Are all MEC pickups created equal?

[tommorichards]

Im just wondering because they sell them for a couple hundred each, and some of the rockbass's arent that expensive. So anyone?

[warwickhunt]

In short... No they aren't! There are all sorts but they aren't really marketed as replacement parts (standard issue across the Warwick range), so differentiating the models isn't something that gets pushed. There are full blown MECs that are in the German basses and they are full active (i.e. like EMGs), down to the 'Dynamic Correction' MECs that appear in the Far East models.

[tommorichards]

Ah. I dont suppose you have some literature i could peruse regarding the matter, or is this something you've gleaned from years of experience?

[xilddx]

You get golds and silvers. The circuitry is f***ing expensive! £400 odd for some of the MEC circuitry, sheer madness!

[xilddx]

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1317669526' post='1393120']
You get golds and silvers. The circuitry is f***ing expensive! £400 odd for some of the MEC circuitry, sheer madness!
[/quote]

The Rock bass passive silvers I have were ace with a John East U-Retro

[Chris2112]

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1317669526' post='1393120']
You get golds and silvers. The circuitry is f***ing expensive! £400 odd for some of the MEC circuitry, sheer madness!
[/quote]

They're decent enough pickups and preamps, but their prices are typical Warwick fare, namely wildly inflated for 'new' product! I remember that bloke who had a Thumb with an ACG/East preamp in it, now [i]that[/i] sounded amazing!

[Lfalex v1.1]

Gold/Silver/Dynamic Correction notwithstanding, some MEC units are superb. The JJ as found in the Fortress Masterman/Dolphin/Infinity etc. Is a phenomenal unit. And rather expensive when new.
I do believe that the pick-up is the same for both 4 and 5 strings, and that it has blades for pole-pieces, so no need to worry about string-to-polepiece alignment (if that sort of thing bothers you!)

I've never heard their "P", but the "J"s seem quite quiet. I'm not fond of the MMHB(s) in the $$ models, though. I'd probably replace them with Duncans, an Alnico at the bridge and a ceramic at the neck if possible.

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='tommorichards' timestamp='1317668909' post='1393102']Ah. I dont suppose you have some literature i could peruse regarding the matter, or is this something you've gleaned from years of experience?[/quote]Just donkey's years of owning Warwicks!

As has been stated, new Warwick/MEC prices are 'mad' and there are so many variations that I'd not be buying a set of pups off an unknown source/bass unless I knew EXACTLY what I was getting. I recently acquired (then sold back to the owner) an MEC P pup and thought I could easily snag a second to drop into a PP bass but what a nightmare sifting through what was for sale (especially ebay).

[mart]

[quote name='tommorichards' timestamp='1317667710' post='1393069']
Im just wondering because they sell them for a couple hundred each, and some of the rockbass's arent that expensive. So anyone?
[/quote]
You seem to be wondering if you could buy a cheap Rockbass so as to get a pair of very expensive pickups. And the answer is, believe it or not, YES, you can!

The most common MEC pickups are the J types, and they come in just two types: active (with gold lettering just saying "MEC") and passive (silver writing saying "MEC" and "Dynamic Correction", although the lettering often wears out, so you might need to look carefully to see which is which). (Ok, there may be different ones for basses with 5 or more strings, but all basses have exactly 4 strings in my universe).

And if you look you can, like me, find a Chinese Rockbass with a pair of the same active MEC Js that you'd find in a £3000 German neck-through Warwick. You would certainly have to be insane to buy new MEC pickups on their own at the prices Warwick charge.

If you want a P type, then I believe they also come simply as active or passive (with the same differences in lettering), but these are much less common. Still, I got me a passive MEC P on here for a very reasonable price, so it's worth looking out for.

There are other shapes, but they really don't seem to be at all common on the second hand market, or featured in the sort of Rockbasses you can easily find.

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1317725958' post='1393655']
You seem to be wondering if you could buy a cheap Rockbass so as to get a pair of very expensive pickups. And the answer is, believe it or not, YES, you can!

[/quote]I thought that Mart but my research (questions to Warwick and physically examing the pups) showed that the cheapest Rockbasses don't have the same pups as found in the German basses. There is some x-over with the earlier Corvette basses and the NT German basses but not the recent Rockbass. It's so vague as to what is available in which bass that I left well alone.

[mart]

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1317728980' post='1393709']
I thought that Mart but my research (questions to Warwick and physically examing the pups) showed that the cheapest Rockbasses don't have the same pups as found in the German basses. There is some x-over with the earlier Corvette basses and the NT German basses but not the recent Rockbass. It's so vague as to what is available in which bass that I left well alone.
[/quote]
Curious. From a quick examination the pups on my 08 RB seemed identical to those on my 08 Thumb (and '94 Stage 2) - the part numbers were the same IIRC. But I'll have a closer look and see if I can spot any differences.

[mart]

Ok, I couldn't be bothered to un-solder the pups from my thumb, so I could only do a superficial comparison - no resistance measurements or any under-the-bonnet stuff like that. But superficially, here are the results: First the active MEC J neck pickup from my 2008 RB:


And now the active MEC J neck pickup from my 2008 thumb:



The only difference I see is the string of numbers along the bottom of the stickers. This could be some part number (in addition to the 60201-S which is the Warwick code for a short (i.e. neck) active J pup), but actually my instinct is that it's a manufacturing date.

What sort of detail differences did you see in the P pickups warwickhunt? And what sort of era RB was it?

[LukeFRC]

do you think anyone actually ever buys aftermarket MEC stuff? like however much you like them you pretty much could buy anything you wanted for the price.

For instance- if someone stole just the MEC pups and pre out of my '91 streamer then it would cost...

P = £154
J = £137
pre 2 band= £289
which is £580 in total. More than I paid for the bass- so if you are lucky you can get a secondhand vintage warwick for less than the pickups!

compare that too....
Nordstrand NPJ4SV at £210 for a PJ set and £140 for a nerdy 2band pre(bass direct)

a U retro prewith gold knobs would be £215
or a Seymore Duncan PJ set for just over £100...
or an EMG PJ set for about £135

and so on.... it just seems that maybe the business model doesn't try to sell the pickups aftermarket at all, but feels it has to offer them.

personally offers above £500 and you can have my pups and pre!

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1317763452' post='1394420']
do you think anyone actually ever buys aftermarket MEC stuff? like however much you like them you pretty much could buy anything you wanted for the price.

For instance- if someone stole just the MEC pups and pre out of my '91 streamer then it would cost...

P = £154
J = £137
pre 2 band= £289
which is £580 in total. More than I paid for the bass- so if you are lucky you can get a secondhand vintage warwick for less than the pickups!
[/quote]

I'm in this situation!
Last I looked, The TwinJazz pick-up was about £205. My Fortress MasterMan 5 also has 2x2-band eqs in it, which is £478 (!)
So a mere £683-worth of electrics in a bass which cost me a shade over 500 notes.
MEC must have the best balannce sheet in the industry!

[mart]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1317763452' post='1394420']
.... it just seems that maybe the business model doesn't try to sell the pickups aftermarket at all, but feels it has to offer them.
...[/quote]
This. Clearly Warwick keep MEC in business, so they don't need to sell anything to anyone else. (And the same is true for their pots, circuit boards, etc).

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1317757849' post='1394311']
What sort of detail differences did you see in the P pickups warwickhunt? And what sort of era RB was it?
[/quote]
IIRC the P pup was from another BCer (I'd already bought one MEC P out of a Streamer NT from a BCer) and when I asked for descriptions codes etc it apparently wasn't even active (could it have been a Dynamic Correction... do they even do a DC in P config) so I didn't even pursue the purchase. I did ask on the Warwick forum and I posed the same question about values of pups in cheap basses and I was informed that they weren't the same... how could they be as that would make a traversty of the relative values of instruments!

[mart]

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1317812614' post='1394781']
IIRC the P pup was from another BCer (I'd already bought one MEC P out of a Streamer NT from a BCer) and when I asked for descriptions codes etc it apparently wasn't even active (could it have been a Dynamic Correction... do they even do a DC in P config) so I didn't even pursue the purchase. I did ask on the Warwick forum and I posed the same question about values of pups in cheap basses and I was informed that they weren't the same... how could they be as that would make a traversty of the relative values of instruments!
[/quote]
Ok, it could have been a DC. I remember Florin on the Warwick forum saying categorically that MEC do not do a passive (DC) P pickup. Then I showed him the photos from my old Fortress that had passive P/J pickups! Seemingly MEC don't sell DC P pups now, but they certainly have made them in the past. In fact I have put one in my Squier CV P, and very happy I am with it.

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1317815640' post='1394832']
Ok, it could have been a DC. I remember Florin on the Warwick forum saying categorically that MEC do not do a passive (DC) P pickup. Then I showed him the photos from my old Fortress that had passive P/J pickups! Seemingly MEC don't sell DC P pups now, but they certainly have made them in the past. In fact I have put one in my Squier CV P, and very happy I am with it.
[/quote]


That's weird, didn't all the Fortress One 4s come with a P/J and either passive or 2band circuitry? He should know that!

[Darkstrike]

I always thought that MEC was owned by Warwick, or that they were in house electronics, planned on picking up a pair of MM pickups and a pre, to make a Cort of mine into a pseudo $$, until I saw the price.

Some of the pots they make are really rare though, stacked push/pulls, push/pull blends, stacked volume/blends with push/pulls, stuff I've never seen anyplace else.

IIRC, my Glockenklang preamp has some MEC parts, too. Which would explain why Glock pre's and Warwick control knobs are supposedly(hopefully as I'm waiting for some in the post) a perfect match.

Just checked their site now, and this was at the bottom,
[quote name='mec-pickups.de']Copyright 2008 Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG. All rights reserved. [url="http://www.warwick-distribution.de/"]http://www.warwick-distribution.de[/url][/quote]

[mart]

[quote name='lemmywinks' timestamp='1317816135' post='1394843']


That's weird, didn't all the Fortress One 4s come with a P/J and either passive or 2band circuitry? He should know that!
[/quote]
I don't know, I only had the one! But the RB Fortresses seem to have active pups and, according to the Warwick site, Fortresses came with either passive or active pups. But that site isn't 100% reliable, especially on discontinued basses.

[quote name='Darkstrike' timestamp='1317821151' post='1394948']
I always thought that MEC was owned by Warwick, or that they were in house electronics, planned on picking up a pair of MM pickups and a pre, to make a Cort of mine into a pseudo $$, until I saw the price.
[/quote]
Yep, that seems to be right. I thought that MEC began as part of Warwick but became a separate company. But from that line on their website it looks like they are still part of the big W.

[quote name='Darkstrike' timestamp='1317821151' post='1394948']
Some of the pots they make are really rare though, stacked push/pulls, push/pull blends, stacked volume/blends with push/pulls, stuff I've never seen anyplace else.
...[/quote]
Yep, they do some nice specialist stuff. But the prices ....

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1317842427' post='1395361']But that site isn't 100% reliable, especially on discontinued basses. [/quote]So true... and sometimes emails to Warwick HQ don't give the most reliable responses!

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1317842427' post='1395361']I thought that MEC began as part of Warwick but became a separate company.[/quote]MEC were initially separate from Warwick and then they were bought out/brought into Warwick... saved a small fortune in having to buy in pups from the likes of Bartolini, Seymour Duncan and EMG (there was also the matter of the wrangle with Spector and the licensing which may have been a contributing factor to Warwick making the MECs standard kit as opposed to the regular EMGs)

Edited October 5, 2011 by warwickhunt

[Darkstrike]

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1317842427' post='1395361']
Yep, they do some nice specialist stuff. But the prices ....
[/quote]
Indeed, bloody shame really, I can imagine tricking out basses all kinds of ways with 'em, but at them prices, you could just buy a bunch of Squiers, one for each eq setting, hahahaha!

[Ben Jamin]

The MEC hardware in my German Warwick is ace. When I got it though, someone had somehow managed to break the push/pull volume and passive/active pot. £50 for a new one.

£50! For a single potentiometer

Luckily a friend happened to have one spare, and I'm forever grateful

[xilddx]

The expensive MECs are filled with epoxy, the cheap ones in the RBs have removable covers, as far as I can tell, and certainly true of the MEC pups I've had.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1317849478' post='1395512']
The expensive MECs are filled with epoxy, the cheap ones in the RBs have removable covers, as far as I can tell, and certainly true of the MEC pups I've had.
[/quote]
epoxy made of GOLD DUST!!! woooo

explains a lot