"J" pickups discussion and comparisons - PART II

[lars_dorren]

The Bartolini I have on my Elrick are POWERFUL J-bass pickups (got Chromes on that bass, for your reference).

I'd be super interested to hear what that sounds like!

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I'd be super interested to hear what that sounds like!

Ok, let me record something for you with the bass in passive mode.
Note that I don’t know which exact model of J coil is fitted onto the bass as Elrick utilises soapbar covers and pickup cavities in order to ensure that, if a true soapbar pickup is sought, the owner of the instrument can simply install it without having to route the instrument’s body !
In other words, my Expat Evo 4 is provided with Bartolini J-coils (single coils), placed under a soapbar cover, and I don’t know the exact model of J-coil utilised, as Elrick, AFAIK at least, normally does not disclose these information (in practice I don’t know whether I’ve got Classic or Original J-coils under the pickups cover)

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Herd it is:

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Ekrick Expat Evo 4
Bartolini J-coils under soapbar cover
Wenge fretboard, ash body
Passive mode
D’Addario Chromes strings
Virtual Portaflex amp, no effects
Amp controls: bass +3, treble +5, mid -2
1st part of tune recorded with neck pickup 75%
2nd part bridge pickup 100%

Excuse me for the rough playing ...

 

[lars_dorren]

Sounds great, and helps a lot! Thanks a bunch! That bridge pickup sounds awesome.

 

[FonkBass]

Herd it is:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Ekrick Expat Evo 4
Bartolini J-coils under soapbar cover
Wenge fretboard, ash body
Passive mode
D’Addario Chromes strings
Virtual Portaflex amp, no effects
Amp controls: bass +3, treble +5, mid -2
1st part of tune recorded with neck pickup 75%
2nd part bridge pickup 100%

Excuse me for the rough playing ...

Great sound, love the tones! excellent playing! Makes me want to explore Bartolini pickups...
But, the bass must contribute to that sound too!!!

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Great sound, love the tones! excellent playing! Makes me want to explore Bartolini pickups...
But, the bass must contribute to that sound too!!!

Well, thank you!
I kept it passive but surely the bass did its part, in particular the wenge fretboard, I guess!

 

[HELLonWHEELS]

Looking for a recommendation for jazz pickups that sound like L2000 MFDs in single coil mode. It looks like G&L is planning on making MFD in jazz size, but they aren't available yet.

 

[ShawnG]

I'm gonna be snagging some Bartolini baxis pups soon for my corvette and pairing them with a John East 4 knob flat curve pre I'm anxious too see how they stack up together.

Please let me know how this turns out. I put some b-axis Js in my passive MTD Saratoga and am also thinking hard about adding a 4-knob East Uni-Pre. Would be great to hear about your experience. Thanks!

 

[tonjo76]

Hi! Please help me, I have this Bartolini bridge pickup and I'd like to sell it, but I don't know how much it's worth. It looks old and I can't see any mark on it. I live in Europe, Hungary, prices are different here but I didn't get any tips here. Thanks, Tamas

 

[madjazzbass]

I had NJ4SV pickups with an ACG preamp and it was dead quiet, no hiss. The reason I got the ACG preamp was the tone filter WAL-ish sounds but also the Audere that I had in there with the same pickups gave me a high frequency hiss, not buzz or hum, but hiss. It could only be tamed by turning the treble down quite a bit. Now, I am one of the very few who had problems with an Audere preamp, so it must have been my particular setup or combination of things.

I get that as well (with the Audere pre), It's more of a ? staticky sound though; I'm hoping the copper shielding/grounding tape fixes this issue.

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

Please let me know how this turns out. I put some b-axis Js in my passive MTD Saratoga and am also thinking hard about adding a 4-knob East Uni-Pre. Would be great to hear about your experience. Thanks!

I just put the 4 knob john east uni pre in my Warwick I'm still waiting to install the bartolini b axis pups in it. So far the preamp is amaizing. If i really dig them ill end up swapping them in my classic vibe j bass too already got a john east for it too

 

[LoveThatBass]

Newbie here, guitarist now playing, and honing my bass skills. Recently got an MIA J standard with the custom shops. Wondered opinions on swap out for Vintage noiseless, N3s, just shield the cavity? or any advice. Mainly play Blues, Rock and originals. Not a Metal player but admire what they do. Have come here to look over the years but now joined. Thanks for any help.

With noiseless pickups I wouldn’t shield the pickup cavities. Copper shield affects the pickup sound. Made mine flat sounding so I removed it. However shield paint with higher resistance reading didn’t affect them at all

 

[Pantone 333]

With noiseless pickups I wouldn’t shield the pickup cavities. Copper shield affects the pickup sound. Made mine flat sounding so I removed it. However shield paint with higher resistance reading didn’t affect them at all

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Ole Brockmann]

I use Lindy Fralin's hum bucking Jazz bass pickups, and I can recommend them.

They sound overwhelmingly good, with both a old school edge and on top og that a little extra.

 

[GMC]

Herd it is:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Ekrick Expat Evo 4
Bartolini J-coils under soapbar cover
Wenge fretboard, ash body
Passive mode
D’Addario Chromes strings
Virtual Portaflex amp, no effects
Amp controls: bass +3, treble +5, mid -2
1st part of tune recorded with neck pickup 75%
2nd part bridge pickup 100%

Excuse me for the rough playing ...

That's a really nice tune, love your groove / playing. The image shows a P bass, is that pre-modded or a different bass. From listening to your track, I immediately thought it was a P PU with a bit of J blended. Then about mid way I thought it sounded like a Jazz bridge PU on it's own.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

That's a really nice tune, love your groove / playing. The image shows a P bass, is that pre-modded or a different bass. From listening to your track, I immediately thought it was a P PU with a bit of J blended. Then about mid way I thought it sounded like a Jazz bridge PU on it's own.

No it’s actually an Elrick Evo Expat 4-strings bass fitted with 2 Bartolini J-coil pickups (don’t know which model exactly) put in a Bartolini soapbar enclosure (the preamp was off) ..
That one was the standard picture I used to utilise on SoundCloud

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Did this today just to highlight more the P-bass-like tone of the bass and its Bartolini setup when playing with, say, a 70/30 neck/bridge pickup arrangement:

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[Maynard46]

hey - did a search and seems alot of you have played or have the 64 pure vintage. I am thinking about the Fender Rarity Jazz which comes with the Pure Vintage ‘64 single-coil Jazz Bass pickups

On these newer reissue models have they done anything to reduce or eliminate the hum from the single coil pups? I know they now make the noiseless pups, but aside from that are the newer fender models properly shielded? I should expect hum, right? f-in fender

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

hey - did a search and seems alot of you have played or have the 64 pure vintage. I am thinking about the Fender Rarity Jazz which comes with the Pure Vintage ‘64 single-coil Jazz Bass pickups

On these newer reissue models have they done anything to reduce or eliminate the hum from the single coil pups? I know they now make the noiseless pups, but aside from that are the newer fender models properly shielded? I should expect hum, right? f-in fender

The PV ‘64 in my AO ‘60s J-bass are not very noisy for being single coil pickups ..

 

[LoveThatBass]

I may be all wet, however I think some pickups do better (lower noise) because the outermost layer of windings connect to the Negative Or ground wire which helps sheild from noise.