Replacing a passive bridge pickup with an active humbucker??

[AD Chaos]

Hey guys

Couple of years ago I wanted to replace a stock bridge pup with an active SD humbucker.. I wanted to keep the neck passive, as I do like the cleans in it a lot. After asking around much in the EMG & SD forums -without much luck- I finally got a response by EMG, they sent me this diagram:

So I gave it to the guitar tech and he did his thing.. The result IMO was really good, I like the sound of both pups a lot, only downside (AFAIK) being that the passive neck obviously has less output, so not ideal for switching for live use, but that's not what I'm interested in anyways (also, the middle pup selector position had to become also just bridge).

Nowadays I'm thinking of doing the same again on another axe (again with a beautiful passive neck -so I think the guitar has potential-, but your standard factory passive bridge ), only this time, I'd like to do it myself.


Opinions? recommendations? links?
Can anyone explain the diagram in full detail?

 

[::XeS::]

Diagram is pretty simple...you don't need anything else.
"Passive" and "EMG" are the 2 cables that go into the 2 pickups, the thing on the right is the output jack and the thing on the left is the pickup selector.
As you can see you have to solder 2 cable to the metal body of the pots.

 

[JeffTD]

Just use the stock pots with the EMG. It'll act more like an on/off switch than a volume or tone knob, but when everything's on 10 it'll sound fine.

 

[Chainsaw Calligraphy]

If the guitar was built with passives you might also have to route out some extra space in the body for the battery.

 

[AD Chaos]

THanks guys.

Yeah, that's what I did with the other one- make the electronics compartment bigger with a drill, and then have a new lid made.

Just use the stock pots with the EMG. It'll act more like an on/off switch than a volume or tone knob, but when everything's on 10 it'll sound fine.

Well if I recall correctly the tech back then told me he could install a separate -new- volume for the bridge, but he had to drill another hole for the extra pot- I told him no I didn't want that, especially since the output was gonna be different anyways. A push/pull knob was discussed, but as I didn't want to wait and couldn't find the pot locally, the volume became shared for both pups (not sure how the tech pulled that off). So my actual setup is not exactly like the diagram I think. I also thought of a booster for the passive in order to make levels closer, and place the pot or switch inside the electronics or something.

 

[Firaxis]

I'd say from the diagram the two pots (25k and 250k) are both volume controls, is this correct? Either way, the pots for EMG are lower impedance than for passives, You'd just switch your bridge volume pot with a 25k one. You'd also need a stereo (or is it balanced) output to create the loop the battery needs.

I've been thinking of doing this for a while, absolutely love passive sounds for lead but actives for rhythm, the volume drop is what got me (It'd considerably effect the gain too i think).


edit: sorry didn't properly read your last post! Is it all working ok? Did that boost switch work for the passive? I imagine you could rig it to be permanently on without boosting the EMG.

 

[AD Chaos]

I haven't installed a booster yet, but I'm pretty sure it'd work just fine. Actually EMG has the PA2 switch booster- that you can install inside the electronics cavity, or of course drilling a small hole in the front of the guitar, if you prefer. Than one is sold as part of the Kerry King setup I think.

The other one is the Afterburner knob. Push/pull so I assume it has true bypass(?) I'd prefer this one in case the boost gives me some unwanted saturation for clean tones, or just to adjust the boost level..