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Ibanez sounds way better with Bartolini than Norstrand. Yay or nay?

phillipkregg

phillipkregg

Jun 8, 2010
3,681
5,824
Nashville, TN
#1
Ok, I'm probably going to be unpopular here, but I gave it my best. I tried several Ibanez basses with the new Norstrand pickups but I just don't see the appeal.

To my ears, the Nordstrands are just "loud". It's like taking your amp and diming out all the EQ knobs. The mids are super mids, the lows are just "low-mids" and the highs are just "high-mids". Seems like these pickups are just trying to be in-your-face as much as possible.

The Barts, on the other hand, are very subtle and have a warm, punchy tone that is distinct without being in your face. To me, even the MK1 pickups sound better than the US Nordstrand big singles.

Maybe I'm crazy, who knows. What do you think?
 
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#3
Lots of luthiers, and players, prefer Barts. I love them. To be fair, I like Nords too, but have never owned a bass with them.

Not all Ibby's have the same pickup types, or placement. SR, SRX, Talman... older models... have different pup positions. This is a huge factor too. You might like some instruments with Bart humbuckers, and others with a Nord P/J set...

Different strokes. Good thing we don't all like the same thing.. we'd all be playing a P bass with tort and flats.
 
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#4
I much prefer the Bartolini system for much the same reason as well; they have nice brilliant highs (with SS rounds of course), and very deep lows with just the right amount midrange. Also for some reason unknown to me - the Nordstrand system didn't sound very good through my effects pedals namely my B3K OD; there was almost zero grit! My chorus pedal didn't sound very good either - not like with the Bart system.
 
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#8
My SR1800E stays in passive mode so much that I consider just taking the battery out.
Over the years I've tried many Ibáñez with Bartolini's & finally just stopped paying attention to them as soon as I see they have Bartolinis.
I don't mean just the cheap ones either, some nice BTB models.

To me, even Ibáñez's own PFR (Passive Full Range) pickups in the SRX (SR eXtreme) sound better than Bartolini's, as well as their relatively new PowerSpan pickups.
However, even the local Ibáñez dealer has said that the SRX sold poorly when they were new. To me they're the best kept secret.

Anyway, when I first heard my SR1800E my jaw hit the floor, figuratively. I just knew I needed to buy it.
but my tastes are generally totally contradictory to the general public, & it's just a happy mistake/accident

The benefit is that I won't be GASsing for a Prestige model.

Contrary to this however, I've determined that if I want a good double-locking vibrato guitar from Ibáñez, I'd have to buy MIJ:

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#10
The MK1's don't sound that great to me, but the Barts in their prestige models are really nice. I would the Prestige barts sound better than the Big Singles. However, I like the NSD pickups in the SR65X's better than any pickup in any Ibanez, ever. I agree that the Big Singles are just aggressive, especially when combined with the woods that are used. Some of it may be the pre, since it is an Ibanez design, but they seem to have too much high mid for my taste, and not near enough lows. The SR5000 prestige models are the best, IMO.
 
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#12
winegamd said:
The MK1's don't sound that great to me, but the Barts in their prestige models are really nice. I would the Prestige barts sound better than the Big Singles. However, I like the NSD pickups in the SR65X's better than any pickup in any Ibanez, ever. I agree that the Big Singles are just aggressive, especially when combined with the woods that are used. Some of it may be the pre, since it is an Ibanez design, but they seem to have too much high mid for my taste, and not near enough lows. The SR5000 prestige models are the best, IMO.
Click to expand...

Fat Stacks would be less aggressive and sound like butter.
 
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#13
I thought MK1 pickups were kind of clanky too, so I replaced the ones I had with MK4CBCs and got much better results.

I will say, the only thing I didn't like about the SR1800 I tried was the pickup choice. Not that Nordstrands as a group are bad, but the Big Singles are, well, single coils. And as a result, they were noisy as hell in the music store I tried them in...which probably means they'd be that noisy or more on stage. I really wish they'd picked Big Splits or Fat Stacks instead.
 
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#16
I have both a SR 600 with the Barts, and a SR 655 with the CND pickups and I love both of them! I think its partially the swamp ash bodies! Because, I had a couple different SR 500's with the mahogany bodies and never really cared for them. They just seemed a little dead to me in comparison
 
#20
I had a SR3006 with US custom Barts and they did nothing for me, I ended up replacing them. I had Nords in a non-Ibanez bass and found them smooth and articulate. I do have US Barts in another bass and love them, so I would consider it a bass-by-bass call rather than just all pickups by Brand X are harsh.
 
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