P-Bass EMG Pickup Installation
18 Volt, Hidden Batteries

Here's a typical Fender Precision Bass. The owner wanted more punch and higher output without distortion. EMG's can pull that off nicely in a bass. Especially when you wire them up to run at 18 volts rather than 9.





He didn't want an exposed battery box on the back of the body, so we had to slip the batteries under the pickguard. This method is the most reversible. The only thing you'll lose by going back to a passive pickup setup is that little bit of wood we had to route out.





Fitting the pickup set into the body - running wires to the control cavity.





Test fitting the batteries with a piece of foam to hold them tightly -
This ensures nothing can rattle loose inside there.
We'll flip the batteries the other way so the wires run underneath and don't bump into the pickguard.





All wired up - ready to batten down the hatches on this one
New pots and jack installed - wires kept nice and tight to make it easy to change batteries and reinstall the pickguard in the future. Proper soldering, heat shrink and zipties ensure our client won't have any electrical issues.






All buttoned up - very low-key installation. Sounds great, looks great
The owner was very pleased.

Notes: installing the batteries under the pickguard is the least intrusive way to do this. If you're concerned about the value of your instrument in the future, then making a major cosmetic change like installing a plastic battery box in the back can be a big problem. We also removed the absolute minimum amount of wood this way.
 This method causes a different issue - changing the batteries requires removing the pickguard every time. Luckily the batteries last a while usually, and if pickguard holes get a little stripped out, that can easily be fixed.
As with most active pickup equipped guitars, be sure to unplug the cable when not in use. The output jack acts as the switch to turn on the active pickups.