Did J/C ever make active pickups?

[MikeStrat]

Because you have a battery powered preamp in the guitar, and when the preamp is off, there is no throughput from the pickups.

So, the pickups don't really work without the power of the battery. I've never tried taking the battery out and playing but I'm sure it would be basically worthless based on what it does with a weak battery.

Toe - You are saying you would have to take out the electronics and not just the battery for them to work properly?

[toejam]

Toe - You are saying you would have to take out the electronics and not just the battery for them to work properly?

Yes. The electronics can work with other passive pickups as well, but supposedly they sound best with the Jackson pickups. I know there are people here who have gotten J/Cs with the electronics removed.

[jtr]

Vitamin G there no way an company as small as Jackson could have tooled up and produced all those parts.

[charvel750]

I spoke to Grover Jackson about the Jackson pickups. Firstly, they are NOT active models, never were. But they were wound in house by Jackson staff in the USA. Guaranteed, I personally spoke to Grover Jackson about this years ago. Their JT-6 tremolos were made in Taiwain, says so on the base plate/block.

[Sunbane]

So, the pickups don't really work without the power of the battery. I've never tried taking the battery out and playing but I'm sure it would be basically worthless based on what it does with a weak battery.

Toe - You are saying you would have to take out the electronics and not just the battery for them to work properly?

As long as the booster circuit is in the guitar, it will rely on the battery to produce any sound. This is because the booster sits right in the signal path (it actually turns the entire guitar electronics into a low impedance device), and it does not have a bypass.

I have taken the JE-1200 mid-boost out of my Model 6, and rest assured that the pickups work without it. However, you would need to get new pots to suit the passive setup. Also, the J-200 stacked singles are next to useless without the boost.

[DonP]

The JE-1500 mid band sweep, if considered a boost, has a bypass switch so that if the battery is dead, you can still use the pickups in passive mode. Think of it as a wah pedal with a true bypass switch.

Technically, EMG's aren't active either. They are a passive pickup with a preamp built in. According to the rules of what "active" is, a guitar pickup could never be an active electronic component, no matter how it's made. Only tubes, transistors, and IC's (with are just many transistors) can be "active".

[dg]

Jackson didn't have inhouse pickups until 86.

were Jackson-branded pickups available prior to then?

Jackson pickups appeared pre-'86. I'm not sure exactly how early, but I know of quite a few '85 guitars that have 'em. Here's 5301 (late '85) with its original J50B & J100s:





It has a Custom in the bridge for now, but I'm keeping the J50 with it.

[Sunbane]

Technically, EMG's aren't active either. They are a passive pickup with a preamp built in. According to the rules of what "active" is, a guitar pickup could never be an active electronic component, no matter how it's made. Only tubes, transistors, and IC's (with are just many transistors) can be "active".

While I see the theoretical point you're making, in my opinion it is getting dangerously close to splitting hairs my friend.

For instance; You can't really revert an EMG back to passive, due to its construction - and even if you could, you wouldn't get very much signal from it. The Jackson pickups are another thing altogether, since the active component is an external, standalone unit - and the Jackson pickups are also oftenly used without any active preamp at all. The only exception I can think of right now, is the J-200, which (while still a standalone, passive pickup) was especially designed to be used with the preamps.

[DonP]

While I see the theoretical point you're making, in my opinion it is getting dangerously close to splitting hairs my friend.

For instance; You can't really revert an EMG back to passive, due to its construction - and even if you could, you wouldn't get very much signal from it. The Jackson pickups are another thing altogether, since the active component is an external, standalone unit - and the Jackson pickups are also oftenly used without any active preamp at all. The only exception I can think of right now, is the J-200, which (while still a standalone, passive pickup) was especially designed to be used with the preamps.

I did preface what I said with "technically".

I wasn't talking about reverting an EMG back to passive - an EMG is a passive pickup (a coil and a magnet) with an active IC circuit epoxied together as a package. Only the IC part is active.

Sorry, all those years in electronics classes. I'll go away now.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Yeah what they said. p[lus just because a pickup has a plastic cover on it. Like and EMG doesnt make it active. Jackson did use EMG's and Reflex pickups as an option in the USA and Japanese PRO series respectively.
Any pickup labeled Jackson or Charvel. Are completely passive pickups. Although as stated the JS200 single coils were designed to work with the preamps. They are completely passive but have a much lower output signal and sound like poo with out the preamp attached. The tuners are Gotohs. And the trem was made in Taiwan.

Gil