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Bartolini upgrade for Ibanez MK1-save your $$

5stringsoffury

5stringsoffury

Dec 14, 2015
31
10
48
Baltimore
#1
Like anyone else who owns a 6 string Ibanez with the MK1/newer version pickups, I considered what difference upgrading the pickup/preamp would provide for the 6 string bass player.

I went with an audere classic/MK6CBC pairing hoping to open up the tonal range on this bass since I have used the audere classic in several of my basses and it is one of the clearest, non tone-coloring preamps out there.

What I thought was a simple upgrade I've done in all my basses ended up being a rabbit's hole of constant troubleshooting, back and forth with audere (great to deal with as always) and a rep at Bartolini who had zero insight or inclination to respond to more than one email.

Every voltage test/continuity check, etc. has passed. There are no ground issues, setup problems, etc. and now I have an upgraded set of pickups that simply will not produce clean tone without distortion above 75% bass on the preamp...

The MK1's and factory preamp had better overall tone on this bass-save your money and don't take a $400+ hit like I did.

If you are considering installing this upgrade for your Ibanez, you may want to reconsider.
 
#2
It's hard to read a post like this and not want to dive in to some troubleshooting, although it sounds like you've already done a lot of troubleshooting.

Audere preamps need the pickup ground separate from the main ground in the circuit - I think it's a green/white wire. If that's grounded (to cavity shielding, internally in the pickup, etc) you'll get the effect you are describing where it distorts like crazy above a certain output level, especially with bass turned up. Many (all?) other common premps aren't picky about this so it's easy to miss. Have you checked that?
 
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#5
I have a pair of MK6CBC which were used to be in the place of stock MK1 pickups of my late Cort A6 bass. The CBCs gave different and more tonality options as I had the them wired through a mini coil selector switch which allowed me to have them run as outer singles, inner singles, and both dual coils. I did take out the stock on board MK1 preamp and replaced it with Bart HR-5.2AP/918 prewired preamp. No headache or whatsoever.

I took out the MK6 pups and HR-5.2 pre, and put the MK1s all back in prior selling the bass, cause I might used them eslewhere.
 
#10
chriscrob said:
Is string spacing not an issue either? that's pretty exciting if so
Click to expand...
That would depend on the design of the P2 pickups you seek. Obviously, if you are going to use pickups with exposed pole pieces, they are best with the pole pieces aligned with the strings' path. But, those with magnet bars inside would have more flexibility to be used with different setups of string spacings.
 
#12
5stringsoffury said:
Bart does make a replacement, it's the MK6C. They are a sealed pickup/no poles and to my knowledge, they are the only ones who have the form factor for the pickup routing on the bass.
Click to expand...

Exactly, the only drop-in replacements are from Bartolini. I did email Aguilar and they responded with this:

"We do not make any custom sized pickups Our DCB-D2 pickups do not have pole pieces so it can work with a 6-string with narrow spacing. The D2 size is smaller than the dimensions you provided."

I *think* these might work in my SR506M.
 
#13
chriscrob said:
Exactly, the only drop-in replacements are from Bartolini. I did email Aguilar and they responded with this:

"We do not make any custom sized pickups Our DCB-D2 pickups do not have pole pieces so it can work with a 6-string with narrow spacing. The D2 size is smaller than the dimensions you provided."

I *think* these might work in my SR506M.
Click to expand...
Aguilar D2 size is comparable to the Bartolini P2 size I mentioned earlier. So yes, it's the size of replacements for the MK routing.

It's just the way Aguilar named their Bartolini comparable pickups. Their D4 pickups are comparable in dimension to Bart P4 pickups.
 
#15
So...I have a SR 756 that I left the stock Bartolinis in but put in an Aguilar OBP-3 into... and the tone is night and day improved. So I think the preamp in the cheaper SR basses is the culprit. As has been reported elsewhere on the interwebs, the mk1 pickups are just fine and sound great with a better onboard preamp.

However, I have had nothing but issues with the OPB-3 install due to such a huge amount of solder points and wire involved in this install (push/pull active/passive on the mid pot, + dpdt switch for mid freq), in such a tight control cavity. So I'm about to rip this out, as I've been troubleshooting off and on for a bit and now none of the tone pots (tr,mid,bass) work, and only one side of the balance pot works :-D .

I looked at the John East preamp, which is more modular and easy to install...but the price is a bit steep , and also the Audere which I have in 2 other basses and love...but am going with the ToneMonster ... the install is much much simpler.

And I do all sorts of guitar and tube amp electronics work, so by no means am I a newby. But I think if you're looking at any preamp with 15 wires coming off of the module, you're probably better off having a pro tech install it.
 
#16
Mine didn't have the Bart mk1 preamp that everyone hates so much --- it's the EQB IIIS with a 3 band boost/cut and a mid frequency switch (between 600 and 250 hz.) I haven't messed around with many active basses, so I'm not a great judge, but I'm pretty confident I'm still going to want to replace the mk1s regardless of the preamp.

But I guess I have been turning the highs all the way down a lot (100% neck pickup most of the time) so maybe a preamp that can cut MORE highs is the answer? I'm also dealing with the change from flats to rounds AND I've been using P pickups with a passive tone knob so it's kind of hard to single out the exact issue.
 
#17
I'm sorry you had a negative experience. I upgraded my Ibby to Barts, used an EMG preamp, and have had great success with clean, versatile tone with absolutely no noise.
 
#18
The true upgrade with the MK6CBC on the ibanez basses, is install the mk6 bridge pickup (more ohms) in neck position, and the neck pickup (less ohms) in the bridge, like the ibanez prestige series, to this way the mk6cbc sound killer.
 
#19
5stringsoffury said:
Like anyone else who owns a 6 string Ibanez with the MK1/newer version pickups, I considered what difference upgrading the pickup/preamp would provide for the 6 string bass player.

I went with an audere classic/MK6CBC pairing hoping to open up the tonal range on this bass since I have used the audere classic in several of my basses and it is one of the clearest, non tone-coloring preamps out there.

What I thought was a simple upgrade I've done in all my basses ended up being a rabbit's hole of constant troubleshooting, back and forth with audere (great to deal with as always) and a rep at Bartolini who had zero insight or inclination to respond to more than one email.

Every voltage test/continuity check, etc. has passed. There are no ground issues, setup problems, etc. and now I have an upgraded set of pickups that simply will not produce clean tone without distortion above 75% bass on the preamp...

The MK1's and factory preamp had better overall tone on this bass-save your money and don't take a $400+ hit like I did.

If you are considering installing this upgrade for your Ibanez, you may want to reconsider.
Click to expand...
The BH2 are genuinely awesome sounding pickups. I honestly wish they would make them available in more sizes.
 

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