Installing EMG 85

[BradARG]

I am a relative tech noob and I have a Jackson RX10D, with a seymour duncan in the neck, and a dimarzio in the bridge. I am looking to replace the Dimarzio with an EMG, but I only want an 85 in the bridge, as I love the warm tones that come with the current neck pickup.
Is it all possible to install just one active pickup? without routing out any of the body (it has a floyd rose)?
And how would I go about installing this pickup???

Thanks

[Diego]

Mixing active and passive pickups is not really recommended (even worse if you don' have much experience) but it can be done.

But be aware since they can share pots or you 'll lose the tone know (using 2 separate volume pots one for each pickup) or you can add pots to your guitar (this implies mdrilling it ).
You can also made some strnage experiments like leaving a fixed volume to one of the pickups and using the tone knob with just one of the pickups, etc.

So my advice go active (both pickups) or stay passive don't mix.

[BradARG]

okay thanks Broseph, I really appreciate it.

[JetFixxxer]

EMG sells the PA2 that would work on your passive.

http://www.emginc.com/displayproducts.asp?section=Accessories&categoryid=32&catalogid=135

From EMG FAQ

Can I mix EMG's with passive pickups?

It is possible to mix EMG's with passive pickups. There are three possible wiring configurations; one is better than the other two.
Use the high impedance (250K-500K) volume and tone controls. The problem is that the high impedance controls act more like a switch to the EMG's. The passive pickups, however, will work fine. If you have a guitar with two pickups and two volume pots, with a three-way switch, there is another alternative. Use the 25K pots for the EMG, and the 250K pots for the passive pickup. This way you can use one or the other with no adverse affects, but with the switch in the middle position the passive pickup will have reduced gain and response.
Use the low-impedance (25K) volume and tone controls provided with the EMG's. The problem here is that the passive pickups will suffer a reduction in gain and loss of high-frequency response.


This is the best alternative. Install an EMG-PA-2 on the passive pickups. There are two benefits to doing this. With the trimpot on the PA-2, you can adjust the gain of the passive pickups to match the EMG's. The PA-2 acts as an impedance matching device so you can use the low-impedance EMG controls (25K) without affecting the tone of the passive pickups. You will also be able to use other EMG accessory circuits such as the SPC, RPC, EXB, EXG, etc. For this application, we recommend ordering the PA-2 without the switch for easy installation on the inside of a guitar.