Question about the pickups in Ibanez Soundgear

[TheBluePhoenix]

I recently bought an Ibanez Soundgear 370 and I really like. It’s a joy to play. I’m just not thrilled with how the stock CAP pickups sound. I’ve read some Soundgear owners here rave about how much better the models with Bartolini pickups sound. So as I see it my options are:

Option 1: Replace the stock pickups with Bartolinis. Actually I would just replace the neck pickup. I’ve owned a few basses over the years with neck and bridge pickups and I’ve NEVER liked the sound from a bridge pickup so I just don’t use them. Would a Bartolini pickup play nice with the Ibanez onboard EQ system or would I have to replace that with a Bartolini EQ system?

Option 2: Save up and buy a Soundgear with Bartolinis already in it and sell the 370. This seems like the easier solution. However, I’ve read some people say that the stock Bartolinis on some Soundgears are cheaper and don’t sound as good as American made Bartolinis that you can buy.

 

[Epitaph04]

Get some Nordstrands in there. Done.

 

[SalmonCubes]

I would personally replace the pickups in your current bass. The SR500 basses and higher, excluding premium and prestige lines, all have Bartollini MK1 pickups, which are the cheap Barts. Buy a new set of US Barts, and install them. They sound much better than the import ones. You could also go with a nice set of Nordstrands or EMGs.

 

[Perdomo88]

I had an Ibanez BTB prestige with Bartolini pickups and EQ, I would recommend to save money and buy something with the pickups already in it. Sound wise it's a huge difference and you will love Bartolini to death, my previous 3 basses had Bartolini pickups.

 

[TheBluePhoenix]

Thanks for the feedback guys

Would it be OK to just replace the pickup and leave the stock Ibanez EQ system?

 

[Phlipper]

I sympathize.

I have been digging for similar info in the Pickups forum but getting nothing. Searching here and elsewhere for reviews, though, and playing as many models of pups as I could find, it seems not everyone is thrilled with the old style CAP pups (I'm not), not everyone is thrilled with the new style EXF pups (I am), not everyone likes Korean Mk-1 Barts (I don't), but a clear majority in my research liked the Nordstrand Fat Singles (I really, really like them). Ya just gotta play or listen to as many as possible and find what you like best.

Then you can come back to TB and declare that all the pickups you personally didn't like are the worst crap ever made and that you can't believe Ibanez would put that $hite on a production unit.

And yes, you can use the stock Ibby preamp and upgrade that as money allows. And since someone will chime in shortly on this ... no, the preamp does NOT make more difference than the pickups in tone changes. This is straight from two different companies/techs who would have made a whole lot more selling me a preamp instead of a pickup set.