WARWICK FORTRESS MASTERMAN 5 STRING PickUp Question

[RonnyBaby]

I have the single dbl jazz pickup and my bass is a 1995 and want to have the pickup re-wound by Villex. He needs the housing to do this as he does not make housings. But he asked if the pickup is filled in with a filler.

I don't want to remove the pickup right now to find out as the bass has new strings. Does anyone who has removed a Warwick pickup know if the guts of the pickup can be removed or not?

Like Bartolini's are filled in with some substance so they cannot be altered in anyway. But just wondering if Warwick also fills their pickups in.

[RonnyBaby]

Really?? Know one knows this?? That's hard to believe! Come on guys... help me out here!

[humpy thumb]

The MEC twin jazz pickup in your Masterman is encased in a resin.
It would be pretty impossible to separate the guts from it's cover.
The dimension of this pickup is not one of the usual designs,like an MM,P or jazz pickups.It's actually 2 jazz pickups,mounted side by side,with the mounting tabs at opposite sides.I think it's going to be quite difficult to have it re-wound.
Is the pickup not working?
Why are you getting it re-wound?

[RonnyBaby]

Originally Posted by humpy thumb

The MEC twin jazz pickup in your Masterman is encased in a resin.
It would be pretty impossible to separate the guts from it's cover.
The dimension of this pickup is not one of the usual designs,like an MM,P or jazz pickups.It's actually 2 jazz pickups,mounted side by side,with the mounting tabs at opposite sides.I think it's going to be quite difficult to have it re-wound.
Is the pickup not working?
Why are you getting it re-wound?

Hey, Happy Thumb... first, I want to thank you for responding! This helps me a lot.

To answer your question... yes, the pick up still works, but the electronics are failing and I was going to have Mr. Villex wind me a new Villex pickup, but he needs the housing. He does not make housings. His pickups are all passive and sound better than a lot of active pickups. So this would allow me to clean up the electronics compartment and eliminate any battery to worry about. All three concentric knobs would then be discarded and replaced by standard WW knobs.

I would then install a Villex bass booster and all three knobs would consist of Volume, Tone and Bass boost and that's it. Clean and simple.

What I also plan to do is send the bass off to a top notch Luthier to have the fat neck sanded down in an asymmetrical fashion like the Tobias Growler. I actually called Gibsom and they emailed me the neck dimensions. Cool! It will be a one of a kind that I know of. The neck being as fat as it is causes pain in my fretting hand. I have no problem playing on a Growler.

This bass will be KICK once finished as I am also replacing all of the hardware. Gold bridge with black saddle housings and Schaller light weight tuners (black and gold combo tuners).

Take care!

[humpy thumb]

Sounds like a cool project Ronny.
Just be aware that there's 2 steel reinforcment rods in the neck,running from about the 12th fret,towards the body.As long as your luthier doesnt take off too much wood,it should be fine.
FWIW,the new,post 2010 necks are C profile(slim),as opposed to the U profile(fat) like yours.You can even get an extra slim neck via the custom shop,& even a Fortress Masterman,which you know,was discontinued some years ago.
Please take some pics & post them at the Warwick forum.There's quite a few Fortress owners who'd love to see your mods.

[RonnyBaby]

Originally Posted by humpy thumb

Sounds like a cool project Ronny.
Just be aware that there's 2 steel reinforcment rods in the neck,running from about the 12th fret,towards the body.As long as your luthier doesnt take off too much wood,it should be fine.
FWIW,the new,post 2010 necks are C profile(slim),as opposed to the U profile(fat) like yours.You can even get an extra slim neck via the custom shop,& even a Fortress Masterman,which you know,was discontinued some years ago.
Please take some pics & post them at the Warwick forum.There's quite a few Fortress owners who'd love to see your mods.

Yes, well... my luthier is going to sand the neck for $200 and $100 for tear down and re-assembly, Including re-crown and polish frets and set up. I am also going to have him widen the spacing as much as possible. Outer strings will be 1/16" from the edge of the neck. Right now they are about 3/16" from the edge.

I may end up having to replace the adjustable brass nut with a regular brass nut.

I will post about this once everything has been finished.

[humpy thumb]

There's a brand new brass Just a Nut 3 from Warwick.
It's identicle to the Tedur JAN 3,but made from solid brass.
The down side is it costs about $110US.

[RonnyBaby]

Well with me widening the string spacing, I will need to do a custom nut.
It will run me about $70. Thanks for the heads up on that though!

[SC Bassboy]

I've cut a brass nut before. If you have the patience and a dremel anything is possible. Glad to see you are getting new electronics. I replaced the MEC crap in every 'Wick I've owned. It just never sounded very musical to me.

[RonnyBaby]

Originally Posted by SC Bassboy

I've cut a brass nut before. If you have the patience and a dremel anything is possible. Glad to see you are getting new electronics. I replaced the MEC crap in every 'Wick I've owned. It just never sounded very musical to me.

What pickups did you select for your basses?

I just found that I cannot use Villex. I want a passive musicman style pickup to go in its place and I will be willing to route the cavity to a larger pickup. The MEC pickup measures 2 1/8 x 3 5/8.

I've been checking the Basslines pickup. I do want a passive setup.
No battery.

[humpy thumb]

Originally Posted by SC Bassboy

I've cut a brass nut before. If you have the patience and a dremel anything is possible. Glad to see you are getting new electronics. I replaced the MEC crap in every 'Wick I've owned. It just never sounded very musical to me.

Lemmy guess,
Seymour Duncan?

Cheers mate.

[humpy thumb]

Originally Posted by RonnyBaby

What pickups did you select for your basses?

I just found that I cannot use Villex. I want a passive musicman style pickup to go in its place and I will be willing to route the cavity to a larger pickup. The MEC pickup measures 2 1/8 x 3 5/8.

I've been checking the Basslines pickup. I do want a passive setup.
No battery.

How bout Bartolini or Delano.

[RonnyBaby]

Originally Posted by humpy thumb

How bout Bartolini or Delano.

I'm not a bart fan. Maybe Delano or Dimarzio or basslines or Nordstrands. All I know is a want cut through mids with a growl!


Hey happy Thumb... do you know how much can be taken off the back of the neck near the 12th fret so as to not go through?

My Luthier wants to know. Of course, I don't want to end up with a basket case bass either!

[rojo412]

I think Delano makes a dropin that looks just like that MEC Twin J.

I used to have a 95 Fortress MM 5 and it had the most ridiculous midrange cut... it was a sweet beast.

My electronics took a dump when I removed them. Reinstallation found me with a dead "bass/treb" stack and I had to rewire the pickup(s) to the single stack and it worked okay.

[RonnyBaby]

Originally Posted by rojo412

I think Delano makes a dropin that looks just like that MEC Twin J.

I used to have a 95 Fortress MM 5 and it had the most ridiculous midrange cut... it was a sweet beast.

My electronics took a dump when I removed them. Reinstallation found me with a dead "bass/treb" stack and I had to rewire the pickup(s) to the single stack and it worked okay.

Check this one out... It's called the Hybrid.


http://www.delano.de/uploads/tx_smtdelano/mc5hy.jpg


I LIKE!!

I will give them a call tomorrow and see if they do make a drop in for the Fortress 5 string. This will be my choice, if so!

The nipples (i guess that's a good name for them) where the screws go are on the opposite sides though. They would have to make this with nipples on the long sides.

I'll post about it tomorrow once I find out.

[humpy thumb]

Originally Posted by RonnyBaby

I'm not a bart fan. Maybe Delano or Dimarzio or basslines or Nordstrands. All I know is a want cut through mids with a growl!


Hey happy Thumb... do you know how much can be taken off the back of the neck near the 12th fret so as to not go through?

My Luthier wants to know. Of course, I don't want to end up with a basket case bass either!

I dont have any definate measurments,but it's gotta be a few mm's at least.The truss rod channel runs from the nut to fret 12ish,then 2 steel stiffening bars from about fret 14 to the body.

[RonnyBaby]

Originally Posted by humpy thumb

I dont have any definate measurments,but it's gotta be a few mm's at least.The truss rod channel runs from the nut to fret 12ish,then 2 steel stiffening bars from about fret 14 to the body.

I've tried contacting Warwick in the past for various reasons and every single time I pose a question to them in email, I NEVER get a response. So I won't even bother asking them.

Funny... cause they had a Streamer Stage I on their site for sale and I tried contacting them to get a price and they again, never emailed me back.

What is up with them?? Is there a secret way of getting their attention?

[SurrenderMonkey]

Try the warwick forums.

http://forum.warwick.de/

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by RonnyBaby

Check this one out... It's called the Hybrid.


http://www.delano.de/uploads/tx_smtdelano/mc5hy.jpg


I LIKE!!

I will give them a call tomorrow and see if they do make a drop in for the Fortress 5 string. This will be my choice, if so!

The nipples (i guess that's a good name for them) where the screws go are on the opposite sides though. They would have to make this with nipples on the long sides.

I'll post about it tomorrow once I find out.

It's in with the Jazz pickups on their site.

[humpy thumb]

Originally Posted by RonnyBaby

I've tried contacting Warwick in the past for various reasons and every single time I pose a question to them in email, I NEVER get a response. So I won't even bother asking them.

Funny... cause they had a Streamer Stage I on their site for sale and I tried contacting them to get a price and they again, never emailed me back.

What is up with them?? Is there a secret way of getting their attention?

Warwick dont sell direct to customers,you have to go through a dealer,nor do they advertise basses for sale on their website,never have.Their distributors dont even sell to customers.I suspect you're talking about a custom shop instrument displayed in the gallery.You cant buy the basses displayed,but you can certainly buy one with the same specs,or any other specs offered.
It's funny that you've never gotten a reply,while only today a member of the forum sent an enquiry about parts to Warwick & was answered the same day by the companies owner,Hans Peter Wilfer.This isnt a unique story.I've been a member of their forum since early 2006 & have read literally dozens of posts by people singing their praises when it comes to not only being replied back to within sometimes minutes,by from the companies owner,even on a sunday morning before
9am.
If you ever are not satisfied you can email
complain@warwick.de
info@warwick.de
Or post your enquiry on the Warwick forum,which is moderated by me,on Aussie time.
Customer service is something taken very seriously by this company,so if you're ever in a bind,for any reason whatsoever,by all means,let me know personally.