Bartolini 59J1 Jazz Bass

This is an update to my review where I said that I was working with Bartolini on a set of replacement pickups. After initially being very helpful and saying that they would ship me a new set out right away, I didn't hear from them for a couple of weeks. Now they won't respond to any of my phone calls or faxes. It's totally ridiculous. Luckily the website I bought them from sent me out a new set when I told them about the problem. bestbassgear.net - what a great site, they really saved me. Screw Bartolini. They treated me like a real jerk.

I Put these in both positions on my Warwick Thumb Bass. I had the same problem with the Neck pickup as the other guy. The Volume on the D string was about 1/2 the other strings. Bridge pickup sounded great. I am currently working with Bartolini on a new set. They said it was the string spacing and odd pickup placement on my bass.

Pickup features: Humbucking ("split coil", side-by-side design, not stacked)
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Carvin BB75 (1994 or 1995 model, I think)
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: Replaced both stock H50N humbuckers
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Jazz, fusion, roots rock
Reason for pickup change: Wanted to improve upon sound of stock electronics

Perceived output level: Very low - best for use with a preamp
Tone: Warm with plenty of lows
Sonic evaluation: I replaced the stock Carvin electronics with these pups in combination with the Bartolini NTBT preamp. I felt that the stock electronics, while definitely adequate, were a bit lacking. Stock, this bass tended to sound a little bright and tinny. The replacement pickups are much darker and less "brittle" than the stock H50Ns. They also seem to have a slightly better low end response, although it may be my imagination. It also seems that the low B sounds fuller and tighter now than it did before, but sometimes these things are subjective. This set includes a bridge pickup which is allegedly wound for more "growl", and I must say, that appears to be accurate. This bass really sounds best with a little more bridge than neck pickup mixed in. Nice percussive bite when plucked right over the bridge pup.
For what it's worth, I recorded some samples direct into my digital workstation for the purposes of before & after comparison. The Bart preamp has a passive bypass, which I used when evaluating the pups themselves.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Difficult to say, since so much of this depends on the player and the bass. But I would think this pickup would be fine for a variety of styles.

Comments: Overall, I am quite happy with the combination of these pickups & the NTBT preamp. They are very well matched. Not sure if another preamp would do the pups as much justice.
One remark about the design: Since these are 5-string pickups & have a split-coil side-by-side design, you will hear a VERY small amount of "single coil" hum when soloing either the bridge or neck pups. I believe this is due to the fact that the magnets are not the same size (one covers 3 strings, the other 2), and so the winding size for each is going to be slightly different, thereby causing an imperfect hum cancellation. I have found this noise to be negligible, but it's worth noting.
A gripe: I didn't receive any mouting screws with these pickups and the stock Carvin screws were too short. Had to dig up another set.

Pickup features: Passive humbucking
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Warmoth Jazz Bass
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Bridge and neck
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change: Needed a nice beefy pickup for my new Warmoth Jazz.

Perceived output level: Slight,y more output than a Fender American Standard pickup
Tone: Bassy on E and A string, trebly on G, BUT HORRIBLY UNBALANCED
Sonic evaluation: I am using an Ampeg SVT all tube head into an Eden 410XLT cab. I bought these Bartolinis on the testimony of a lot of high end manufacturers. I figured if they use Barts, they must be really good. And all the basses I have played with Barts have sounded great, EXCEPT mine. I installed the pickups with my J-retro pre-amp, expecting a great deal. When I finally got it wired, I played for about a minute, not believing my ears. The E and A string sounded great - well defined with serious low end. The G string was also sweet sounding, with a just a little bit of unnatural high end - but still quite good. Then we get to the D string. The volume was 1/2 of the other three strings, with no tone. Immediately I blamed myself, tore apart the bass, checked my connectios, did a complete set up again, and tried it out. Same deal. So I thought, "No big deal, maybe the pre isn't working correctly." Then I installed a passive pre. NO CHANGE. Then I thought, "Well, I just got a bad set - nobody's perfect, I'll just trade them out." I took them back to Mars, the luthier checked the pickups - confirmed that I had gotten a bad set - and sent me home with another pair. I installed the new set - SAME THING. I then installes them in an old jazz bass to make sure I hadn't overlooked anything. Same thing. I am very disappointed. Seems like quality control at Bartolini sucks. I would be very interested to speak with a high end manufacturer and see what he would say about the quality of the pickups they recieve. As soon as I finish writing this article, I am going to check the reviews to find an alternative. I no longer want to waste my time with Bartolinis.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Pickups sure sounded great on three out of the four strings!! Too bad.

Comments: Consider a different brand.