Bartolini BC or BD

Hi there!

One thing to know is that BC vs BD is just two different soapbar shell sizes from Bartolini. The pickup internals are very likely to be identical or nearly identical between equivalent BC and BD models.

So, your BC vs. BD choice just comes down to which routes to ask Warmoth to make, correct? In that case I'd highly recommend going for BC. There are far more options for you in the future with that route if you ever wanted to change pickups in that bass.

The two most popular route sizes for 4-string soapbars are Bart's BC and EMG's 35. (Bart sells pickups in that size with a model number of M-something-or-other)

With BC routes, you have a world of possible replacement pickups from Aguilar, Nordstrand, Bartolini, Delano and others. BDs would be harder to find.

As far as -b and -t, I believe those are the neck and bridge pickup model designations for Bartolini.

 

I'm looking at the Bartolini website, and it actually shows two different pickup shapes each for the BC and the BD. The two versions of each pickup have the same dimensions respectively, but toward the top of the page it shows holes for three mounting screws, and lower on the page there are holes for two mounting screws. Do you know anything about that? I'm confused.

 

Some Bartolini pickups will use two screws and some will use three. Either way, a BC is always the same size route in the bass. The basic answer is the number of screws needed doesn't matter. They're compatible with each other.

 

Fair point. The size of the route is the important thing. It's not that hard to drill an extra screw hole or two.

 

BC shells typically use 3 screws. EMG 35 shells use 2. The 3 screw system is much better at pointing the pickup in the direction you want it to go (If you paid attention in geometry class, you might remember that 3 points determines a plane), so....all my basses with soapbars use BC sized routes. Nordstrand (my favorite pickup supplier (plug, plug)) makes a good variety of pickups in BC shell sizes, so there's likely something that will work for you in that size, even if your first try isn't what you want.