Bartolini Review: P-Bass Pickups [split coil PU]

History:

Purchase: About $80, I use 3 sets and you can get them anywhere.

What I Like About This Bartolini P-Bass Pickups [split coil PU]: I buy them as passive PUs and they are very easy to instal if you can solder decently. They are also in my active Guild PJ as the original PUs, and even with the solid maple body and ebony fretboard I can get deep dark tones [and great mids at the same time]. Passive tone is really versatile. Even with EQ and gain set for THUD there is something well-defined to those thud tones. Great midrange for fretless because the mids are strong and vibrant across a wide range of EQ settings. This PU is capable of sharp highs but I can't say I use that much at all. YMMV.

What I Do NOT Like About The Bartolini P-Bass Pickups [split coil PU]: Should come with longer screws. Adjustable slugs would be icing on the cake, but you don't see those much on anything anymore.

Bartolini P-Bass Pickups [split coil PU] Quality Rating: No moving parts, looks good, sounds good. Very resistant to buzz & hum. Installation instructions are clear [of course there's not much to them].

Review Summary: I really like these, and I tend to like mellow tradional bass tone. There's agressive high end for the players that want it but I have no problem avoiding it. Does NOT make my D or G string incurably twangy. Unless you string BEAD, who cares whether it handles a low B, but it sounds good for DGCF right down to the open low D.

Rating of this Bartolini product: 4

This Bartolini P-Bass Pickups [split coil PU] Bass Guitar Accessories Review Submitted By: Golem

Review Date: 2005-03-22