I know this is a question that involves mostly opinions, experience, and perspective, but if you were to come up with a 'pecking order' for pickups, where would Bartolinis fall?
Jack
Jack
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Bartolini Pickups
- Thread starter jackajesusfreak
- Start date
Bartolini's are great, but depending on the style there may be better alternatives. I have a set of 9J1 jazz p'ups and they are fantastic. A remarkable improvement over the stock MEC p'ups.
What style p'ups are you looking at, jazz, P, MM, soapbar?
What style p'ups are you looking at, jazz, P, MM, soapbar?
I love to use a piezo bridge...past that Joe Barden, then Seymore Duncan "Musicman" style.Bartolini's are good for many things but if they didn't come with the bass, I wouldn't bother installing them. If they came on the bass I wouldn't take them out either. It shows a company cares. I quit fooling with active systems a while back, and have been pleased I did.
- Aug 21, 2008
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Bartolinis are passive pickups.
On the other hand piezo bridges need a preamp.
To the OP; Bartolini was one of the first replacement pickup makers, they were called Hi-A back then. They were known for getting a very clear tone similar to an acoustic instrument. Later they made their pickups very warm and some would say dark sounding, but they have two series of pickups now, and the Classic bass series is based on their earlier Hi-A models and are plenty bright. I bought my first Hi-A pickup in 1976.
In my experience, the Bartolini "classic bass" series of pickups is a great starting point for anyone looking to replace the pickups in a bass, with some caveats and reservations:
If you're okay with having a pronounced resonant peak in the upper midrange, followed by a gentle roll-off in treble frequencies, then these pickups are for you. This is especially true for the bridge pickup - it's kind of a "signature" that's present in every "classic bass" pickup that I've tried (so far). If you're looking for an authentic "vintage" tone, then they probably aren't what you need. But for what they are, they sound quite nice and are quite versatile.
If you're okay with having a pronounced resonant peak in the upper midrange, followed by a gentle roll-off in treble frequencies, then these pickups are for you. This is especially true for the bridge pickup - it's kind of a "signature" that's present in every "classic bass" pickup that I've tried (so far). If you're looking for an authentic "vintage" tone, then they probably aren't what you need. But for what they are, they sound quite nice and are quite versatile.
I am referring to bass guitars that already come with the Barts, like most all the higher end Ibanez. How do they compare with EMGs, VFLs, etc?
Thanks,
Jack
Thanks,
Jack
- Aug 21, 2008
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They have their own tone. Warmer sounding than EMGs.
I did a side by side test of an Ibanez SR-5000 with US made Barts, and then some of my pickups. The onboard preamp was set flat, and the bass was recorded direct into a Roland digital mixer. Nothing was changed between tests.
The Barts are first, so you will get an idea what they sound like.
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Bartolinis are my favorite pickups. I had a 70s jazz bass with original HI-A pickups that was awesome and all of my custom basses are equipped with barts classic series bass pickups. I enjoy their warm round tone over emgs and others. No noise to speak off, pickups are strong and provide a good amount of gain, and last but not least I like the no exposed pole look.
I like dimarzios too, but they are a bit brighter sounding but good none the less. my second choice for replacement pickups or for something to drop in a custom.
I like dimarzios too, but they are a bit brighter sounding but good none the less. my second choice for replacement pickups or for something to drop in a custom.
I have been really considering buying the SR-5000. I have never really had experience with bart's as much. I listened to your demo, but was wondering if the bart customs could get more growl? I want to have a bass that can cover jazz to death metal. Probably more emphasis on metal.
Yours sound better to me. The barts are a bit weak sounding in comparrison esp for lower bass. Thats been my general regard for barts, weak sounding. Id place them at around 4th down on a list of liked pups. BC Rich bdsm pups along with Dimarzio and EMG's being my top 3 liked pups. SGD, villex, and delano as a good safe bet for others Id like in a bass. So thatd make barts further down on list. But did list based on pups Ive owned instead of just heard.
For me, Bartolini's are at the top of the heap as far as pickups go. I'm a little more open on about preamps though I have Bart pre's in all my current basses. They have plenty of models to fit just about any bass both physically and tonally.
M.V. Pedulla has made some VERY nice sounding basses using Bartolinis. In the 18 years since I bought my Thunderbass I haven;t had a desire to change them... but then again, that's colored by the music genre's I like etc. so, as you stated, A-LOT of subjectivity comes into play here.
~ Todd
~ Todd
If I was ranking them, Bartolini would be #2, losing out only to Alembic. Following them I'd put, roughly, Seymour Duncan, Joe Barden, Dimarzio, then all the others in a huge muddled heap. I have heard exactly 3 basses (not bass models - individual, unique instruments) sound good with EMGs, but those 3 sounded great. MECs rank somewhere below Duncan Designed, EMG select, and the like. I've actually installed EMG Select pickups on purpose, whereas MECs exist solely to fill in the pickup routing on the bass. IMO.
No experience with some of the other brands talked about here, so can't comment.
No experience with some of the other brands talked about here, so can't comment.
I recently replaced my Barts with SGD Neos...wanted more growl and 'in your face'....SGD Pickups deliver the goods!
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That's not a bad pickup to lose to. Back when I had Hi-A pickups and a Hi-A TC1 preamp in my Ric, I called it my "baby Alembic", because that's what it sounded like. I always have that Alembic tone n the back of my mind, and my original low Z pickups were my version of that tone:
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In a Lakland 55-02 Bartolini pickups are both wonderful and frustrating. I call them "polite". Mind you, the tone with the Bart preamp fits anywhere and usually is adored by the people at the board, hence decent sound in house. Courtesy of that I have learned to at least respect them. I would like more attitude and quirky behavior, but that does not necessarily translate to band mix.
I'm more of a fan of a nice round punchy tone rather than up front and as such have always liked the tone of any instrument I've seen with Bartolini's and think that the set I put in a Jazz Bass Special really made an instrument I already liked into one that I'll never get rid of.
They seem to be not nearly as popular as they used to be, but evidently a lot of support for them still.
They seem to be not nearly as popular as they used to be, but evidently a lot of support for them still.
Are these the modern, warmer Barts you spoke of or the brighter 'Classic' type?
On labeling their pups "classic bass", Bartolini has confused people, at least some.
The traditional 'well known' Bart pups are the "deep" one. Warmer and rounder, some would say a little muted.
The Classic bass series is the 'more recent' or latest series, more of a 'bright' and extended freq pup, 'less' warmer/rounder sound, "closer" to a typical alnico pup.
I'm generalizing here, Bart has so many options...
M
The traditional 'well known' Bart pups are the "deep" one. Warmer and rounder, some would say a little muted.
The Classic bass series is the 'more recent' or latest series, more of a 'bright' and extended freq pup, 'less' warmer/rounder sound, "closer" to a typical alnico pup.
I'm generalizing here, Bart has so many options...
M
- Aug 21, 2008
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- Owner, SGD Music Products
Those are the bart MK1s. They would due the "original" series, with the deep bridge and bright neck, except Ibanez installs them the other way around, so the deep bridge is at the neck, and the bright neck is at the bridge.
The "classic" pickups are more modern sounding than the "original" pickups. The "classic" pickups refer to classic Bart Hi-A pickups, and not vintage bass tones.
