I was changing the battery in my pickup module the other day, and was having a hard time removing the old 9v battery. So I removed the back casing. While looking at the wiring and module design, I noticed 2 mico-pots.

On closer inspection, I noticed they were turned almost ALL the way down, Say to the 2 or 3 o'clock position at most. Now I have always wondered why, even with an active pickup module, my output was EASILY half that of other stringed instruments, including other tapping and/or tapped instruments. Is there a reason the gain is so low on these pots?

I though those pots are only active when you switch to mono; they should not affect the output in stereo mode and they are used to balance both PU in mono mode...


Cheers, Daniel

Seems counter-intuitive that they would only work in mono mode. Not saying you're wrong, but wondering what the logic behind that is?

I speak out of total ignorance of the ACTV-2 Block's internals, but it stands to reason that some sort of boost circuit is involved.

When converting a dual mono (or stereo, though they are not technically the same thing) signal to summed mono, a 6dB loss is incurred. Given that those trim pots are reputed to be functional only in mono mode, I have to assume that they are in the same circuit with whatever is used to offset that inherent output difference.

Found answers here!

Guess I needed to look harder before asking:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4384

The battery powered ACTV -2 is not much louder in stereo than the passive Stickup module, and there's very little magnetic force in the stacked "humbucking" EMG-FT coils. The result is a sweet, bluesy sound even at the high frets on the high strings, and with no magnetic distortion when the pickups are set as close as possible to the strings.

Rob Turner's stacked double-coil construction also provides the old Telecaster sound (FT for Front Tele) without the buzz of electric fields or the hum of magnetic fields.

Weak magnets lower the output, which is then boosted by the 9-Volt battery to about the same volume as the Stickup (the PASV-4 is a bit louder). In mono mode, however the tiny trim pots on the internal summing circuits can be turned clockwise for a greatly boosted combined signal, if desired.

We routinely set these mono trim pots at about 3:00 for bass and 5:30 for melody sides so as to keep the volume of stereo and mono modes roughly equal. This also preserves battery life, which can last several years if you unplug your stereo cable after playing.