Ergodyne woes...

[BassMan250]

I got an EDB400 a few months ago and have treated it well, but it's getting the same problems that you guys talked about; my jack is coming loose all the time, I've got no sustain on the E and G strings, and the overall tone of the bass has dropped through the floor. When I first got it I loved it because of the active EQ, I could get a bunch of different tones and they all sounded good. Now it just sounds flat, muddy and generally terrible. Should I take mine back to the shop and trade it in for a Fender or something?

[BassJunkie730]

Originally Posted by ;100974

The bass sounds allright but the tone isn't close to my Peavey G-bass. I could add parts or change parts but your not supposed to have to rebuild the thing when it's not even a year old.

On the contrary - I have a soft spot for cheap instruments and usually the easiest way for compaines to increase their profit margin is to use cheap hardware.

Maybe I have a different view about instruments because I do build and modify on occasion.

Now if you think buying new tuners - and possibly a bridge (if you can find the proper hole mounts), replacing the nut, getting a pro to give the frets a good once over, and maybe spring for new pickups (it looks like you can drop some Nordstrand 4 string soapbars in there no problem) and a preamp is too much then - yes by all means save up for a bass that is going to play and sound awesome right out of the box. but with a little effort on your own part - I estmate you'd have a pretty amazing bass on your hands.

It's simply a matter of re-investing the money into the bass that the company dragged out of it to make more money.

hey even I bought a New lakland Joe Osborn 5 and had mods done to it.

To me it's not a question of whether you have to - there are lots of people who are happy with Ibanez's crappy hardware - but if you like the bass - spend some extra dough and be happy :-)

Of course if you think a Zon will solve your problems - then go for it - very well made - and very expensive.

FWIW - i sold my Lakie because I stopped playing it after I built my P-bass - haven't really had any hardcore GAS pains since.

As far as sustain issues - A new nut can make a nice difference in solving these problems - perhaps a harder material.

The body wood for the bass is pretty soft - perhaps a retro fit to a larger type bridge. If you've got the time and a backup bass - I reccomend sending the bridge assembly to Hipshot Products - they should be able to drill a B-style or A-style bridge to match your mounting holes. If you need some more sustain - get the bridge made out of brass.

[BassoP]

Just replace the jack. It's a 3 buck part, plus whatever mounting solution you use. I like electrocket tele cups, but those square and rectangular side plates do the trick too.

[Alejandro Lozan]

I have a beginner student and his bass is almost new, but two weeks ago he called me very worried because it input jack didn´t works; those basses are very comfortable and look very nice, besides the material´s body is really strange, but I prefer my ibby SR 400.

It´s good to show these details to the beginners to they avoid them. And when you starting with these problems you can get down so easy... Try to comunnicate them each other.

Alejandro L.

[mr. eff]

I had an ergodyne edc (the old ones made out of luthite). I got it without studying up on it. While everyone thought it looked cool, the tone was pretty crappy. Only thing I really liked about it was the triple coil pu. The screw inserts for the electronics was not threaded and, and fell apart after after having to take off the back only 3 times. This wasn't that big of a deal, but bugged me none the less. Also I had some major grounding issues after playing it for about a month, b/c tthe ground kept coming loose. The contol cavities leave ALOT to be desired. I've also heard horror stories about it being cold, and the bass shattering from just a little ding due to the luthite body. Needless to say I sold mine and lost some money on the deal.

[HeavyDuty]

I split this one off from the ancient Ergodyne bitch thread... enjoy!

[BassMan250]

I've decided to put a new bridge, nut, tuners, jack and pickups in my Ergodyne, then defret it. For my main 4-string fretted I've ordered a hotrodded P-bass with Jazz neck, Quarter Pounders and Badass II bridge.