Nords or Barts for slap!
 

Hi all!

I need a little help.
I'm trying to decide between these two basses!

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/ibanez-sr120...FUbKtAodNWoA6A

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/produc...ack-flat-.html

I don't have the luxury of trying them out as i live miles away (Isles of scilly) from any music stores!

I'm interested in Slap tone! What would give me the sweetest slap tone between the Bart Pickups on the 4000e or the Nords on the 1200 (Question mark)

(My question mark key is no longer working after drowning in coffee...Doh!! :) )

Sicily? so are you a coterranean o'mine... I mean... one more Italian bass guy?
 

I owned both basses/pickups, Nordstrands in both Sr1200e Premium and SrXXV Anniversary Premium (only difference bein' top wood: ovangkol on Sr1200e and padauk on SrXXV) USA Custom Bartolini on Sr4500e Prestige (and Cort Artisan Sp4)

Slap tone is way easier on Nordstrands Big Singles: both active/passive (with on/off switch) exposed polepieces on Nordstrands let them sound very close to a veritable Jazz bass

Otherwise USA Bartolini, that are way different from import Barts (mk1 on entry Soundgears and mk2 on Btbs) can offer almost everything, but are mostly darker and poundin' like few other pickups out there

I'd say go for Premium Soundgear, savin' some now and more down a resale price point of view (they're holdin' their value much more than Prestige models)

Cheers,
Wallace

Many thanks for your input. I'm now edging towards the 1200 :)

I have both and my personal vote is for US Bartolini. I have Nordie Big Splits in my Lakland and Bartolini Classic Series Single Coil Brights in my Fender Jazz. The Jazz kills the Lakland easily. I'll be ditching the Nordies for US Barts as soon as I can afford to! I've also had Nordie Split Coils in my old Lakland JO5 mated to an Audere. Sounded good but not as good as the Bartolini's!

That 4000 does not really have Bartolini pickups, it has MK1's.

I have an SR1206... All I can say is be careful. I'm about to go onto my third one thanks to shoddy workmanship.

That said, the Nords sound great. Big and aggressive. The active EQ can make them sound like almost anything.

Hmm slighlty worrying that your about to go onto your third premium bass! What was wrong with the workmanship and is this common on the Premium Basses (question mark)

Also i didn't realise that the 4000 didn't have proper USA made Barts. I can't find enough sound clips of the sr1200 ,hardly any for the salp tone.
Cheers.

Honestly, the MK-1 pickups aren't that bad. I wish I still had mine. I'd put them back in! The preamp makes a huge difference. The stock MK-1 preamp is horrible! I have US Bart pres in both my basses. Love them.

A Different Option
 

i really don't want to change directions here but...have you looked into a Warwick i see that one of those sites sell them and they are at least based on the same continent as you.

Tho its not exactly what ur lookin at the btbs come with bart mk2s and they sound great for slap. I play the 6er version and it sounds great from walkin to chords to slappin n poppin. Great pickups

My current Bass is a German made warwick streamer std. Passive(but with new strings and a sweet amp it sounds great).To say i love it is an understatement,but the frets are worn , it needs a couple of hundred spent on it really (which i will do one day).
I bought a second hand streamer stage 1 (now sold)and i honeslty didn't find it as satisfying to play as the Std.I have also owned a MM Stingray (too big and clunky for my smaller hands) so i tried the MM sterling which was very nice,but i still wasn't satisfied. The sound of all these basses are wonderfull,i'm talking about how they feel and play. As yet i havn't found anything as easy to play as my Streamer std

I have read some good things about ibanez prestige and premium Basses and i think i will like the slim neck.I need a second Bass as i gig alot and my warwick is getting old and in need of alot of tlc.

I would love a german made streamer lx but they are so hard to find and the price imo is really too high. :(

The ibanez sr4000e is as high as i would go price wise. I know for sure that spending Thousands doesn't always get you what you want :)

So , barts or Nords (question mark) lol

How "hot " are thr Nords,....i'm not a fan of noisy pickups.

I think it all depends on what "slap" tone you are looking for, but if these are the only two choices, then... everyone else's opinion here should be considered.

Nordstrand gets my vote.

Just seen this one ,new for 2013. not sure if it's too "pretty" :)

http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and...tural-Flat/P66

I'm pretty sure i'll go with a Premium with Nords,the price is nice. It's still classed as a high end Bass right (question mark) ....hmm maybe i should buy a new keyboard first lol

The Nordies are extremely hot! I had to bring the gain pot ALL the way down on my preamp!! If your preamp doesn't have a gain pot, you won't be able to run it wide open unless you bring the gain on your amp way down or else it'll be clipping.

I owned an Ibanez Sr 3005. Tired listening to quite dull sound of custom Bartolini pups I installed US made Bartolini singles, J1 model and Bartolini NTMB 3-way preamp. Everything turned inside out. Crispy, clear and punchy tone came after original deep, a little bit weird timbre. It was really close to that Hi-end bass sound. Slap was really great too, no complains.
The new basses by Ibanez are solid and Nords seem to suit very good either. Get any model you like. Pickups may be replaced anytime. ;)

I think the bigger question is what kind of slap sound are you after? A big factor in that before you even get to the pickups is the pickup placement itself. Vic Wooten's tone is different than Marcus'. Both are different than Flea's and none of them sound like anything with a dual or quad coil such as most Ken Smith's or Roscoes...

If you look at the pickup coil arrangement and placement. That plays a HUGE part in the slap tone. Next after that is type of wood. And I know I'll get push back from this, but in terms of attack the type of wood is most showcased when it comes to slap. An Ash/Maple bass always sounds different than an Alder/Rosewood or any other combo of body/neck wood. Fingerstyle it's a little harder to discern the subtle differences...

Nords here!

Here's a sample from the new 5 string Premium,i like the sound,though i wish he would give it a slap ;)



http://www.gak.co.uk/en/ibanez-sr160...ral-flat/79215

I plan on Buying either the GenzBenz Streamliner 600 or Shuttle 600 With 2x10 Focus cabs . We only play in Small Pubs and clubs.

I'm thinking the warmth from the streamliner could sound real nice with the Nords! (question mark)