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Best Strings for Ibanez Mikro Bass GSRM20?

davegardner0

davegardner0

Mar 27, 2016
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#1
I bought an Ibanez mikro bass recently (love it!), but in the last few band practices I've noticed the tone changing a little. It sounds kind of "unfocused" and really hasn't cut through the mix well. I think the stock strings are getting old and worn out.

So...what are my options? I saw these coated strings from Ibanez, which sound intriguing. Has anyone tried them?
https://amazon.com/Ibanez-Guitar-St...encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&ie=UTF8

Any other good options for these basses?

In general I'm looking for a tight bass tone, for playing classic rock. Not looking to solo or slap at all. And I definitely want the bass to cut through without just cranking up the treble, etc.

Bonus question: any other tips/mods for getting these basses to cut through the mix?
 
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#3
I'd say I'm playing classic rock but not looking for the standard classic rock tone (which to me is a loose sounding fender bass). I'm looking for something a little more tight and focused sounding if possible. Will the flatwounds give me that?
 
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#5
I ended up buying the coated Ibanez strings:
https://amazon.com/Ibanez-Guitar-St...encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&ie=UTF8
They sound pretty nice! Especially for the price. I wouldn't say they're super high quality strings though. They feel a bit "rough" especially for being coated and there's a lot of finger noise. The wires around the ball ends look a little messy too. Sort of what you'd expect for house-brand strings at musician's friend or something. But $22 for coated strings is low so the value is still pretty good.

That being said, they're also clearly an upgrade over the stock strings on the Mikro bass. They just feel nicer than those strings. They're a lot heavier too which changed the playing feel a bit for the better. The string tension is higher which makes the bass feel less "limp" overall and makes it harder to play out of tune by fretting too hard. The bass sounds tighter and more focused too, which I'm happy about.

So until somebody starts selling nicer coated short-scale strings (Elixr, D'addario, etc.), I think these strings are the best option out there for the Mikro bass.
 
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#6
Curious, do you get a lot of hum when you turn the treble (tone) control on? I do on my Mikro, which I've had for about three months now. I have to keep the tone control off completely. I'm using LaBella Deep Talkin' flatwounds, which I like a lot. I get the best results, soundwise, from having both pickups completely on, and the tone completely off.
 
#7
John Stephen said:
Curious, do you get a lot of hum when you turn the treble (tone) control on? I do on my Mikro, which I've had for about three months now. I have to keep the tone control off completely. I'm using LaBella Deep Talkin' flatwounds, which I like a lot. I get the best results, soundwise, from having both pickups completely on, and the tone completely off.
Click to expand...

Sorry for my late reply. YES this bass does have some buzz when the Jazz bass pickup is turned on. The split pickup is pretty silent though. The noisy pickup is somewhat similar to the amount of noise you typically get from a Stratocaster guitar played on medium gain. So it's definitely pretty annoying.

And as far as the strings I bought for it, they sound pretty good. Not the best ever but decent. The problem with them, though, is that after a few months play they smell strongly like pennies/metal. And that smell definitely rubs off on the hands!
 
#8
Thanks for the info. I guess I'll just have to live with the hum situation (keep the treble off completely).
I've got LaBella Deep Talkin' Stainless Steel Flats on it and I am happy with them, except for the E string, which seems undefined from open E up to the sixth fret. Perhaps a higher tension E string would work better.
 
#9
One option would be to replace the jazz pickup with something noiseless. Just a thought although if you're happy with the tone you get now with the tone control off then it sounds good to go!
And as far as the string definition, that's always an uphill battle with a bass this small, I'm afraid. My experience is that heavier strings do better, but they also sound deeper and more bassy which isn't always good. So it's a trade-off.
 
#10
Thanks Dave, I appreciate the advice. I have thought about new pickups, but not sure I'll take the plunge just yet. As you said, tone seems OK with the tone knob rolled off. I think I will try a heavier E string, just to see if it makes a difference. I'll report back after I've had a chance to make the change.
 
#11
As far as I can tell, from much reviewing & investigating, these are the best you'll find:
P02852.png

I'd love to get some in Stainless, but they'd need to be special-ordered to get the diameters I'd prefer.
 
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#14
John Stephen said:
Thanks Dave, I appreciate the advice. I have thought about new pickups, but not sure I'll take the plunge just yet. As you said, tone seems OK with the tone knob rolled off. I think I will try a heavier E string, just to see if it makes a difference. I'll report back after I've had a chance to make the change.
Click to expand...

Let me know how it goes!!

For what it's worth, in the past on a 30" scale bass I've bought stainless steel Elixir long scale bass strings and cut them down. The low E is still at it's full diameter going into the tuning peg but it seems to work fine.
Not sure if it would work on the even shorter scale of the Mikro bass and with that bass's particular tuners, but I thought I'd throw it out there. The 30" scale bass I tried it on has hipshot ultralite tuners (imported version), by the way.
 
#20
Well, I haven't tried an Elixir yet, but I tried to install the Ernie Ball slinky roundwound E string on my Mikro, and I utterly failed in my attempt to install it. That string is so stiff I was unable to bend it around the post in the headstock. In fact I thought I was going to break the post when I tried to bend it. I've never encountered that stiff a string before. Kinda makes me wonder why they call it Slinky. So, at the risk of sounding like a total wuss, is there some trick to this?
 
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