New Bertolini Pickups vs. Fender

[Musicbiz60]

I'be been playing a Fender P Bass for some time and love the sound. Just got a new bass (P Bass style)with Bertolinis and find their tone much sharper and brighter. Is this my imagination or do Bertolinis sound this way?

Perhaps because of the sharper sound I also hear much more finger noise. I prefer the Fender sound, so should I just change the pickups back to Fender ones?

 

[Rocky McDougall]

Do the two basses have the same strings? Strings make a tremendous tone difference, probably more than pickups.

 

[Musicbiz60]

You are right - the strings are different. On the new Bass I have Ken Smith strings and on the P Bass I think I have D'Darrios. Maybe I'll change the strings and try again. Many thanks for the advice.

 

[rageatmachine14]

Do you have a preamp with the bartolini's? They are designed to work best with one. Personally I find my bartolini's much darker than any stock fender pickup.

 

[mongo2]

There are two flavors of the Bartolini P pickup, the 8S and the 8SU.

The 8S has a darker sound (more Fender-like) and the 8SU has more top end. I use them both passively and sans on-board controls, just wired straight to the jack.

I prefer the 8S but I've found that the high end of the 8SU can be tamed with my amp EQ.

I've also found they are fairly sensitive to the distance to the strings. Closer can be brighter and further away can be darker.

 

[jallenbass]

There's also the 8CBP which supposedly has more highs than either the 8S or 8SU.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Also; listen to the two basses unplugged. One might just be brighter sounding.