Do Bartolinis sound this bad on a regular basis?

[sikamikanico]

My take is that Barts are made to be EQed with a good preamp. All Barts that I’ve tried passively (Plus the sound clips I heard) sound rather bland to me. The demo of the lobster guy above, where he messes with the EQ, I think highlights that - you gotta EQ those Barts to get the most out of them.

For a passive guy like me, I want the pickup to have all the tone that I need (and more), which I can then shape/filter passively (cut only). Nords, particularly the Big Singles and Splits, are pretty good at that...

That said, there are many Bart models/designs, so I don’t want to generalize too much about how they sound. I just disliked all the ones I’ve heard so far...

 

[Chickenwheels]

I have Barts in my 2004 Lakland 4-94 and love them. Nice and smooth. I have recorded with this and always seems to just have it for me.

Oh yeah, there was a time Bartolini pickups were in the absolute top basses. I’d forgotten about Laklands, they were the absolute business for a while. And the original Tobias basses? They sound absolutely incredible!
(Absolutely)
I had passive Bartolinis in a fretless 5 once. It was an improvement on the active pickups. Sounded great.

 

[Thegrandwazoo]

A Bartolini Music Man-style pickup through an Aguilar OBP preamp sounds pretty damn fine, but by and large I've almost never heard Bartolinis that I was remotely impressed by, so I'm going to say that they generally sound petty bad (for my taste, of course: everybody's different and I know that sime folks love them).

 

[Space Pickle]

how do you function in day to day life when one hand is a crab

 

[logdrum]

I am a Bartolini user. Bill altered the Q pre-amp so it could also take a piezo signal. My oldest bass is still working with original P pickup and barcus berry and fishman piezos. This was in 1987 and he did it for an unknown guy.

Since then I have upgraded many of my basses to Bartolini, even guitars.

I did not watch the video.

 

[logdrum]

My take is that Barts are made to be EQed with a good preamp. All Barts that I’ve tried passively (Plus the sound clips I heard) sound rather bland to me. The demo of the lobster guy above, where he messes with the EQ, I think highlights that - you gotta EQ those Barts to get the most out of them.

For a passive guy like me, I want the pickup to have all the tone that I need (and more), which I can then shape/filter passively (cut only). Nords, particularly the Big Singles and Splits, are pretty good at that...

That said, there are many Bart models/designs, so I don’t want to generalize too much about how they sound. I just disliked all the ones I’ve heard so far...

I have one in a passive jazz (Japan) and it sounds better than the stock pickup which was not bad to begin with. They sound good on pre-amps with a bypass. But maybe I am just used to them. recording engineers like them.

 

[Ihaveshingles]

Man, at 3:45 of this vid they sound sparkly and phat...and the video the OP referred to sounds like the guy somehow eq’ed the life outta those pups

 

[Funky Phantom]

I don’t know about Ibanez, but my Bart’s sound great. But, they’re in a maple neck
Jazz bass. Slap bass from Hell. I don’t really know anyone who plays an Ibanez bass.
But, my friends’ 12 year old daughter plays one, I don’t think she dislikes them.

 

[Aidil]

It's all subjective. I'd say the Barts on the following clip sound good to my ears:

 

[eddododo]

Ok, this can turn into a polarising debate, however, I just watched this comparison

(the title/intro is a joke, FYI) and I only have a question:

Doubting that woods can make such a dramatic difference (and in fact a maple neck is on average snappy and lively) how come those Barts sound so crap and devoid of life compared to the Nordstrands?
I mean, exposed poles aside, I doubt someone can actually defend the tone difference on an objective basis. It downright plays 10 times worse and I was even listening through the TV speaker on a Chromecast... It's something you can easily pick blindfolded, and basically agreed at the end of the video too.

I have to say I have one of those very first BTB made in Japan "Premium models" (705ol, made in 1999 when the line came out, alongside the 1000 series) which had the "Ibanez dfr" pickups or similar. They were the ones before Barts were the norm in BTBs, but I've read somewhere that they were ghost-built or licenced by Bartolini. I can't confirm that at all, might be BS, but if there's something I didn't like about that bass was the output/tone presence (I wouldn't mind a low volume output as long as the tone is good, that's not the point at all) and hearing this comparison brings me back memories of that BTB when I played alongside, say, a Fender or a bass with a different pickup design. I wouldn't be surprised if there's the same house behind.

Are there great, punchy present examples of Barts or is it a brand whose trademark sound has always been such and dull by design?

I can expect a bit of backlash from Bart fans (if there are) and I'm open to everyone's opinions, but please do watch at least 2 minutes of that video to get what I mean.

There’s going to be a lot of things at play here, not the least of which is the fact that the barts on this bass are not nebular stock barts, but something specifically designed cooperatively for Ibanez.

But, more importantly, the biggest issue here is that the clips with the Barts were just plain quieter.. this will always sound worse, even if you know it and try to adjust your bias. That being said, Barts ARE going to have a characteristic sound that is a little forward in the mids and high mids, with a fairly muted high range; Bartolini preamps are VERY powerful in terms of gain on tap for each band, so the general philosophy is that the sound is to be shaped.. the Bartolinis on my Roscoe were not good for slapping with everything at noon. I wouldn’t call the stock sounds ‘bad’ pre EQ, but they’re much better when enhanced if you aren’t doing specifically fingerstyle modern jazz with both pickups at 100%

 

[Ihaveshingles]

I don’t know about Ibanez, but my Bart’s sound great. But, they’re in a maple neck
Jazz bass. Slap bass from Hell. I don’t really know anyone who plays an Ibanez bass.
But, my friends’ 12 year old daughter plays one, I don’t think she dislikes them.

Here’s a maple neck jazz bass Ibanez , with barts

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I want the pickup to have all the tone that I need (and more), which I can then shape/filter passively (cut only). Nords, particularly the Big Singles and Splits, are pretty good at that.

That's exactly how I feel, adding with the pre-amp just doesn't sound natural or organic, but removing/cutting from a full timbre is easier, less noisy, & just sounds better.
I've been commenting a lot that the Nordstrand pickups can be dialed back to sound 'vintage' like a Bartolini or an Aguilar, but the Barts cannot be dialed UP to have the growl of a Big-Single or Big-Split.

 

[Lackey]

The Pedulla's and Ibanez Gary Willis basses I've played have sounded incredible with Barts. The Barts I have in my TRB are good if a little low output. I've also been underwhelmed with the mk1 line.

So don't judge them all by a few, for good or ill.

 

[Michael Jewels]

I have Bart Mk-1s in my Ibanez Portamento, and they sound great to me.
Very warm; kind of like hot-rodded Fender pickups.
With both magnetic pickups on full, they remind me of a 70s jazz bass, but hotter.
I have Barts, I don't know which model in my 2005 Ibanez BTB 1205E.
I always thought the neck pup sounded reasonably close to a PRE-CBS Precision, and the bridge pickup sounds as though it's voiced differently.
But, I love the sound.

Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but, I love Bartolini pickups for their warm, vintage-like tone.

Mike

 

[aledeville]

I used to dislike Bartolini's a lot, can't say I've ever heard one that made my go Wow.
I've even listened to clips of Prestige Ibanez with CUSTOM Bartolinis where I thought, huh?, that's it?

Exactly the same here. I have an Ibanez BTB and it's just underwhelming in every aspect. Except for build quality, but what's it's use when it doesn't sound good?

 

[Brad Johnson]

 

[NeonVomit]

So the takeaway from this thread is: replace the Bartolini BH2's on my Ibanez BTB with 'legit' Bartolinis. Right? I mean the sound of the bass is pretty good but nothing 'wow'.

 

[EmaTheMirror]

Bartolini pickups sound so terrible that I have them in most of my basses. I've even installed them on purpose in basses with better pickups just to get that terrible sound which is all I deserve.

That sounds lovely... Sounds so good it almost sucks, but that might be due to some of the tone getting lost or muffled while traveling across the pond.

 

[EmaTheMirror]

It is well known that the preamp is the weak link in many Bart-equipped Ibanez models.

Those two models share the same preamp.

Just to clarify, with the change of strings in the second video, the bass itself sounds "good", but it still loses in the a/b comparison...

... or it might be just my taste.

Can we come to the conclusion that, for that particular model, Nordstrand came up with an averagely speaking more appealing product?

 

[EmaTheMirror]

real barts are amazing pickups. great range of tone pending the ones you choose. ibby barts....suck. well, they aren't great.

That's what makes me wonder: given the fact that many people probably know Bartolini predominantly through what they find installed in Ibanez, is it worth to have this as a "business card" for your magnets?