Can I mix an active humbucker ( Iron Gear Volt ) with a passive one ?

stratatelli

HI , my first post and glad to be here - hope you can help.I have an unused Iron Gear active Volt humbucker which Axetec have stopped selling now. I want to avoid buying an expensive active EMG or whatever to go with it , so was wondering if a high-output passive HB would go with it OK. I have a couple of passive HB`s around 15 k ohms DC resistance which I thought might be OK..Is this not possible ? Any ideas or help would be very gratefully received. Thanks.

Richardj

I might just know where another one could be for sale......

ICBM

No, not directly - the problem isn't the output strength, it's the impedance. They don't normally use the same pot values (which might not matter, if it's a Gibson-style guitar with one set per pickup) but the both-pickups position will either be all the active pickup or muddy-sounding, since the active pickup will do that to the sound of the passive one, depending on where the controls are set.

You either need to "active-ise" the passive pickup with a preamp, or "passive-ise" the active one with a large series resistor (which usually defeats the point of an active pickup) to combine them successfully.

Much better to use two active pickups, so if Richardj has another one...

stratatelli

Great stuff - thanks to both of you for the help. I`ll message you now Richardj - ( some time later ) sorry Richardj , being new here I`m not sure how this process works with trading and buying stuff . I am interested in a Volt active HB if you have one at a reasonable price. How do we start this off please ? Thanks and apologies for my ignorance.