Need preamp upgrade for Streamer Stage I

[warwickstage2]

Hey folks...just stumbled on Talkbass.com and figured I'd setup a profile to ask ya'll about preamps.

I have a 1996 Warwick Streamer Stage I 4-string and the MEC preamp is all but garbage. I'm looking for an upgrade but don't know much about this shiz. I looked at the Aguilar OBP-3 but my buddies down at Bass Central told me I'd have to route out some wood to make it fit. So that's a no-go.

I'm looking for a 9V active 3-band preamp with bass/mid/treble/volume controls.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Over.

[Means2nEnd]

What pickups are in it? MEC? Duncan?

[mmbongo]

I don't see why you'd have to route anything to fit an Aguilar in there, which is a great preamp. If you have room to fit a 9-volt battery in there, you can fit an Aguilar in there. Or an Audere. In fact, if you have to route for an Aguilar, you'd have to route for just about ANY preamp. They don't get much smaller.

I love both Aguilar and Audere preamps, but Audere Z-Mode is just on a whole other level.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by warwickstage2

Hey folks...just stumbled on Talkbass.com and figured I'd setup a profile to ask ya'll about preamps.

I have a 1996 Warwick Streamer Stage I 4-string and the MEC preamp is all but garbage. I'm looking for an upgrade but don't know much about this shiz. I looked at the Aguilar OBP-3 but my buddies down at Bass Central told me I'd have to route out some wood to make it fit. So that's a no-go.

I'm looking for a 9V active 3-band preamp with bass/mid/treble/volume controls.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Over.

The Michael Pope Flex Core is relatively simple to install if you have sufficient room. You'd have to check to see if you have enough vertical clearance for some of the circuit boards attached to the pots. Since it's modular, there are quite a number of available options, depending on how many pots and/or switches you want. For the Streamer Stage I, you have places for four knobs. You could have has many as three stacked knobs to give you something like volume (with push-pull active/passive), blend, stacked treble/bass, and stacked high-mid/low-mid.

The preamp is very clean sounding across the spectrum and is the most versatile preamp I own. These include several Fender models, OBP-3 (also a great preamp), East J-Retro, and Bartolini. The Pope and Aguilar are my favorites.

Here's a picture of the one I installed in my Sadowsky UV70.



This is the one I put in my Lakland 55-94. Note that this one is on 9 volts. It's very simple to do either 9 or 18 volts, and it sounds great either way. The control knob layout on the 55-94 is very similar to that of your Streamer.



And here's one I installed in a Daniel Fernandez Custom.

[warwickstage2]

Thanks all...I just checked out the Michael Pope Design website and it looks pretty customizable (although a bit pricey). I suppose you get what you pay for when it comes to preamps?

I noticed I only have one white wire coming from my pickups (I have a P config for neck and a J for my bridge). A little curious how to ground everything appropriately.

Thoughts?

Also, I think I have plenty of room for the Aguilar pre...at least it looks like it from the available cavity.

[warwickstage2]

By the way... I still have the MEC pickups installed.

FYI.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by warwickstage2

Thanks all...I just checked out the Michael Pope Design website and it looks pretty customizable (although a bit pricey). I suppose you get what you pay for when it comes to preamps?

I noticed I only have one white wire coming from my pickups (I have a P config for neck and a J for my bridge). A little curious how to ground everything appropriately.

Thoughts?

Also, I think I have plenty of room for the Aguilar pre...at least it looks like it from the available cavity.

Is there a shield around the wire? That'd be your ground.

[Means2nEnd]

The reason I ask which pickups they are quite different in tone and the Duncans which did come in some of the SS1 are different in their specs. Duncans like a 100K balance pot or 100K audio taper volume pots which can be hard to find unless pulled out of a pre wired Seymour Duncan preamp set up.

The MEC soaps are open more clean and modern sounding. They are just like normal active pickups and like 25K audio taper pots like EMGs. It’s fine to choose Bartolini, Aguilar, EMG, Duncan etc... As long as you have the correct ohm pots in place. Some will come with 250K audio taper for passive pickups so just be aware of that.

The two other members are among the top respected knowledgeable members here by me and most others and I would listen to them closely just make sure whoever is doing the install knows that the pickups are active so they use the right pots FYI...

[sprocket123]

Audere , Pope , &ACG would be my choices .