Bartolini or Aguilar preamp

[Riley R]

I am interested in upgrading my Streamer STD, I have already determined that I am going to put Bartolini pickups in it, but which preamp would be better. It is the three nob type and I definitily want a three band EQ, I play mostly rock and funk style music. I also like the fact that the Bartolini's has a mid selection push pull knob. Any opinions or help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[LoveThatBass]

Originally Posted by Riley R

I am interested in upgrading my Streamer STD, I have already determined that I am going to put Bartolini pickups in it, but which preamp would be better. It is the three nob type and I definitily want a three band EQ, I play mostly rock and funk style music. I also like the fact that the Bartolini's has a mid selection push pull knob. Any opinions or help would be appreciated.

Thanks

I checked into this about a year ago and determined the Bartolini would be better.
Then I found the J-Retro and thought it was the best choice but by far the most expensive.
For the money I say the Bart

[timmbass]

This is a personal preference issue, not a "better" issue.

Both are high end preamps that can be ordered in several different knob and switch and voltage wiring arrangements.

The bartolini pickups and the bartolini preamp both effect the natural sound of the bass. Their design is such that the "bartolini sound" of the pickups or the preamp is introduced into the resultant sound. Some like this. I do.

A more natural sound of the bass would be the result of using...say...a Norstrand or Delano pickup...and then say a Demeter or an Audere preamp. These are some of the top pickups and preamps out there right now.

Many who like the bartolini pickup sound, but do not want a full on bartolini pickup bartolini preamp sound go with bartolini pickups and Aguilar preamps. These people feel like the bartolini pickup sound combined with the bartolini preamp sound is a little too effected. I like the bart/aggie sound very much, and it is a cheaper way to go than Norstrand, Delano, Demeter, or Audere.

I know both the bart and the aggie can be wired passive/active, I do not think the Demeter or Audere can be. I think they have active tone controls. That is a deal breaker for some.

[Riley R]

That is a good piont, right now I think I am going to go with the Bart preamp, especially for the Streamer STD, I just aquired a 6 string corvette from ebay which I am wanting to upgrade the pre as well. Right now my main bass is a Streamer stage 2 with EMG pups and an aguilar odb-1 pre, which I love the sound, it doesn;t seemed to effected as far as I know but still I would like to have a mid control, so if the Bart pre sounds good in the other two basses I think I might swap the aguilar out for the bart. Only time will tell.

One more thing ferndog has brought something up very interesting, the pots shipped with the bart pre are standard sized pots, and warwicks have mini size pots. where can I get mini size pots or can the be placed with the bart pre's on the initial order.

[WarwickE36]

I put seymour duncan pro-active pickups and the STC-3 Eq in my Warwick and ran into a couple annoying things... First was that the Jack they send you wont fit a Warwick, so i re-used the Warwick jack. Second was the issue you are having. What I did was drill out the bass very carefully to fir the new pots. Its sketchy taking a drill to your loved one but its not a big deal. granted you cant go back to stock by who cares you're going to love the new sound and never want to go back. Just measure the pot size and get a drill bit accordingly. Have fun and don't chip that wood!