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haha no offence taken because sometimes I am dumb with this stuff, so it's a valid question. I have been playing around with different EQ settings to try to get the most from it. I always start my EQ from neutral settings anyway, and adjust as the needed for the band, room/venue. It could be that I just haven't spent enough time with it, but I just can't get a very focused sound from it - perhaps that the nature of the t-bird though. I'm not very good at describing sounds - I just know what I like when I hear it and I haven't gotten there yet.
I too have a history of dumbness haha. I just figured I'd ask. Odds are it's just not your thing, and that's totally fine. I will say with T Bird pickups I typically found my preference actually being cutting bass, boosting treble and mids. Treble usually slightly behind mids, but sometimes both evenly and sometimes treble even slightly more. Just a thought to experiment like that if you have not already. It might still not be for you, just a lot cheaper/simpler to try that first before selling the bass or swapping pickups.
Good luck in your tone search!
Thanks very much for the additional info - I'll give that a go in my next practice and see how it sits.
I, too, love the sound of a P-Bass & have 2 Sereks the same scale as your MW, one with a B90 & the other with a LZN-B90, so I'll weigh in here.
Obviously, big difference between your MW & a P-Bass is scale, 30.5" vs. 34", so you've got stronger fundamentals with the Serek, which can definitely darken things up. I'm talking a bit out of school on the T-Bird pickup as I have never played one, but the Gibson pickups I've heard don't have that nice mid-range "bite" I hear in a split P.
I can say that when I got my MW w/ B90 & the Dunlop Flats Jake threw on there, I heard the "Stax" sound ("Duck" Dunn) out of that bass! I had a Fender AVRI '57 RI with the LaBella Jamerson string set that didn't sound as good! I do find I tend to roll off the bass off as there is plenty on tap!
As was mentioned a few posts ago, definitely see where EQ can get you, but I think you might really dig the LZN-B90. It is a great sounding pickup & versatile since you can run it in parallel or series mode. Heck, I think the standard B90 is magical & if you can deal with a bit of single coil hum, it's just great!
I've got an Armitage that should be here by the end of the month that is essentially a P-Bass, so I could give you a good A/B comparison with my MW in a bit.
All that said, reach out to Jake & get his take. He'll never steer you wrong!
Lastly, this is what sold me on the B90 pickup. Ed Friedland is one of the best bass educators out there & probably played about everything out there. He played a lot of cool basses in that video, but he didn't react to any of them like he did the MW! Skip to 7:48:
Thanks very much for the detailed response and the video. I had seen that before but completely forgot about it - yes, that's THE sound that I'm looking for. I sent an email to Jake last week and he got back to me this morning with this:
"I would say you will get a bit more clarity out of our LZN-B90, but keep in mind there are quite a few different T-bird pickups out there, so that is somewhat subjective. You also get adjustable polepieces with our LZN-B90 which helps achieve a more balanced output across strings"
Really leaning towards the original B90... perhaps I'm just not a t-bird guy.
Happy to help! I do like the LZN-B90, but it is in a fretless Sacramento with tapes, so maybe not the most representative sound?...
I think the B90 might be my favorite bass pickup of all time. I LOVE a good split-P & it reminds me of that with more "guts". I cannot imagine you'd be disappointed with a B90 in your MW. I have 4 Sereks (so far) & if I could only keep one it would be the MW & the B90 is definitely part of the reason why!
I will testify that I own two
Armitage basses, one with the regular B90 and one with a LZN-B90 and they sound very similar. There might be a tad more high end with the B90 with the dummy coil disengaged but it’s so close that I feel like you can’t go wrong. Damn, now I feel like playing them but I’m stuck at the office.
Armitage basses, one with the regular B90 and one with a LZN-B90 and they sound very similar. There might be a tad more high end with the B90 with the dummy coil disengaged but it’s so close that I feel like you can’t go wrong. Damn, now I feel like playing them but I’m stuck at the office.
They’re both 34”, right? How do they compare to your Moollon P tonally?
EDIT: Or any other P?
They really stand up well against the Moollon, so well that I've started to wonder if I should sell it. I could probably get somewhere in the $4,000 range for it and both Armitage our scratching that itch really well, and on top of that I've got a EBMM Cutlass that also performs well above its price range.
Details, please! After all, this IS TalkBass & we love to compare & dissect minutiae!
4K huh? You could maybe get another Serek? I heard about this exotic wood Jake's starting to use now. Maplewang. Brings out the hi-mids... lots of twang!
Did I just go too far?!?!
What has really impressed me is not just the tone but the playability of the Serek bassses. My Moollon is almost effortless to play and the Armitage basses I own are right there in terms of quality and how fun they are to play.
Agreed! Serek basses are fun to play. That was the first thing that struck me when I got my MW. I was like, “Wow! I didn’t know I could enjoy playing so much!”
What I was wondering about what how the B90’s compare tonally to the split P pickup in the Moollon? Both my B90’s are in short scales, so really curious how the B90’s sound in a 34” bass & how the Armitage (Jake’s take on the P) compares to the Moollon P. I imagine the Moollon is designed to be like the best Fender P you could get & so I’m betting that pickup in the Moollon is a prime example of a split P pickup.
Just to weigh in on a related tangent: the best Fender P you could get was the early 2000s US Lakland Glaub.
Yes, the P pick up in the Moollon is fantastic. I don't know how to describe it other than, it sounds exactly like a P bass should. I feel like there is a bit more range to Moollon than the B90 or LZN-B90, because they are both inherently darker than the Moollon when the tone is all the way open but as someone who tends to roll off the tone a bit anyway, they're perfect!
I just found a demo Ed Friedland did of that bass a few years ago. Wow!!! That bass is P-erfection! I hope my Armitage sounds close to that good! Ed said Dan had the pickups made to his spec. I’ll have a Novak PB-V in mine, so my hopes are high!Just to weigh in on a related tangent: the best Fender P you could get was the early 2000s US Lakland Glaub.
This is mine:
Though there is no such thing as a single perfect bass. I love my Serek Grand as much as I love my Lakland Glaub and they are nothing alike.
I have both a P and J Moollon and love the way they play and sound. The two Sereks I have are the MW2 with Serek Singles and Lucite Lincoln. I don't know that they are the same or anywhere near each other in sound. What I do know is that none of them are leaving. They are all very enjoyable basses in sound and playability.
Yeah, I don't think my Moollon is going anywhere.
I played it last night and it's just really special.
