Changing an active bass to a passive bass

[Davy]

Hi,

I want to change my active 5 string jazz custom bass to a passive bass. As money is tight i'd prefer not to replace the pickups and just modify the electronics. Is this possible and if so, could anyone let a novice know how to go about it.

Thanks

Dave

[lemmywinks]

Aye, if it's passive pickups attached to an active pre then just swap out the wiring. If it's active pickups with an active pre (not as common) then you'll most likely need to swap out the pickups

One other problem you might have is extra holes in the scratchplate/body where the active controls were. You'll only need 3 holes for a passive J bass

What i did was to use the empty hole for a series/parallel switch, handy and reversible if you want to sell the bass on

[Happy Jack]

Take the battery out.

[Davy]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1007954' date='Oct 31 2010, 10:30 PM']Aye, if it's passive pickups attached to an active pre then just swap out the wiring. If it's active pickups with an active pre (not as common) then you'll most likely need to swap out the pickups

One other problem you might have is extra holes in the scratchplate/body where the active controls were. You'll only need 3 holes for a passive J bass

What i did was to use the empty hole for a series/parallel switch, handy and reversible if you want to sell the bass on[/quote]
I should be ok with the pots as the current active setup uses three pots (one stacked). I've found a few passive pot kits on the web so I should be up and running soon.

Thanks

[icastle]

If there are [b]three[/b] wires coming from each PUP (one of them connected to the + side of the battery) then they're active and need to be swapped for passive ones if you strip out the active tone control circuitry.

If there are just [b]two[/b] wires coming from the PUP then they are passive and can be rewired to work without the active circuit.

HTH