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Suggest a preamp setup for bartolini mk1's please

Daedraziel

Daedraziel

Aug 19, 2013
271
181
Toms River NJ
#1
I have a conklin gt4 that was recently acquired at a decent price. My issue started when I plugged it in the first time and got no sound then a good buzz after shaking around some wires.

I pulled the back panel off and saw that the hot wire from the preamp to the pot had a capacitor on it that was popped. I had to trim it back and solder it without the cap and also repair a loose ground.

Problem solved, sorta...

I've gigged with it twice and it sounds pretty good. My gripes are that I have Very little dynamic control playing finger style...I play soft and it's soft, I play aggressively and it's still somewhat soft. Also I can't cut through my bands mix...it just blends into the frequencies of the PA system. The pots are not giving me much if any EQ and once I hit the "slap switch" the pots other than the volume and blend just don't work.

I'm wondering if replacing the preamp and pots with a new Bart system (ns5.4) or the Delano 3 band setup will help. Could it just be the pickups themselves? I have mk2's in my BTB and they blow the conklin away.

Any suggestions or input on or if changing out the preamp will help?
 
#3
jacojbass said:
they are not very strong pickups, any pre i hooked them up to came off weak, changed to something better like mk-5's and all was good
Click to expand...

Yea I was worried about that, it was the input I was hoping not to hear, but thank you. Would I maybe be able to maybe swap out the pups and leave the existing preamp in there? It's just some random thing called the funk cortek. I think it's a low end Bart piece
 
#6
mmbongo said:
You defnitely want a pre with an output adustment trim pot, so Audere is out.

I'd suggest a Bart pre. Then if you decide to upgrade the pickups, it will mate well with USA Barts!
Click to expand...

yeah it looks like id need a 5 knob setup with a switch Volume/Blend/Treb/Mid/Bass/mid switch. And there are only a couple of companies that make such a harness. I think the NS 5.4 is the bart version but if i were to get that, I would totally want a set of Bart Mk2's at the least. I dont know the different between the different MK barts tho. I assume mk5 is the best? I'm not opposed to swapping pups with my BTB570fm (they are MK2's and sound great)
 
#9
Lo-E said:
+1. I dunno about transformation, but I do know that Bart preamps can make decent p'ups sound like great p'ups.
Click to expand...
I put MK5's in my Lakland along with a Bart 5.2AP pre. Not bad but not quite as bright as I wanted. Tried Nordie Big Splits and they didn't play nice with the Bart pre. I remembered how good the bass sounded with the stock MK1's and put them back in. Bass sounds great now.
 
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#10
The mk1 pre is definitely quite dull. I recently went through this for an Ibanez SR505 and decided on the Bart NTMB... Best price/availibility/ease of installation - and as said, output gain trim pot.
 
#12
Daedraziel said:
yeah it looks like id need a 5 knob setup with a switch Volume/Blend/Treb/Mid/Bass/mid switch. And there are only a couple of companies that make such a harness. I think the NS 5.4 is the bart version but if i were to get that, I would totally want a set of Bart Mk2's at the least. I dont know the different between the different MK barts tho. I assume mk5 is the best? I'm not opposed to swapping pups with my BTB570fm (they are MK2's and sound great)
Click to expand...

No, MK is just the shape. There is no MK2, but there is a P2 which is the same pickup in a different case. P2's will fit, but MK5's fit perfectly since what you have is MK shape.
 
#13
DWBass said:
I put MK5's in my Lakland along with a Bart 5.2AP pre. Not bad but not quite as bright as I wanted. Tried Nordie Big Splits and they didn't play nice with the Bart pre. I remembered how good the bass sounded with the stock MK1's and put them back in. Bass sounds great now.
Click to expand...


Dang, I have the same setup and find it quite a bit TOO bright. It's waaaaaaaaaay brighter than my 44-02. I have some SGD pickups being made now which should be less mid scooped than the Barts. Not that they will be less bright, but they should be more balanced. The SGD will allow the mids to come out more, making it sound less bright.
 
#15
Thanks for the input guys. I ordered the 5.4 complete setup and ill see where that takes me. If I'm not happy or I don't notice a change.. Ill swap the pickups for mk5's. I really like the style of the body and the crazy thin neck on this bass, so I don't mind putting some money into it
 

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