Ibanez new Powerspan pickups vs Bartolini MK1 pickups

Yes, the MK1's are Korean made pickups (Artec or G&B...I forget which) and have nothing in common with actual Bartolini's.

 

Quite a few on here like the MkI pickups if they're used with the preamp bypassed or with another preamp. This has been discussed in numerous threads- try to gain from other's experiences and save some $$. Try a preamp bypass switch or run the MkIs straight to the jack, then tailor the sound at your amp to see what they are really like. If it's good for you, just change out the preamp to one that others have found works well for them.
Barts are typically warmer, and are not known for being 'hot', whether 'real' Barts or not.

 

I believe they are made to the USA Bartolini specs, just done by a 3rd party made overseas to be cheaper. I think that makes them have something in common.

 

I dunno, I seem to be one of the few here who finds no fault in either the MK1s or the preamp that Ibanez mates with them. To my ears the pickups sound fine and the preamp does its job quite well, especially the preamp with the mid switch. If your ears really tell you that the stock electronics are lacking, fine, do what you have to do. If your dislike of the stock electronics is a child of reading about how bad they are here on TB then you might want to give your ears a chance to weigh in before you spend money on changing things that might not need changing if you give them a careful listen.

 

Got this response from Doug Somervell at Bartolini as I wanted to know the story on the MK-1 from the source as I am shopping around to replace my MEC's on my Warwick that are sooooooooooooooooo noisy:


Hi Brian,



The Bartolini MK1and its electronics are Bill Bartolini designed products, licensed to Ibanez for manufacture by Bill and Pat Bartolini for their benefit. They are good products and we at Bartolini, Inc. are proud of the relationships we have with both Ibanez and the founders of our company. Ibanez has made it clear that they will handle all the support of these products.

Warwick is famous for messing with the Jazz pickups so make sure you are getting the right length for both positions.



I am almost certain that what you need are the standard long at the bridge and short at the neck. If that's not the case then let me know and I'll get you the right pickup model numbers.. It's pretty easy we make a long neck LN and we make a short bridge SB.

b-axis pickups are pretty awesome, they are dual coil hum killing, very mid heavy with a sharp attack. There's a demo:



The thing about them is that they are very string spacing specific. So if your Corvette is standard fender 19mm spacing then this is an option. The are cool looking too.



The b-axis is not available in LN or SB only the standard neck and bridge sizes.

The 9CBJD L3/S3 would be the choice the corvette has a different string spacing.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

 

I compare them often at the local Ibanez dealer & prefer PowerSpans all day over the MK1, but I prefer a modern sound whereas the MK1 are fine if you're going for "vintage" sounds.

 

I've now owned a SR300E with PowerSpan pickups & a SR600 with MK1, they are not compatible, pickup-route wise.