I know this is probably not going to be a hot thread as I'm not asking about "cool" pickups as of now (Fenders and replacement brands, MM...), but I'm wondering if anyone here has direct experience with both DFRs and dual-coil Bartolini Originals and by chance could chime in with feedback.
I have a '99 Ibanez BTB 705 with ye olde DFRs (Ibanez's Dynamic Full Range) and the vari-mid 18v preamp with pre-PCB, point-to-point soldering on a larger board. I've never had direct experience with Bartolini Originals (I'm leaving the MK1 and the hissing preamp I had in a Cort Curbow out of the equation, really) and my curiosity was mainly piqued by my own experience with the Ibby and the general narrative concerning the Original line from Barts. Far from assuming they're the same product, I've noticed a few analogies:
- The DC specs are quite similar (~3.7KΩ N, ~5.2KΩ B for each coil on Bartolini website vs. 7.52KΩ N, 10.65KΩ B for both coils based on my measurements on DFRs)
- Constant mention of low output when discussing about Originals - DFRs are low output too by themselves
- Constant mention of dark tone and subdued highs for Originals - DFRs have a somewhat "dull" tone and are very smooth in the mid-high range unless boosted a tad
- Extremely good shielding properties and very good s/n ratio, regardelss of output level
- Constant mention of Barts sounding better when rather close to strings - my DFRs "came to life" with more presence when kept as close as possible. Magnetic pull isn't much of an issue
- According to specs, P4 sized soapbars are just ~2mm longer than 5-string DFRs and looking at pictures I guess that screws are basically in the same spots, Barts just seem to have a very tiny bit more plastic beyond the screw holes compared to my DFRs (pictures attached)
And now the obvious differences:
- The engraved branding (duh!)
- DFR coils are wired hot and ground, in series (2 vs. 4 wires), there's no split-coil option
Now: I'm not implying that Bartolini built DFRs for a short while in their US facility. But I'm more than convinced that DFRs were Ibanez's initial take on Barts for their newly born BTB ("boutique bass") line. I wouldn't be shocked if Bartolini did in fact build them for Ibanez (perhaps as imports) but I'm not implying it.
The bottom line is: how close did they actually get to Originals, when comparing them in dual-coil mode? Does anyone here have more info on them?
Re. DFRs: I used to be unhappy about them for quite a long time for most reasons discussed on the internet: weak output and dull tone. Now, I've personally seen that boosting a tad around 1.5K (look at the picture) and rising the pickups does give a rather nice tone that's quite true to the instrument's natural response. If you cut the lows a tiny bit on top of that, you almost get a Fender-ish response to me. Again, I'm not saying you get a Jazz or P bass, but you get a frequency response that's not far off, perhaps a tad smoother in attack and more compressed and even sounding, as blade designs would naturally lend. Granted, the output is on the lower side, but both pickups and preamp are very silent and their signal can be boosted loads with no noise at all. I'm inclined to say they are not bad stuff.
Unfortunately, back in 2000 as an 18YO guy, I was none the wiser and used to boost lows, highs and low-mids, resulting (IMO) in a rather congested-sounding tone.
I have a '99 Ibanez BTB 705 with ye olde DFRs (Ibanez's Dynamic Full Range) and the vari-mid 18v preamp with pre-PCB, point-to-point soldering on a larger board. I've never had direct experience with Bartolini Originals (I'm leaving the MK1 and the hissing preamp I had in a Cort Curbow out of the equation, really) and my curiosity was mainly piqued by my own experience with the Ibby and the general narrative concerning the Original line from Barts. Far from assuming they're the same product, I've noticed a few analogies:
- The DC specs are quite similar (~3.7KΩ N, ~5.2KΩ B for each coil on Bartolini website vs. 7.52KΩ N, 10.65KΩ B for both coils based on my measurements on DFRs)
- Constant mention of low output when discussing about Originals - DFRs are low output too by themselves
- Constant mention of dark tone and subdued highs for Originals - DFRs have a somewhat "dull" tone and are very smooth in the mid-high range unless boosted a tad
- Extremely good shielding properties and very good s/n ratio, regardelss of output level
- Constant mention of Barts sounding better when rather close to strings - my DFRs "came to life" with more presence when kept as close as possible. Magnetic pull isn't much of an issue
- According to specs, P4 sized soapbars are just ~2mm longer than 5-string DFRs and looking at pictures I guess that screws are basically in the same spots, Barts just seem to have a very tiny bit more plastic beyond the screw holes compared to my DFRs (pictures attached)
And now the obvious differences:
- The engraved branding (duh!)
- DFR coils are wired hot and ground, in series (2 vs. 4 wires), there's no split-coil option
Now: I'm not implying that Bartolini built DFRs for a short while in their US facility. But I'm more than convinced that DFRs were Ibanez's initial take on Barts for their newly born BTB ("boutique bass") line. I wouldn't be shocked if Bartolini did in fact build them for Ibanez (perhaps as imports) but I'm not implying it.
The bottom line is: how close did they actually get to Originals, when comparing them in dual-coil mode? Does anyone here have more info on them?
Re. DFRs: I used to be unhappy about them for quite a long time for most reasons discussed on the internet: weak output and dull tone. Now, I've personally seen that boosting a tad around 1.5K (look at the picture) and rising the pickups does give a rather nice tone that's quite true to the instrument's natural response. If you cut the lows a tiny bit on top of that, you almost get a Fender-ish response to me. Again, I'm not saying you get a Jazz or P bass, but you get a frequency response that's not far off, perhaps a tad smoother in attack and more compressed and even sounding, as blade designs would naturally lend. Granted, the output is on the lower side, but both pickups and preamp are very silent and their signal can be boosted loads with no noise at all. I'm inclined to say they are not bad stuff.
Unfortunately, back in 2000 as an 18YO guy, I was none the wiser and used to boost lows, highs and low-mids, resulting (IMO) in a rather congested-sounding tone.
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