Ibanez SR400 - Active or passive pickups?

LinusKarlsson

LinusKarlsson

Oct 31, 2010
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Örebro, Sweden
#1
I've got a old Ibanez SR400 (1997, Made in Korea, the black one in the pic) with P/J-pickups. I love the bass but not the sound, to my ears it's muddy and unfocused. After doing a bit of research here on TB it seems that other people have the same problem with their old SR400's.

I've sort of made my mind up about swapping the pickups for something else. The only question I have is if the pickups that are in the bass now are active or passive, and if the replacement pickups have to be active or passive. Does anyone know?

IMG_4433.jpg
 
#2
Factory issued, they're active. You can have either as replacements. I had passive DiMarzios put into my SR400, but had it done by someone who knew what he was doing. In doing this, I had one or two knobs extra without function. In hindsight, I wouldn't modify another bass because it's not worth it value wise. Spring for a higher grade rather than modifying.
 
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#4
You can put any pickups in any bass, as long as you have the right pots, and a preamp with an appropriate input impedance. You will need to figure out what the input impedance of the preamp is. Preamps are typically spec'd for around 1M Ohms, which is fine for most pickups. Sometimes, if active pickups are used, they will have a lower impedance to prevent noise. If this is the case, then passive pickups will be loaded down by the preamp, and sound dark. Note that in general, it is not desirable to have active pickups and a preamp on the same bass. That reduces headroom and gives more noise. Usually you pick one or the other, so stick with passive pickups if possible. Also note that active pickups are rather rare. There are only a couple of companies that make them, so you severely limit your choices by wanting active pickups. Passive P and J pickups are a dime a dozen, so you have plenty of choices.
 
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#6
I have been thinking about Dimarzio's, actually. I had a Model P in another bass some years ago and it sounded awesome.

I took a closer look at the board, and it looks like this. From what I can determine it means passive pups?

IMG_0321.jpg


As far as resale value goes it's not really an issue. I'm not planning on selling the bass, I love it dearly apart from the dull sound. And getting new pups is a mod thats easily reversible, if I change my mind later on. I will keep the original pups and can use the more expensive replacements in another bass or sell them separately if I want to.
 
#9
LinusKarlsson said:
I have been thinking about Dimarzio's, actually. I had a Model P in another bass some years ago and it sounded awesome.

I took a closer look at the board, and it looks like this. From what I can determine it means passive pups?

View attachment 2848941

As far as resale value goes it's not really an issue. I'm not planning on selling the bass, I love it dearly apart from the dull sound. And getting new pups is a mod thats easily reversible, if I change my mind later on. I will keep the original pups and can use the more expensive replacements in another bass or sell them separately if I want to.
Click to expand...

The wiring indicates passive pickups. Furthermore, you must stick to passive pickups, as the PCB-mount controls would not allow you to swap the pots out for active pickups. However, 99% of P and J pickups on the market are passive, and will work fine for your purpose. Simply choose the pickups that appeal to you.
 
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