Active and passive pickups in one guitar?

[sf1102]

Hi guys. I'm planning to change my bridge pickup to an EMG 81. I wanted to change the neck pickup to an EMG 85 too but due to budget problems I'll only change the bridge pickup, plus I never use neck pickup that much anyway. I'm sorry if this question is ridiculously unnecessary but is it normal to have both passive and active pickups in one guitar? And normally how much are EMG 81s?

 

[funktastic]

i think there might be active and passive, but most i've seen are either passive or actives.
me thinks since you're gonna install active pickups means you gotta install the battery case. my as well install the case which works for both pickups?

 

[Gr3y]

do a double jack? Stereo jack? blend them as a single output should give u quite a bit of prob..

 

[lightice]

You'll different sets of pots as well.
I suggest going one or the other.

 

[Ized]

there'll be output level problems too should you wish to go both....

 

[sf1102]

but I hardly use both pickups at once. I normally use either the bridge or the neck pickup alone. Will there be a problem if I use just one pickup at a time? My wallet is screaming over here xD

 

[Hydrofly]

You need different types of pots for both. Ie, IC-400 iceman type of electronics set up. It's gonna be hell wiring it all though.

 

[zac89]

hmm or you could go just with the emg 81 in the bridge, and then leave the neck pickup un wired. since you dont really use the neck pickup much. judging by the pickup of choice you're prolly playing stuff within the metal region, so it wont be all that bad. i know a dude who took out his neck pickup in his les paul and soley used his bridge pickup, be it clean or dirty stuff. and plus it kinda looked cool with that empty route in the body for the neck pickup thats not there, haha very van halen like =P

 

[sf1102]

Right, so I can just leave the neck pup spot empty and use only one pup right? And when I have enough money I can still install the EMG 85 on the neck? This sounds good , thx for the advice

 

[zac89]

yeapp, no probs =)

 

[sf1102]

oh btw, how much do they sell EMGs (particularly the 81 xD) that Davis?

 

[HarrisonYeo]

135sgd for the single EMG81

 

[sf1102]

thx for the info , I'll get one in...maybe a few days. Oh, I almost forgot, is the installation charge a lot?

 

[LadyInTears]

30 dollars and davis takes 3 days to change them
might as well go to beez..

 

[zac89]

or you could try KC too, since it's within the vicinity. but gotta know when he'll be in tho.

 

[Ratboy]

you seem to be at the beginning stage of "tone quest"

i recommend spending a little $$ ( prob about $20 ) to get
your personal set of soldering iron / solder / screwdriver / wrench

practise on some scrape wire till confident
then you can swap pickups any time

unless this is a super vintage or some irreplaceable guitar....
then ignore this post ......

 

[relinquish69]

I had a friend who managed to get his guitar wired with a passive pu for neck and an EMG active pu for the bridge. he said he got the idea from one of hide's guitar. the installation was done at guitar connection. apparently what kelvin did was attach some sort of pcb board on one of the pots and some weird wiring.

although it is possible, I still think its cheaper to just save up for a active neck pickup.

 

[fgl]

with emgs u need to remove the ground wire from the bridge spring claw - which will cause U problems for the passive pup

My advice - get both changed to active

 

[sf1102]

wow so they take 3 days... hmm.... I could try replacing the pups myself, but I'm not too sure about that. This is my first electric, and even though I know it's not a high-end model I love it a lot and really don't want to screw it up. Maybe I could try out youtube or something... I never failed in repairing electronics before but this is quite different.