They need to go back to their old 70's passive pickups for basses which sound like Dimarzio's with less gain and more low mids. All of their modern pickups are various flavors of Jazz clones, even the MM sized ones, and their onboard electronics are terrible. Ken Smith and Spector are about the only modern active systems that have any distinctiveness and quality. Barts can be nice depending on the model and what they're in, but I got sick of their over use in the 90's. (If Gibson had any sense it would mass produce the old Les Paul LZ's and a legit Sidewinder again.) I don't mind Carvin's coffee-table looks, but all their modern neck profiles are too flat. I've not tried their recent Fender knockoffs, but I don't imagine they're anything so tonally distinctive as to give me a reason to do so.