when I was looking for a five-string earlier this year, I looked at the SR505, liked the feel of it, but never even plugged in in to play it. Just couldn't get past that poor excuse of a finish.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
For what it's worth even the cheaper one plays swimmingly.
I'm not sure whether I want to upgrade my pickups in my Tmb100 or buy that new TMB310.
I really like everything about those basses, but I haven't played one yet. I really like the sparkle color and blocks on the fretboard. Personally I think the headstock would look better flipped upside down but that's just picking. If it sounds half as good as they look I'm very interested
The P pickup sounds just like you'd expect. It's a little brighter perhaps than other P basses I've played. It will be the same on the TMB100 that I have vs. that TMB310. Dynamix P I believe it's called.
The bridge pickup is totally different though. Mine has a single coil. That one has the humbucker. I suspect the humbucker is going to be a better choice. I don't much care for this single coil pickup in my TMB100 because it seems noisier than it should, even with the usual single coil hum.
The TMB310 should have the coil split switch. You may not like the single coil mode if the pickups are similar to what's in my TMB100. I was actually thinking I might investigate an alternate wiring there if I got a TMB310, but I have no solid basis for that considering I haven't tried that pickup.
The preamp is nice. I don't have any complaints. It does the job. It's mostly useful for small adjustments to extreme highs and lows. It's the same preamp I'm pretty sure.
What I like about that TMB310 is the color, and the pick guard is much nicer looking than it's brethren. I'm tempted to get one too.
Last edited:
I picked up a used (but basically new) Metallic Forest TMB300 this past Friday, and really couldn't be happier with it.
In either the Series or Tap (Single) setting, the humbucker mixes well with the P pickup, where in some P/J designs the bridge pup gets lost in the mix. I've been bouncing back and forth between the settings with it, and like both. The P pickup on its own sounds like P should, and then dialing in the HB a little at a time adds some brightness that gives a nice punchiness to it. The HB on its own is a little thin sounding, but if I was going to run the HB solo, I'd have bought a Jazz; neither pickup is very noisy. I do wish it had an active/passive switch like the 600 has, but I'll live w/o it.
I did "satin-up" the neck with some 800 grit to get the neck finish tamed a little- the gloss was thick with this one- and it couldn't feel any better now. The finish is well done otherwise, and the metallic green looks great under lights. The ugly-as-can-be pickguard will be going away shortly, but I'm thinking that (at least for now) that will be its only alteration.
For the money, I must say that I'm pretty impressed with it, and would certainly take a Talman over a similarly priced Squier. And by the way, this is my first Ibanez in 40+ years of playing, and is a pleasant introduction to the brand.
I thought the same thing when I picked up the TMB100. I.e. pleasant introduction to the brand. Especially as a Fender/G&L guy.
The pickup in my TMB is a single coil but has a similar use case. It's useful for blending in some bite, however not useful on it's own. What I found with it when soloing the bridge pickup is that I needed to bump the bass control up a bit to fill in the low-end, then cut the highs because the pickup is quite noisy, not because the brightness is a bad thing.
I suppose that's where your model comes in. With the humbucker in series it should be more usable when soloing the bridge pickup. Otherwise you can blend in the single coil like a typical PJ setup.
Last edited:
Thanks for the heads up. I really like the color and blocks on the neck. I wish the pickups were in regular pj format, as id probably change them out for the emg pjs. Ill give the stock ones a try though. For only 300 bones im going to give the bass a shot for sure
Went to pickup my new SR1305-NFT today and while I was waiting for the store mgr to bring it out of the storage room I walked into the bass dept and found a SR1205-VNF hanging on the wall that had just been traded. Looked at the price tag and grabbed the bass because there was another guy right behind me who wanted it. Plugged it in, sounded great, condition was excellent so I bought it. The store manager came back into the room with the SR1305, I told him that I was taking the used SR1205 instead, he said cool no problem.
Got a really nice bass and saved a ton of money. I'll post photos of it tomorrow.
TD
Got a really nice bass and saved a ton of money. I'll post photos of it tomorrow.
TD
I've got a SR800 and absolutely love it. I love the MK1 Barts, the preamp, feel, and quality of build. Boutique bass at a much nicer price. 
I've got a SR800 and absolutely love it.
That's a good one. I came close to getting one but didn't.
Yeah, I bumped up the bass knob on the HB as well, and it helped. Blend-wise, I seem to be running 80/20 neck/bridge, [edit] and running the preamp tone flat.
I spent a couple hours yesterday at GC test driving nearly every bass on the wall. Amazingly, they left me entirely alone, no sales pitch, nothing. I played through the same amp, a Rumble 200 with everything flat. The Ibanez were far and away the best basses in every price range, kept waiting for something to knock them off the pedestal, nothing did. The electronics really are outstanding, even on the lower end SR300. I finally tried a Talman, nice little bass, but neck divey, which I can't abide. The other standout in budget basses was the SUB Ray, nice playing bass, not as nice as the Ibanez. I sound like a fanboy, but its justified.
Yeah, that's what I did too, went to one of their smaller stores. I actually went in thinking I would buy a low end P bass, but left with the SR300 after playing and hearing it.
I don't understand why Ibanez does not offer a straight up passive version of the SR or BTB. I bet they'd get a good number of converts. I'm fine with the string spacing of the SR series but I bet a wider-spaced passive SR would sell really well.
I always liked the looks of the SRs but the active electronics kept me away for years. I finally got over the electronics when I came to the conclusion that a sleeker lightweight body was more important than having a pure passive bass. I'm quite happy with my SR655. It doesn't feel puny or sound any less substantial than any other 5-string I've played.
I put some black blocks on my SR 305, I think it looks pretty cool with the maple neck.
funkybassplayer
Commercial User
What a classic! That is STILL a killer bass!
You can certainly see the inspiration that the Alembic (Stanley Clark back in the day) bass had on that one.
The great thing about Ibanez is that they target every level of player (from beginner to pro) with their bass line (and succeed IMO).
Here's a pic of my SR5006. My only complaint (and it's picky) is that the plastic knobs that they use don't cover the U-G-L-Y galvanized washers/nut for the EQ pots. I had a local TB'er make me some nice ebony/wenge knobs that fixed that issue. This bass rivals any boutique 6'er that I've owned!
