Warwick Thumb MEC Pickups

[Jack]

Hi guys. 

 

I have a '91 Thumb where the back pickup is crazy quiet. 10-15dB down from the neck. I know bridge pickups are quieter and I know it's right over the bridge, but no amount of adjustment can fix this. 

 

I'm going to work with a tech, but if it does need a replacement then which mec pickups are the right ones? Are they just normal 94mm Js? Don't want to change the sound at all. Would the MECs from an early nineties Corvette be the same ones? 

Edited May 9 by Jack

[Doctor J]

Do they have a red wire going to each pickup? If so, they're active.

 

It's possible the preamp in the pickup took a shit and died, I've seen it enough times in EMGs.

 

MECs tend to have a gold logo for active and silver logo for passive, or at least they used to. I suspect they're active ones in that bass, so you'll need a like for like replacement. The Warwick serial number decoder is usually very good at giving you the specifics of your instrument and Hans Peter is excellent for replying to questions.

Edited May 10 by Doctor J

[JazzyJ]

On 09/05/2025 at 17:07, Jack said:

Hi guys. 

 

I have a '91 Thumb where the back pickup is crazy quiet. 10-15dB down from the neck. I know bridge pickups are quieter and I know it's right over the bridge, but no amount of adjustment can fix.

@Jack Did you resolve this? I can't recall it being an issue when I owned it. Saying that, it wasn't played that often.

I'd quite gladly buy it back though 😉.

[Jack]

On 25/05/2025 at 23:10, JazzyJ said:

@Jack Did you resolve this? I can't recall it being an issue when I owned it. Saying that, it wasn't played that often.

I'd quite gladly buy it back though 😉.

Hi. I haven't resolved it but in fairness I haven't done the due diligence to find out exactly what's wrong, it might be something simple like a loose connection. This thread was spurred on by @Raslee's Corvette that was for sale which came with an extra pair of MEC pickups. I was just looking for an excuse really. I'll take a proper look and update the thread when I get a second.