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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

Passive vs active pickups

mark_jwedgemark_jwedge Frets: 315
in Acoustics
sorry if this is a stupid question but I'm quite new to the whole electro acoustic world. 

I have an old takamine electro and have never been quite that happy with the plugged in sound so I managed to pick up a fishman rare earth sound hole pickup which sounds awesome but is much quieter than the onboard preamp/pickup. The fishman is passive however. Is it normal for passive pickups to be much quieter than active ones?
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Comments

  • LewyLewy Frets: 3795
    Yep, totally normal for a passive pickup to be quieter than an active one.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 69426
    edited June 2017

    I have an old takamine electro and have never been quite that happy with the plugged in sound so I managed to pick up a fishman rare earth sound hole pickup which sounds awesome but is much quieter than the onboard preamp/pickup. The fishman is passive however. Is it normal for passive pickups to be much quieter than active ones?
    Yes - 'active' means the pickup has a built-in preamp.

    I'm not 100% sure about the connections, but it should be possible to run the Fishman through the existing Takamine preamp - that way you get the best of both worlds. (It varies on some models, but if you're lucky it will be a 2.5mm mini-jack, so you would just need to shorten the Fishman cable and fit one of those to it.)

    I'm not normally a fan of onboard electrics, but in fact the usual Takamine preamp has no known reliability problems (unlike some others) and since there's a whacking great plastic box in the guitar already you may as well use it...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • martmart Frets: 5165
    ICBM said:
    ...
    I'm not 100% sure about the connections, but it should be possible to run the Fishman through the existing Takamine preamp ...
    Won't the Takamine preamp be designed for a high impedance piezo pickup input? Is there no problem running a magnetic pickup into that?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 69426
    No - the other way round would be. I've done it with quite a few different preamps.

    The problem is with systems where the pickup is polarised, with a voltage on it - they aren't compatible.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • martmart Frets: 5165
    ICBM said:
    No - the other way round would be. I've done it with quite a few different preamps.
    ...
    Ok, I knew piezos were quite fussy - needing a high impedance(?), and I assumed it might work the other way round too.
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  • midlifecrisismidlifecrisis Frets: 2321
    isnt the fishman rare earth a n active pickup, mine runs off two small battiries
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 69426
    midlifecrisis said:
    isnt the fishman rare earth a n active pickup, mine runs off two small battiries
    You can get both active and passive versions now.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 10961
    ICBM said:
    midlifecrisis said:
    isnt the fishman rare earth a n active pickup, mine runs off two small battiries
    You can get both active and passive versions now.
    Wouldn't get either though for a permanent pickup.  I'm certain they affect the vibration of the top.  They might be ok as a temporary measure, but I'd go K&K Pure Mini, or an undersaddle for a permanent installation.
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