Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

[dkohkemper]

Hi folks.

A few days ago a customer came to me for a PU change. He has a 7 string BC Rich with factory passive pickups and wanted just the bridge pickup to be replaced with the Dino Cazares Retribution Passive Mount.

After analyzing the pickup and the wiring diagram, it looks to me like an active pickup.

The rear looks like this:



My question is, what does 'passive mount' means or implies? I'm looking that there's a Hybrid Preamplifier which naturally would need 9V, but I'm not pretty sure if this bridge pickup would work fine with the factory BC Rick neck passive pickup.

Does the preamplifier have nothing to do with the pickup being active or passive? Would I be able to connect the bridge Retribution with the stock neck BC Rich without having impedance issues?

I found this information on how to connect passive and active together:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/t...and-passive-in-the-same-guitar-can-it-be-done

Thanks for any input on this problem, the information provided on the webpage seems written by a publicist and contains no tech hints whatsoever on how this pickup should be wired, since the wiring diagram provided looks like it's an active pickup.

 

[Zeuss]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

All I know is you can have active and passive, my first seven string schecter I had an EMG 707 in the bridge and an EMG-HZ in the neck. But, I did not install them so I don't know how it was done.

 

[dkohkemper]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

All I know is you can have active and passive, my first seven string schecter I had an EMG 707 in the bridge and an EMG-HZ in the neck. But, I did not install them so I don't know how it was done.

Thanks for your reply, the link I added explains that, basically you need different pots for each PU since active and passive have different impedance. The only drawback is that you can't use both together (or at least one would overwhelm the sound of the other). How does that guitar work, meaning, switch-wise?

 

[dkohkemper]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

Anyone? Any comment?

Is it possible to wire the Bridge Retribution pick up (passive mount) to any other passive pick up?

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

All it means is that the SIZE of the pickup is similar to a passive JB-7 or 59-7. It's the same exact pickup as the active soapbar.

 

[dkohkemper]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

So basically it is an active PU? I think the SD web page is not very clear on this matter.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

yes, it is an active pup. "passive mount" only refers to how it attaches to the guitar.

 

[dkohkemper]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

Ok thanks so much jeremy and frankfalbo, my costumer got confused and thought it was a passive pick up. That was everything I needed to know.

 

[dominus]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

Thanks for your reply, the link I added explains that, basically you need different pots for each PU since active and passive have different impedance. The only drawback is that you can't use both together (or at least one would overwhelm the sound of the other). How does that guitar work, meaning, switch-wise?

I had a passive pickup in the neck position that had more volume than the active pickup in the bridge. I think the idea of "balancing" output is nonsense. The end results are all that matters.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

Ok thanks so much jeremy and frankfalbo, my costumer got confused and thought it was a passive pick up. That was everything I needed to know.

So at least one person out there is seeing all these direct-mounted actives and assuming that only passive pickups are mounted on rings? I hear the can-of-worms opener firing up.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

Ah, ok, nevermind. Apparently SD offers them in direct-mount housings (called active mount) which are different from ring-mounted pickups (passive mount). Active mount models apparently have a larger overall housing, with the screws being inline with the corners, instead of protruding feet like ring-mounted pickups.


However, I'm sure there's no way to alter the housing of an active mount model to fit in a route that was not shaped for it, and you can't swap the guts into a different housing.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

Ah, ok, nevermind. Apparently SD offers them in direct-mount housings (called active mount) which are different from ring-mounted pickups (passive mount). Active mount models apparently have a larger overall housing, with the screws being inline with the corners, instead of protruding feet like ring-mounted pickups.


However, I'm sure there's no way to alter the housing of an active mount model to fit in a route that was not shaped for it, and you can't swap the guts into a different housing.

Yes. "Active mount" became one of the standards when EMG released the 707 pickup in a bass pickup housing.

It cannot be transferred to another pickup housing without almost completely destroying the pickup. The black resin backing almost ensures that.

Furthermore, without having a whole bunch of other problems, as far as I know, you cannot put an active pickup and a passive pickup in the same guitar.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Retribution - Bridge 7 Strg, Passive Mount wiring question

It can be done easily enough, you just need a switch that can handle the change between the two (preferably a 2-way On/On, but not a mini-toggle. I did that once. Got a nice "whump" whenever I switched to and from the EMG).

Each pickup routes through the same switch to the same jack, but has their own set of pots. You cannot use them together as there's a serious power/volume/output mismatch.