Bartolini J pickups : usable for passive?

[osciphex]

I've read a number of threads about Bartolini's jazz pickups (the 9J1s) being pretty quiet compared to other pickups, but what does that actually mean? Do Barts somehow sound small and are thus unusable without a preamp? Or is it just a matter of turning up the gain another 10% or something to get a big sound back?

I noticed bestbassgear has a set of these wound specifically for the two short cavities on a MIM jazz, so that's why they attracted me. I was also considering dimarzio Model J's (two neck pickups..) but I've heard they're deeper than other pickups and I'm worried I'd need to pay someone extra to rout deeper pickup cavities..

[m.oreilly]

by "quiet", i assume they meant the barts were hum canceling and shielded well (they are). as for passive use, they have a "normal" output (to me). a good choice for your application.

[LoveThatBass]

Means quiet as in no perceivable noise like hum in the background.
They are very clean sounding with deep lows and smooth highs. No growl as with most jazz pickups. They are a little lower in output but only slightly as compared to stock.

[osciphex]

Originally Posted by LoveThatBass

No growl as with most jazz pickups. They are a little lower in output but only slightly as compared to stock.

Yeah it was the output issue i was wondering about; everyone here is posting that these pickups are uncommon w/o a preamp.

As for the growl thing... hmm maybe these pickups are not for me; I always thought "growl" was what I wanted, but maybe I'm mislead about what "growl" actually means. I'm looking for a big punchy burp sound with less high-mid attack stuff...