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Need help with an old EMG P bass pickup (many pics)

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  • Need help with an old EMG P bass pickup (many pics)

    I recently bought a used bass body with a very old set of EMG PJ pickups. I looked up a few diagrams, and I understand how to wire it like a Jazz Bass using 25k pots and a 9 volt battery. But I'm a bit confused by some of this old wiring. I'm fine with the J pickup.

    The P pickup had the coils separated and seemingly wired as two separate pickups. The bottom of each part of the pickup had copper shielding tape over the epoxy. The black wire on each of these coils is wired to ground. The white wires were attached to what looks like a home made circuit board of some kind. I don't remember if the J pickup was also attached to the board. The old pots are 25k CTS with a cap. ​The cap is either .01uf or .1uf. I honestly don't remember. Pictures are below. Like the idiot I am, I didn't take before pictures.

  • #2
    One more pic...

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    • #3
      Hard to say for sure without measurements, but what I see LOOKS to be passive pickups with a simple single op amp preamp. I'm guessing pickups should be wired like a standard jazz bass and then the pickups would go to the two coupling caps on the preamp board (green ones). It looks like volume/tone controls, battery clip, and jack are still wired, so that should be self explanatory.
      Last edited by The Dude; 09-08-2023, 12:39 AM.
      "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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      • #4
        So here's a twist: I removed the shielding tape from the bottom of the P pickup. I lost a wire in process, but that's not a big deal. This appears to be an old Fender gray bottom P pickup that someone doctored. I can get sound out each coil, so the pickup works. It just needs to be repaired. The circuit board had to be some sort of homemade preamp that someone built to use both pickups together.

        As for the J pickup, I can't see much more than EMG J on the bottom of the pickup. The sticker has been mutilated to badly. But that is some sort of active EMG.

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        • #5
          Probably someone put an op-amp boost circuit on the passive pickup to try to match the output of the active J.
          Originally posted by Enzo
          I have a sign in my shop that says, "Never think up reasons not to check something."


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          • #6
            Yeah. I already reached out to Wolfe at Wolfetone Pickups. I'm shipping the P bass pickup to him this afternoon. Since these can be fragile, I want a pro to do the work. I'm not sure I'm going to bother with the EMG.

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