Active to passive-Schatten

[sbmackie]

Hello,
Was wondering: if I don't supply power to the end pin pre amp, does a pickup become passive?
Reason I ask: I got a Schatten HFN VT in a trade, not installed. I prefer passive systems. If I just cut the battery out of the loop, does it become a passive pickup, and would the sound hole controls, which I don't care about, be deactivated and therefore I can leave them out as well? Hate to destroy a perfectly good pickup that has good press, but...I will if I have to.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by sbmackie

Hello,
Was wondering: if I don't supply power to the end pin pre amp, does a pickup become passive?
Reason I ask: I got a Schatten HFN VT in a trade, not installed. I prefer passive systems. If I just cut the battery out of the loop, does it become a passive pickup, and would the sound hole controls, which I don't care about, be deactivated and therefore I can leave them out as well? Hate to destroy a perfectly good pickup that has good press, but...I will if I have to.

The model you have, in addition to being battery powered, may likely also be phantom-powered enabled. If I had my druthers, I'd leave the system alone and install it with the active system knowing that it could also be phantom-powered if desired or necessary sometimes. Then again, yes you could make it passive by eliminating the active stuff and soldering the pickup to the end-pin jack. Someone on the forum, who has done it, can tell you how. All The Best!

[sbmackie]

What is this phantom power you speak of, and how does it help me? My amp has a 24 volt (I think) phantom power button for unpowered mics. Is this the same thing?
Wouldn't a DI box solve it?
Thanks

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by sbmackie

What is this phantom power you speak of, and how does it help me? My amp has a 24 volt (I think) phantom power button for unpowered mics. Is this the same thing?
Wouldn't a DI box solve it?
Thanks

If this is the one you have, it looks like it isn't able to be phantom powered:

HFN Active VT with single channel endpin jack preamp and volume & tone thumbwheel controls

It looks like only the two-channel models are phantom-powered enabled. Sorry, if I misled you.

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by sbmackie

Hello,
Was wondering: if I don't supply power to the end pin pre amp, does a pickup become passive?
Reason I ask: I got a Schatten HFN VT in a trade, not installed. I prefer passive systems. If I just cut the battery out of the loop, does it become a passive pickup, and would the sound hole controls, which I don't care about, be deactivated and therefore I can leave them out as well? Hate to destroy a perfectly good pickup that has good press, but...I will if I have to.

It's not quite as simple as removing the battery to convert your active pickup to passive. It should be able to be done though. I've never seen the active endpin preamp that Schatten uses so this is all just an assumption on my part. If you want to do this you obviously will need a soldering iron or a friend who has one, etc. If it were me I would desolder everything from the endpin jack, wire the pickup signal wire (+) to the "tip" terminal on the endpin (usually the shortest terminal and hardest to access), than wire the pickup ground wire to the ground on the endpin preamp (bottom part where the cable comes in). If you do this than in theory it should work. You could always verify with Schatten first (email: [email protected]) and Les would be happy to help.

[IMG][/IMG]

[sbmackie]

Thanks for all the help. Sold it. K and K mini here we come.