LeftyBassist.com

Note the jazz pup volume knob in the pick guard.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... SS:US:1123

I don't mind the look of that bass with the extra j pickup.

If you can't handle changing a battery once a year, I guess that's what you should do. There's nothing that indicates the ATK pickup is active; he could have just added a mini-toggle to bypass the preamp if he was that worried. But I have to be honest; I played a set a few months back with my ATK, changed my strings the next day, and found out my battery was dead as a door nail. The bass never gave me a hint that the battery died.

andrew wrote:I don't mind the look of that bass with the extra j pickup.

Not at all, and I wonder if it's entirely separate from the active electronics, of if it's there only as a passive backup if the battery dies. Although it must be, as there is no mention of a five-way switch, like the (?)750 series has . Jeroen, et al, is that right?

danomite64 wrote:If you can't handle changing a battery once a year, I guess that's what you should do. There's nothing that indicates the ATK pickup is active; he could have just added a mini-toggle to bypass the preamp if he was that worried. But I have to be honest; I played a set a few months back with my ATK, changed my strings the next day, and found out my battery was dead as a door nail. The bass never gave me a hint that the battery died.

Danomite - wish my bass acted the same way as yours when the battery goes dead. First of all, my battery, even when unplugged, seems to only last in the bass for a few months. Must be some kind of drain going on... Second, when my battery is going dead, there is a noticeable change in the sound; it starts sounding distorted and fuzzy. And when it's dead, there is no sound output, period.

You put a second toggle switch in your ATK to turn off the battery, didn't you? Been meaning to do that one day...

Sent this to the seller...

"if I understand this correctly, the jazz pickup is installed separately from the active electronics, and does not have a blend capability with the original active system. In other words, it's entirely separate from the ATK electronics? thanks...."

I'm sure it's safe to say that it is separate...

Sellers reply....

"Yes, you pull up the black knob to switch out the active system and go to passive. A mixing circuit would require a battery, or a more clever tie-in to the active than I wanted."

As long as the output of the active circuit doesn't bury the passive j pickup I think it could work well having the passive j neck to add a little extra to the active mm bridge tone.

I'm not sure that's what happens. it sounds to me that when the Jazz pickup is on, the Tri-coil and preamp are bypassed.

danomite64 wrote:I'm not sure that's what happens. it sounds to me that when the Jazz pickup is on, the Tri-coil and preamp are bypassed.

If that's the case I'd find that useless, but I'm sure it could be rewired.