BTB7 is back! İbanez BTB747

I want it! I had a BTB7 in the past, but sold it to pay for an emergency...

Ibanez will discontinue this bass in a heartbeat like they often do...I will have to be quick

 

They gave up on the 4 long before they gave up on the 7. Just as excited to see that, and it looks like it is still 35" scale.

I really appreciate Ibanez's contributions to the bass world.

 

They ought to make a BTBM-70, or in other words:

A Mikro bass version of this bass would be killer!

 

the BTB7, either the Limited edition or the Bass Workshop editions (there were actually two variants of BTB7 Bass Workshop edition which differ in their preamps), use CAP Sonic Arch pickups. These pickups appear to be the same pickups they used on the Grooveline series 6 string.

There are few YouTube video clips of latest BTB series with BH2 pickups, the same pickups they used on the new BTB747, so they might give rough samples of how the new BTB747 pickups would sound. For sure they are dual coil soapbars, so they probable will give thicker sound than BTB7 jazz kinda pickups.

 

Hard to tell just from videos, but in the few I watched the BH-2 pickups sounded brighter and punchier than MK-1s and most CAP Sonic Arch pickups I've played. Potentially an improvement over their predecessors, in that case.

But I've got to say the CAP electronics in the Grooveline series were really great. IMHO those basses had a very clear and musical midrange, particularly in passive mode.

 

The BTB body shape feels bulky to me, but they are some well made, great sounding basses. The BTB7 will certainly fill a niche.

 

Looks cool glad they went with more traditional pickups this time

 

Hello all, I'm narrowing down which 7-string I should pick up. I'm a bit concerned about this bass actually! If you look closely, it only has one truss rod! Can a 7-string neck-through bass hold up over time with only one truss rod? There's gotta be a reason that many 6-string basses have a double truss rod!

 

I noticed also this single truss rod in the new 7 string BTB747 neck... but the difference is, I'm willing to buy one if it's available in my country with one of reasons this single truss rod thing, though I own the BTB7 Bass Workshop edition (with two truss rods) already.

Mainly I'd like to know whether this single truss rod thing could have taken some weight off the 7 string beast. Cause one drawback of the BTB7 for long hour playing is its heavy weight (mine is roughly 5 kg / 11 lbs - though might not regarded as heavy by some).

Many 6 string basses have 2 truss rods to counter the pulling force of that many strings on such wide(r) fretboard. I've owned and sold several 6-string basses with mostly have 2 truss rods, but now I only keep the one with single truss rod, not only because it plays good, but also the lightest of any 6-string basses that I've ever played (3.8 kg / 8 lb 6 oz). I've never had problem with this single truss rod 6-string neck and I think it's possible due to the usage of harder multiple laminated woods on its neck and maybe also with additional reinforcement bars on both sides of the truss rod.

 

Aha! That is true, I completely forgot about the weight of the second truss rod.

 

Sounds about right. My Chinese 7 string has dual truss rods and is 12 lbs. I think my 6 string was 9.5 last I weighed it, it feels small and light and I made it with 1 truss rod and a 5 piece laminated quartersawn neck.

Not that I'm out to buy one, but I'd like to see one as an unlined fretless.

 

What was the string spacing on the original BTB7? The new BTB747 says 15.5mm.

 

They are all the same. Both the limited edition and the Bass Workshop edition BTB7 and now the new BTB747 have the same 15.5 mm string spacing.

 

Too bad they don’t offer a standard 7-string in the SR series (34” scale). Of course I could restring a SRAS7 BEADGCF with the lowest strings on the fretless part! I liked the original BTB7 but found it a bit large for me as compared to the SR506. But the BTB7 did sound great.

 

I'm still on the fence about this bass...I had a Peavey Grind 6-string which was neck-thru and had TWO truss rods, and it still developed a nasty twist in the neck. Do you think this Ibanez BTB7 will hold up over the years with only one truss rod?

 

how many pcs of woods were on the neck of your Grind?

 

7 pcs. Mahogany with maple stringers