Exchanging Warwick MEC to Aguilar DCB - Help please

karla684

karla684

Jul 29, 2011
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Stockholm, Sweden
#1
I've got a Warwick Corvette 6-string with MEC pickups which I'm about to switch to Aguilar DCB's. I just realized that the MEC's are active and from what I understand the DCB's are passive.
I'm a bit unsure on how to connect the wires from the DCB's. One wire to the MEC's give them the 9V power, but I guess I should avoid that connection for the DCB's.

Anyone that know this and can give me some pointers. Wiring schemas are as follows:

Warwick Active MECs Wiring Diagam

Warwick Active MECs Wiring Diagam


Aguilar DCBs Wiring Diagam

Aguilar DCBs Wiring Diagam


Greatly appreciate any help!
Thanks,
Kalle
 
Last edited:
#2
Some more studying of the wiring diagrams... I understand where the white Aguilar wire (signal) is going. So what I wonder now is whether the ground planes of the black and grey wires can be the same, or if they need to be different?

I would truly appreciate a second opinion on this! :):thumbsup:

Cheers,
Kalle
 
#3
What confuses me on that Warwick diagram is those active pickups that have only two wires each..

There's a signal/common wire (generally white) and a power wire (generally red) but no ground wire! (generally black)

It's weird!

Do the pickups actually only have two wires? Two-conductor active pickups would surprise me greatly.
 
#4
4StringTheorist said:
What confuses me on that Warwick diagram is those active pickups that have only two wires each..

There's a signal/common wire (generally white) and a power wire (generally red) but no ground wire! (generally black)

It's weird!

Do the pickups actually only have two wires? Two-conductor active pickups would surprise me greatly.
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying!

You're absolutely right about the red and white wires. However, the white wire is shielded and the shield was solded to the blend potentiometer "shell". Does that make sense?

Cheers,
Kalle
 
#5
karla684 said:
Thanks for replying!

You're absolutely right about the red and white wires. However, the white wire is shielded and the shield was solded to the blend potentiometer "shell". Does that make sense?

Cheers,
Kalle
Click to expand...

Ah ha! Perfect! So there are three conductors!

Looks like that MEC/Warwick preamp uses a 25KOhm blend pot, so you're going to need to replace that for the DCBs. The rest of the preamp should be fine to keep.

You can use this thread for wiring your blend pot if you can get 250K MN blend pots like @walterw found. Ignore the first few steps about cutting the traces inside the pot.. that's a special mod walterw was doing and you don't need to do it. Do the jumper wire, and the white wires from the DCBs from the neck and bridge pickup. Your "OUT" wire in that thread will be connected to the grey wire (diagram label 8) in your MEC preamp.

The black and grey wires from the DCBs can connect to your cavity ground... which could be the foil shielding in the cavity, or the black wire (label 0) on the output jack.

The red wire that used to go to the active MEC pickups? Tape it off. No need for it.

The black wire (label 0) that went from the MEC blend to the MEC volume? That's another ground. You can solder it to the casing of your new blend pot, but I don't think you'll need to.

Summary:
  • Old red wire to pickups? Tape it off.
  • White wires from DCBs? Connect to new blend pot per walterw's thread.
  • Grey wire between volume pot and old blend pot is the OUTPUT wire for new blend pot.
  • Black wire between volume pot and old blend pot is the ground. Solder to new blend pot shell.
  • Black and grey wires from DCB's? Cavity ground or BLACK connection on output jack.
Cheers! Enjoy your DCBs! I love em!
 
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#6
Actually... to test and be sure that the existing preamp will work with passive pickups.... before doing all that work I suggested:

  • Install one DCB.
  • Connect DCB WHITE to grey/8 between blend and volume.
  • Connect DCB BLACK to black/0 between blend and volume.
  • tape off pickup red as mentioned before.

See how that sounds... if the volume control works well.. if the pickups are overdriving the preamp or anything else weird. There might be a bit of noise because I didn't tell you to connect the DCB grey, which is the shield. This is just a test to see how the preamp deals with the DCBs.

If the volume control works, bass output level is all right, etc.. then install the second DCB and new blend pot as above.

If the pickup is playing havoc with the preamp, then that preamp isn't going to easily deal with a passive pickup impedence and you will have to get another preamp or passive controls.
 
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#7
4StringTheorist said:
Actually... to test and be sure that the existing preamp will work with passive pickups.... before doing all that work I suggested:

  • Install one DCB.
  • Connect DCB WHITE to grey/8 between blend and volume.
  • Connect DCB BLACK to black/0 between blend and volume.
  • tape off pickup red as mentioned before.

See how that sounds... if the volume control works well.. if the pickups are overdriving the preamp or anything else weird. There might be a bit of noise because I didn't tell you to connect the DCB grey, which is the shield. This is just a test to see how the preamp deals with the DCBs.

If the volume control works, bass output level is all right, etc.. then install the second DCB and new blend pot as above.

If the pickup is playing havoc with the preamp, then that preamp isn't going to easily deal with a passive pickup impedence and you will have to get another preamp or passive controls.
Click to expand...

Man, do I love this forum and its users or what! :-) A million thanks @4StringTheorist, this helps me greatly!

Before ordering the Aguilar's I asked them if the preamp would still work with the new pickups (which it should do), didn't realize I should've asked about the blend. :-) Probably good idea to test the preamp either way.

Many thanks! I'll report back how it goes.

Cheers,
Kalle
 
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#8
Works like a charm! I first connected one pickup, and then attempted to solder the second one as well. Everything works perfect! DCB white and black wires were soldered according to @4StringTheorist's description (to grey/8 and black/0). And the DCB grey were soldered to the shell of the blend potentiometer.

Regarding the blend potentiometer; it reads MEC 85252, so I guess its a MEC M 85252 Stereo Pot 25k (MEC M 85252 Stereo Pot 25k). However, it seems to work fine. What would be the difference to exchange it for a 250K potentiometer?

Thanks for all the help! I'm very happy with my new pups! :thumbsup::hyper::bassist:
Cheers,
Kalle
 
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