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Experience with Bartolini Pickups?

Gabe7539

Gabe7539

Supporting Member
Jan 18, 2016
243
266
#1
Hello,
I was trying a used Dave Bunker bass at a music store. It had Bartolini single coil pickups and (I think) a Bartolini preamp as well and the "tension free" neck system. For me it sounded very hot with a very nice thump/punchiness to it, and played extremely fast and comfortable. The sound reminded me a lot of a fender blacktop p bass. However I can't find any information about the bass (I have contacted Dave, so just waiting for a response), have no experience with Bartolini pickups so I'm really not sure how much of that is due to the electronics and how much is the bass itself. Could I just take my average J-bass, put Bartolini electronics in and have it sound as good? Here's a picture of the bass
bunker_bass.jpg
 
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#3
Bartolini produces a huge array of different pickups, covering the gamut from dark and wooly to bright and growly. So it's dangerous to generalize solely by brand name (even though loads of people do).

As @Paulabass says, great tone is a cumulative outcome of all of the components of the system, electronics being one.
 
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#4
With that said - Bartolini is one of the oldest of the aftermarket pickup manufacturers, builds high quality stuff, and is often used on high end gear (MTD, Zon, etc.)
Not that they're "the best" - there is no such thing as "the best", just different flavors of great.
But they're one of the great flavors. Several of them, actually, given the range of tones they offer.
 
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#5
Lol you guys aren't making this decision any easier. I guess I'll have to buy it and test it out over a few days. Worst comes to worst it'll be easy to return. Hopefully it'll still be there when I walk in tomorrow.
 
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#6
They sell jazz pickups with different voicings and a couple of preamps so you'd have to know which is in that particular bass. They also do custom/exclusive models for certain manufacturers so you might they aren't available to the public unless through Dave
 
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#7
Been install the US Bart P2 Soapar first and NTMB 3 band Preamp after that into my MIK SR705 previously.
The Bart i bought from Bestbassgear is Original series, the tone is Deep, Thick and strong lo-mid with less treble.
Both stock MK1 preamp and Bart preamp sound similiar to me, the different is the Gain control on NTMB give me little more output adjustment and 3 MID select switch .

BOY_0249mup.jpg
BOY_0454m.jpg
 
#11
True you can't judge a Bart Pup by it's cover. I'm a fan of the Classic Bass Series (CB) or CBC. I also prefer the extended treble line, as indicated by a 3 at the end of the model number. I have Bart Pups and Electronics in at least four of my Basses and they all sound good. The black Brute has an NTMB 4.6AP and the Custom Brubaker has Bart Classic Bass Quad Coils and an NTMB 4.6 AP.

blackand blondes.jpg
 
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#12
iplay5strings said:
Too bad you didn't have a chance to play with the bass more. Did you try soloing each pickup to see if they buzzed while trying it out?
Click to expand...
I wasn't entirely sure of the knob setup. It was 3 knobs and a stacked knob, so the assumption was either 2 volumes, a stacked treble/bass and a mid, or 1 volume and 1 pickup blend " ", so not sure what I was doing with the pickups. However there was no hum and they sounded quite a bit beefier than normal single coils, more like those dual jazz humbuckers that Fender makes. As far as tones it wasn't a far cry from my G&L tribute 2500, but the feel was totally different.
 
#13
Gabe7539 said:
I wasn't entirely sure of the knob setup. It was 3 knobs and a stacked knob, so the assumption was either 2 volumes, a stacked treble/bass and a mid, or 1 volume and 1 pickup blend " ", so not sure what I was doing with the pickups. However there was no hum and they sounded quite a bit beefier than normal single coils, more like those dual jazz humbuckers that Fender makes. As far as tones it wasn't a far cry from my G&L tribute 2500, but the feel was totally different.
Click to expand...

Ya, there's a lot of variables to narrow down here. I went to Bart's website thinking that those narrow soapbars would've only come in 1 or 2 options, but turns out they come in single, split and dual in-line configurations in Classic and Original Bass. So who knows what was in there lol.
 
#14
Extensive experience using Barts in several different basses. As mentioned above, they make a large variety of pickups. Not all as dark as folks make it seem. I had a set of classic series single coil brights along with a 3.3AP preamp in a Fender jazz. Think Larry Graham. Thing was a slap machine. Bright highs and deep lows. That bass killed.
 
#16
After looking at the Bartolini website I've narrowed it down to 2 options based on the fact that the pickups had 2 screws, rounded edges, deep stamped logo, longer width between logo and edge, and were quite a bit wider than the neck pocket which, if I am correct, was probably 73 or 74mm. Based on this extrapolation, I'm fairly sure it was either the X55CBJD (dual coil) or the 80X55J (split coil) from the "X5 Narrow" series. Since I'm fairly sure they were hum-canceling and from the few videos I can find of people using them, I'm about 90% positive they were the X55CBJD. And I think they were wired in series. Bunker guitars hasn't gotten back to me yet, but I'm thinking they might have used their own 3-band preamp advertised on the website.
 
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#17
kesslari said:
With that said - Bartolini is one of the oldest of the aftermarket pickup manufacturers, builds high quality stuff, and is often used on high end gear (MTD, Zon, etc.)
Not that they're "the best" - there is no such thing as "the best", just different flavors of great.
But they're one of the great flavors. Several of them, actually, given the range of tones they offer.
Click to expand...
Tobias, MTD, Zon, Elrick, Pedulla, Roscoe, Brubaker, Ibanez Prestige, Moon, Sugi, STR etc.
 
#18
Gabe7539 said:
Hello,
I was trying a used Dave Bunker bass at a music store. It had Bartolini single coil pickups and (I think) a Bartolini preamp as well and the "tension free" neck system. For me it sounded very hot with a very nice thump/punchiness to it, and played extremely fast and comfortable. The sound reminded me a lot of a fender blacktop p bass. However I can't find any information about the bass (I have contacted Dave, so just waiting for a response), have no experience with Bartolini pickups so I'm really not sure how much of that is due to the electronics and how much is the bass itself. Could I just take my average J-bass, put Bartolini electronics in and have it sound as good? Here's a picture of the bassView attachment 2759333
Click to expand...
Yes,you can do it,but from my experience,will bring unpredictable outcome out,mean,due to the woods and mostly about pickups placement - IMO.In my most cases,the results were mediocre to none of what i have expected finally,because of above reasons.
Better solution is,of course - IMO,to look for similar bass guitar, tone and wood likewise.
 
#20
does anyone know if these have a radius on the poles?
the d and g strings seem weak-ish on the ones i have.

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Classic Dual Coil J-Bass
Classic J-Bass pickups have a rich, deep voice with lots of high-end clarity and warmth. They give you enhanced treble response and narrower apertures for incisive attack and focused sound without harshness. This added treble definition vastly increases the tonal range available in active or passive instruments.
 

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