…says the man who bought a Cort B4 Artisan with Bartolini MK1 pickups in it in the video below. And yes, we do carry this particular shape along with several others.
Describing a pickup’s tone as “bright” does make sense as that describes the treble side of things.
Describing a sound as “accurate” could mean any number of things.
It could mean “proper response”, meaning consistency of tone just about anywhere on the neck.
It could also mean “articulate”, which can describe the voicing of the pickup as “clarity of sound”, among other things (certain players have different ways of describing what articulate means when describing a sound).
Regardless of how you describe accuracy of tone, response of tone and/or articulation of tone, there is one undeniable truth here:
Bartolini pickups are good.
When you have a bass with good pickups in it, life is just plain easier. It’s easier to get a bass sounding good in studio or on stage when the pickups are built right and sound right out of the box.
I have been a Cort fan for a long time. The way they are built and The sound is incredible at the price point of The Artisan,in fact they are as good as and better than a lot of Boutique Basses.
They are The very best of Basses
I have an Ibanez 750 that has the MK-1 pickups with an on-board preamp. I’ve found that notes played on the G string tend to sound overly bright. I’d be interested in replacement pickups with adjustable poles so I could “turn down” the G string.
strings can play a major part in this dept – just sayin’
MK1s are cheap pickups manufactured outside the US with license from Bartolini for budget basses. Above average tone with hints of a P pickup.
MK1 active preamp is totally crap. Bad frequency choices for the EQ. Muddy bass, ear-scratching treble and dull mids. The switch is not a true active-passive switch, either. It only bypasses the EQ. So do not depend on it, and check your battery. If it dies on you on stage, you’re done.
I used to have a Lakland 55-01 with the same electronics. The first thing I did was to get rid of the MK1s and put on some decent electronics. The bass came alive…
I have recently purchased /installed a Bart w/ “O” original tone voicing as opposed to the “M” modern voicing. I like it alot for putting the boom in the room. I don’t know if MK-I pups are available this way.
I bought the fretless version of this bass (B4FL) about a year ago and like it a lot. I didn’t expect much for the price, but was pleasantly surprised at how well everything was fit and I find myself going to it over and over again to play. Very light too. Enjoy it and best of luck.
Just a work on the Bartolini MK-1 pickups, there is a USA version of these pickups that are definitely an upgrade over the import version.
Any thoughts on the Markbass Pre Amp Vs the Bartonilni Pre Amp? on these. Form what I IS better to go for one with the MB?