Are all MEC pickups created equal?

[mart]

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1317849478' post='1395512']
The expensive MECs are filled with epoxy, the cheap ones in the RBs have removable covers, as far as I can tell, and certainly true of the MEC pups I've had.
[/quote]
I hadn't heard that before. And I have to say my RB pickups don't look like the covers are removable - as I said here:
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/156933-are-all-mec-pickups-created-equal/page__view__findpost__p__1394311"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/156933-are-all-mec-pickups-created-equal/page__view__findpost__p__1394311[/url]
they both [i]look[/i] identical.

[VTypeV4]

My '01 Streamer LX5 has the gold writing (well, it did when it was new!) MEC twin jazz setup. I'm still pleased with them as they're quiet in operation, have a healthy output and perform nicely. The EQ facility (top and bottom) is more than adequate too, I use it reasonably flat, more for just the finishing touches really.

[IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/WarwickSun.jpg[/IMG]

The best sounding Warwick I heard was a Streamer Stage one which had a set of Bartolini's in. Very very smooth and very tight especially on the bottom B. Mine sounds great but that one certainly out performed it.

[unpluggedjack]

As suggested by someone earlier in this thread - I bought a used beat-up Rockbass Fortress for £130 on evilbay and used the pickups and electronics to "rescue" my 1994 Warwick Fortress which was suffering after 1000's of gigs!

Here's what I have learnt from ownership of many Warwicks and Rockbasses and from direct contact with Warwick:

ALL MEC pickups are made in Germany (passive are marked as Dynamic Correction) and are fitted to both Warwick and Rockbass.
MEC electronics as fitted to Warwick basses are made in Germany. Rockbass electronics made in China APART FROM Rockbass Fortress which bizarrely uses the full-spec MEC (2 band) electronics with the push/pull volume pot to bypass the eq!!! This probably explains why the Rockbass Fortress is more expensive than other Rockbasses.

BTW - this push/pull pot was extremely useful if the bass was fitted with the passive (Dynamic Correction) pickups because if your battery died you could continue. I suspect it's pretty pointless if you have the active pickups because they will need the juice from the battery to work. Could be a nice way to store a second (or solo) sound maybe? I've never used it in this way as I always use the eq. I think they have chosen some good frequencies (100hz for bass, 2.5khz for treble) and I find a slight bit of boost on each pot is very nice and I use very little eq at the amp.

I recently compared the MEC 2 band eq with EMG 2 band and there wasn't a huge difference. EMG slightly softer/more organic sounding maybe?. MEC seems slightly more "artificial" for want of a better word . The EMG EQ WAAAY cheaper and easier to fit so make a good replacement if your MEC eq needs replacing.

My next step is to try EMG pickups and compare with the MEC