OLP Series or Parallel

[Little Dragon]

I have a OLP Musicman and was wondering whether anyone knows if the MM style (passive) pickup is wired in series, like a Sterling or in parallel like a Stingray.

[Mediocre Polymath]

How many volume controls does it have? The early-model OLP MM2 I used to play in the early 2000s had a pair of volume controls – one for each coil of the pickup – and a tone. With that arrangement they have to be in parallel, like a jazz bass. If they were in series one volume would control both coils.

 

That said, ths original wiring was a bit bizarre (just a way to get a musicman-style trio of knobs on a single pickup bass without paying for an active eq), so i wouldn't be surprised if they changed it after 2002.

[Mediocre Polymath]

Are you thinking of tinkering with it? I endlessly buggered about with mine when I was a teenager – replacing the pickup, adding another at the neck, routing out the control cavity for a preamp, etc.

 

Honestly not sure if it sounded any better after all that though, those MM2 basses have a quite punchy sound even completely stock.

[Little Dragon]

Was more curiosity , I take it to gigs as a spare put flats on but not touched the electrics.

[tommorichards]

If it's a passive model, each coil goes to a separate volume pot. Otherwise, I'd go parallel into an active preamp or series with no preamp