Product: Basslines SMB-5 A3
Price Paid: US $129.00
Submitted
11/01/2005
at
12:11pm
by
Michael Wilkes
Email: mike8318<at>earthlink dot net
Features
:
Pickup features: 3 coil Music Man replacement w/alnico magnet.
Impedence or other specs:
Instrument
:
Model of guitar or bass: Music Man Sterling.
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Factory
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Progressive/classic rock.
Reason for pickup change: Better tone and balance.
Sound
:
No Opinion
Perceived output level: Slighty hotter than factory.
Tone: Balanced.
Sonic evaluation: I typically use a Pearce BC-1 preamp into a Stewart 2.1 poweramp. For gigs where I only need one tone,I'll use an SWR 400S.Cabinets,SWR 2x12,6x10,or 8x10.
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Pickups was designed for the typical Music Man position. But will probably work fine at the bridge or neck position.
Overall Rating
:
10
Comments: I've been playing since 1981.I got hooked on MM basses in 2003,but I noticed that the bottom 2 strings were a little weak.I decided to swap the pickup to something with an alnico magnet,because I love the tone of the original Stingray,and wanted that tone for my Sterlings. Luckily,SD had just come out with a 3 coil version of the SMB-4A,which works with the factory preamp on the MM Sterling.It sounds bigger,clearer,and has batter balance all over the range of the bass. Going through the Pearce preamp,I can get a great fat fingerstyle tone,and switch to a really aggressive Geddy Lee,Chris Squire tone.Also,switching from series to single coil or parallel is much more noticeable to the ear.I later equipped all my MM basses with this pickup.I even has a custom 5 string built and had the 5 string version of this pickup put in it. That's how much I like it.If you like oldschool tone similar to the original MM Stingray,this is the pickup to get. Period.
