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OLP Pickup question

This is a discussion on OLP Pickup question within the Music Man Basses forums, part of the Gear Talk category; What's the big difference btw the pickups in the OLP basses & the ones in the Stingray? I figure active ...

  1. #1
    chyde is offline Registered User Junior Member
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    OLP Pickup question

    What's the big difference btw the pickups in the OLP basses & the ones in the Stingray? I figure active electronics come into play here but what else? Is there a better passive type pickup I could use?

    I bought an OLP as I needed to start playing some bass in my band & didn't want to spend a lot of money right now. It's a great bass for the price but I'm thinking about switching to better tuning machines & considering a pickup swap. Thanks.

    Chris
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  2. #2
    dlloyd's Avatar
    dlloyd is offline Registered User Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by chyde
    What's the big difference btw the pickups in the OLP basses & the ones in the Stingray? I figure active electronics come into play here but what else? Is there a better passive type pickup I could use?

    I bought an OLP as I needed to start playing some bass in my band & didn't want to spend a lot of money right now. It's a great bass for the price but I'm thinking about switching to better tuning machines & considering a pickup swap. Thanks.

    Chris
    By the time you swap everything out, you'll probably have spent enough to buy a used SUB.

    Which is something you might want to think about for a while.
    Dave

  3. #3
    adouglas's Avatar
    adouglas is offline Registered User Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by dlloyd
    By the time you swap everything out, you'll probably have spent enough to buy a used SUB.

    Which is something you might want to think about for a while.
    +1.

    I have a friend who suffers from this same disease. He bends over backwards to save a few bucks buying something, then bends over backwards modifying it.

    Silly. Buy the best stuff to begin with and be done with it. In a year you won't remember the price difference.

    It's the mixup of "value" versus "price."

    OTOH, often even expensive stuff isn't exactly right for your tastes. The Bongo is one of the very rare exceptions to this...I have NO desire to change anything about it.
    bongoBbongoObongoNbongoGbongoObongo

    AL AL AL AL ALALALALALALA LA LA LA LA

    Desert Gold F13843 05 Bongo 5 HHp
    Blue Dawn F11199 07 LE Bongo 5 Hp fretless
    Candy Red F23343 08 Bongo 5 H
    Tangerine Pearl F28251 2011 Big Al 5 SSS

    http://www.coolshoesband.com

    BP: "I am very proud of many of the creations at ebmm but none more than the Bongo. Every day the cult grows and it makes it all worthwhile."

  4. #4
    chyde is offline Registered User Junior Member
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    Very good advice. Thanks guys.
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  5. #5
    lomky's Avatar
    lomky is offline Registered User Senior Member
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    Buy cheap, buy twice

  6. #6
    sultrabass's Avatar
    sultrabass is offline Registered User Newbie
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    I've compared the pickup from a modern Musicman to an OLP, both without preamps. The OLP has full mids and raw hot output. The Musicman has more treble with better clarity and sounds more refined. I actually like both pickups. The OLP is good for overdriven sounds. You can't go wrong with a Nordstrand pickup.
    "I firmly believe that I am the best bass player on this stage right now"

  7. #7
    adouglas's Avatar
    adouglas is offline Registered User Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by sultrabass
    I actually like both pickups. The OLP is good for overdriven sounds. You can't go wrong with a Nordstrand pickup.
    On the current Tony Levin Band album, the track "What Would Jimi Do?" was recorded using an OLP TL signature bass, possibly for that reason.

    Samples here:

    [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EOTF30/sr=8-1/qid=1150230026/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-3578619-9940826?%5Fencoding=UTF8"]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EOTF30/sr=8-1/qid=1150230026/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-3578619-9940826?%5Fencoding=UTF8[/ame]
    bongoBbongoObongoNbongoGbongoObongo

    AL AL AL AL ALALALALALALA LA LA LA LA

    Desert Gold F13843 05 Bongo 5 HHp
    Blue Dawn F11199 07 LE Bongo 5 Hp fretless
    Candy Red F23343 08 Bongo 5 H
    Tangerine Pearl F28251 2011 Big Al 5 SSS

    http://www.coolshoesband.com

    BP: "I am very proud of many of the creations at ebmm but none more than the Bongo. Every day the cult grows and it makes it all worthwhile."

  8. #8
    Mobay45's Avatar
    Mobay45 is offline Registered User Senior Member
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    But the OLP TL signature bass is active.

    I know because I have one.
    Starting to think about returning to bass playing in the very near future.

    Larry

  9. #9
    bass&cookies's Avatar
    bass&cookies is offline Registered User Junior Member
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    i know a guy on another forum that dropped an eq and a sc pup into an olp, added a pickup selector switch, and made recordings of it. it came crazily close to sounding like a real ray.

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