Yet another Bartolini MK-1 Question

[LostInSauce]

Anyone know how the MK-1 Bart’s would compare to Bart Original Splits?
They’re both reverse P style pups. Has anyone tried swapping the pups with splits?

 

[iplay5strings]

The OG splits will be darker tonally. The Mk1's are actually great sounding pickups and similar to Mike Tobias' proprietary pickups, they just need a better preamp. Pairing the Mk1's with an 18v NTMB+FL is like a poor man's MTD setup.

 

[Aidil]

The OG splits will be darker tonally. The Mk1's are actually great sounding pickups and similar to Mike Tobias' proprietary pickups, they just need a better preamp. Pairing the Mk1's with an 18v NTMB+FL is like a poor man's MTD setup.

the NTMB+FL as the one Bartolini said often used in fretless instruments, instead of the NTMB+F?

Please tell us more have you had experiences in using both.

I've used the F but not the FL due to the above reason. But it would be interesting if turns out the FL would sound great too with fretted instruments.

 

[iplay5strings]

the NTMB+FL as the one Bartolini said often used in fretless instruments, instead of the NTMB+F?

Please tell us more have you had experiences in using both.

I've used the F but not the FL due to the above reason. But it would be interesting if turns out the FL would sound great too with fretted instruments.

The FL is actually Bartolini's original preamp voicing. When Bill came out with a different one they just rebranded the old design as a "fretless circuit" to continue selling it. The original NTMB (now labeled as the FL) was Bartolini taking the even older NS3TMB (what Mike Tobias' still uses in his handmades) and making it op-amp based instead of transistor based. This allowed them to shrink the circuit down to one module and do away with the +9-9 switching power supply of the NS3TMB. All the frequency centers remained the same, but the design was less expensive to produce. So using an NTMB+FL, you have "the same" voicing as the older preamp design that Mike uses in his handmade basses.

 

[Aidil]

The FL is actually Bartolini's original preamp voicing. When Bill came out with a different one they just rebranded the old design as a "fretless circuit" to continue selling it. The original NTMB (now labeled as the FL) was Bartolini taking the even older NS3TMB (what Mike Tobias' still uses in his handmades) and making it op-amp based instead of transistor based. This allowed them to shrink the circuit down to one module and do away with the +9-9 switching power supply of the NS3TMB. All the frequency centers remained the same, but the design was less expensive to produce. So using an NTMB+FL, you have "the same" voicing as the older preamp design that Mike uses in his handmade basses.

Thank you for bringing those up. I like Bill's work but never new much of his work in the past.

So, what do the different voicings of the F vs. the FL translate in real usage (other than now seems aimed as fretted vs. fretless thing)?

 

[iplay5strings]

This shows the comparison btwn the 2. The biggest things to note are the treble frequency center difference and the boost amounts.

 

[Aidil]

This shows the comparison btwn the 2. The biggest things to note are the treble frequency center difference and the boost amounts.View attachment 3405992

Yeah, I've seen that table on Bartolini's webpage. Just thought you have real-life experiences using both types of pre.

 

[iplay5strings]

Yeah, I've seen that table on Bartolini's webpage. Just thought you have real-life experiences using both types of pre.

I do. My experience is that the NTMB+F is aimed towards adding more of the outside ends of the tone spectrum to the bass, which is why Bill moved the treble frequency further up and made the treble/bass boost amounts more than the mid-range. This pre seems was more geared towars the more mid-range heavy Bartolini soapbar/humbucker pickups as those we're becoming more popular. The NTMB+FL is more about having focus to your sound which is why the treble frequency is lower and the mid/bass boost amounts are equal. I much prefer the +FL for a jazz because that 6.5K treble gives you a nice bite for fingerstyle while still giving you shimmer for slap stuff. The 10K of the +F gives you nice snap up high for slap, but usually lacks in attack for fingerstyle stuff for me.

 

[Aidil]

I do. My experience is that the NTMB+F is aimed towards adding more of the outside tone spectrum to the bass, which is why Bill moved the treble frequency further up and made the treble/bass boost amounts more than the mid-range. Basically aimed towards the more mid-range heavy Bartolini soapbar/humbucker pickups as those became more popular. The NTMB+FL is more about having focus to your sound which is why the treble frequency is lower and the mid/bass boost amounts is equal. I much prefer the +FL for a jazz because that 6.5K treble gives you a nice bite for fingerstyle while still giving you shimmer for slap stuff. The 10K of the +F gives you nice snap up high for slap, but usually lacks in attack for fingerstyle stuff for me.

Appreciate your inspiring reviews, carvinbassplyr. Thanks.

Now you've successfully made me GASsing for the NTMB+FL.