dean markley pick up-mixup

[eze393zx]

can you mate a dean markley pro mag plus and a dean markley artist stick on (dot) to an output end pin jack? does a stereo endpin jack make a difference? can one p/u be reversed and not cause a hum or ground issue? i have a washburn D12S acoustic 12 string and i use both p/u's on her at the same time but have to run 2 ugly cables into a splitter cable to get the awesome effect the two p/u's create when used together, is there a sensible way to eliminate all the extra cable??

[asmith]

Welcome to 'GuitarNutz 2 - The Quest For Peace', Eze. You've got a horde of questions there, let's try one at a time.

can you mate a dean markley pro mag plus and a dean markley artist stick on (dot) to an output end pin jack?

It sounds like the two pickups have different output jacks, and currently they join outside the guitar. So you're running the pickups in parallel, right? In that case, it should be reasonably simple to strip the wires coming out of each pickup, solder the hots and the grounds together, rehouse it in a method of your choice and you're good to go.

does a stereo endpin jack make a difference?

I'm not sure where a 'stereo endpin' comes into it. Care to elaborate?

can one p/u be reversed and not cause a hum or ground issue?

I wouldn't have thought so. You could put them out of phase with each other, but that's about it.

I used to use a Dean Markley Pro Mag until a lead singer in an old band stole it. I miss that piece of kit.

(The pickup, not the singer).

[eze393zx]

i was wondering about the difference or if there is on endpin jacks, (stereo/mono) i want to shorten the external cables, put them inside the guitar body, insert <1/4 jack> = one cable to amp/pedal ect..

the pro-mag is hole mounted of course slightly turned for bass pick up and i have my artist stick on "dot" inside mounted on the treble side of the saddle... the wires are just too much, ive taped them back for several sessions and the tape leaves nasty residue....

[asmith]

As far as I know, neither pickup uses a stereo jack, right? Are you saying you want to wire these two pickups together to create a stereo connection, the Pro Mag on one channel and the Artist on the other?

[eze393zx]

correct mono currently on both...and i wish to stereo the both p/u's into one endpin jack(female) then plug up as if it were a regular acou/elec

[newey]

eze393-

Hello and Welcome to G-Nutz2!

You have one mag pickup and one "stick-on" (which I assume is a piezo or contact mic type of pickup.)

These probably have different output impedances, and I suspect that these 2 signals get buffered in the external stompbox, before being combined. Is there perhaps a 9V battery in the box somewhere?

As far as simplifying your wiring, I can't point you to a stereo endpin jack, although I'm sure they exist.

To run both signals through a single cable means using a stereo cable between the box and guitar, and converting the Box's input jack to stereo as well. Or, you could rig a short "stereo phono plug to 'Y' phono" adapter right before the box.

The only potential issue is whether or not sharing a common ground between the 2 different pickups may present a problem. Not sure about that one. . .

I don't know what you mean by:

can one p/u be reversed and not cause a hum or ground issue?

[eze393zx]

currently:
mag pick up----------------
>--- "Y" stereo cable---- ZOOM504 II Acoustic ---- fender bassman250
pezio "stick on" -----------

[newey]

OK, so it's combined before the Zoom, so the Zoom has a stereo in?

That solves that end of the chain, so a stereo cable and a TRS endpin jack and you should be all set.

If it works to your satisfaction now, then the common ground isn't an issue, since you have one now, after the "Y". So I don't see any impediment to doing this.

Buffering the mag and piezo before combining the 2 signals may have some advantages, but again, if it works for you now as it is, this scheme isn't really changing anything- you're just moving the "Y" upstream, to the endpin.

A tip: If you're going to be playing out with this rig, wrap some Day-Glo™-colored tape around the stereo cable, so you can easily spot when you have that one in your hand.

[ashcatlt]

Stereo endpin jack.

But the Zoom is not a stereo input. If you're actually running TRS stereo into the thing, you're only hearing one of the pickups. That might explain why you're not hearing the effect of them loading each other.

[newey]

But the Zoom is not a stereo input.

Ah. If so, then the "Y" he's using must be just a 2 mono-to-mono TS.

In which case I don't know why the stereo jack is an issue, he could just wire both pickups to a mono jack and accomplish the same thing he has now.

[asmith]

correct mono currently on both...and i wish to stereo the both p/u's into one endpin jack(female) then plug up as if it were a regular acou/elec

I'd guess Eze wants a stereo output so that if he plugs into a system that has stereo capabilities, he can adjust the volume of either channel independently. Then there's the option of outputting to mono, or a different pickup to a different speaker... it'd be a question of choice and control.

Eze, wiring a stereo jack should be pretty simple. A quick Google ought to do the trick.

Like this.

[JohnH]

Im not quite sure whats happening here, but based on my own tinkering, I would expect that a piezo element and a mag pup, directly wired together, will sound craptastic unless there is active buffering on at least the piezo and probably both. I could be wrong on this one though.