Bartolini Pickups and Electronics is an American company who make guitar and bass pickups and electronics, such as pre-wired harnesses, pre-amps, and EQ modules. The company was founded in 1973 by Bill Bartolini, and is based in

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly h ...

, California. The pickups and electronics are used by

luthiers A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of ...

such as Michael Tobias Design, Pedulla, Overwater, Roscoe, Warrior, Elrick, Sukop, Mayones, Novax, Curbow, and Zon.

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, ...

installs Bartolini pickups, they are also sold through musical retailers as replacements to upgrade existing instruments.

History

Bill Bartolini began manufacturing magnetic pickups in 1973. He first focused on

quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for ...

and hexaphonic pickups, branded under "Hi-A."

External links

Official websiteWilliam Bartolini
NAMM Oral History Interview (2006)
Patricia Bartolini
NAMM Oral History Interview (2006) Guitar pickup manufacturers {{guitar-stub