Bartolini MMC Music Man Sting Ray Replacement

humbucker with coil blend pot

tobias 4 str.

real good

I'm writing this to flame Bartolini over their non-existant customer service. I am a guitar tech at a music store and have a customer whos bass needs the pickup pan pot in its bartolini electronics replaced. I've phoned and faxed the company multiple times over a period of greater than a month and have gotton absolutely no response from bartolini! So, warning to all you who are considering purchasing a bartolini product: If you have a problem with it Bartolini will probably be no help to you. -Just a warning.

P.S. The pickup really does sound very good.

Pickup features: humbucking
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Warmoth koa body, moses graphite neck
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: N/A
Other pickups on guitar: N/A
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): funk, soul, r&b, rock
Reason for pickup change: first pickup put in bass

Perceived output level: pretty hot when passive, turn on the AguilarOBP3 and boom!!!
Tone: Smooth very well balanced when passive, with preamp you can shape to what you like
Sonic evaluation: Warmoth Dinky J flam Koa on Koa body with Leo Quann badass II bridge. Moses graphite Jazz bass neck hipshot d-tuner and fender Amer. deluxe tuners with aguilar OBP3 preamp. Smith rock master strings 105-45. Tech 21 Sansamp RBI- Ampeg SVT3 pro - Ampeg svt15en speaker cab.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: this works great for funk,soul, blues, even rock. I do think my jazz basses do that a little better.

Comments: This pickup is very smooth and warm. I assume every will run it through a preamp because most musicmans are active. in that case this pickup is perfect. it can be fat dull and bassy. super midsy with insane bell like harmonics and bright ass trebly with lots of snap. I prefer just a little bass and mids with the treble set flat. if playing through a cab with a horn I might even turn the treble down for slapping. very clean sounding pickup. I'm sure if you know what MM's sound like you'll be very happy with this pickup. By the way it insanly quiet.

Pickup features: Replacement for Stingray
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Homemade
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar: EMG active precision pickup
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): indie rock- Fugazi type stuff
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Medium Output. I'd rather have great tone thatn a hot pickup anyway
Tone: There are so many options with between the volume and tone controls you should be able to dial in something decent. That being said I couldn't find a tone that could satisfy me with this pickup.
Sonic evaluation: I have used this pickup through my Ampeg SVT 3 and gone through three different cabinets and none of them sounded like a real stingray should. The time I was pleased with this pickup was when I would record direct. It was only then that the pickup seemed to shine. Otherwise I give this overpriced thing a thumbs down.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Maybe if you play some kind of jazz fusion this pickup would work for you. What I wanted was a narly At the Drive In type of tone with overdriven highs. This thing never get raw. I tried using overdrive pedals different cabinet and head combinations and never found that tone that I was looking for with this pickup.

Comments: There is no substitiute for the real thing as far as Stingray pickups go. I've played about 10 different real stingrays and all of them sound better than this pickup. If you want a stingray sound it sucks but you have to buy a musicman stingray. A REAL stingray and not one of those SUB basses. Sorry, there's just no getting around it.

Pickup features: Passive dual-coil humbucker (standard)
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: '94 EB Music Man Sting Ray
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock Sting Ray Pickup
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): R&B, Blues, Rock, Funk, Jazz
Reason for pickup change: Weak output of the G string and sharp edges from pole pieces from stock pickup.

Perceived output level: Less output than the stock pickup, but not noticeably less.
Tone: Throaty midrange with alot of bottom and treble when called upon (i.e.: dialed up on the preamp)
Sonic evaluation: Very, very good. I use an SWR Bass 350 with a Carvin 4x10 w/ tweeter and this pickup really shines with this set up. It comes from the factory wired in series. Instructions also give parallel wiring option, but claims less output with enhanced treble and less midrange. Series wiring provides maximum output with pronounced midrange. As a bassist, I want all the output I can get, along with all the midrange I can get, and less treble. I figured it came prewired in series from the factory for a good reason and I'm pleased with the results.
The stock preamp on my Sting Ray really responds to this pickup. I usually play with the bass knob at 7 o'clock, midrange flat(12 o'clock), and treble at 4 o'clock. This provides a great sound for my style, but the breathe of tones are pretty limitless. For a more hi-fi tone, I turn the midrange to about 1 o'clock and it responds beautifully.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play a variety of styles in the cover band that I'm in. Everything from disco, classic rock, Motown and Stax, latin, etc. Any kind of music to get people on the dance floor. This pickup with the preamp on this bass gives me all the tonal options I need. When I play fingerstyle, it sounds great and when I switch over to slap in the middle of a fingerstyle song, it responds without having to tweak the preamp. I'm truly pleased with this pickup.

Comments: I would buy this pickup again. I satisfies the classic Sting Ray sound that I was not getting from the stock pickup. I've seen playing the bass for 22 years. I own a '69 Fender Precision and an '80 G&L L1000. I'm satisfied with the sound of these other basses, but the Sting Ray is my main bass. I love the feel and playability of the Sting Ray and now I love the sound. I never experienced the tonal varieties of the preamp with the stock pickup. I believe I had a bad stock pickup because I've heard great tones from stock Sting Rays. Everytime I would play on the G string with the stock pickup, it sounded like someone turned my amp down 2-3 notches and set the compressor on full. I found myself playing higher up the neck to avoid that string. Now I don't have to play harder on the G string or try to avoid it. I definitely gives me that Sting Ray sound that I was not gettin with the stock pickup.
There is also a cool factor involved. My bass is black with a black pickguard and pickguard screws. With the all black Bartolini pickup, it looks really clean; kind of like a newer model Cadillac STS with a minimum of chrome!