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Brubaker Brute Bartolini UPGRADE!!

pablomigraine

pablomigraine

Commercial User
Feb 9, 2005
3,458
611
New York
neuraldsp.com
Disclosures
Director of Commercial Sales - Neural DSP
#1
SO, even after 4 months and about a dozen gigs, I'm still amazed with my Brute. As Ive stated elsewhere, this is one of the finest imports Ive ever owned, and the ONLY import Ive ever seen with better action and "out of the box" playability than my Lakland Skylines.

Most owner's agree that the weak point of these instruments, and the only thing keeping this excellent bass from being an Exceptional bass, is the stock pickups and preamp. I was reading another thread here where someone said they felt like the Bridge pickup in their MJX-5 lacked real treble response and was shy on the B-string as well. I agree with this assessment.

So, Ive decided to upgrade the pickups and preamp. There are surprisingly few aftermarket and OEM manufacturers who offer this particular size and shape of MM pickup. After gathering info on Nordstrand, Delano and SGD, I've decided to go with Bartolini. Many people rave about the Nordstrands, but I just don't care for the aesthetics of the exposed pole peices, nor am I particularly a fan of Alnico MM pups. (I always much preferred the fingerstyle sound I got from the Ferrite pickup Sterling and Stingray-5 to that of the Alnico Stingray). I Also wanted to go for a dual coil, wired in series. Too many options on my onboard preamp leads compulsive knob-tweakers like myself to get a lil frustrated!! :p

So This morning I ordered up a Invalid Link Removedfor the Bridge, and a 59CBJD-S1for the Neck. I also ordered an Invalid Link Removed pre-wired preamp harness. I used this same preamp in a Lakland 55-01 upgrade I did a few years ago with fantastic results.

I also plan to install metal spring cushions for the pickups in place of the foam pads that come stock, and will also be installing threaded brass screw mollies for the pickup mounting screws.

Everything should arrive within the next 12 days, and I will post photos of each step as the project takes shape!

In the meantime.... feel free to discuss all things Brute and Modification / Upgrade related!

GO!!
 
#3
I have never owned a Brubaker but am currently in the process of deciding on an upgrade for my mtd kingson heir. I would like to hear about why you chose Bartolini over Delano as this is my current dilema. Delano offers the covered magnets and jazz, MM and bar-style magnet pieces. I'm sure you've read the threads on here - Bartolini does about 50/50 in the polls while Delano ranks a bit higher. What were your criteria?
 
#4
Johnius said:
I have never owned a Brubaker but am currently in the process of deciding on an upgrade for my mtd kingson heir. I would like to hear about why you chose Bartolini over Delano as this is my current dilema. Delano offers the covered magnets and jazz, MM and bar-style magnet pieces. I'm sure you've read the threads on here - Bartolini does about 50/50 in the polls while Delano ranks a bit higher. What were your criteria?
Click to expand...

I prefer Bartolinis. I've had nothing but great experiences with Barts in various basses. The Delano installs I've played didn't make me want to swap out my Barts. Not one bit.

As far as polls go, there's this weird IMO idea that Barts are XYZ... they're muffled, they have no highs, etc. Most people I know with Barts in a good bass think that's ridiculous. Anyone who's heard any of my basses know that's ridiculous.
:cool:
 
#5
I just sold one that I upgraded with Bart pickups and an Aguilar OBP-3. If I didn't have to sell it I would not have. That bass smoked and was comparative to some boutique instruments. The only other thing I had a problem with was the 34 inch scale. All my other basses were 35 and I always had to adjust when going from one to the other. I think you are going to love the upgrades.
 
#7
Robear22 said:
I just sold one that I upgraded with Bart pickups and an Aguilar OBP-3. If I didn't have to sell it I would not have. That bass smoked and was comparative to some boutique instruments. The only other thing I had a problem with was the 34 inch scale. All my other basses were 35 and I always had to adjust when going from one to the other. I think you are going to love the upgrades.
Click to expand...

Bart pickups and the Aguilar OBP-3 preamp are a very nice match. Gives a different top and bottom end via EQ than the Bart NTMB.
 
#8
Johnius said:
I have never owned a Brubaker but am currently in the process of deciding on an upgrade for my mtd kingson heir. I would like to hear about why you chose Bartolini over Delano as this is my current dilema. Delano offers the covered magnets and jazz, MM and bar-style magnet pieces. I'm sure you've read the threads on here - Bartolini does about 50/50 in the polls while Delano ranks a bit higher. What were your criteria?
Click to expand...

Honestly, I feel like much of what you hear about people upgrading to Barts and ultimately moving on or being otherwise unsatisfied, stems from choosing the wrong pickups. Bartolini offers several different voices, wire and magnet materials for each shape in the catalog. For J pickups, there's a seemingly endless variety available. Some people have said the Barts are "Too polite" which is true to the extent that certain models are not going to work well for rock and metal, but certainly not true for the entire line. The Bart site is guilty of being less than precise in describing the differences in real world applications, but a quick call to Tom at TJ Wagner (Bartolini's distributer) will quickly sort you out. The man knows these pickups and their real world differences better than anyone.


My personal criteria for choosing Bart over Delano was based on having several positive experiences with Bart upgrades, no personal experience with Delano, and price. That's it.

:smug:
 
#9
I'm itching to play one of these, with the help of Brad, we've got Kevin and co. coming to our fall GTG and he's generously donating a Brute as the star prize in our door prize raffle.

I've really liked the Delano's I've experienced - you're right about pricey, but loads of punch - probably more suited to rock, pop.
 
#11
I've used both Bart and Delano on my two Brutes.

I bought Barts for my MJX-5. For the Jazz/neck pup I chose the CBJD3-S3 "Bright tone". And the MM/bridge pup is the extended DL5CBC. For the preamp I went with an Audere 4-band (bass, lo-mid, hi-mid, treb . . . no z-mode switch) . . . had problems with a used Bart pre on my first try . . . figured since I decided to buy new, why not try an Audere? Very versatile, quiet, all the good stuff, blah-blah-blah. Bottom line . . . Love it!!

MJX-5

For my JJX-5 I went with the Delano JMVC 5 FE/S, exposed large-pole pups and a Delano Sonar 2 band pre. Very punchy, modern tone. I'm very satisfied with this setup also.

JJX-5

Hope you have fun with it . . . I sure have.
 
#13
pablomigraine said:
Honestly, I feel like much of what you hear about people upgrading to Barts and ultimately moving on or being otherwise unsatisfied, stems from choosing the wrong pickups. Bartolini offers several different voices, wire and magnet materials for each shape in the catalog. For J pickups, there's a seemingly endless variety available. Some people have said the Barts are "Too polite" which is true to the extent that certain models are not going to work well for rock and metal, but certainly not true for the entire line. The Bart site is guilty of being less than precise in describing the differences in real world applications, but a quick call to Tom at TJ Wagner (Bartolini's distributer) will quickly sort you out. The man knows these pickups and their real world differences better than anyone.


My personal criteria for choosing Bart over Delano was based on having several positive experiences with Bart upgrades, no personal experience with Delano, and price. That's it.

:smug:
Click to expand...
I was considering the same two brands as an upgrade on my MJXSC5! I, too have decided to go with Barts and an Aguilar OBP-3 Pre. Did those Barts drop in with no routing?? Do you feel they handled the 19mm string spacing well? Thanks!
 

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