Seymour Duncan Music Man Alnico SMB-4A

I was looking for a replacement pickup for my EBMM Sterling (with a ghost coil), and this was sold as a " direct replacement for 3-coil basses For post-1996 Music Man® Sterling® and StingRay® with 3-coil pickup system". This one came with only 2 coils, so it is perhaps not entirely right to call it a "direct replacement", at least not for a Stingray.

It is now wired exactly like the stock pickup I removed, and.... The 3-way switch is supposed to be series/single/parallel. But the first position is very quiet, like 50% of the sound. The last two positions are "normal", and if I am to guess they sound like series/parallel. There is no hum what so ever in any of the 3 positions. So if you can live with two positions that work this one is good.

So to the sound: It sound better than the ceramic stock pickups. Not as harsh as the ceramic pickups, but it still has a lot of that that grit to it. How to describe the sound? It is a smoother Sterling with a tad of precision sound blended in when the switch is on the back position. At least on my Sterling with rosewood fingerboard. In the middle it is "normal" Sterling sound with an alnico touch. I have a Stingray with Lane Poor pickups, and it is not up there with the Lane Poor (that I rate as the best replacement out there). But it is good, so I can live with loosing one position on that switch as the remaining two are good. I would give it a 8,5/10 and a clear improvement on the stock pickups!