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bartolini huge volume gap

You say both basses have passive pickups. Does the one with SD's have active electronics? If not, then the two things that come to mind are difference in how the pickups are wound (one seems to be noticeably hotter than the other) and pickup height (may be significantly closer to the strings... higher output).

Brian
 
My Lakland 55 has an active Bart system. Even with the internal trim (active) pot maxed, the output with the volume maxed and EQ flat is about the same as my passive Warmoth PJ. Even lower with the volume pot pulled for passive mode.