Advice re pickups for Aguilar OBP-3 in Westone Thunder

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

Niche question here. 

 

I have a Westone Thunder 1A, which needed a new preamp; the old one tried to commit arson. My guitar guy recommended an Aguilar OBP-3, which he fitted. 

 

The main issue is that the bass now sounds so trebly on the upper two stings that it is almost unusable. It's harsh and nasal no matter what I do.   

I think the issue is the pickups; there's no scope for height adjustment on the stock P Pickups either. 

To be fair, the issue sounds similar passive mode. 

 

I'm looking at a pickup replacement at this point, I assume. 

Any advice on reasonably priced replacement (P style)?

 

I have an old EMG set hanging around, as well as an old passive Doomster P pickup.  I'll likely have my luthier fit it; the obp3 electronic are terrifying. 

 

Cheers 

Edited February 15 by ProjeKtWEREWOLF

[Dan Dare]

Is the Aguilar pre' wired/connected correctly? If so, sounds as if there could be a mis-match between it and the pickups.

 

As the issue is the same in passive mode, you are likely correct that you need a pickup that will play nicely with it. The obvious choice is Aguilar, which ought to work with your pre'. I'd take your tech's advice. No point in buying/trying stuff on spec'. You could easily end up spending more than it will cost to get the right one in the first place.

 

The only way to find out whether the ones you already have will work is to try them.

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

So far I've got these ideas in addition to my old pickups. 

 

-EMG Geezer Butler.  Reviews say it's very high mids heavy. 

 

- DiMarzio DP122 .  

 

I'd rather not spend more money on it though. 

Edited February 15 by ProjeKtWEREWOLF

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

4 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

Is the Aguilar pre' wired/connected correctly? If so, sounds as if there could be a mis-match between it and the pickups.

 

As the issue is the same in passive mode, you are likely correct that you need a pickup that will play nicely with it. The obvious choice is Aguilar, which ought to work with your pre'. I'd take your tech's advice. No point in buying/trying stuff on spec'. You could easily end up spending more than it will cost to get the right one in the first place.

 

The only way to find out whether the ones you already have will work is to try them.

The same tech that fitted it is on holiday for another month or so.

I'm thinking about asking him to check it's all wired right. Quite frankly it sounds horrible. 

Edited February 15 by ProjeKtWEREWOLF

[tauzero]

My experience with the OBP-3 is that it's very sensitive to knob twiddling but with the controls set central you should get a sound pretty much indistinguishable from passive - which sounds like what's happening. Just makes me wonder whether there could have been any damage done to the pickup windings by the original suicide by self-immolation.

 

Diagnosis of that depends on what you're willing to do and what equipment you have. If you have a multimeter and can disconnect the pickups, you could check that the resistance of the two pickups is the same.