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Barts in MIM Jazz Deluxe!

Discussion in 'Pickups & Electronics [BG]' started by allan grossman, Dec 7, 2001.

  1. Dec 7, 2001 #1
    allan grossman

    allan grossman

    Sep 8, 2001
    surreal city, usa
    woohoo!

    I just finished soldering a set of Bartolini 9W4s in my MIM Jazz Deluxe 4 - fired it up and noodled around on it while adjusting pickup height.

    All I have to say is, smooth. Very smooth. I now have what may be a permanent grin (I wasn't gonna say grin but this is a family show).

    I got the Barts from Tim's Guitar Workshop. He had them on the web for $139 a set so I called him and he had a set in stock. Ordered them this week and they just came in this afternoon.

    I read the BP pickup shootout, decided on the 9W4s and called Bartolini dealers until I found a set.

    Amazing pickups - one coil per string. Not the hottest pickups I ever saw, but the tone is amazing. I think I just made the MIM Jazz a keeper :D

    allan
     
  2. Dec 7, 2001 #2
    Gabu

    Gabu

    Jan 2, 2001
    Lake Elsinore, CA
    one day I have to hear these pickups. :)
     
  3. Dec 7, 2001 #3
    allan grossman

    allan grossman

    Sep 8, 2001
    surreal city, usa
    but - on Tim's website:

    "9W4 sets back in stock 12/10/01. Pre order yours today!"

    allan
     
  4. Dec 8, 2001 #4
    reedith

    reedith

    Jan 31, 2000
    Edmonton, AB, Canada
    Hey allan, I just put a set of those in my MIM fretless jazz, and I too have to say they're really smooth. I also threw in a J-retro, but the barts alone made the bass 10 times as tasty. Especially the neck pickup for some reason. WOW!!! The smoothest sound I've ever heard.
     
  5. Dec 8, 2001 #5
    allan grossman

    allan grossman

    Sep 8, 2001
    surreal city, usa
    My MIM Deluxe already has a preamp - how did the J-Retro work out for you? The 9W4s turned a backup bass into a keeper.

    allan
     
  6. Dec 8, 2001 #6
    reedith

    reedith

    Jan 31, 2000
    Edmonton, AB, Canada
    The J-Retro turned out awesome. It's amazing what that thing did for my bass.

    Although my bass was a keeper to begin with, the p/ups and preamp made it an everyday player.

    Reed

    p.s. How did you like the stock pickups in the deluxe MIM? I had one before but traded it in on the Standard MIM I have now. For some reason, the bass just sounded dead all around, and I'm pretty sure it was the pickups/electronics.
     
  7. Dec 8, 2001 #7
    allan grossman

    allan grossman

    Sep 8, 2001
    surreal city, usa
    They weren't anything real spectacular - but they were competent.

    allan
     
  8. Dec 10, 2001 #8
    reedith

    reedith

    Jan 31, 2000
    Edmonton, AB, Canada
    Yeah, that's what I thought too. But something about the single pole piece pickups that I didn't like. I don't know if that was it, but I was always got a really generic, active Fender sound. Of course, any bass I play seems to get a really generic, active sound, and I'm starting to think it's not the basses... :D
     
  9. Dec 10, 2001 #9
    allan grossman

    allan grossman

    Sep 8, 2001
    surreal city, usa
    reedith said...

    Of course, any bass I play seems to get a really generic, active sound, and I'm starting to think it's not the basses... :D

    I hear you. When I got the Lakland last week it made me sound a lot better - but now I can't blame the instrument for less-than-optimal tone anymore. Now I have to clean up my act and start playing slightly less sloppy if I want to sound better ;)

    cheers,

    allan
     
  10. Dec 13, 2001 #10
    Mike88T

    Mike88T

    Nov 29, 2001
    Miami, Fl. "The Magic City"
    Reedith:
    Where did You get the J-Retro and whats a good price for one?
    Also are there more then One Brand of "J-retro" preamps, I thought it was the brand name(I'm new to this) but the guy at the guitar shop asked me which brand i would like to install so he can give me an estimate., now I'm confused. Of course this was the same guy who held on to my AMp for 10 days saying he was testing to see what was wrong with the amp, after 10 days he says he couldn't figure it out and they don't work on "Older amps" anyway, "Why didn't he just say that in the first place?"
     
  11. Dec 15, 2001 #11
    BoogieNight

    BoogieNight

    Jun 15, 2001
    Brazil
  12. Dec 15, 2001 #12
    reedith

    reedith

    Jan 31, 2000
    Edmonton, AB, Canada
    I got my J-retro from Bass Northwest in Seattle for $250 U.S. That's a fair amount of money especially when you convert it to Canadian $, add duty and also shipping. I also bought the Bartolinis at the same time too so it helped to offset the cost of shipping.

    Gabe was the guy I talked to there. He was the nicest guy to and just helped me get what I was looking for. He never tried to push anything on me. Some salesman should take a hint from him, and by the sounds of it especially the guy you're dealing with.

    It sounds like the guy you talk to doesn't know his face from his a$$, but then again that's not uncommon for guys in the music/retail industry. Just find out as much as you can from the threads here and also from the J-Retro website. Bass Player magazine also did a review too and I recommend finding that and checking it out. Also, give Steve Barr an e-mail. He makes the J-Retro. His address is at the website. He'll answer any questions you need.

    Oh yeah, also there's a U-Retro preamp which is the same company but made to fit in a precision bass I believe. It's called the U-Retro because of the shape of the controls on a P-bass.