Bartolini MM pickup for Lakland 55-02?

[madjazzbass]

I have a Lakeland 55-02 dlx. with the LH3 pickups and it sounds really good, but I believe it "lacks a little" in the low-mids - which is where the Bartolini Classic (dual coils) shine; BUT the MM Quad coils are the ones that came stock in the 55-02's before Lakland started using (their own) LH-3 pickups. I have a set of the 'classic dual coils' in a Warmoth build Jazz Bass and they do have a lot more "heft" in the low-mids than the Fender (gen.4) noiseless pups I had in there. I don't have any experience with the quad coils at all; Who out there has swapped out their LH3 pups for one of these Bartolini sets? What was the outcome? Did you like the change?

 

[g4string]

Bump this old thread as Im curious as well. About ready to do down this path

 

[iplay5strings]

The problem with the quads is the placement of the Lakland routes and bridge puts the center string right in the break btwn the magnets which results in a dead string.

 

[MoireBass]

Who out there has swapped out their LH3 pups for one of these Bartolini sets? What was the outcome? Did you like the change?

So you're going to take out the pickup designed for Lakland by Bill Bartolini that is sold by Lakland and replace it with the pickup designed for Lakland by Bill Bartolini that is sold by Bartolini? I'm going to go out a limb here and predict that the sonic difference will be very small.

Of course this is TB, so someone should be along momentarily to tell us how a tort pickguard or a different tone capacitor will magically open up the sound of your bass.

The problem with the quads is the placement of the Lakland routes and bridge puts the center string right in the break btwn the magnets which results in a dead string.

Actually no. Look at the above pic from the Barto site that shows one coil for the G & D strings and another for the A, E, & B strings. Bartolini sells different pickups for 4 and 5 string basses that have identical outside dimensions specifically to avoid that problem. I have the same bass as the OP and the A string is not dead.

 

[iplay5strings]

So you're going to take out the pickup designed for Lakland by Bill Bartolini that is sold by Lakland and replace it with the pickup designed for Lakland by Bill Bartolini that is sold by Bartolini? I'm going to go out a limb here and predict that the sonic difference will be very small.

Of course this is TB, so someone should be along momentarily to tell us how a tort pickguard or a different tone capacitor will magically open up the sound of your bass.



Actually no. Look at the above pic from the Barto site that shows one coil for the G & D strings and another for the A, E, & B strings. Bartolini sells different pickups for 4 and 5 string basses that have identical outside dimensions specifically to avoid that problem. I have the same bass as the OP and the A string is not dead.

Then you are lucky, I personally know people who have had to switch to a dual coil MM pickup because they had dead middle strings. Pretty well known issue.
Lakland 44-02 weird A string problem

 

[g4string]

So you're going to take out the pickup designed for Lakland by Bill Bartolini that is sold by Lakland and replace it with the pickup designed for Lakland by Bill Bartolini that is sold by Bartolini? I'm going to go out a limb here and predict that the sonic difference will be very small.

Of course this is TB, so someone should be along momentarily to tell us how a tort pickguard or a different tone capacitor will magically open up the sound of your bass.



Actually no. Look at the above pic from the Barto site that shows one coil for the G & D strings and another for the A, E, & B strings. Bartolini sells different pickups for 4 and 5 string basses that have identical outside dimensions specifically to avoid that problem. I have the same bass as the OP and the A string is not dead.

You know this as a fact Bartolini designed the lh3 system for Lakland? I was under the assumption Hanson (Lakland) designed their own system. I’m not calling you out as I’m sure Lakland didn’t have the r&d dollars to do this own their own. But it does seems odd that a company who is the business of selling pups and preamps would design a system for a customer that essentially eliminates the need for them as a vendor.