Three sources, two endpin jacks

[wood nacho]

Hey folks,

I'm putting together a pickup system for my new Alvarez LJ2E (amazing little guitar, essentially a GS mini but with the 1 3/4 neck). I'd like to copy the system I was using on my previous guitar (SD Magmic paired with a small, passive 2-string pickup magnetic pickup which sat underneath the E and A strings) To accomplish this, I was using two TRS output jacks. The Alvarez came with a UST/onboard preamp system that actually sounds quite good and I'd like to be able to blend it in with the Magmic, which would mean I would have 3 sources coming from my guitar, 2 active and 1 passive. What would be the best way to wire these so that I am left with 2 output jacks? I remember hearing that phase issues can become a problem when dual-sourcing two active to the same jack.. or was it passive/active that was a problem?

[Rick Jones]

Phase issues come from the pickups being in different areas of the guitar, so when the wave of one part of the string is a peak and another is a trough, the pickups that deliver different parts of that sound (and it varies due to speed of response, impedances and amplitude) cancel each other out at odd places. To some extent, phase relationships in guitar sound are part of the sound.

How you wire the jack is not going to be a permanent solution, which is why you need an outboard DI or preamp more with multi-source pickup systems, imo.

The issue with active pickups on TRS jacks is mostly crosstalk. The stringer signals end up in one-another’s channels, which then doesn’t allow your outboard gear to fully flip the phase of one source.

I have a Takamine wired with the onboard system and a Fishman SBT on a TRS jack (active/passive), then a Headway SAM-1 on a second output jack.

It’s a lot of hassle for not much benefit, and dual source seems adequate to me, which is why I run sbt and magnetic in all my current stage guitars (Avalons and a Lowden).