Bartolinis

I

Inflames626

New member
Hey guys,
I hate to post such an open ended question here, but I'm a metal guitarist and not a bassist.

I like a really clean passive P bass type sound with a bright top end that cuts through like a PJ. Think maybe Iron Maiden or Tool.

I've tried a few bass pups. The SPB3 was too bassy and overwound for my taste. I tried a Fender 62 RI and I found their split P to be much more to my liking.

Active pups are okay for stuff like slap bass to me but they end up sounding a little stiff, like a synth bass.

That said, how are Bartolini pickups in general? They seem to come on a lot of high end basses from the factory. There are a lot of people who love them, and a lot who find them to be overrated.

I thought I would get a very general consensus about them, similar to the popular "EMGs are sterile," or "MM bass pickups sound fat."

Thanks.
 
Re: Bartolinis

They're considered to be one of the finest pickups in the bass community. The high end detail is very clear and articulate without there being any Korn bass click/rattle. They seem to fit mixes almost perfectly straight in. It's not hard to get a really nice sound and are just a real pleasure to listen to. What bass do you want to put barts in?
 
Re: Bartolinis

I only have two basses. One is a late 90s Peavey Foundation 5, maple neck and fretboard, J style, with stock hum canceling singles that are, interestingly, contoured to the fretboard radius. I like most Peavey stuff stock for the price paid.

The other is a 70s lawsuit Korean P bass copy, maple neck and fretboard, plywood body, with the Fender 62 P bass reissue.

What kind of bass is a good question. I'm not sure what form factor I like (P, J, P/J, soapbar, MM, or even a rare PP). I know a P alone thumps too much for my taste as opposed to cutting through. Several people I've talked to have suggested a P/J to me, since I think a J in the neck is kind of weak.

I've asked whether things like coil placement (side by side or vertical), as well as pole spacing, matter. This is important to me for such things as determining whether a P bass pup in a soapbar housing will still sound like a regular P, or if it is just cosmetic.

My rationale is different form factors will sound different due to different arrangement of coils and magnets under the strings, but there seems to be disagreement on this.

Also important is hum canceling vs. true singles. To my ear, at least in the guitar world, hum canceling singles lose some high end and dynamics due to the dummy coil.

After choosing a form factor, I need to decide on wiring. I don't think I'll be going crazy about on board bass stuff. Since I'm a guitarist, I get most of my tone from my signal chain. I'll probably be happy with just a J bass setup with push/pulls for wiring if needed.

Thanks.
 
Re: Bartolinis

I have a Bartolini 8S P-style pickup in my 1978 factory fretless Precision Bass. The sound is meaty, with most of the desirable qualities of active pickups EXCEPT for the brittle high frequency content. I record this bass guitar fairly often. It nails the low end.

I have also used the Bartolini 9J-L1. IMO, this pickup is almost good enough to be used on its own in the bridge position. A little bit of active EQ bass boost would do the trick. Unfortunately, the one thing that this pickup does not sound like is a traditional Fender Jazz Bass bridge position single coil. (Bartolini has other pickups that attempt this.)
 
Re: Bartolinis

To the OP, it may be worth trying a Quarterpounder P... but your biggest roadblock is likely to be the plywood body, I hate to say.
 
Re: Bartolinis

I have bartolinis in my jazz bass. They look like jazz pickups but they are split coil inside just like p bass pickups. i like them a lot. Meaty and deep with more articulation than i need.
 
Re: Bartolinis

gibson175 said:
I have bartolinis in my jazz bass. They look like jazz pickups but they are split coil inside just like p bass pickups. i like them a lot. Meaty and deep with more articulation than i need.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a cool pickup. What model are they? Are they active?
 
Re: Bartolinis

I looked on their website. They're the only manufacturer I'm aware of who offers six conductor quad coils.

I'm not sure on how much of an effect wood makes yet. It does seem like it is less resonant than my Peavey. The focus seems to be kind of "spongy"--emphasis a lot on a lot of the fundamental (100hz, 160hz, 200hz) as opposed to cutting through the mix. Then again, my Peavey has a pickup under the bridge and the P bass doesn't. It would be easier to tell if my P bass also had a pickup under the bridge. I keep the bass because it looks kind of cool and the aged maple neck vintage stain is hard to find in other basses without their being expensive. The P bass works fine when you simply need something to ride the fundamental and add beef to the guitar, but not when you want the bass to be more up front.

I also replaced the tone knob cap with a vintage spec capacitor (.1 uf I think as opposed to whatever the brighter ones were that they started using in the 70s and 80s) and recorded with the tone knob with full bass. I got a lot of 100 hz for that.

Jtougas, I tried an SPB3 Quarterpounder in the P bass before I went to the relatively underwound Fender 62 RI.

I don't really understand the love behind Quarterpounders. To me, they're like sledge hammers with way too much bass. Loudness doesn't mean great tone. But I hope it works well once I get a BC Rich dual split P. Maybe putting it in the bridge will offset the bass and give me something in the bridge that won't have the hum of a single coil.
 
Last edited:
Re: Bartolinis

Ah, sorry... I'm better with model names than model numbers.

*shrug*

In my P bass (a Squier solid wood body w/ maple Mighty Mite neck), the QP sounds full and rich, with a good dose of the higher harmonics.


Sent from my iPad using a bunch of electrons, copper, and probably some fiber optic cable
 
Re: Bartolinis

My mistake. I have the Fenders marked "Original P Bass." Fender has been rebranding a lot of stuff lately with vintage and the recent reissues. Probably very minor changes with a price premium added on for saying vintage or reissue.
 
Re: Bartolinis

I have one of their split P bass pickups. I don't recall it being special in any way.
 
Re: Bartolinis

Both my Ibanez basses have the Bartolini pu's

They are both the 500 series

Mine are soap bar

I like em

*(Sent from my durned phone!)*
 
Re: Bartolinis

Or an unfinished alder body from Warmoth... Light oil finish, upgrade the bridge, and run...
 
Re: Bartolinis

Warmoth is certainly my bass parts source of choice, but they can be spendy. I recommended the Fender option because for the same price as an unfinished Warmoth alder body, you can get a finished Fender alder body.
 
Re: Bartolinis

Well... If you're careful, you can get cheaper at Warmoth, but finished is worth it (unless you're the handy type and are comfortably applying a finish).


Sent from my iPad using a bunch of electrons, copper, and probably some fiber optic cable
 
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