Wiring active and passive pickups

[olf]

Hi everyone,

I have the following problem: I have a guitar and with two Seymour Duncan passive pickups in it and would like to replace the bridge pickup with an EMG 81. I will have two volume pots for each pickup with 25k ohm for the active one and 500k for the passive one and no tone pots at all. The EMG comes with the solderless version and I don't know how to to connect a solderless pickup with the soldering pickup.

Is it correct that I should wire the pickups to their volume pots first, from there to the battery bus (http://www.emgpickups.com/content/wiringdiagrams/B157_0230-0113E.pdf which is included with the emg pickup) and on the left side of the battery bus there is a solderless connection to the switch and on the right side to the jack!? Is my main idea of the wiring correct?

My problem is that I don't know how to wire my passive pickup with the volume pot and from the volume pot to the battery bus. Out of my passive pickup are coming 5 wires (black, red, green, white and bare). My Volume pot looks like this http://ratcliffe.co.za/articles/volumepots/bleed3.gif .

If my basic idea is right, I just need to know which wires i have to solder to what point of my volume pot and from the volume pot to the battery bus. And what i have to do with the Ground wire from the Bridge.
If even my basic idea is wrong, I'm fucked


thx in advance for you help!

 

[KarlMagnusRobin]

Sorry, can't help you but.. why hassle with passive and active pickups?
Seems like it shouldn't be so beneficial, I don't even think it will work out properly at all!

 

[olf]

Sorry, can't help you but.. why hassle with passive and active pickups?
Seems like it shouldn't be so beneficial, I don't even think it will work out properly at all!

I don't want to buy another active pickup for 75€ and as far as i know it should work with one 25k pot and one 500k pot

 

[FireInside]

Sorry, can't help you but.. why hassle with passive and active pickups?
Seems like it shouldn't be so beneficial, I don't even think it will work out properly at all!

It will work just fine. I have a passive in the neck position of my 7 and an active in the bridge. The benefit, for me at least, is I have very nice, smooth, clean tone using the neck and a brutal tone on the bridge that I use for my rhythms. Kind of the best of both worlds.

OP sorry I can't help you with the specifics of the install (a buddy did it for me years ago). But this can be done. Hopefully one of the guys on here will chime in and help you out.

 

[Navid]

Hi everyone,

I have the following problem: I have a guitar and with two Seymour Duncan passive pickups in it and would like to replace the bridge pickup with an EMG 81. I will have two volume pots for each pickup with 25k ohm for the active one and 500k for the passive one and no tone pots at all. The EMG comes with the solderless version and I don't know how to to connect a solderless pickup with the soldering pickup.

Is it correct that I should wire the pickups to their volume pots first, from there to the battery bus (http://www.emgpickups.com/content/wiringdiagrams/B157_0230-0113E.pdf which is included with the emg pickup) and on the left side of the battery bus there is a solderless connection to the switch and on the right side to the jack!? Is my main idea of the wiring correct?

My problem is that I don't know how to wire my passive pickup with the volume pot and from the volume pot to the battery bus. Out of my passive pickup are coming 5 wires (black, red, green, white and bare). My Volume pot looks like this http://ratcliffe.co.za/articles/volumepots/bleed3.gif .

If my basic idea is right, I just need to know which wires i have to solder to what point of my volume pot and from the volume pot to the battery bus. And what i have to do with the Ground wire from the Bridge.
If even my basic idea is wrong, I'm fucked


thx in advance for you help!

Wiring Diagram
This should help with identifying the wires.
Even active pickups need a ground wire to the bridge - incredible right? It was confusing but after some research i can tell you it works that way.
Always keep in mind:
Pots have 3 tips, the first on the left (with the tips facing you, like in the picture you linked) is the input, the second is the output, the third is ground.

 

[olf]

Wiring Diagram
This should help with identifying the wires.
Even active pickups need a ground wire to the bridge - incredible right? It was confusing but after some research i can tell you it works that way.
Always keep in mind:
Pots have 3 tips, the first on the left (with the tips facing you, like in the picture you linked) is the input, the second is the output, the third is ground.

if i take a look at your diagramm, it seems like i just have to tap the red and white wire together and not solder them anywhere!?

if you take a look at my pot again, is it correct that the black wire goes to the input (the left loop of the volume pot) and the other two wires (green and bare) on top of the volume pot? and about the connection between the volume pot and the battery bus: from the output (the middle loop) to the N on the battery bus and from the ground (third loop) to the ground symbol on the battery bus?

and on the volume pot there is this green bare connection from the top of the pot to the ground, should this remain?

thx already for your answer!

 

[Navid]

if i take a look at your diagramm, it seems like i just have to tap the red and white wire together and not solder them anywhere!?

Exactly.

if you take a look at my pot again, is it correct that the black wire goes to the input (the left loop of the volume pot) and the other two wires (green and bare) on top of the volume pot?

Seymour duncan uses black wire as hot output. Correct.

and about the connection between the volume pot and the battery bus: from the output (the middle loop) to the N on the battery bus and from the ground (third loop) to the ground symbol on the battery bus?

As far as I know you don't have to wire the battery to the volume pot at all, the battery should be connected to the active pickup only with a dedicated wire (red colored). Yes it also has a black wire for ground connection.
The emg solderless thing is complicated, i suggest to wire them without it.
Connect the wires to the emg, then cut the other end of the solderless wiring and solder them to the battery clip and the pots...
I can't look at the solderless thing right now, i'll take a look tomorrow.

and on the volume pot there is this green bare connection from the top of the pot to the ground, should this remain?

It should remain.

 

[olf]

thx a lot to Navid!!!

i just have some small issues left:
1. the bridge pickup and the mid switch (bridge and neck together) works correctly as far as i can see/hear, when i switch to the neck pickup, i have this buzzing all the time...

2. do i have to ground the switch to the battery bus? if yes, is it the small loop on the left http://www.banzaimusic.com/image.php?id=12959&type=D

3. do i really have to ground wire the bridge pickup? because here at the "installation notes" at number 4 it says you shouldn't...

4. my new tone pot doesn't turn smoothly, but i guess as long as the tone etc. works its no problem for me!?


answers to these questions would be awesome

 

[Navid]

1. the bridge pickup and the mid switch (bridge and neck together) works correctly as far as i can see/hear, when i switch to the neck pickup, i have this buzzing all the time...

The ground wiring of that pickup is probably disconnected

2. do i have to ground the switch to the battery bus? if yes, is it the small loop on the left http://www.banzaimusic.com/image.php?id=12959&type=D

Yes that is the ground pin, connect it to your ground wiring.

3. do i really have to ground wire the bridge pickup? because here at the "installation notes" at number 4 it says you shouldn't...

If you don't wire the passive humbucker to the bridge you'll get a terrible buzzing noise whenever you use it. Active pickups have to be grounded to the bridge as well even though EMG says they don't have to. If you email EMG they will reply that if you can ground them to the bridge you should do so.

4. my new tone pot doesn't turn smoothly, but i guess as long as the tone etc. works its no problem for me!?

Every pot manufacturer makes them differently, the smoothness of the turns is just one of the many differences pots have, logarithmic pots aren't even really logarithmic and every manufacturer makes them somewhat different.

 

[olf]

If you don't wire the passive humbucker to the bridge you'll get a terrible buzzing noise whenever you use it. Active pickups have to be grounded to the bridge as well even though EMG says they don't have to. If you email EMG they will reply that if you can ground them to the bridge you should do so.

sorry for asking again, but with "here" i meant this wiring diagram https://www.emgpickups.com/content/wiringdiagrams/H_0230-0106D.pdf

and about that buzzing...is that probably the buzzing i am talking about in my problem 1?