bartolini huge volume gap

[funkalicious101]

one of my basses has bartolini passive jazz pickups and the other one has seymour duncan vintage jazz pickups and there is a massive volume discrepancy. my SD bass at full volume is at least twice as loud (if not more) as my Bartolini bass.

is this normal or is there something wrong?

[OriginalCrash]

You say both basses have passive pickups. Does the one with SD's have active electronics? If not, then the two things that come to mind are difference in how the pickups are wound (one seems to be noticeably hotter than the other) and pickup height (may be significantly closer to the strings... higher output).

Brian

[knarleybass]

Some of those Bartoloni pickups are made with the intention of being used with an on board preamp, they make the pickup with a lower output level that is to be amplified by the preamp. That could be the cause of your volume discrepancy between your pickups.

[funkalicious101]

they are both practically the same basses (except for the pickup difference and the bartolini is also fretless, but even open strings are much more quiet aswell)

[PhatBasstard]

My Lakland 55 has an active Bart system. Even with the internal trim (active) pot maxed, the output with the volume maxed and EQ flat is about the same as my passive Warmoth PJ. Even lower with the volume pot pulled for passive mode.

[funkalicious101]

i think i might just put my old geddy lee's pickups on it, im not to crazy about the tone anyway.