REAL PICKUP GURU's NEEDED!!

[pablomigraine]

Okay so this is going to test your mettle....

I need to know which BARTOLINI soap will sound the most like the Seymour Duncan ASB Phase I.

Trust me there's a good reason why I dont "just order the Seymours" so please dont offer that suggestion....

I have played 2 basses ever with the Seymour ASB-I pickups in them and they sound like nothing else I have ever heard. Everything else either sounds "Scooped" and "Nasal". These pickups are the PERFECT tone for me, but I just dont have the option .... it's not in my nature to be mysterious, but I am just not able to use the Seymours in this project.

Which Barts are going to give me the goods?

 

[walterw]

well, the duncans are apparently "split-blade" pickups, like long P pickups hidden in soapbar housings, so look for barts that are like that, as opposed to full-on dual-blade humbuckers.

 

[walterw]

or you could just get the duncans and then stick bartolini bumper stickers over them so no-one would know

 

[pablomigraine]

or you could just get the duncans and then stick bartolini bumper stickers over them so no-one would know

:scowl:



Its tough to tell from the Bart website which are split... and then there's the CB / regular choice....

Tom @ TJ wagner would know, but.... to be honest, I've taken up too much of his time waffling back and forth on this already to really wanna call him again.....

 

[SGD Lutherie]

You have a PM.

 

[tubby.twins]

The Bartolini model "XXP25M" is the same shape and split-coil arrangement as Seymour Duncan's ASB-5 (phase 1) model. Likewise, for 6-string, Bartolini model "XXP46M" is the closest match to the ASB-6. However, the "deep tone" Bartolini armatures don't do an exceptional job capturing the upper midrange and treble, so this is going to put them at a disadvantage to the ASB phase 1 pickups.

As far as I know, none of Bartolini's "classic bass" soapbar models are available in split-coil configurations. To top it off, I don't think they even sound similar.

If you're interested in other passive pickups which sound similar (and have the same shape) as the ASB soapbars, you should consider Villex. The website doesn't say it, but Villex can make his pickup armatures in all sorts of standard soapbar shapes, including the Bartolini P2 and P4 shapes. These pickups are split-coil as well, and do a great job on the lowest fundamentals and the upper midrange and treble, especially in the bridge position, which is something that few other passive pickups can do.