Ibanez BTB Club, Part 2!

[Splinched]

Hey y'all.

I guess I am now officially a "BTB guy", now in possession of TWO models..

2023 806ms with Kalium Stainless

2011 676 with Kalium Nickles and EMGx P/TW combo

I tune both to A standard and have used the 676 for everything except when I need a proper vintage vibe, when I bust out the '78 P.

Pretty impressed with the 806ms. Sustain and clarity is incredible. Ibanez did well with the electronics for once, although I wish they had a coil splitting or series/parallel switching feature with these T1s. Seems like a missed opportunity with the new design. A third pickup in the middle would have been cool too to compete with Dingwall a bit more effectively. Imagine three pickups with coil splitting and series parallel options?? Could keep the blend control and have a switch to select between the front and middle p'ups... Again, missed opportunities here for Ibanez. Perhaps I'll try to do this in the future if I can track down an individual 6 string T1 to throw in.

I did do some measuring and it does appear that a Bart P4 style pickup with fit in the routing. A black pickup surround would fix the semi circles while using the original pickup screw holes without being too offensive IMO...

I will use it mostly for my metal project as the bottom end control is no comparison to the 676. Half my music is in an even lower "double drop" G C G C F Bb tuning which the 676 struggled with even when using a .166 for the G. The bass is perfectly suitable for all genres though, I have been using it at my local open jams with no problems fitting the tone in.

Definitely a bit darker sounding than the 676, I will say I can still smell the glue setting on it so I'm sure it'll sweeten with time as my 676 did. I can get very close to the EMG sound with the EQ, although with lower output volume. I hardly have to change my settings with it between the two basses which is a plus.

 

[MrCoolsville]

Yea, it doesn't sound that bad. Patience is obviously a key with this kind of project. Plus, I could start by just knocking down the gloss finish to see how it looks before really digging in to round off the edge. Then, that could inform if I wanted to attempt knocking the finish down on the rest of the bass.

Thanks for the info! Looking forward to receiving the BTB tomorrow.

It's new bass day! Pic below of my new-to-me BTB20TH5 in Blue Reef Gradation. Immediate thoughts after having owned it for a few hours:

• Without anything else below, it needs a good amount of TLC. It's dirty, the setup is pretty bad, the strings are dead, and most of the knobs are loose. The pickup height was so high that the previous owner put pieces of electrical tape over the B-string pickup poles because the string would sometimes touch the pickups. Lowering them down a millimeter or two was the real solution there.
• As I suspected, even the back of the neck has the gloss finish. Ibanez's "low gloss" claim is nonsense; this is quite highly lacquered up.
• I'm definitely going to do a full tear-down and rebuild:
  • The Big Singles sound great but my studio is pretty crowded with wireless noise, so I get noticeable hum when soloing the pickups. I plan on putting in some new pickups: Nordstrand Jazz Bar (single coil with hum cancelling) in the neck and Nordstrand Dual Coil in the bridge.
  • I'll replace the 3-way mids selector with a 3-way coil selector for the bridge pickup. I'll have it set for north coil, parallel, and south coil. With that, I should be able to get tones that approximate 60s jazz, 70s jazz, and StingRay. Soloing the neck pickup will sound like a soloed jazz neck pickup but without the hum. A little EQing and I should be able to approximate a P tone.
  • Noll 3-band preamp with push/pull volume knob for active/passive and, in passive mode, the treble knob becomes a tone knob.
  • I'll try my hand at sanding down the sharp top edge. I don't even touch it when I'm sitting (bass between my legs), but it does cut into my arm when I'm standing. fourstringbliss has inspired me
  • While I'm sanding, I think I will try to take down the finish to a satin. It's just way WAY too glossy for me; I can't stand it. Before I do the whole thing, though, I'm going to try on an inconspicuous part of the dark brown okoume. If it looks bad (i.e. cloudy or hazy), I'll stop there and just do the back of the neck only.
  • It weighs 8.8lbs right now, but I'm hoping to get it to 8.5lbs with some Hipshot Ultralites. I believe this BTB has the cheaper tuners, not the Gotoh, and I think they weigh quite a bit more than the Hipshots. The neck doesn't really dive, but it'll still help with overall balance.
  • New D'Addario NYXL strings.
  • I don't know if this is OEM or not, but the finish on the volume and balance knobs is different from the EQ knobs. The former are glossier while the latter are matte. You can actually see this in the pic below. I'm going to try to find a better set of knobs that match better. There's an Etsy seller that makes black knurled knobs with abalone dots. They would nicely match the abalone inlays on the neck, but I asked if he could make them the same size as the Ibanez knobs. The ones he sells are much larger.

I ordered the pickups today after measuring the ones in there to be sure the new ones will fit, so it'll be a few weeks to have everything done. I'll update the thread when I do, though!

 

[Michael Jewels]

Good luck, MrCoolsville.

 

[Upstate SC Bass]

I got this Iron Label BTB 5er used like new from here on TB and I gotta say this thing is incredible. 19mm full string spacing and neck through. For a bargain price and plays and sounds fantastic.
I deleted the locking mechanism of the input jack and slightly rounded off the forearm area of the body just my preference. I did have to adjust the truss rod relief a bit when arrived but understandable on a like new bass which went through a lot of wintertime temperature changes in shipping.

 

[Nightsprinter]

Well TB, I am let down yet again. Hoping someone can weigh in here for me and tell me if this type of thing is normal.

Got a 5 string BTB625EX in yesterday. I opted to have it plek'd before arrival. Asked for low action. As low as it can go before buzz. I got it in and I'm pretty unimpressed. The tech notes said 0.005 neck relief and 6/64" bass side and 5/64" treble side action @ 12th fret. It arrived and the action was more like 7/64" bass and 6/64" treble. I usually measure at the 17th fret and noticed that the action was significantly higher @ the 24th fret than the 12th. Not necessarily an uncommon thing factoring in neck relief, but it was 1/64" higher or more down there. I checked the relief and it was bang on 0.005 - hmm. I noticed there was a bit of buzz on a few frets. I decided to lower the action to my preferred 5.5/64" bass and 4/64" treble and there are just a lot of buzzy spots and the upper register action is still higher than any other bass i own. The buzz on the upper register on the bass side and down on the first few frets on the E and A string are pretty bothersome. I increased relief, decreased relief, lowered and raised the saddles, but I just cannot dial this thing in to an action that isn't higher than I want. I see all the time folks get super low action on their ibbys "because they can" with the flat radius and good fretwork and whatnot... so what gives? This thing was plek'd - my SX bass with vintage radius I got for $85 shouldn't be able to achieve far lower action than this thing without buzz. I'm thinking there's a non-optimal angle with the set neck or something. What is everyone running for action on their BTB and how low are YOU able to go without issue?

 

[MrCoolsville]

Well TB, I am let down yet again. Hoping someone can weigh in here for me and tell me if this type of thing is normal.

Got a 5 string BTB625EX in yesterday. I opted to have it plek'd before arrival. Asked for low action. As low as it can go before buzz. I got it in and I'm pretty unimpressed. The tech notes said 0.005 neck relief and 6/64" bass side and 5/64" treble side action @ 12th fret. It arrived and the action was more like 7/64" bass and 6/64" treble. I usually measure at the 17th fret and noticed that the action was significantly higher @ the 24th fret than the 12th. Not necessarily an uncommon thing factoring in neck relief, but it was 1/64" higher or more down there. I checked the relief and it was bang on 0.005 - hmm. I noticed there was a bit of buzz on a few frets. I decided to lower the action to my preferred 5.5/64" bass and 4/64" treble and there are just a lot of buzzy spots and the upper register action is still higher than any other bass i own. The buzz on the upper register on the bass side and down on the first few frets on the E and A string are pretty bothersome. I increased relief, decreased relief, lowered and raised the saddles, but I just cannot dial this thing in to an action that isn't higher than I want. I see all the time folks get super low action on their ibbys "because they can" with the flat radius and good fretwork and whatnot... so what gives? This thing was plek'd - my SX bass with vintage radius I got for $85 shouldn't be able to achieve far lower action than this thing without buzz. I'm thinking there's a non-optimal angle with the set neck or something. What is everyone running for action on their BTB and how low are YOU able to go without issue?

I'm on my second BTB and both have seemed to fight me in setup. In contrast, my former Dingwall was just a set low and forget. That said, I just redid a setup and I was able to get good action after a lot of tweaking - right around 2mm on the B string - but I definitely need to get a plek job. I have a couple of specific notes that buzz like crazy, but the flat and sharp of those same notes are fine. Maybe the nut on your BTB is out of whack and needs to be replaced?

 

[MrCoolsville]

It's new bass day! Pic below of my new-to-me BTB20TH5 in Blue Reef Gradation. Immediate thoughts after having owned it for a few hours...

For anyone who saw my post from before, the rebuild of my BTB20TH5 is complete. Here's a sneak peek. It's late, so I'll write up more about the process and results later. New tuners, pickups, preamp, a different 3-way switch, new knobs, rounded off the sharp edge, and knocked the gloss finish down to matte on the body and satin on the neck. This is now my perfect bass

 

[Nightsprinter]

I'm on my second BTB and both have seemed to fight me in setup. In contrast, my former Dingwall was just a set low and forget. That said, I just redid a setup and I was able to get good action after a lot of tweaking - right around 2mm on the B string - but I definitely need to get a plek job. I have a couple of specific notes that buzz like crazy, but the flat and sharp of those same notes are fine. Maybe the nut on your BTB is out of whack and needs to be replaced?

Unfortunately I sent back both BTBs I got. Mine didn't seem to want to do what I wanted even with the plek I got on the second one. I checked the nut slot depths, quality of cut/break angle, etc. I do a lot of setups throughout the week and these were just puzzlers. The second one I got seemed to have a set neck angle that was just a little off, it was quite weird. I'm going back to bolt-ons tbh, but I'm going to keep my eyes on the local market for used BTBs because I know they're good instruments overall- I just have poor, poor luck. Hope you get yours to a place where it plays like the best bass in your arsenal

 

[Quills]

Unfortunately I sent back both BTBs I got. Mine didn't seem to want to do what I wanted even with the plek I got on the second one. I checked the nut slot depths, quality of cut/break angle, etc. I do a lot of setups throughout the week and these were just puzzlers. The second one I got seemed to have a set neck angle that was just a little off, it was quite weird. I'm going back to bolt-ons tbh, but I'm going to keep my eyes on the local market for used BTBs because I know they're good instruments overall- I just have poor, poor luck. Hope you get yours to a place where it plays like the best bass in your arsenal

That's a bummer, man. My sympathies. My BTB sets up just fine, but it's an older one (and a bolt-on). Your diagnosis makes sense, though -- if the nut, the relief and the fret job are all good, a screwy neck is about the only explanation for bad action. It sounds as if there was something 'off' with the plek job, though; they should have been able to tell you exactly what was wrong and why. The one big plus with those machines is the diagnostic data, otherwise they don't offer much over a competent tech; they're only as good as the operator. The fact that they set the action so high seems to imply that they knew that something was amiss, and a good tech would have used the data to figure out what it was, rather than raising the saddles until it didn't buzz and shipping it.

 

[Nightsprinter]

That's a bummer, man. My sympathies. My BTB sets up just fine, but it's an older one (and a bolt-on). Your diagnosis makes sense, though -- if the nut, the relief and the fret job are all good, a screwy neck is about the only explanation for bad action. It sounds as if there was something 'off' with the plek job, though; they should have been able to tell you exactly what was wrong and why. The one big plus with those machines is the diagnostic data, otherwise they don't offer much over a competent tech; they're only as good as the operator. The fact that they set the action so high seems to imply that they knew that something was amiss, and a good tech would have used the data to figure out what it was, rather than raising the saddles until it didn't buzz and shipping it.

Things I'd do differently next time are wait and make sure it's an instrument I want to keep before opting for a plek - I'd let it acclimatize to my temperamental environment and assess the fretwork after that stress test. Then I'd drive the 2 hours to the guy with a Plek in my state and go over everything with him. I won't repeat the "buy item over the phone and spring for a plek over the phone before I've even held the instrument" routine which I tried. I'll be honest and say that I was looking for the easy way out because I've had bad luck buying instruments this past year or so. All I wound up doing was continuing my streak.

 

[Scott Melonball]

Is there anyone here that actually likes the bartolini bh2 pickups with the stock Ibanez preamp? I've only read complaints about it, but it doesn't sound bad to me when you actually boost the mids and highs

 

[VillageIdiott]

Can anyone share their experiences with this bass? I am looking at buying one but am curious to know how people feel about them.

I foolishly sold my original MIJ 1999 BTB1005 and have had my eye on this single cut for a while. I really don't want to buy one if they aren't great basses.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Is there anyone here that actually likes the bartolini bh2 pickups with the stock Ibanez preamp? I've only read complaints about it, but it doesn't sound bad to me when you actually boost the mids and highs

I have a BTB1205E.

It has Bartolini pickups, though I’m not sure which model with the stock Ibanez preamp.

I have always loved its sound and still do.

It’s kind of vintage-sounding, but this is why I still love it after 18 years.

This, and the neck.

Mike

 

[Quills]

Is there anyone here that actually likes the bartolini bh2 pickups with the stock Ibanez preamp? I've only read complaints about it, but it doesn't sound bad to me when you actually boost the mids and highs

I haven't changed anything on mine. Between the onboard and the off-board I've always been able to get pretty much wherever I felt like going. I think there's a bit of a selection effect in that the complainants are always vocal about it (and it's partly to justify a spend they felt like making for emotional reasons or habit anyway) whereas the content are generally silent. It's as true now as it was in the early '80s: the first tone shaper you try should be an eq pedal; forget the preamp.

 

[Bassplayer1586]

Is there anyone here that actually likes the bartolini bh2 pickups with the stock Ibanez preamp? I've only read complaints about it, but it doesn't sound bad to me when you actually boost the mids and highs

I actually like the bh2 pickups on my BTB 846V more than the Nordstrands on my EHB basses. Yes, they are a bit darker sounding than other pickups, but I still enjoy them. I just cut the mids slightly and use the 3 way frequency switch to achieve the tone I like. Boost the bass a little when using the bridge pickup, and cut the bass a little when using the neck pickup. Overall, excellent pickups.

 

[DRN-PWNS]

Bought this btb 675 recently. Love it so far!

 

[Michael Jewels]

Nice.

Mike

 

[JTbass44]

For anyone who saw my post from before, the rebuild of my BTB20TH5 is complete. Here's a sneak peek. It's late, so I'll write up more about the process and results later. New tuners, pickups, preamp, a different 3-way switch, new knobs, rounded off the sharp edge, and knocked the gloss finish down to matte on the body and satin on the neck. This is now my perfect bass

View attachment 5331365

Nice! What did you end up using to knock down the finish on the body to matte and the neck to more of a satin feel? Also, how did the sanding of the sharp edge turn out? Thanks.

 

[MrCoolsville]

Nice! What did you end up using to knock down the finish on the body to matte and the neck to more of a satin feel? Also, how did the sanding of the sharp edge turn out? Thanks.

Thanks for the reminder! After tearing the bass down to the wood, here's a summary of the work I did:

• Rounded off the sharp forearm edge.
  • This turned out pretty great; the bass is MUCH more comfortable to play. I simply took sandpaper on a block and slowly rounded it off. I think I went as low as 150 grit, but I don't remember exactly. Once I got it to the roundness I liked, I began to sand with higher grit until I ended up with 800 or 1000. I then used the Howard Feed N Wax that @fourstringbliss used in a final sanding. It also helped to get the wood to better the previous color, as sanding it did lighten it up a lot. Even after refinishing the bass, though, I wouldn't say the edge is EXACTLY the same color as before. It's still slightly lighter than the other ash around it, but you only notice if you look super closely. And the wax helped a lot here; it was very obvious before that.
• Changed the gloss finish on the body and headstock to matte.
  • This is the part of the job that took the longest. I started by taping off the neck, fretboard, and cavities for the pickups, bridge, electronics, and battery box (remember, EVERYTHING was removed). Then, I used gray Scotch Brite pads to rough up the gloss finish on the body and headstock. At this point, it already looked a lot better, but you could see all the micro scratches up close. So, I did a few coats of Rust-Oleum dead flat clear coat, the one with the fancy nozzle. Big mistake. It left globs of clear coat all over that looked horrible, so I ended up sanding it all back down again and starting over with the Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X Ultra clear coat (this) that has a standard rattle can nozzle. MUCH better results. After a few coats, I was satisfied and let it all dry. At this point, the finish looks INCREDIBLE and there are no longer any visible micro scratches. It feels ever so slightly rough to the touch, but it also feels very durable. Super happy with how this turned out.
• Changed the gloss finish on the neck to satin.
  • For the neck, I didn't want a gloss or matte finish. So, I started with gray Scotch Brite and knocked the finish down a bit. I wasn't happy with that, so I went back over with green Scotch Brite, which is a bit more aggressive. This took off a bit more and got the feel to be right where I wanted it. Silky smooth. I also used the green pad to smooth out the transition between the satin and the matte finish (remember, I taped off the neck when doing the clear coat). Before I did that you could feel the line where the two met on the upper frets. Now, you can't feel the line and it's just a silky-smooth finish all the way up and down the neck with a smooth transition to the matte clear coat on the body and headstock.
• Changed the 3-way selector switch to a coil selector switch.
  • I've had several Ibanez basses with the mids selector, but I found that I generally just left it in one position. So, I changed out the switch for a coil selector.
• Replaced the pickups.
  • I wanted a hum cancelling jazz-style pickup in the neck, so I went with the Nordstrand Jazz Bar 5. For the bridge, I put in the Nordstrand Dual Coil 5 so that I could split that coil to use them individually or use them together in humbucker mode. I've fallen in love with the tone from both pickups with the bridge pickup with the North (closer to neck) coil engaged. Interestingly, on this same setup with my Lakland I prefer the South pickup of that humbucker. The bridge pickup in humbucker mode when both pickups are engaged is a pretty unique sound that I'll continue to play around with. And the humbucker soloed is in the ballpark of a StingRay, but I'll need to do a patch on my HX Stomp with the right amp simulator and EQ to really make it sound right. I already have a passable P-like sound dialed in, too. In the end I'm very happy with how these pickups sound, and I prefer this kind of flexibility rather than being able to choose the mids frequency.
• Replaced the preamp.
  • I wanted a solid active preamp with the ability to go into passive mode with a tone knob. So, I chose the NOLL TCM3 preamp. With this, I have a volume with push/pull to activate active or passive mode, a 3-band EQ, and a treble knob that becomes the tone control when in passive mode.
• Replaced the tuning machines.
  • To reduce some weight, I went with Hipshot USA Ultralites. However, I didn't save as much weight as I thought I would. My kitchen scale said there is only about 1.5 oz difference between the Hipshots and the stock tuners.
• Replaced the knobs.
  • I found an Etsy artist called Invalid Link Removed who makes custom guitar and bass knobs. Check out his shop - AMAZING customer support and fine work on the knobs. I had him make black knobs with abalone dots to match the abalone inlays on the fretboard. They look super good on the bass.

All said and done, I'm extremely happy with how the bass turned out. It's not totally perfect - the forearm edge is still just a tad lighter in color than the ash around it and I put a few little imperfections in the finish on the back when soldering and stuff - but it feels amazing, it sounds amazing, and it looks incredible. I didn't shave off any weight from stock, though. I think what weight I saved in the tuners I made back by adding an ounce or two in new matte clear coat. In the end, the bass weighs 8.8 lbs, which is still pretty damn light for a 5-string neck through bass!

Pics attached

 

[glassmoon]

Can I like your post several times please. Wow