Nordy mm5.2 OLP and a big thanks to Stu!
 

Got my hands on a Washburn RB2500 a few months back. There was an "accident" shall we say, and it needed a new pickup.

I had a hell of a time trying to verify what pup would be an exact fit. After much measuring, and calling many places (that weren't much help) I finally called Nordstrand. I got a guy by the name of Stu on the phone. Stu took the time to get one of the OLP's and measure everything for me that was critical for fitment.

I got the Nordy MM5.2 last month and finally got it put in tonight (wired in parallel). By the time I got the strings on, it was the little ones bed time and all I could do was a quick "Did I wire it up right?" session.

At first, there was NO sound at all. "Crap..what did I do? Oh, volume on bass is all the way down. Oops." Turned up amp, "***? I can talk louder than this!" Looked at amp settings. It would seem that curious 3 year old fingers had turned every knob all the way down. DOH! turn them back up. Wow! With the EB Cobalts, the sound was awesome!

If anyone wants more details to the sound, I can do a more in depth explanation in a day or two when the little one isn't sleeping. But in a nutshell, clear across the board. Highs are high, mids are clear, lows are where they should be. A bit on the "dirty / grungy / growly" side, but just right IMO. All tone controls on amp were set at 0, as well as on the bass too. How are they on the fingers? Can't say, didn't play long enough. Also play with a pick 99% of the time (felt ones preferably).

As for Stu at Nordstrand, dude, you are awesome! Thank you so much for taking 15 minutes to verify dimensions on the pup. It was this level of customer service that made me decide to go with a Nordstrand.

On a side note, I had to measure the stock pup for a reason. I contacted Washburn about measurements and they were clueless. The guy on the phone was nice enough to send me the spec sheet he has access to. It's attached below in case anyone wants to know what the bass is made out of.

I'm planning to install a MM4.2 (and Nordie pre) in my SBMM SUB Ray4. Heard nothing but good things about them.

Do it! I've never heard a SB or EB in person. The one thing I don't like about my Washburn P knockoff, with Duncan Basslines Quarter Pounds, is that the highs just don't seem to be as prominent. Quite muted sounding. Could be the strings though, although the previous strings sounded similar in this regard.

I'm a low frequency junkie. I considered wiring the MM5.2 in series for more "oomph", at a loss of a little high end and possible hum issues. But I wired it in the standard parallel setup and I have zero complaints about tonality. I wish my prettier P sounded this good. But if it did, I never would have entered the world of fivers.

Now mind you, I only play occasionally. It's a hobby. I used to play 4-6 hours every day years ago. Now I'm lucky to play that much over the course of a month. But I think I'll be playing more now that I have an axe that I really enjoy the sound of.

I really don't understand why these RB2500's sell so cheap as used. The neck is super thin. I've heard it compared to the neck on a J. For small hands like mine, it's awesome. I knew I wanted it just by picking it up. The stock pickup, well hard to judge since it had cruddy 3 year old strings on it. But I would recommend this bass or Nordy pup to anyone. I would say the same for the strings based on what I heard for 5 minutes earlier, but I can't. I've read some complaints about the Cobalts being rough on the fingers. IMO, if they're rough on your fingers, you don't play enough. Playing a lot = calluses. Calluses = not feeling pain. lol

Stu can't help but be a nice guy. He spends all day working around the Nordy elves.