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Bartolini MK1 Pickups and EQ...anygood?

#61
David Wilson said:
I think the pickups are perfectly good, but the preamp is just ok.
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I agree. The pre amp is nothing special. The pups without the pre amp sound better in my opinion. My only bitch with the pups is the magnetic range is not so hot. Meaning if you make all the strings the same height over the arc of the fretboard the two center strings have a lower volume than the outer two. And as far as I know the pups are sealed so there is no way of bringing the poll pieces up a bit to balance the output from string to string. Too bad. Other wise the tone is cool. Kind of high end crispiness.

I may rip it all out and start from scratch. Haven't played them enough quite yet on my new Lakland. Still tweaking.
 
#65
I bought Lakland 44-01 , it had a problem with the botton E louder than the rest of the strings . Changed strings , brand of strings , height of pickup etc , even turned the pickup around in the cavity , same result ."Louder bottom E , and quite a "thin" sound ( both pickups )"
Decided to change pickups to Nordstrand neo 5 ...............................what a difference !
Full , rich sound , higher output , balanced across strings , and facility to coil tap at later date .
Works well with the Bart MK1 pre amp.
I understand that these Mk1 Pickups , and Mk1 pre amp are made in Korea .
Will change the pre amp at a later date .
Pete
 
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#66
SGD Lutherie said:
One odd thing about Barts in Ibanez basses, is Ibanez wanted a deep sounding neck pickup, and a brighter sounding bridge pickup. Usually Bart does it the other way around for a more balanced tone.

I have an SR4000E Prestige bass here that I did some fretwork on, and it has the USA Barts. I took a look at them and they have the neck (B) pickup installed at the bridge, and vice versa!

So if the bridge pickup is too "clanky" and you want a thicker tone from it, swap the two pickups.
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I m sure theyve done that on my new SR605! It sounds like trash. I dont even want to play it. I just play my Gio - it sounds BETTER.
 
#67
Welcome back old thread...

I've come full circle on the MK1 setup. It is a little harsh but I've learned to work with it in my light rock setting. I currently run 3 stock 44-01's. 2 fretted, 1 fretless, though that one is on the block... I like the MK1 setup with Chrome flats, as is. Neck pickup on that throws a vey PBass like vibe. It has a kind of J Bass on steroids native thing going that works for me.

Not as crazy about it with rounds though. I've been running DR's on one of them. Going to restring with a beefier round today (TI Super Alloys). I might play with the pre and pickups in that. One over the winter and see if there is something I like better.

For me, I will be looking for something less harsh, hum cancelling, sweepable or switchable mids but just for the one bass. The chrome equipped bass is fine as is.
 
#68
[email protected] said:
I bought Lakland 44-01 , it had a problem with the botton E louder than the rest of the strings . Changed strings , brand of strings , height of pickup etc , even turned the pickup around in the cavity , same result ."Louder bottom E , and quite a "thin" sound ( both pickups )"
Decided to change pickups to Nordstrand neo 5 ...............................what a difference !
Full , rich sound , higher output , balanced across strings , and facility to coil tap at later date .
Works well with the Bart MK1 pre amp.
I understand that these Mk1 Pickups , and Mk1 pre amp are made in Korea .
Will change the pre amp at a later date .
Pete
Click to expand...
I put Ibby DX5 pups (which are never rated very highly) , in my SR605 along with the Ibby preamp - it sounds 10 x better! Warm, smooth, balanced sound across the strings. I lost the 3 way eq, and in fact have no eq at all now - DX5 pre just has vol, blend and what sounds like a variable active pot. It could also be a bass booster coz thats what it seems to do and also raises the vol a bit. Its great for recording with as it adds a lot of warmth to the sound.
 
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#69
I recently traded a G&L L2000 Tribute for an Ibanez SR600, which is why I'm reading this thread. I really like the bass - especially the weight and neck - but it lacks punch. From what I'm reading here I will probably replace the preamp with an Audere classic 3 band and see how the pickups are then.
 
#70
fourstringbliss said:
I recently traded a G&L L2000 Tribute for an Ibanez SR600, which is why I'm reading this thread. I really like the bass - especially the weight and neck - but it lacks punch. From what I'm reading here I will probably replace the preamp with an Audere classic 3 band and see how the pickups are then.
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Pls let me know what it sounds like coz i think it'll make a huge difference.
 
#71
Ianhin said:
Pls let me know what it sounds like coz i think it'll make a huge difference.
Click to expand...
Will do. It won't be for a while, though. My plan at this point is to replace the preamp with the Audere and eventually replace the pickups with Nordstrand Dual Blade Neo's.

The SR600 sounds good as is, especially with flatwounds (which tames the harshness of the electronics), but my Peavey Millennium USA 4-string sounds better, and will be the one I choose to play out until I make some changes.

It's way too nice of a bass to sell or trade away, though. With some electronics changes it'll be spectacular!
 
#72
fourstringbliss said:
Will do. It won't be for a while, though. My plan at this point is to replace the preamp with the Audere and eventually replace the pickups with Nordstrand Dual Blade Neo's.

The SR600 sounds good as is, especially with flatwounds (which tames the harshness of the electronics), but my Peavey Millennium USA 4-string sounds better, and will be the one I choose to play out until I make some changes.

It's way too nice of a bass to sell or trade away, though. With some electronics changes it'll be spectacular!
Click to expand...
I'm thinking of going Dimarzio Jazz Ultra s and a better 3 or 2 way preamp in my Cort B5. Prob Aguiar (spelling?) I dont understand why Ibanez and Cort make pretty decent basses and then put that trashy Bart Mk1 system in there?? Why not give us the option of being able to choose between the same bass with decent electronics and one with cheaper electronics - that would be an ideal scenario. I think i should apply for a marketing position at Cort and Ibanez.
 
#73
Ianhin said:
I'm thinking of going Dimarzio Jazz Ultra s and a better 3 or 2 way preamp in my Cort B5. Prob Aguiar (spelling?) I dont understand why Ibanez and Cort make pretty decent basses and then put that trashy Bart Mk1 system in there?? Why not give us the option of being able to choose between the same bass with decent electronics and one with cheaper electronics - that would be an ideal scenario. I think i should apply for a marketing position at Cort and Ibanez.
Click to expand...
The pickups are actually pretty decent, but apparently the preamp isn't so great. Honestly, the electronics in my SR600 are fine and sound pretty good - just not as good as my other bass. If you don't like the sound of the system you should try a set of Sadowsky flatwounds or Ernie Ball Cobalt flats.

The thing that bothers me is the inherent laziness in only making one size of MK1 pickup. They are roughly Bartolini P2 sized - which is a 5-string pup. Why couldn't they make a Bart BC sized MK1 for 4-string basses? A 5-string pup looks a bit silly in a 4-string bass.
 
#76
fourstringbliss said:
The pickups are actually pretty decent, but apparently the preamp isn't so great. Honestly, the electronics in my SR600 are fine and sound pretty good - just not as good as my other bass. If you don't like the sound of the system you should try a set of Sadowsky flatwounds or Ernie Ball Cobalt flats.

The thing that bothers me is the inherent laziness in only making one size of MK1 pickup. They are roughly Bartolini P2 sized - which is a 5-string pup. Why couldn't they make a Bart BC sized MK1 for 4-string basses? A 5-string pup looks a bit silly in a 4-string bass.
Click to expand...
On my Cort B5 the B and E string are way louder than the other 3. Ive found quite a few complaints on uneven string volumes with the Mk1 pups on TB. Cort S.A. r actually sourcing me another bass , thank goodness as its still under guarantee. But if that one s pups are good enough I'll def swop the preamp for an aftermarket one. These Bart mk1 setups seem to vary - on my SR605 it sounded terrible - even my cheap Gio sounded better - really. But my B5 which has a much thicker heavier body, didnt sound bad! But didnt have the warmth that my Gio s got which is stock, but a usable sound. People seem to have diff experiences with the mk1 system. Some just replace the pre and love the sound, others keep it stock and others swop out the whole thing. As i said b4, my SR now has Ibanez DX5 pups and pre and it sounds stunning, rich warm sound. I have a set of GHS flats kindly GIVEN to me by GHS to try out. So I'll see how those do!
 
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