New Pickups?

[nizzrooster]

A few days ago I plugged in my Streamette and I was getting no sound from the neck pickup at all. The bridge pickup was fine. So after about 10 or 15 minutes of going "WHAT THE FRICK!?!?" a little bit sound started coming from the neck but definitely not like it should have been.

I took it to my guy the next day and he said it sounded like my pickup was dying but he wouldn't know for sure without digging deeper. I've wanted to replace the MECs since I got the bass but never really had a reason. Now I have the perfect excuse to get some new pickups.

I have never had the pickups replaced in any bass I have ever owned. I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the different choices out there and I would love some advice.

I don't want something that's going to alter the sound of the bass too much. I still want it to sound like a Warwick. I think I'm leaning toward getting some Barts. https://www.bestbassgear.com/bartolini-p-bass-pickups.htm# I've also read some great reviews on these too:

https://www.fralinpickups.com/bass.asp

https://www.amalfitanopickups.com/p-bass.php

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/ma...ub=vintage&pickup=58_split_coil&series=p_bass

Are P pickups a standard size or do they all come in different sizes? I really want to avoid having wood removed from my bass. Should I also have the preamp replaced along with the pickups? Any suggestions or advice you can give me would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[azzyrazzy]

Probably just need to re-wire something
OTOH I have change the preamps in both my Warwicks. One because it was broken and the other because I wanted to. Bartolini and Noll, respectively. Both are bartolini-pickuped, and sound great.

 

[SimonQwerty]

MEC are the best for Warwick, if you want it sound like Warwick. But there are some other sweet choices. Almost all of my experiments were recorded. Hope it would help you.
One more thing I've found out recently. EMG active singles are really close to MEC gold singles, but they have a little bit different character on high frequencies. A bit mellower I'd say... Sorry but I can't prove it with a clip :roll:

[video=youtube;e7YM2nVRecg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7YM2nVRecg[/video]
[video=youtube;fZJ6BPEEY8k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZJ6BPEEY8k[/video]

 

[Krabster]

My preference in a Warwick is MEC. Having said that, Warwick has made basses with both EMG and Bart pickups, and in fact a couple of current models have EMG pickups. I don't like Barts much myself, but YMMV as always. If I had to replace pickups in a Warwick, I'd probably go with EMG, since I find them to be more "open" sounding than Barts. IME, Barts always sound like Barts, and if you like them, that's good.

Another reason that I would choose EMG is that MEC parts tend to be ridiculously expensive. I just bought a volume pot for my Thumb, which has the push/pull active/passive switch in it, and it was $51 plus shipping. No other pot will easily work in this circuit. However, since I just had one bad pot, I went for it. If the preamp went bad, I'd probably replace it with an EMG.

JMO, etc.