Pickup suggestions: BTB 5

[Anthbass]

I have a 5 string Ibanez BTB with the 'MK-1' Barts and they are not doing it for me. I want to move in a more aggressive direction. I have played the CB Barts in another BTB and they were very 'nice' sounding but again, I crave a less polite tone. I have EMG's in my 4 string and would like to try a different manufacturer for the 5. Any suggestions will be duly noted. Thanks.

[Anthbass]

Anyone...

[1kinal]

It's difficult to recommend an "agressive" sounding pickup in a soapbar format. Soapbars are generally not associated with agressive sound. You might want to look at seymour duncan soapbars, altough I've never tried them.

I think that for this bass EMG's would be the best choice if you want to do simple.

If you have a good luthier, you might want to try a MM pickup in the bridge position (will require woodwork/routing). I guess a Seymour Duncan or Nordstrand MM pickup combined with a bartolini soapbar in the neck position would cover agressive sound (MM) while offering the possibility to tame it by blending the soapbar bart.

[Anthbass]

I have been looking at the Duncans and on paper they seem all good. I realize that I won't get as aggresive a tone in a soap bar config but there has to be something available that beats the MK-1's.

[Tbirdbassist]

I'm sure if you shoot the guys at Seymour Duncan an email and ask them about getting custom pups done, you'll get a good answer. SD = AWESOME pickup winders.

[fourstringbliss]

The tough part of it would be finding a soapbar pickup of the same dimensions. That's why Bartolini has a specific "MK" shaped US made Bart pickup, because normal Bart soapbars won't fit. I've got a BTB555 - have you tried maxing the mids/mid frequencies and favoring the bridge pickup? What about some stainless steel strings? That should give you a more aggressive tone.