Chuckling_atom Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Hey all i am new to the forums and I was thinking about switching out the stock pups in my les paul ultra II for an emg 81/60 pair. When i went to check the wiring of my guitar it was different from anything else ive seen. So I was wondering if it was Possible to put active emgs in that guitar. Thanks for the help, The Chuckling Atom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Welcome to the forums, terrific bunch around here, I hope you like the place. When I first got my Ultra-II I looked inside the control cavity with the idea of upgrading the pots, when I saw all the gubbins in there, I changed my mind. With all the other stuff in the control cavity, where are you going to find the space for a battery and pre-amp. Why do you want to put active pups in it ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersonic Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I'd love to see the guts in one of those things if anyone ever wants to snap a pic of the cavity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjael Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Well, it *would be* possible. You'd probably need to do all kinds of things to get EMGs to play nicely with the NanoMag though, unless by some miracle they both output at the same impedance. EMG pickups all have a 10kΩ output impedance. I think your standard PAF pickup is in the region of 300 or so. If the Ultra II setup is anything like Shadow's acoustic guitar preamps, it probably outputs at somewhere in the range of 5kΩ. That, and the Ultra II has a (actually, two) PCB for all the controls, so it'd be a right pain to make EMG's mini pots work with the stock electronics. Basically, unless you really like electronics, you'd probably be better off getting some passive EMGs and just soldering them onto the wires from the stock pickups. I'd love to see the guts in one of those things if anyone ever wants to snap a pic of the cavity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckling_atom Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 Thank you guys for all the replies. I did not know exactly if it would work, but it sure sounds like a lot of work. The reason i wanted active pups was i just liked the tone of those pups in a les paul. But it doesnt sound like something i can pull off so i guess i will just stick with what i have. Dont get me wrong i love the stock pups but i just wanted something slightly different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjael Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I just did some thinking about this while playing Crayon Physics, and I wrongly informed you before. Generally speaking, a low-impedance source won't have an issue with a high-impedance input (eg, EMGs into a standard guitar amp. Guitar amps are super high-impedance.) Since the setup in the Ultra II is most likely designed specifically for the guitar, the preamp would likely have a high-Z input for the magnetic pickups, so the low-Z EMGs should actually work in that regard. However EMG pickups have a peak output of something like 2.2Volts. A standard PAF outputs something like 0.12Volts. So you'd probably blow the preamp anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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