LukeFRC Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 (edited) So after fliping about with different basses, and trying to buy several more it looks like I'll end up changing the pups and possibly pre out of my 1991 streamer stage one to get a tone I prefer more. Any suggestions? I know one of the most impressive things I liked about the valenti jazz i had for a while were the nordstrand jazz pups which gave this amazing tone. My description on how they sounded would be going from watching a movie at home on your tv to going to the cinema. It was just deeper and sweeter at the top and delicate in the mids. So would a nordstand PJ set be any good? or other brands? wizard? Also a lot of the replacement pickups seem to be going for 'sounds like a real 60's fender' - which my warwick never will (and i dont want it too) so what do you think will go well? Another thing I found out- that the current MEC active pups and preamp would cost a pretty penny new- more than i paid for the bass!!!! Edited June 11, 2011 by LukeFRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoker Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 have a look at bartolinis, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Yeah I'd have to say bartos, given your description though I would have said the current MEC equivalents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 [quote name='dc2009' post='1261908' date='Jun 8 2011, 09:32 PM']Yeah I'd have to say bartos, given your description though I would have said the current MEC equivalents [/quote] would the current active MEC's be any different to the early active MECs? I've heard mixed things about barts. Any reason why they are the prefered thing to put in warwicks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 and reading through the massive long thread on talkbass about changing pups on wicks. There was a fella who was describing the same kinda compression effect that he put down to the maple body and neck join (though my bass is NT and his was BO) and he ended up with Aero pickups, who are a make ive never heard much about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 [quote name='LukeFRC' post='1261913' date='Jun 8 2011, 09:34 PM']would the current active MEC's be any different to the early active MECs? I've heard mixed things about barts. Any reason why they are the prefered thing to put in warwicks?[/quote] I don't know if there is much difference between the MECs, but my wick is a 2006 and the pickups are meaty and versatile, and I have heard that the force and volume out of the old ones are wimpy to say the least, but don't know at all which models this affected besides the fortress of the same era as yours. I have barts in a Dean edge (so not a high end bass by any means), two soapbars, and they are just fantastic, the whole thing, with a cheap basswood body even still sounds great. Quite versatile, but with a nice clear sound with a bit of oomph, I'd happily go and buy a set of those if my MECs broke for whatever reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mart Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I've only heard of problems with the [i]passive[/i] MEC pups in old Fortresses - in particular the passive P pup seems to be particularly disliked. (Having said that, I've recently put one in my Squier P and I love it, but that was upgrading from the orig Squier pup, so it's maybe not saying much!) I hadn't heard of the current MEC active pups being much different from vintage MECs. But if you do want to buy new MECs, you definitely don't want to buy them new cos the prices are really silly. Ask around on here or on the Warwick forum and somebody's bound to have a spare set, since quite a few like changing out the stock pups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 So I'm an idiot.... all this argh this isnt right, 2 expensive basses bought and sold (admittedly I didnt loose anything but the cost of postage and was fun), hours spent trying, and trying to buy various jazz basses, time spent looking into other preamps, and pickups..... ....and then i read something about how EMG recommend you set the pickups up close to the string. So my MECs are set up like on my P bass. A fair way from the strings. Move them up and suddenly the mids are there, the preamp seems to work properly and my bass sounds amazing. so.... stupid luke! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 That, I think, is a lesson for a lot of us! Glad you have found the right sound! Would you say the EMG PJ combo is good? If you see my thread about my recent purchase, I've heard the pups can be a bit weak, so I will look at upgrading them, perhaps to emgs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted June 12, 2011 Author Share Posted June 12, 2011 [quote name='dc2009' post='1265597' date='Jun 12 2011, 12:28 AM']That, I think, is a lesson for a lot of us! Glad you have found the right sound! Would you say the EMG PJ combo is good? If you see my thread about my recent purchase, I've heard the pups can be a bit weak, so I will look at upgrading them, perhaps to emgs?[/quote] No ive got the MEC's- but from my understanding they are very similar pickups. They, and I think EMG's have a certain sound being active, which you will either like or dislike- so it depends what you were going for. If I was upgrading pups on something I would go elsewhere before MEC or EMG though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobematt Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 What did you go for in the end and how does it sound?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobematt Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 What did you go for in the end and how does it sound?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 i took the stock MEC active pickups that were in the bass, and raised them- and suddenly all the mids and tone was there..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobematt Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Genius! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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