Just put and OBP-3 In my Warwick Thumb 5

[irjason]

Thought I would post this if anyone is interested.

I got finished with putting an Aguilar OBP-3 in my 95 Warwick Thumb 5 string tonight. This bass had the MEC pre-amp and pickups originally. It had the 18 volt setup with 2 batteries already. I'm told some only have 1 battery and a voltage doubler, not the case for me. Over time I grew unsatisfied with the stock pre-amp. The bass gets boomy when you turn it up, and it sounded kind of muddy in general.

My thumb is the neck through version so I wanted to keep the mid control. In my quest for better tone I bought the Aguilar OBP-3SK/PP kit. It comes with a stacked pot for bass/treble and a push-pull pot for mids (the push-pull switches between 400 and 800 Hz).

I did the install myself since I have a few years experience as an electronics tech. Boy was I was nervous, but everything turned out OK. I was even able to keep the pre-amp bypass using the stock push-pull volume pot.

The only bad thing is that the stock knobs don't fit the bass/treble pot. The mid fit fine. I think I'm going to see about drilling the knobs out to see if I can get them to fit. If not I'll have to buy a set somewhere.

The new pre-amp sounds a lot better to my ears. The bass is not boomy, and it seems to have cleared up the sound nicely. I'm very satisfied so far.

I've recorded a quick and dirty before and after sound clip. You can listen to it here. You may need to right click and save first.

The clip is not the greatest, my strings are pretty old. I'm playing finger style with all tone and blend set flat. First is the stock MEC and next is the OBP-3. You can't tell a huge difference between the 2 this way, unfortunately it's the only way I recorded the MEC before I took it out (no I won't put it back for more comparisons )

So there it is if anyone is having as hard a time as I did finding info about this swap.

[BassoProfondo]

Good stuff, it's clearer, more defined, and I hear a little more punch. The treble sounds a little boosted with the Aguilar, if that's due to better circuitry than that's impressive.

I bet this mod goes a long way with that nice bass.

[irjason]

Yeah it seems to have boosted the highs a bit as you mentioned. I'm not sure if it's the overall effect of better circuitry, or different EQ points. Either way the treble control is definitely more usable now than it was. I'm really happy that I put it in.

[Daywalker]

I'm currently looking to put the same pre-amp into my Thumb 5. It worked wonders for my two limited editions...

[elpelotero]

I put an STC3A with AJB5's in my Streamer 2 and WOW. When set flat, I can't tell if my bass is a bass or a rabid dog in a fight!

Definite 100% improvement. I still have to find the proper pickup height and balance, but man, first impressions are unbelievable.

I could only imagine the aguilar is similar.

[Daywalker]

Wow, I just made a major breakthrough with my basses. The Thumb NT had too much bottom, and wasn't cutting through enough. My Thumb LTD cut through just fine, but had absolutely NO booty. So I took both basses into my tech, and had him switch the pre-amps. Now I've got the OBP-3 in my NT, and the MEC pre from my NT in my LTD. BAM!, instant perfection in BOTH basses. I found the missing booty that the LTD was missing, and I found the missing clarity and cutting punch that was missing from the NT. I'm now, and very happy man.....


DW

[elpelotero]

congrats!