Making the MMB-4 active???

Hi

Just ordered the MMB-4 kit to build during the winter and I'm thinking about maybe turning it to active with a 2-band preamp. Since I have no previous experience on the subject I'm hoping for honest opinions and also help on the wiring and choosing pots.As always I'm gonna keep this as budget as possible at this point and was gonna try a chinese cheap onboard preamp circuit. I can always change the bits later if I keep lacking something. I know I have to do some routing etc to fit these.

1. Can I gain anything by installing a preamp? At least MM has them onboard...

2. Is the stock pickup ok to use with a preamp? Anything I need to know about Ohms etc?

3. Any wiring diagrams to use with a 2-band and stock pickup?

4. If I wanna use this as passive for a change - can I achieve this somehow with a push-pull pot and does it "turn off" the preamp so that it would not consume the battery when I don't play?

5. Anything else that pops in mind that I would need to know - please enlighten me.

Thanks

Arzi

Arzi better wait for the resident wiring guru Weirdbits to answer your questions some curly ones there !
You don't muck around with your next build !
I installed a pre-amp in an IB-6S build and it sounds fantastic, even with the stock pups, the range of sounds you get with the active system far outweighs the passive system.
Usually if you leave the lead unplugged when not playing it the battery shouldn't drain.
There may be a way to turn it off but once you have played the active system you won't want to turn it off.
You will probably have to enlarge the control cavity at least for the battery and depending how high the cards are on the system may need to go deeper. Think the MMB-4 has a front pickguard so you will have to think about a rear battery compartment I'd say

Hi Woks

Thanks for the opinions. Yep I know there is some hole digging to be expected and the battery compartment will go on the back.I don't have a router so I have to do things the hard way but I'm quite confident I can pull it off. There's no hurry. Depending on how big the circuit is I have to think thru how I'm gonna do the cavities. How about the control plate - it has three holes and the circuit comes with four pots... I guess one of these is some kind of blend or something? Anyway - will wait for Weirdbits to step in on this one.

And yes - could not wait. This is an itch you can't scratch... Takes a few weeks though cause I wanted a maple fretboard on mine.

Arzi

Hey Arzi,
I see there isn't much space for a 4th pot on the control panel.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...4-new-main.jpg
but you can get a concentric stacked knob I had to for my IB-6S.
Yes one of the controls was a blend pot.
I'd post a link of the pre-amp you are thinking of ordering and Weirdy should be able to knock up a wiring diagram

You could probably side-mount the jack to give you 4 pot mounts on the control plate, or just go with a concentric pot (if possible). A lot of your options will depend on the preamp you want to use and its requirements, so we'll need to get a look at it, but there should ways of achieving what you want. Lawry is the expert in this area.

Hi Weirdbits and wokka

I'll post a pic when I get the chance. At this point I'm all open for suggestions so that I can get my plans ready before I get the kit. Nd when I see it - some changes are still gonna take place as usual... Thanks for these and will be back.

Arzi

Arzi think my pre-amp was a SBK-3 was about $50 AUS posted. Probably worth spending a few more bucks now in case a cheap chinese pre-amp bombs out
http://www.guitarfuel.com/SBK-3_SBK-3A_SBK-3AD.php

That's true Woks. The chinese one is about 10 Aus posted so can't expect much... ;) anyway - small price to pay for avoiding a headache.

There is a lot to be said about pre amping passive Bass pups.
Especially if you are looking at recording as it beefs up the signal and gets rid of a lot of the unwanted background "white" noise associated with passive Bass pups.
Well worth it :)

Hi

This is the cheap chinese kit if it helps in some way.

" 1 Volume + 3 Tone pots with balance volume
Balance volume for pickup
Volume:Master
Bass:+/-12dB at 85Hz
Treble:+/-12dB at 7KHz

Package included:
1 x 2 Band Active EQ Preamp Circuit for Bass Pickup "

Attachment 4689

Attachment 4690