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Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

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  • Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

    ... so what do you guys think about it?

    i figure i'd have the subtlety and tone of whatever dimarzio or seymour duncan passive pickup that i like, with the added benefit of a onboard or offboard gain stage before the preamp.

    any advice?
    "It wasn't the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn't flat. [ ... ]
    The truth will seem utterly preposterous, and its speaker, a raving lunatic."

  • #2
    Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

    Well Im no expert on this matter...

    But I think I would prefer the on board gain booster.. Tho I wouldnt care for the mini toggle.

    EMG's have their pre amnp internal whereas say, Bartolini has theirs externaly with a PCB...

    EMG, sells gain booster expander kits to drive the preamps in the pups as well...

    If you want that extra boost and dont mind a mini toggle, Id say go for it.

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    • #3
      Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

      i'd go for this one --->
      http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/product/PASFX

      variable gain boost and i can use a push/pull pot for the gain control instead of adding a toggle switch.

      of course if anyone has schematics for building such a gain booster, i'd be really happy to take a look at them... !
      "It wasn't the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn't flat. [ ... ]
      The truth will seem utterly preposterous, and its speaker, a raving lunatic."

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

        I picked up the EMG boost for myself . It has a toogle switch to turn on/off, plus, I can dial it the amount of boost that I want. I think it was about $30 for the part, plus they'll need to add a $10 balanced 1/4 plug.

        joe...
        www.godwentpunk.com
        www.myspace.com/godwentpunk

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        • #5
          Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

          HEY... I just went GOLD!!!

          goldie joe...
          www.godwentpunk.com
          www.myspace.com/godwentpunk

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          • #6
            Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

            thanks for the advice. Is there any way to use a push-pull pot instead of the switch? and i guess you attach 2 of the wires to the pot for gain control... ?
            "It wasn't the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn't flat. [ ... ]
            The truth will seem utterly preposterous, and its speaker, a raving lunatic."

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            • #7
              Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

              The pull-pot would be used for coil splitting and does not have any gain boost to it. The mini-switch will toggle your gain boost on/off. I guess you could have the gain boost always active sitting inside the control cavity and hook it up to the pull section of your pull-pot so that when it is down -> no gain. Pull it up and active the gain section would then be in use. Sounds like a lot of work so there is probally some manufacturer out there that makes something in these lines, you'd think...

              Good luck!

              joe...
              www.godwentpunk.com
              www.myspace.com/godwentpunk

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              • #8
                Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

                i will be installing the PA2 tomorrow after noon. . .i will tell you how it sounds when i hook it up and get it all strung up and what not.

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                • #9
                  Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

                  cool!

                  does it consume battery when the switch is off? also does it affect the pickups tone (other than boosting it) ?

                  and can you put 2 of them in series for a 400dB boost [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
                  "It wasn't the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn't flat. [ ... ]
                  The truth will seem utterly preposterous, and its speaker, a raving lunatic."

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

                    oh - i see in your sig that you have a engl PA ..... how does it sound? how does it compare to a peavey 5150?

                    i've always found that Alexi's engl sound has some similarities with a 5150.....
                    "It wasn't the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn't flat. [ ... ]
                    The truth will seem utterly preposterous, and its speaker, a raving lunatic."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Active pickups vs. gain booster... ?

                      In all active boosts that I'm aware of, including the PA2, the battery life is only used your cable is hook-up to the guitar. I always unhook my guitar chord so I've never had a problem. Batteries typically last for me about 1 year.

                      You can dial in the amount of gain you want to add. Besides that, things remain the pretty close.

                      joe...
                      www.godwentpunk.com
                      www.myspace.com/godwentpunk

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