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Questions about Bartolini J/MM setup

DaveAceofBass

DaveAceofBass

Feb 20, 2004
5,145
1,863
Charlotte, NC
fandalism.com
#1
Hey everyone,

I have a Kinal SK5B in production. The plan is to use Bartolini J/MM pickups, a Villex passive rotary tone booster, and the John East 2-Band MM reissue preamp.

I have a few questions regarding the J/MM setup. Mike Kinal recommended his custom made "Full-Range" Bartolini MM pickup. He said it's dual coil, similar to the old Lakland Bart pickup. He said that the three way coil tap switch allows for either coil in single coil mode or both in humbucking (I think it's parallel wiring for a true MM sound). Mike said that this pickup is silent in any mode, including the single coil settings. Although Bartolini pickups are extremely quiet compared to other brands, I just don't see how that is completely possible.

:help:My first question is: Wouldn't the pickup have to have the dummy coil (triple coil) to allow for a totally silent single coil setting?:confused:

I don't see the triple coil as an option anymore, and definitely not for the "Full-Range" Bartolini.

Second, Mike recommended a CB J pickup at the neck position. I'm asking for the CBJD, or dual inline humcancelling pickup, instead of the CBJS, or single coil.

:help:My second question is: How will the CBJD's polarity interact with the MM pickup? With the MM in single coil mode, would there be a problem with using a humcancelling J pickup in the neck position to blend it with?:confused:

I don't want any 60-cycle hum. One plus of the Barts is that they're some of the quietest pickups you can get. I want them to remain quiet no matter what the setting is. Any suggestions?:eyebrow:
 
#2
Not sure about the humbucker, however, there shouldn't be any issue with simply swapping the output leads on the CBJD to avoid phase issues. Oddly enough, I had to do just that with a friend's Yamaha. The new Seymour Duncan J was wired correctly, but out of phase with the existing P. CBJS are nice and open-sounding for Bartolinis.... but not hum canceling unless used in pairs, unfortunately.
 
#3
I have an older Lakland 4-94 set up like this - No noise at all. Sounds great, too - Just like a Lakland (which means it does *not* sound just like a Stingray or J-bass -- but pretty close). I can actually get a very good J, P & MM sound - but my fav setting is both p'ups with the front coil of the MM selected - a very warm, fat sound.
 
#4
BigOldHarry said:
I have an older Lakland 4-94 set up like this - No noise at all. Sounds great, too - Just like a Lakland (which means it does *not* sound just like a Stingray or J-bass -- but pretty close). I can actually get a very good J, P & MM sound - but my fav setting is both p'ups with the front coil of the MM selected - a very warm, fat sound.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm thinking Mike Kinal is using the old Lakland-style MM pickups. The questions I have can be summed up like this:

:help: Does anyone know if the old Lakland Bartolini system used a dual or triple coil MM bridge pickup? :eyebrow:

I remember having read somewhere that the Lakland is quiet in any setting, including the single coil settings. This makes me think there was a triple coil pickup being used in the bridge position, and a linear humcancelling J pickup for the neck. Does anyone know for sure?
 
#5
I don't know about the Bart one, but the Basslines J/MM setup for Lakland is actually two humcancelling pickups in the MM casing, and the J is humcancelling as well. It's (MM) not a triple-coil, but a pair of dual-coils (not sure if they're stacked or split).

Mike
 
#6
mikezimmerman said:
I don't know about the Bart one, but the Basslines J/MM setup for Lakland is actually two humcancelling pickups in the MM casing, and the J is humcancelling as well. It's (MM) not a triple-coil, but a pair of dual-coils (not sure if they're stacked or split).

Mike
Click to expand...

You mean a quad-coil. They make those now, but I don't think that's what was in the original Lakland setup. I think it was either the dual or triple coil.

Question: Is it pretty much impossible to avoid hum when you have a dual coil pickup tapped to single coil mode? Is there any way it could be totally silent?
 
#7
DaveAceofBass said:
You mean a quad-coil. They make those now, but I don't think that's what was in the original Lakland setup. I think it was either the dual or triple coil.

Question: Is it pretty much impossible to avoid hum when you have a dual coil pickup tapped to single coil mode? Is there any way it could be totally silent?
Click to expand...

Bart has had several different pickups called "quad coil", including some with one coil per string--that's why I didn't call it that. :) I'm not talking about the current Lakland-made pickups, but the Basslines version from several years ago (which I have in my Curbow jazz). I'd assume the Barts are the same coil configuraton--the ones I had it my old 55-94 were definitely hum-cancelling in any setting.

Mike

Mike
 
#9
DaveAceofBass said:
I just read that the old Lakland Bartolini MM bridge pickups actually housed two 9W4 J Pickups side by side. I wonder if that's what Mike Kinal meant by dual coil...:eyebrow:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the followup. I remembered them having 2 hum-cancelling J pickups in the MM housing to match the neck J pickup, but darned if I can keep track of the Bart model numbers! With the talk of them being two single-coils, you had me wondering if there was some early-early version I hadn't heard about...

Mike
 

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