Good replacement pickup to emulate a vintage Stingray

[ead]

Hey folks

I'm doing a little project to convert one of the 'value' Stingray copies to sound a more like the pre Ernie Ball Rays.  I'm going to go for a Stinger '77 preamp but would like to know if any of you good people have any experience with either the Delano MC4 AL/V4 or Seymoud Duncan SMB-4A Dual Coil pickups.  Both claim to be a good replacement vintage style pickup.

Also interested to hear about good replacement bridges.

Thank you.

Edited March 21, 2021 by ead

[Dan Dare]

If you don't want to spend too much, have a look at Musicman Bridge (wdmusic.co.uk). Looks a solid item. I've bought several Gotohs from WD and the service has always been good.

[ead]

Having had a long chat with Mark at Bass Direct this morning I'm going to go with a Nordstrand MM4.2 pickup over the other two I mentioned above.

[TheGreek]

More good service from BD!!! 

Way to go, Mark

[mcnach]

On 23/03/2021 at 20:07, ead said:

Having had a long chat with Mark at Bass Direct this morning I'm going to go with a Nordstrand MM4.2 pickup over the other two I mentioned above.

 

Good choice. I like the Seymour Duncan SMB4A but it's not a faithful copy, it's definitely a more 'modern' take. The Nordstrand MM4.2 is as close as I ever hear a pickup get to an original MusicMan.

[ead]

The deed is done.  Battery box fitted, Nordy MM4.2 and Stinger installed.  Very pleased with the results.

[Nighttrain1127]

Do you think those pickups would be a good match for a Sterling Ray 4 HH double Humbucker setup?

[ead]

13 minutes ago, Nighttrain1127 said:

Do you think those pickups would be a good match for a Sterling Ray 4 HH double Humbucker setup?

Oooh, not sure.  Wasn't the HH configuration a later addition.  I'm no expert on the subject though just wanted something close to a '77 Stingray for a few hundred quid rather than a few thousand.

I can say that they are much warmer and a little lower in output than the ceramic versions that sound quite 'harsh' to my ears.