visog Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Hi, Thinking of changing the pick-ups in an old Warwick Streamer bass, bought from Warwickhunt. I was considering replacing the original EMGs with new Barts in the same PJ config. Perhaps adding a pre-amp? What do we think? Good or bad move? Will it trash the value? Will it have minimal effect? Thoughts and opinions please. Visog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 (edited) I'm sure Warwick will be along to give his opininion on this matter in good time , but I seem to remember that he is of a similar to myself in that , contrary to what some may say , swapping one perfectly good set of pickups for another set of similar pickups of another brand more often than not makes minimal difference to the overall sound of the bass and isn't neccesarilly the most fruitful upgrade . If you have a decent bass with poor pickups on it then an upgrade can work wonders , but if you have a good bass with top quality pickups ( you do ) then changing them for another brand of similar pickups might make a slight difference to the overall complexion of the sound , but in most cases it won't radically transform it unless the new pickups are something really extraordinary . I would keep the bass stock with EMG's- they are great pickups in their own right . Hasn't the Streamer got a preamp in it already ? If so , why replace it ? Edited July 6, 2013 by Dingus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 My streamer lx6 has Seymour Duncans in it as standard. MEC didn't make pickups big enough in 1997! Having 2 MEC equipped Warwicks for comparison, I'd say the MEC pre hamstrings the otherwise decent Duncan's. I'm tempted to swap out the pre for a more appropriate unit- East, ACG 01, or similar. The MEC pickups work fine with MEC EQs. I think the EQ works best with either hotter passive pickups or active pickups... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I have a Warwick Streamer Stage 1 JP with MECs and a P-bass custom build with Bartolini pups. IMHO the sound of the Barts is similar to that of the MECs. [size=4]I recon you'd be throwing your money away if you changed those in the Wawick. [/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 [quote name='visog' timestamp='1373134393' post='2134083'] Hi, Thinking of changing the pick-ups in an old Warwick Streamer bass, bought from Warwickhunt. I was considering replacing the original EMGs with new Barts in the same PJ config. Perhaps adding a pre-amp? What do we think? Good or bad move? Will it trash the value? Will it have minimal effect? Thoughts and opinions please. Visog [/quote] Why do you feel the need to change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visog Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 It's one of the old ones with a 2-band... Not sure if it has a pre-amp? https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rYM2-SyJz-A/UdkygnvnTSI/AAAAAAAAABI/zz6TAJJbwic/h120/Streamer.JPG I felt the need to change as it needs a bit of clean-up and I always like the sound of Bart-equipped basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 The 2 band you are referring to is a preamp If the pickups are in bad condition or need replacing then barts are a good choice, did you want to replace the preamp as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visog Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 The pick-up covers are worn but the sound is clear and burpy. Perhaps I'll just get her cleaned and properly set-up then decide. Just wondered if there was any particular synergy with a Warwick and Barts that made it a good option. What I'm hearing is that the difference will be minimal and I'm just gassing... It's a lovely bass that sadly I don't play much on account of the Spitfire hogging the limelight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 [quote name='visog' timestamp='1373215332' post='2134813'] The pick-up covers are worn but the sound is clear and burpy. Perhaps I'll just get her cleaned and properly set-up then decide. Just wondered if there was any particular synergy with a Warwick and Barts that made it a good option. What I'm hearing is that the difference will be minimal and I'm just gassing... It's a lovely bass that sadly I don't play much on account of the Spitfire hogging the limelight. [/quote] Warwick and EMG had a natural synergy too , back in the day . If I remember correctly ( I could have got this a little confused in the last 25 years or so , , but I am pretty sure this is what happened ) , when Warwick had their first flush of success and international exposure after the release of the Streamer and Thumb in the mid - 1980's , Spector , quite understandably , started to seek some kind of redress for what they saw as infringement of their copyright . While they sought legal redress , Spector in the meantime put pressure on EMG ,who exclusively supplied the pickups for their basses , to stop supplying pickups to Warwick wholesale , thus lessening their similarity to Spector basses and competitiveness in the marketplace . As a result , Warwick started to look more to other pickup suppliers such as Bartolini and Seymour Duncan whlie they set up MEC ( even has two of the same letters as EMG ) to make their own pickups . The move away from EMG was never about the sound of EMG's but more about company politics . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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