Charvel Desolation Active pups question

[BigE13]

Wondering if anyone knows if the active Charvel pups on the DS-2 can be swapped out for EMG 81/60s without a complete rewire? I guess I could break down the guitar but I wanted to see if anyone here knows first. Since some of the active models come with EMGs or the Duncan Blackouts I thought it might be reasonable to assume the wiring would be the same/similar to make building each model easier for Charvel??? or am I dreaming... lol.

[BigE13]

Well, the pups do hook right up but no dice...something in the wiring is different. I can get some sound but the tone is terrible. Waiting on my solderless wiring kit to come and do it up right. Oh well, it was worth a shot. If I was better at tracking down where each wire runs I am sure it could be modified but that is more work than I need! Too bad to...It would have been awesome to be able to just plug and unplug the pups. :think:

[Hellbat]

Bionic posted in one of the import Charvel threads that the Charvel branded pickups are made in house. I wonder if it is a set up like the old JE series with a board in the cavity.

[BigE13]

I will let you know when I tear it down this weekend. The EMG solderless kit will be here and I will be rewiring the whole shebang...the Desolation pups are pretty good but they just cannot hold a candle to the EMGs...The good news is when I am done I will have a DS-1 (essentially)! Other than the tone the guitar is pretty well built. Binding and inlays are nice and the finish is very good. Neck is smooth and feels smooth and fast...I would have preferred the buttery smooth feel of maple but this is a very nice guitar for the money.

[BigE13]

Wiring answer...

Well, I first plugged in the EMG 81/60 set right to the Charvel wiring...no dice. While the connectors are essentially the same, there is something very different in the wiring. You do get faint sound but I did not want to destroy my pups so on to the next step. Stripped out all the stock wiring, pots and jack. There was no board in the control cavity. All the wiring was soldered in a fairly standard config. Busy, messy cavity! lol. In went the EMG solderless wiring kit with 2 vol and 2 tone pots etc...fairly easy to install. Only real issues were the battery box had to be turned around facing the other direction so the battery cable would reach the battery and the bus...the biggest issue was the 3-way switch. For some reason (I am no expert) Charvel wired it with 6 leads instead of the standard 4. I had trouble tracking it down as there were 2 seperate white leads and finding where they terminated was difficult. So I desoldered it and re wired it in standard Les Paul 4 lead style...hooked it up and it works like a champ. The EMGs are far superior to the Stock Charvel actives. Mostly on the low end where the Desolation pups lacked balls, the EMGs bring the guitar to life! So I bought the guitar used for $250 and put another $125 in it for the pups and did all the work on it myself for a total of $375. Not too bad for a guitar that equals the DS-1 going for $500 - $600 bucks. That's my story and I am sticking to it! "E"

[sixx_ gunner]

Thanks for the walk thru on your change out. Will be keeping an eye out for one of these cheap by years end. Sounds like a good option you found.

[Jthesubstance]

Can I buy those charvel pups from you? PayPal or whatever?? Thank you...

[BigE13]

Those pups are long gone my friend. Sorry. Did that swap 4 years ago!

[Deli]

hi all, can i change easily the active charvel pick ups with seymour duncan black outs on my charvel les paul ds 2 ?

thanks