Why bartolini?

[Brad Johnson]

Seems like I have this conversation about once a week offline.


The conventional wisdom about Bartolini has always been a headscratcher. In my reality, here's a sampling of the basses I gig with...


All Bartolini installs. Not a polite one in the bunch. If I try I can make some of them sound muddy, intentionally but the clear, full open sound is only a technique change away. No highs? LOL. Look at a Malcolm Hall Brubaker video and get back to me. And he typically keeps his treble flat and simply pulls back the mids.

IME Bartolini pickups predominantly sound like what you put them in, notwithstanding a strongly voiced onboard preamp. They are not magic. I have a lot of basses that sound great unplugged. They sound like that only louder when plugged in. They have Bartolini electronics.

IME most people dial back the volume on their bass because it seems it makes it easier for them to control. IF they want more high end they simply crank the treble up. Yes, I know that would seem like the thing to do but it usually isn't. They typically have no idea what that does to their sound and point fingers at what they think might be causing a shortcoming when the problem is actually them. How many times do people actually ask " What could "I" be doing wrong?".

It's fun to hand an "I don't care for Bartolinis" person one of my basses and see the bewilderment. They don't sound like they "heard" they would. And most of my basses have off the shelf Bartolinis, not custom wound. I know people want to believe there's something special but there ain't.

Bartolinis let a good to great bass sound like it sounds... like a great mic handed to a competent vocalist. They'll help amplify a dead instrument but they aren't magic... though in the right bass in the right hands they can sound that way.


Maybe they simply sound better? Because in actuality they don't have a sound!


Nah.

[mjac28]

I have some Barts in one of my Jazzes and every time I think about changing them I tell myself why? these sound great and they are noiseless.

[pica]

Your higher end Ibanez basses use Bart's and they sound f****n awesome. Wouldn't want it any other way.

[kucor]

Yesterday I installed Basrts in my Ibanez BTB, after Nordy Dual coils (2x) which were, big splits which were nice, and a set of custom ordered pickups, I finally have sound I want (at least in mids and lows) B string is P-E-R-F-E-C-T!. they lack in highs a bit indeed, but that's partially on Ibanez cheap "wood"

anyway, great pickups, but I'm gonna go with Delanos as they should sound as improved Barts

[Belka]

Originally Posted by Brad Johnson

Seems like I have this conversation about once a week offline.


The conventional wisdom about Bartolini has always been a headscratcher. In my reality, here's a sampling of the basses I gig with...


All Bartolini installs. Not a polite one in the bunch. If I try I can make some of them sound muddy, intentionally but the clear, full open sound is only a technique change away. No highs? LOL. Look at a Malcolm Hall Brubaker video and get back to me. And he typically keeps his treble flat and simply pulls back the mids.

IME Bartolini pickups predominantly sound like what you put them in, notwithstanding a strongly voiced onboard preamp. They are not magic. I have a lot of basses that sound great unplugged. They sound like that only louder when plugged in. They have Bartolini electronics.

IME most people dial back the volume on their bass because it seems it makes it easier for them to control. IF they want more high end they simply crank the treble up. Yes, I know that would seem like the thing to do but it usually isn't. They typically have no idea what that does to their sound and point fingers at what they think might be causing a shortcoming when the problem is actually them. How many times do people actually ask " What could "I" be doing wrong?".

It's fun to hand an "I don't care for Bartolinis" person one of my basses and see the bewilderment. They don't sound like they "heard" they would. And most of my basses have off the shelf Bartolinis, not custom wound. I know people want to believe there's something special but there ain't.

Bartolinis let a good to great bass sound like it sounds... like a great mic handed to a competent vocalist. They'll help amplify a dead instrument but they aren't magic... though in the right bass in the right hands they can sound that way.


Maybe they simply sound better? Because in actuality they don't have a sound!


Nah.

Agree 100% I never touch the treble control on either of my Bart equipped basses.

Regarding what you said about the volume vs. treble control issue; I find this to be true for the bass end of the spectrum as well.

Of course some may disagree with this but tonight I was playing my Bart equipped 6 string with a walnut body, ebony board and Purpleheart top (and yes it does weigh a ton) dense, heavy woods all. I just noticed that the tone also sounded dense and heavy; 'hard' for want of a better word. I've played a similar bass but with a rosewood board and mahogany body and it sounded softer, more polite.

I think one reason builders like them is that they let the sound of the wood shine through. People will disagree with me here but I've found this to be the case.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by rimbaud

they use their own proprietary connectors system, not reliable for luthiers:if you want EMG pups, you MUST use EMG preamp....

That's not true at all. You can use any preamp, and the connectors are very reliable. I used EMGs in my SGD basses for about 15 years. I also used to use the same connectors on my pickups, and still offer that as an option.

Regarding Barts. They make a lot of different models. Some are fat and dark sounding, and some are as bright and aggressive as anything else out there. I used to use the Hi-A pickups in the 70s and 80s, and the new Classic Bass series sound like those.

[maturanesa]

i think its because barts run really dead quiet, and i assume every high end builder want an instrument that not produce any noise...

[wmheilma]

I have Barts from about 1989-90 on two of my basses that sound great! My fretless has EMG's from about 1995. The barts are very responsive to how I play. EMG seem to have a more characteristic sound which is always there no matter how I strike the notes. Some folks say you really need to go passive to get the most out of what your fingers are doing, but I get a hell of a lot of tones out of the old barts. (I leave my Treble and Bass knobs pretty flat most of the time.) I also have a Modulus with newer barts on it from 2000 or so. They sound great too, but do not have quite the same character as the old narrower hum-buckers Dale Bluebond used on my instruments way back when.