music man p-up replacements?

[jambass]

I have a mid 90's stingray with the typical weak sounding g sting,I put in a basslines pre amp wich helped tone but not the g string prob.Im thinking of replacing the pickup as well,something warmer and fatter then oridginal any suddgestions i.e.bartolini, basslines etc. thanx

[winston]

I've managed to get the g fairly well balanced with the other strings on my 'Ray by lowering the bass side of the pickup and the g-string height, but I imagine that the real solution lies in getting a replacement pickup with bar instead of round polepieces. On many Stingrays that I've seen, the A and D strings are right over the middle of the polepieces, the E is close to the middle, and the G string "sees" the least amount of polepiece, causing the volume difference. And since there's no string spacing adjustment, you're kind of stuck. I'm pretty sure Bartolinis have a bar, and I assume that most pickups without exposed polepieces (EMG, Lane Poor, Kent Armstrong) also have bars, but I'm not sure-check with the manufacturers. Also, I've noticed that the problem can be improved somewhat by turning down the bass control whilst increasing the mids. The only other explanation I could think of for the weak g is that having the tuner on the bottom of the headstock alters the tension or something--but I've played many basses with tuners on both sides that didn't have the problem, so I imagine it's the string spacing/polepiece thing. Anyone else have ideas about the Achilles' heel of these otherwise wonderful basses?

[Bass Boy]

I have a Warwick FNA with the basslines preamp and I also notice the G string is a little weak.

[ThumpNPluck]

I bought a used Stingray 5 several years ago that had a Bartolini soapbar pickup in it. It sounded great, but the bass sure didn't sound like a Musicman with it! I've also tried the Basslines replacements for Musicman pickups, and they're more authentic sounding, but you'll have the same pole piece spacing problem as with your original pickup. I'd say stick with the original pickup and see if your tech can make any adjustments that might even out string response.

[sixandeightstringer]

Anyone know how the Carvins sound? Aren't they active, too?

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Mark Gollihur
Bassist, Second Story
http://www.second-story.net
http://www.mp3.com/secondstory

[DrGrosso]

I am a proud owner of a 93 MM Stingray, and I have never experimented such problem. My G string is superb, just like the other 3 strings.

MusicMan Rulesssssss!!!

PS: Is there any MusicMan players club or something around?

[Muttluk]

When i was trying out amps today at GC (Ampeg B2R into a SVT410hl) i noticed that they had lowerd the Musicmans to a "reachable" since they had just stocked up on Lakeland basses. and since i've never been able to have a real on hand trial of a music man, i decided why not. i did not notice a weak g string at all. maybe it was just my ears though. what i did notice was about the sharp pole pieces. ouch.

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I am a self proclaimed boy genius

[Munjibunga]

Hey Muttluk ... which GC is carrying Lakland? They used to carry them until a couple years ago, then quit for a while. Wonder if all of the GC's will have them now ....

[Brad Johnson]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by sixandeightstringer:
Anyone know how the Carvins sound? Aren't they active, too?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

AFAIK they are passive. The ones I checked out in one of their California stores were not memorable.