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Help: is this bass defective?

#23
i don't think the saddles any side-to-side adjustment ... BUT , .. when there's a height adjustment screw on each side of the saddle , the way they're adjusted will make the saddle / string lean one way or the other .. !

you can slowly fiddle with those to change things a tiny bit .. !!

i think the dots are often a bit off with 5vers ... being in the center looks OK with 4 strings .. but the varying 5 string gauges might throw that off a bit ...

everything looks quite normal and OK to me ... adjust to taste ... enjoy . !
 
#24
The B string has a rather wider range of motion when it's vibrating than the G string, so it needs more room. That's why it's further from the edge of the neck. And as others have said, the varying thickness of the strings means that what will feel right in terms of consistent spacing between the strings may not look quite right.
 
#25
Immigrant said:
It's not defective. It's intelligent design.

Think about it. The B is fatter than the others. Next comes the E and so forth. The A is slightly off center in relation to the dots, but the center of the A is exactly between the inside edge of the B and the inside edge of the G.

The only way the strings would be exactly "in place" to your eye would be if all the strings were the same gauge. You don't notice it as much with guitar because they are strung with little tiny things and there are no 5 string guitars. Just banjos.

The wood grain on the body edge may not please you aesthetically, but it's fine structurally. Return it if it bugs you too much, but don't return it because of the string-to-dot issue. They'll think you're looney tunes.
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The spacing is correct and I've noticed it on other basses, some of which I own. String spacing is from edge to edge of string, not center to center. I once had an experienced tech tell me the nut on one of my bass was cut incorrectly because the A string was not exactly over the fret markers. I had to explain to him why it wasn't and he eventually came around to the idea. But in his defense he is more of a guitar guy.
 
#27
The string spacing looks exactly the same as my BTB and I agree it's an intentional offset to correct string spacing. It's never caused me any problems. The "funky" wood on the body is just natural variations and may just be a very slight bit of spalting - very cool and will have zero impact on longevity of the body as that's not an area that's under any stress. Purely cosmetic, I think it looks neat and gives it some extra character.
 
#28
Korman-Brooks-and-Robyn-Hilton.jpg
 
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#29
Immigrant said:
It's not defective. It's intelligent design.

Think about it. The B is fatter than the others. Next comes the E and so forth. The A is slightly off center in relation to the dots, but the center of the A is exactly between the inside edge of the B and the inside edge of the G.

The only way the strings would be exactly "in place" to your eye would be if all the strings were the same gauge. You don't notice it as much with guitar because they are strung with little tiny things and there are no 5 string guitars. Just banjos.

The wood grain on the body edge may not please you aesthetically, but it's fine structurally. Return it if it bugs you too much, but don't return it because of the string-to-dot issue. They'll think you're looney tunes.
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^This^

I really don't think the bridge is off center either as someone else mentioned because it's all done with CNC, and Ibanez has top notch QC ... even with their entry level basses.
 
#32
I love how that grain looks.

And the alignment shouldnt be a problem. That's actually suuuuuper common with Lakland Skyline basses too. I had one that was just like this Ibanez, and if I wasn't looking at it from far away I never noticed. Playing it was fine. Shouldn't be a problem here either. Of course if it really annoys you, which trust me, I understand, return it and see what another one looks like. Can't hurt right?
 
#33
Shurakai said:
Thanks for your reply. I was also thinking the bridge might be mounted slightly off. The saddles seem to be alright to me. By the way, I have a photo where the saddles are visible, though not a very good one; it's below.

I can give a check to bridge and pickups tonight, when I'm back home. What should I look for exactly? Sorry if this is a silly question, but as I said I'm rather new...

View attachment 661186
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Judging from the position of the A string (middle string) relative to the dot markers, the bridge looks to be ever-so-slightly off-center towards the G string. I can be a bit of a perfectionist, and I have still bought and rocked many a Fender that was noticeably worse. To me it's fine.

FWIW, you could move the bridge. I've moved bridges by very small amounts before, and IME it's hardly worth the effort.

Again, it's just my opinion, but the grain in the fretboard looks cool. Hard to tell from the photos if it needs a bit of oil, but otherwise it looks nice. I sincerely doubt Ibanez would sell you something that was structurally unreliable.

Rock that thing!
 
#36
dfoehr said:
The spacing is correct and I've noticed it on other basses, some of which I own. String spacing is from edge to edge of string, not center to center. I once had an experienced tech tell me the nut on one of my bass was cut incorrectly because the A string was not exactly over the fret markers. I had to explain to him why it wasn't and he eventually came around to the idea. But in his defense he is more of a guitar guy.
Click to expand...


I really don't want to argue (so I hope it doesn't come off like it), but the bold part ^ is incorrect. String spacing is measured from string center to string center.
 
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#37
Shurakai said:
Hello all.

I'm trying to decide if my new bass is defective and if I should send it back to the shop. I'm new to bass guitars (I'm a guitar player), and I could really do with some help from more experienced people.

I had this Ibanez BTB 675 delivered two days ago. It has a couple of details that seem dodgy to me, but I can't decide if these details are normal peculiarities or potential defects.

There are two things I'm worried about. I include a couple of photos so you can see for yourselves.

The first issue is that the strings seem to be slightly "skewed" compared to the neck. In the photos you can see that at the highest frets the G string is a lot closer to the neck edge than the B string, and that the A string is almost completely to the right of the inlay dot. You can also see that the position of the strings at the nut is a lot more centered (like I would expect), so overall it seems like the strings are slightly oblique on the neck. I genuinely don't know if this is normal construction or not.

The second thing worrying me is the detail in the wood grain you see in the other photo. I'm not concerned about the aesthetics, but I'm worried it might be a structural weakness, and deteriorate over time, for example.

What do you think of these issues? Should I keep the bass or return it? Any help will be much appreciated!

Many many thanks!

View attachment 661148
View attachment 661149
View attachment 661151
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The picture of your Bass showing the bridge, in that one the strings look a lot more centered, it's a hair off, but I have seen in a lot of pictures of BTB Basses and other basses where it's a little off and sometimes all of the MR-2 or MR-4 bridge saddles are all slanted one way at an angle, your saddles look good plus your BTB 675 has 19mm string spacing at the bridge, to wide for me but the strings all more towards the G string side will make it a tad more easier to reach the B string when your up high on the neck. So no big deal at all, now the grain of the wood mark is no big deal either, if you want take like 400 to 800 grit sand paper sand it a little til it's gone and then put some tung oil back on that area. Other wise sweet Bass, I wanted one bad because I love that BTB sound and look and 35" scale, I just can't hack the 19mm string spacing. 19mm string spacing on a 4-strings sweet but for me a 16.5mm spaced 5-string is awesome for me.Now back to the BTB, plug that baby in and jam it!! BTB 675 has the 5piece maple/bubinga neck thru, solid ash body,walnut top, 35" scale, MR-2 Mono Rail bridge, 2 Bartolini BH-1 double humbucking pickups, body cut out so you can reach the 24th fret easily and got the 2 keys on top and 3 keys on bottom, love that headstock with that key configuration. IMO get yourself some stainless steel round wound strings, gauges 45.65.85.105.130. So you should be pretty happy, nice Bass, nothing wrong with it. What kind of equipment, amp and effects do you have for it?
 
#38
Thank you all for your help and support. It's very helpful, and now I feel quite a bit reassured.

I'm happy to know that the wood pattern is not an issue. As I said, I'm not concerned by the look of it; to be honest, I quite like it! But I wanted to make sure it won't turn into a problem later on, and maybe hear "oh, you should have stayed away from an instrument with that; why didn't you ask for advice!?" :)

Regarding the strings, after reading all your comments and doing even more carful inspection of the instrument, I still think they're a bit off. I hear what you are saying of string position, and I was not expecting the A string to be perfectly centred over the dots, I understand it's always going to be a bit to the right. But the strings in the higher part of the neck are slightly shifted compared to how they sit in the nut. It could be the placement of the bridge or a slightly irregular neck, it's hard to say. Anyway, it's really a matter of millimeters, and it doesn't seem to affect playability, and I could probably live with it without any problems, in line with the general opinion in your comments.
 
#39
In the world of stringed instrument alignment, a millimeter might as well be a mile.

Return it. Try a different model because BTBs are just that way. Some people prefer strings close to the edge (great album too) and I have a feeling it's the overall design of the bass that bugs you, and probably will until you sell it (after your window to return it has closed).

Good luck!

Edit: Some years ago I had a custom made. Whenit arrived, the G would roll off the edge of the board on occasion. I compared it to the other dozen five strings I had at the time, and the G was really REALLY close to the edge compared to the other basses, but not that much more than the B on the same bass.

I got used to it and it soon became my favorite player. I can't remember rolling the G off after I'd had it for a few months.

It's the design. It's not defective. I still suggest returning it though.
 
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