Blackouts... 25K vs 50K pots.

[RJF]

I have a Jackson KE2 that had a set of SD Livewire metal pickups in it. The bridge pup was so hot that I would only turn the volume knob about half way up to get a "normal" hot output. So I changed out the Livewire bridge for a blackout AHB2, with it set on the lower output setting. It's better, but it's still a little too hot.

Ok, the LW metals used a 50K pot, which I left in the guitar. The EMG's, Blackouts, etc all use a 25K pot. Would taking out the the 50K pot and putting in a 25K pot bring down the output slightly?

 

[glpg80]

They are active designs meaning active op-amps/biasing are involved, along with low current low voltage being the main design aspect of the preamp. Because of this, you cannot really apply the simple passive ohms law mindset to active pickups or their preamps.

 

[FourT6and2]

Use the pot value that the pickups are designed for. Active pickups work differently than passive. So the pot value needs to be whatever the manufacturer says. If you don't like the sound or you think the signal is too hot, you need a pickup change. Because active means the electronics are actively increasing the gain in certain frequencies. Whereas passive pickups are only subtracting. And the pot value lets you tailor which frequencies are removed. So you can't really affect the frequency response of active pickups much. What you get out of the box is it.

Maybe active pickups aren't what you need?

 

[KentC]

As mentioned before, sounds like you might need to look somewhere else other than active pickups. Active pickups are hotter by design, so you might be out of luck if you think they are too hot. If you don't want to go through all the trouble of changing out all the hardware, pots and wiring you might want to try an EMG 60 in the bridge. I tried that (still have it set up this way) in one of my guitars and it's defiantly not as hot as an 81 or 85 but still has a good amount of output without being over the top. If you have a 60 laying around, or can find a used one for cheap, I'd say try it out.

 

[RJF]

I have a bunch of EMG equipped guitars. I actually really like an 81 or 85 in the bridge with the 18V mod. I also have a couple of guitars with Blackouts, but the regular ones, and like them also. This AHB2 must be hotter than an AHB1, even with it set on the lower output stage.

EMG81 and SD Distortion are probably my two favorite pickups.

I'm going to swap in a 25K pot and see if that makes any difference.

 

[RJF]

Well it had a 100K pot in it. I apparently forgot. I swapped it for a 25K, no difference at all. The box of the live wires talks about putting in a resister to tame the bridge pickup if needed. There is a yellow "cap" looking deal in the box. I suppose that must be the supplied resister. Now to just figure out where exactly it goes.