Warwick Thumb mec pickups

kent · #1 01-10-2008, 05:21 PM

I have a thumb 6 with mec pickups the tone that I'm getting from the bass is nazzel I've been thinking of changing the pick ups and the pre amp................any thoughts

luknfur · #2 01-12-2008, 01:38 PM

Run a pup straight to the jack and see what you think of it before ditching the pups. There have been lots of post on MEC pup/pre changes. A lot of guys seemed to be satisfied with the pups not the pre's. This is from reading threads not having them. The only MEC I ever had was a pre I didn't install that came with active EMG PJ's.

GradyBass · #3 01-12-2008, 01:45 PM

I threw Bartolini pre's in all my Warwicks, and kept the MEC pups.

sounds PERFECT for me!

Nicka · #4 01-12-2008, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GradyBass

I threw Bartolini pre's in all my Warwicks, and kept the MEC pups.

sounds PERFECT for me!

My 94' Vette came with the Barts and Bart pre so when I bought my Thumb 5 I imediately put a Bart pre in it and I wouldn't say it was night and day but it definitely thickened up the sound and made the bass sound far more natural flat without using the EQ.

Bellbass · #5 01-13-2008, 04:04 PM

I took out the pre out of my Thumb 5 BO, set it up V/V/V/T (added a third PU at the neck position) and never looked back .

Kael · #6 01-13-2008, 06:16 PM

I've been running an outboard Sadowsky preamp with my Streamer LX6. I have no problem with the stock onboard MEC preamp, just like having the Sadowsky very lightly engaged constanly. I'm getting a great tone without modding my instrument that way. I still use light doses of onboard EQ for adjusting to different songs. For constant tone shaping I prefer the Sadowsky.

IOW, if you are unhappy with the current tone, snag an outboard preamp and see if that floats your boat before yanking any of the stock electronics.

elpelotero · #7 01-13-2008, 07:41 PM

aguilar, seymour duncan, bartolini, emg...all good choices to retain the warwick growl but get rid of that sizzling sound of the mec pre.

canshaker · #8 01-13-2008, 07:45 PM

I only Bartolini'd my Thumbs that I wanted to sound good.

ajacquem · #9 01-23-2008, 03:47 AM

I tried several configurations of PU and preamps on my Streamer Stage I (Seymour Duncan, Di Marzio, Crel, single coils, humbuckers, passive, active electronics...)but I went back to the MEC original configuration of active preamp/active pickups.
This is, in my opinion, the best fitted system for this model...it is able to go through every kind of style with perfect efficiency.

One could say that MEC systems are not "typed" but this is what we can call versatility...

But i never tried with Bartolini's which seem to be the best in combination with Aguilar preamp?

gr1m_dan · #10 01-23-2008, 08:01 AM

I have a Corvette Standard Fretless with Barties in (came with it!!) and it sounds awesome, I just wish my FNA Jazzman had two single coils and not s/hum.

In my Jazzman however I changed the MEC hum for a Delano MC4 FE and it sounds awesome! Much better then the MEC. Im waiting for the JMVC4 FE off a friend but I can't wait to get it in!

projectMalamute · #11 01-23-2008, 03:52 PM

My Warwick came with MEC Golds and a pre, I changed them out for passive Bartolinis but that's what I always do. Those MEC's go freakishly low, like 3 Hz or so which is sorta weird. I had it rigged up on a ring mod (VCA and oscillator) kinda thing one time and if you just grabbed the strings and moved them back and forth over the pickup manually you could hear the modulating signal riding on that almost DC clear as a bell.

rockstarbassist · #12 01-23-2008, 07:34 PM

My Thumb 6 has SD Basslines and the MEC 2 band pre. Sounds pretty good, even in passive mode.

My 99 Dolphin Pro I 5 coming in next week has the MEC/MEC setup, but the only setup that bass deserves is the Bart/Bart one, IMO.

OxygenWaster · #13 01-24-2008, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gr1m_dan

I have a Corvette Standard Fretless with Barties in (came with it!!) and it sounds awesome, I just wish my FNA Jazzman had two single coils and not s/hum.

In my Jazzman however I changed the MEC hum for a Delano MC4 FE and it sounds awesome! Much better then the MEC. Im waiting for the JMVC4 FE off a friend but I can't wait to get it in!

Quick question gr1m_dan... Now that you replaced the MM pickup in your FNA, is the coil-tapping still available, or did you have to sacrifice that away?