

You have helped me out with 2 questions so far, maybe you can help with a third ?

 

So, My new Sadowsky RSD active 5 string jazz bass arrived, and to cut a very long story short - I love the fit and finish, worthy of a much higher priced guitar, love the neck - but the active and single coil elements are causing lots of EMI when my bass is plugged into my PC via my audiobox interface. During home practice I use the PC 90% of the time.

 

My bass teacher kindly offered me his Ibanez bass to try and see if it was the Sadowsky or if any bass would be affected. When I plugged in the Ibanez active 5, there was no noise, even when volume was up higher than I would usually have it.

But - the Ibanez has humbucking pickups.

 

The Sadowsky is all boxed up and ready to back, but the thought occurred - how easy in terms of wiring would it be to get J bass shaped humbucker or noise cancelling pick ups and fit them into the Sadowsky ?

 

Dos anyone know, would humbucking/noise cancelling pickups be compatible with the active circuitry. Would the wiring be compatible ?

 

Being able to do the above would enable me to keep a really nice guitar. 

 

(I have swapped out many pickups, jack sockets, pots over the years, and am pretty good at soldering, so the actual work would present no issues)

 

As always, any help greatly appreciated

 

Cheers

 

 

Yes, in fact Roger Sadowsky even recommends retrofitting noise cancelling pickups. You could even fit Sadowsky humbucking pickups to keep the original character of the bass: https://www.thomann.de/gb/sadowsky_j_j_pickup_set_5_nc.htm, although at nearly £300 you might get away with just doing the bridge pickup since having both pickups on full should act as a humbucker, but that assumes you never solo the neck pickup.

Edited November 19, 2023 by asingardenof

[kodiakblair]

3 hours ago, David Houldworth said:

Dos anyone know, would humbucking/noise cancelling pickups be compatible with the active circuitry. Would the wiring be compatible ?

As has been pointed out already you'll face no problems, most 'active' basses pair normal pickups with a 9v or 18v EQ section.

 

Easily affordable stacked or split 5 string jazz pickups though are pretty thin on the ground 🙁

 

You could look at fitting dummy coils but that'll involve surgery, hidden below the scratchplate being the handiest location.

[MOSCOWBASS]

I would try shielding the bass first. Including the pickup cavities. Also make sure the pickup wires are routed away from the preamp module. These are issues I had with an early german metroline.

[ead]

I had a fretless RSD and found the preamp was the main issue as it was feisty to say the least.  Ended up swapping it for a preloved John East J Retro preamp that I acquired on here for a little over £100.  Not dead slient but very, very much better. 

[pete.young]

Sadowsky use different pickup lengths. Some are standard Fender Jazz (100mm neck, 104mm bridge) but many Sadowsky basses use a pair of 95mm length. You need to make sure you get the right set for the RSD.

 

95mm sets are available from Delano, not sure about other vendors. They come up second-hand on this forum occasionally.

[LeftyJ]

On 19/11/2023 at 03:38, kodiakblair said:

As has been pointed out already you'll face no problems, most 'active' basses pair normal pickups with a 9v or 18v EQ section.

Came here to say this, I'm pretty sure this is the case with the RSD basses too 

Having said that, there's probably another issue at play here - possibly the preamp or the wiring, as @ead and @MOSCOWBASS pointed out.