I have these 2 lefties, an MVP 5 and a Buzz. Both are older basses. The MVP is a 1996 and the Buzz is a 1987. Both had/have 3 knob control setups.
When I got the MVP 5 the previous owner had taken out the older, extremely beat up Bart soapbars and the accompanying mystery preamp and replaced them with Aguilar DCB1s and I added an Aguilar OBP-3 and made it into kind of a standard 4 pot 1 switch layout. The Buzz has EMG P/Js in it with 3 pots. I'm thinking of switching both basses to all Bartolini.
Pedulla's prices for their proprietary version of the NTMB and their Bartolini pickups are quite high. $425 for the preamp (which apparently includes installation) vs $170 fully pre-wired (4.7 A/P) from Best Bass Gear. I can handle the installation myself so I don't want to pay for something I don't need. The pickup prices are also quite high at $150 each vs $175 for a set of P/Js for example, again, from Best Bass Gear.
Basically, it's twice as much for his "proprietary" versions of the NTMB and whatever Bartolini pickups you want to get: soapbar or P/J.
Does anybody have any thoughts or comments or experience in regards to the off the shelf versions of each of these components from Bartolini vs Pedulla's proprietary version?
Obviously the mid options alone are far more powerful with a 3 position mid frequency select switch and a boost/cut for the mid; as well as an active/passive push/pull volume.
Thanks in advance.