What gear have you bought or acquired, simply because you thought you ought to..?

[Roger2611]

Bartonlini, had a Tune Woodbass fitted with Barts, hated the sound of it, had a top end Bass Collection fitted with Barts, hated the sound of it, had an ESP Horizon 5 string where the original pickups and electrics had been replaced by Bartolini stuff....double hated the sound of it....sorry if you just looked at you ESP and thought "hey! I'm stuck with that POS now!"

[Terry M.]

11 minutes ago, Roger2611 said:

Bartonlini, had a Tune Woodbass fitted with Barts, hated the sound of it, had a top end Bass Collection fitted with Barts, hated the sound of it, had an ESP Horizon 5 string where the original pickups and electrics had been replaced by Bartolini stuff....double hated the sound of it....sorry if you just looked at you ESP and thought "hey! I'm stuck with that POS now!"

I mentioned Barts in my earlier post. I just don't understand them. They have a legion of fans however so it's probably just you and me ☺️

Edited Tuesday at 17:13 by Terry M.

[paul_5]

Also the Sansamp Bass Driver never really scratched me where I itched - I still reckon the Paradriver is vastly superior 

[Russ]

3 hours ago, Roger2611 said:

Bartonlini, had a Tune Woodbass fitted with Barts, hated the sound of it, had a top end Bass Collection fitted with Barts, hated the sound of it, had an ESP Horizon 5 string where the original pickups and electrics had been replaced by Bartolini stuff....double hated the sound of it....sorry if you just looked at you ESP and thought "hey! I'm stuck with that POS now!"

I don't hate them, but they're very "polite". The MMC/MME MM pickups were decent in terms of tone and output, but didn't really have the MM sound. 

 

Their cheap Mk1 pickups are ubiquitous on basses from the Far East and are fairly terrible. Low output and not particularly pleasant-sounding. 

[tauzero]

2 hours ago, Russ said:

 

Their cheap Mk1 pickups are ubiquitous on basses from the Far East and are fairly terrible. Low output and not particularly pleasant-sounding. 

 

Nothing wrong with the MK-1s, they just have a flat output rather than any particular peaks and troughs. It's fashionable to criticise them though. So, appropriately for this thread, people buy or acquire replacements for them because they think they ought to.

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, tauzero said:

 

Nothing wrong with the MK-1s, they just have a flat output rather than any particular peaks and troughs. It's fashionable to criticise them though. So, appropriately for this thread, people buy or acquire replacements for them because they think they ought to.

 

I've heard them referred to as "Fartolinis" - very mature. Honestly I think they're the three point bridge of the pickup world...

[Russ]

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

 

Nothing wrong with the MK-1s, they just have a flat output rather than any particular peaks and troughs. It's fashionable to criticise them though. So, appropriately for this thread, people buy or acquire replacements for them because they think they ought to.

Not a fan, personally. They sound very bland to my ears and have no sound of their own. They're functional, and that's probably the best I can say about them. 

 

You're seeing more and more Nordstrand Big Singles showing up in lieu of the Mk1s these days, and they're a lot better. They actually have a bit of welly.  

[Terry M.]

8 hours ago, tauzero said:

Nothing wrong with the MK-1s, they just have a flat output rather than any particular peaks and troughs. It's fashionable to criticise them though.

Dunno if it's a fashion statement dude as a lot of people including myself just simply don't care for them. As always we have to factor in personal taste I guess ☺️

[Rodders]

Talking of Bartolini Mk1's, reminded me of the Cort A6 I bought many years ago when I'd decided I'd gotten as much as I could out of a 4 string (which was obviously not the case).
The combo of the Mk1's, the active preamp and the realisation that I really didn't have a use for 6 strings long term meant I sold it after a year..

[HeadlessBassist]

Bartolini Mk1 pickups seem to be coming up a lot. They're basically a really flat, polite and clean sounding pickup. You often need to boost the bass a lot in order to get anything meaningful out of them, but barely any treble boost. They're just tuned oddly and need driving, or at least they are in my Cort Space 4. They're not gnarly or characterful. Just honest and polite.

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

I am always astounded by the huge differences in output levels between basses with different pickups. I make a lot of use of gain to get a more consistent edge of overdrive sound, with effects I use compression to achieve the same. I think low output pups are often condemned because people turn up the master volume and get a vanilla sound as a result.

[HeadlessBassist]

11 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I am always astounded by the huge differences in output levels between basses with different pickups. I make a lot of use of gain to get a more consistent edge of overdrive sound, with effects I use compression to achieve the same. I think low output pups are often condemned because people turn up the master volume and get a vanilla sound as a result.

 

Maybe it's an age thing - I grew up in the Trace Elliot era when we learned to set the gain to a level where it just started to peak, and THEN added the output volume. That also gives a much more faithful sound of your bass.

[Stub Mandrel]

17 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

Maybe it's an age thing - I grew up in the Trace Elliot era when we learned to set the gain to a level where it just started to peak, and THEN added the output volume. That also gives a much more faithful sound of your bass.

 

Agreed.

[SimonK]

21 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

Maybe it's an age thing - I grew up in the Trace Elliot era when we learned to set the gain to a level where it just started to peak, and THEN added the output volume. That also gives a much more faithful sound of your bass.

 

...does anyone NOT do this - as in how else would you set up your amp gain stage? It's also why we have the -10dB pad buttons (or hi and low inputs) on amps?

[HeadlessBassist]

3 minutes ago, SimonK said:

 

...does anyone NOT do this - as in how else would you set up your amp gain stage? It's also why we have the -10dB pad buttons (or hi and low inputs) on amps?

 

I think you might be surprised. I see a lot of people set everything to 12 o'clock and then maniacally overboost the output stage. 🤦‍♂️

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, SimonK said:

 

...does anyone NOT do this - as in how else would you set up your amp gain stage? It's also why we have the -10dB pad buttons (or hi and low inputs) on amps?

 

I've seen a LOT of people do this.

[Muzz]

On 14/08/2025 at 16:13, Russ said:

When people get their first Stingray, they always do the same thing, especially if it's a 2EQ - dial the bass and treble all the way up. Then they wonder why all they can hear in a band context is woof and click, with no midrange. So they sell it. 

 

Eventually, they discover that the EQ controls are kinda interactive, as you dial up the bass and treble, it actually sucks the mids out. So you end up only adding a tiny bit of boost to each, and, all of a sudden, you can actually hear yourself in the mix! 

Nope, mine were all 3EQs, and no matter what I did I just didn't like it.

 

On the Markbass heads thing, there's a jumper (well, there was on the LMIII, and I suspect others, too) on the main board that sets 110/240v. I bought one in the States years ago and brought it back here. Not going to say setting the jumper wasn't a tense moment, but it ran for years afterwards...

[Muzz]

Flats. Figured I should at least try them, but I should've known (I would these days, I'm much wiser about what'll suit me) they wouldn't work for me. After a very short tenure (in retrospect, the fact that I didn't cut them should've been an indicator that subconsciously I wasn't commited) on the original recipient, they ended up on an acoustic bass, where they work really well...and don't stink like those phosphor bronze ones do...