D circuit changes for active pickups?

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markmalin
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D circuit changes for active pickups?

Post by markmalin »

Hi all,

This is kind of an obscure question, but has anyone done any mods to the #183 style circuit to more happily play with active pickups? I don't use active pickups, but was talking with someone who does and uses a #183 style circuit and it's not playing nice with the active pickups. He'd owned a Dumble in the past and mentioned that he thought it had a higher value resistor on the input to help with active pickups. Before I go too far I wanted to ask if anyone else had experienced with this?

Humbly,
mark
"...there are flying v's and then there are the ones shaped like peanuts..." - my son at age 9

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pdf64
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Re: D circuit changes for active pickups?

Post by pdf64 »

A guitar with active circuitry should have a buffered / low impedance output.
Hence adjusting its volume control shouldn’t affect the tone.
So just turn its volume control down till it sounds best, then implement a potential divider at the amp’s input which replicates that setting.
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markmalin
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Re: D circuit changes for active pickups?

Post by markmalin »

pdf64 wrote: Sun Dec 18, 2022 1:41 pm A guitar with active circuitry should have a buffered / low impedance output.
Hence adjusting its volume control shouldn’t affect the tone.
So just turn its volume control down till it sounds best, then implement a potential divider at the amp’s input which replicates that setting.
That should do the trick :)
"...there are flying v's and then there are the ones shaped like peanuts..." - my son at age 9

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sluckey
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Re: D circuit changes for active pickups?

Post by sluckey »

If it's just a matter of the active pickup signal being too high and ***IF*** you don't mind drilling a small hole in the chassis or face plate, you may consider replacing the 1M resistor on the input jack with a 1M RV6 style pot. Dial it down for active pickup or set it to max for normal.

You could even put the pot in a small external dongle for a non-intrusive mod.
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markmalin
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Re: D circuit changes for active pickups?

Post by markmalin »

sluckey wrote: Sun Dec 18, 2022 2:40 pm If it's just a matter of the active pickup signal being too high and ***IF*** you don't mind drilling a small hole in the chassis or face plate, you may consider replacing the 1M resistor on the input jack with a 1M RV6 style pot. Dial it down for active pickup or set it to max for normal.

You could even put the pot in a small external dongle for a non-intrusive mod.
Thanks, sluckey. I don't mind drilling.
"...there are flying v's and then there are the ones shaped like peanuts..." - my son at age 9

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sluckey
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Re: D circuit changes for active pickups?

Post by sluckey »

I would do a temp mockup before drilling.
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