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Musicman Pickup / Preamp Replacement


jmesa
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Hey all,

I'm down to just one bass now, after selling my Wal to a very happy Brummie.
It's a 3EQ Stingray.

The preamp is blown, so I'm looking to replace it. Also thinking about swapping the pickup out as it's always suffered from the 'Weak G' thing..

I'm pretty bored of the 'trademark' Stingray sound, so I'm looking for suggestions for a new pickup / preamp that may steer away from this slightly.
Aguilar springs to mind preamp-wise, but I have no clue as to MM-sized replacement pickups.

Any suggestions welcome :)

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[quote name='jonthebass' post='583434' date='Aug 28 2009, 12:17 PM']Some folks have used the Nordy p'up with An East pre-amp to great effect I believe.
Never heard it myself...[/quote]

I've got the East 3 band pre-amp to my 'ray. The idea is that it replicates a 2 band ray with the mids set flat, but it adds the option of a sweepable mid boost and cut.

It does, more or less, do that. It certainly still sounds like a 'ray, although to my ears you need to boost the treble s bit to get a true Stingray sound. The sound is perhaps marginally more "refined" than a two band ray, but still with the Stingray character.

The sweepable mid boost and cut is a fantastic feature - it really adds some versatility to the core Stingray sound, but always sounding like a 'ray.

I don't think John Easts website has details as yet, but you can find the specs here:
[url="http://www.bestbassgear.com/east-musicman-preamp.htm"]http://www.bestbassgear.com/east-musicman-preamp.htm[/url]

..although I bought mine from John East direct.

FWIW I played a Stingray at the Nottingham bass bash which had a Nordstrand and the John East two band EQ (sorry, can't remember who's). We A/B it against my ray (which then had a standard MM 2 band circuit) and you would have been pushed to tell the differnce.

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[quote name='jmesa' post='583430' date='Aug 28 2009, 01:15 PM']Hey all,

I'm down to just one bass now, after selling my Wal to a very happy Brummie.
It's a 3EQ Stingray.

The preamp is blown, so I'm looking to replace it. Also thinking about swapping the pickup out as it's always suffered from the 'Weak G' thing..

I'm pretty bored of the 'trademark' Stingray sound, so I'm looking for suggestions for a new pickup / preamp that may steer away from this slightly.
Aguilar springs to mind preamp-wise, but I have no clue as to MM-sized replacement pickups.

Any suggestions welcome :)[/quote]


Hi there,
sold your WAL at last! Well, I once had a Stingray like yours and pimped it with an Aguilar OBP3 pre and a Bartolini MM Replacement PU - worked like a charm and tore every normal Stingray to pieces!

ta
Oliver

Edited by spiritchaser
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Cheers Simon, I guess a lot of the 'replacements' are designed to be just that, soundwise..

Just looking for something a bit different tonally. Wondering what a Delano sounds like with a Aguilar or something..
I'll have to speak to Mr RIM..

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[quote name='spiritchaser' post='583462' date='Aug 28 2009, 12:38 PM']Hi there,
sold your WAL at last! Well, I once had a Stingray like yours and pimped it with an Aguilar OBP3 pre and a Bartolini MM Replacement PU - worked like a charm and tore every normal Stingray to pieces!

ta
Oliver[/quote]

At last yeah :) OBP3 and a Bart sounds pretty cool actually, cheers for that :rolleyes: The Barts in my old Modulus were a little clinical sounding though, I guess the graphite didnt help either!

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[quote name='jmesa' post='583466' date='Aug 28 2009, 12:39 PM']Cheers Simon, I guess a lot of the 'replacements' are designed to be just that, soundwise..

Just looking for something a bit different tonally. Wondering what a Delano sounds like with a Aguilar or something..
I'll have to speak to Mr RIM..[/quote]

The Delano hybrid MM in my Shuker sounds great. It will do MM sounds, but is much more versatile than a standard MM pickup. Its also coil tapable and provides excellent Jazz sounds. On mine the single coil setting is passive which gives some real contrast. Might be worth a look if you're looking to move away from the Stingray tone?

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