=The Warwick Thumb Club=

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evilgus

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Hey folks,

I've just been doing some recording comparisons between my 1991 NT 5 and my 2000 BO 5 and have a few questions...

1. The output from the 1991 MEC 2-band pre-amp seems to be quite a lot lower than the later pre-amp, is this typical?
2. The earlier pre-amp seems to distort more easily when slapping with some bass and treble boost, is this also normal? (I've even wound the pickups down a bit to reduce this.)
3. Do these earlier pre-amps have any sort of gain control? (I can't see anything in the control cavity, but haven't looked that closely.)
4. Do the later pre-amps have the same frequencies and characteristics? They do sound very similar, aside from the overall gain difference...

Although I'd prefer to keep the '91 bass in it's original condition, I also want it to sound as good or better than the '00 BO, so maybe a new pre-amp would be worth the coin...

Cheers,

EG
 
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evilgus

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Here's the two basses in question! Yes, the BO is an interesting creature - I got it cheap because the previous owner had fitted an extra pickup and a switch, but then done a hacky job on the wiring, so I've currently got it wired back to stock standard with the original pickups only. (As soon as I can figure out the best way to incorporate the third pickup, I'll get it done properly.)

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Luc67

Luc67

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For me, with the little experience I have, the pre-amp of my '88 Thumb NT4 is the most powerful pre-amp of all my Warwick basses.
I did my first rehearsal this weekend with this bass and it cuts through the mix much more powerfully than my '89 Dolphin Pro I.
I also noticed a slight distortion of the sound with the bass pushed to the bottom but nothing detrimental
 
steembass

steembass

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evilgus said:
Hey folks,

I've just been doing some recording comparisons between my 1991 NT 5 and my 2000 BO 5 and have a few questions...

1. The output from the 1991 MEC 2-band pre-amp seems to be quite a lot lower than the later pre-amp, is this typical?
2. The earlier pre-amp seems to distort more easily when slapping with some bass and treble boost, is this also normal? (I've even wound the pickups down a bit to reduce this.)
3. Do these earlier pre-amps have any sort of gain control? (I can't see anything in the control cavity, but haven't looked that closely.)
4. Do the later pre-amps have the same frequencies and characteristics? They do sound very similar, aside from the overall gain difference...

Although I'd prefer to keep the '91 bass in it's original condition, I also want it to sound as good or better than the '00 BO, so maybe a new pre-amp would be worth the coin...

Cheers,

EG
Click to expand...
the „old“ BEC 1 electronics has 20Hz/2kHz …see my other post…the 2000 model most likely 100 Hz/10 kHz..with the latter I m not sure..
 
steembass

steembass

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…maybe a „stupid“ question…batteries in both are new?
 
steembass

steembass

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the power consumption of the „2000“ era BEC II is quite high☝️
 
kascollet

kascollet

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You sould have a little trim pot to adjust the gain in your 91 NT5. I have one in my NT6 from the same year (yes, a previous owner did an awful job when soldering back the BEC preamp).

os0t.jpg
 
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