Bartolini mk1

[Egman]

Got a new ibanez srf705, fretless.
It has the bartolini mk1 passive and active piezo in the bridge. I still need to do a setup. But the mk1 are like , blah, tonaly flat, just seems to be missing something. Everything else about the bass is great.
Are these some lame barts, because I've never been disappointed in bartolini stuff. But it should sound better.
Any recommendations.
Thank you

 

[dwizum]

The Mk1's are essentially a licensed product made offshore with the Bartolini name stamped on them, sold to manufacturers for use in basses where cost is a factor. They're not really in line with Bartolini's main product line of aftermarket pickups and if you search on here, you'll find lots of threads where people are complaining about them and asking what to replace them with.

 

[el murdoque]

I've had a BTB686 with those. Same problem. The bass in itself was great, but the onboard preamp was a bit brutal and the pickups were a bit on the bland side.
It is as dwizum writes - the MK1 are a licensed product and not as great as the pickups that are mady by Bartolini.

The guys at Nordstrand can rig something for you if they don't have something that fits.
Not cheap, but a significant upgrade. You can shoot them an email - the customer service is great!

 

[mmbongo]

Best thing about MK1’s is that they are the same size as actual Bartolini’s so they are easy to replace.

 

[Egman]

Thanks, im new here and still trying to figure put how to successfully search, sorry, lol.
Finally found some info from here, but on google. Yep the pickup is where they cheaped out. Looks like the nordstrands are popular, going
To have to find some sound clips, whats your guys take

 

[4Mal]

I gotta say... I really like the mk1's. I've been rockin' mk-1's in Lakland 01 series for ages. MK1's are basically split P pickups in a soap bar housing. They have... 'nads. I you are looking for the smooth jazz Bartolini thing, look elsewhere. If you can't dial these in for funk, blues, rock and roll... there is some other issue...

 

[iiipopes]

I had an Ibby bass with the OEM MK1's: muddy. I replaced them with USA Bart MK1 shape CBC's and EMG preamp. The bass came to life. Also, if you want to use other maker's pickups, the "standard" P2 soapbar is only about 1/16 narrower than the MK1, so if you don't mind a little gap around the pickup, then the number of choices for pickups goes up exponentially.

 

[GlennRH]

I have a pair of mk1 pickups in a really nice Cort C4+ bass. They're great.

My first impression was positive: remarkably big, tight low end plus good pairing with the 3-band Markbass preamp.

After that, I became quite surprised at how persistently the mk1s would muddy the tone of bright new strings. They seemed incapable of picking up the brightness of a new set of nickel roundwounds.

The day I discovered that mk1s are voiced with enormous lower-mids, everything changed. Now, my EQ settings (on the amp; not the onboard EQ) include cutting the lower-mids, boosting the lows, and boosting the highs (smiley-face EQ).

Having learned this, I rarely use my bass's preamp and onboard EQ. I love this bass. Its mk1 pickups in passive mode really deliver quite nicely.

 

[Egman]

I have a pair of mk1 pickups in a really nice Cort C4+ bass. They're great.
Thanks, gonna try this

My first impression was positive: remarkably big, tight low end plus good pairing with the 3-band Markbass preamp.

After that, I became quite surprised at how persistently the mk1s would muddy the tone of bright new strings. They seemed incapable of picking up the brightness of a new set of nickel roundwounds.

The day I discovered that mk1s are voiced with enormous lower-mids, everything changed. Now, my EQ settings (on the amp; not the onboard EQ) include cutting the lower-mids, boosting the lows, and boosting the highs (smiley-face EQ).

Having learned this, I rarely use my bass's preamp and onboard EQ. I love this bass. Its mk1 pickups in passive mode really deliver quite nicely.
View attachment 4568613

 

[sprag]

I replaced mk1 pickups with mk5cbc in my lakland 5501. Im happy.

 

[Standalone]

I gotta say... I really like the mk1's. I've been rockin' mk-1's in Lakland 01 series for ages. MK1's are basically split P pickups in a soap bar housing. They have... 'nads. I you are looking for the smooth jazz Bartolini thing, look elsewhere. If you can't dial these in for funk, blues, rock and roll... there is some other issue...

I agree. The conventional wisdom on these should be as you say — good for rock, blues, and funk.