Advice on pickups please

B

Bassman

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Mar 15, 2006
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I'm looking to change the pickups on my Fortress 1a 5-string. the MEC Jazz style pickups have a low output and get a lot of hum and interference.

I play lots of styles but mainly rock in a band with two guitarists. I'm thinking about the Music Man style of pickup (like the $$) or how about the soapbar humbuckers?

And should I stick with MEC or perhaps try BassLines?
 
I'd stay on a J + J configuration, so you don't need to made non reversible body routing.

There's plenty of J pickups that can cut the mix mercilessly.
Actually my favourite pickup configuration for heavy music is J + J :wink:
 
Have you thought about perhaps changing out the preamp? From what I understand, the Aguilar OBP-2 and 3 pre's match extremely well with the MEC pups.

I think the MEC pups are good, but MEC pre's aren't that good.

I too am looking to swap out the electronics on my Corvette Standard, and the first thing I'll swap out will be the pre, since even if I change the pickups to Basslines (I'm a Seymour Duncan fan), they'll still be under the mercy of the MEC pre.

Whatever upgrade you decide to do (be it pups, pre, or both), don't forget to shield your control cavity with copper foil or conductive paint. That will help with the hum and interference.
 
Am I the only one who likes the standard (active) gold JJ pickup set on the Vette std? The output seems fine to me - both active and passive and certianly doesn't stuggle against the MM pickup in my MM.
 
a majority of warwick basses you see in photos still have the stock MECs so many people are very happy with them
 
...or try an off-board pre-amp (like an EBS Microbass -although you can get cheaper) - then you can plug any bass into it!
 
I just changed out my J set on my std vette to an EMG j set (active). It sounds good, but wasn't worth the hassle and money for the sound. The MEC J's are pretty good, try a differen't preamp? A warwick will always sound like a warwick.
 
Like I said before, I think the MECs are great pickups, but their preamps are kinda meh. Aguilar OBP-2's are said to match up really well to MECs.
 
I Have The Vette FNA Jazzman 5. Which Aguilar Pre-amp System should I get? (Model)
 
I'm always trying to seek the better sound. I guess I have fallen into the always seeking the better sound syndrome.

I may be trying to fix something that is not broken.
 
The Fortress is a pretty versatile bass... Have you tried some crazy experiments with playing style? I bet there are sounds in there you might not have found yet with the stock electronics, and it may be just what you're looking for. ~M~
 
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