Ibanez BTB Club, Part 2!

[glassmoon]

Hey! I'm looking for an Ibanez BTB 456QM (2006-2007) model. If anybody has one that they're looking to let go of, please PM me. See link below for reference:

Ibanez BTB456QM 6 String Bass with TI Flats - SOLD

Ibanez BTB456QM 6 String Bass with TI Flats Loads of bass for the money, especially the neck which plays really well and IMO is as good as the neck on basses costing 4 times as much. Fitted with a fairly recent set of Thomastik-Infeld flats, plus a full set of spare strings (mostly used older one...

www.basschat.co.uk

Also, are there any other Ibanez bass groups on TalkBass?

Thanks for any help!

Owned both the 5 and 6 of these... loved them! Wish I'd never sold them

 

[EmaTheMirror]

View attachment 6999596
Shot of our BTB 5 Neo PJ prior to magnet placement. If there is a design that you want we can try to fit it into a specific cover. PJ can be ordered in Alnico if looking for a more traditional tone.

Hi Matt, I appreciate you're into making alternatives for the BTB line, that's not for granted, given their hybrid sizes. Just out of curiosity, I have a few questions:

- P/J Ibanez BTB 5 String – Nine One Six Pickups These look like the covers of the older DFR 5 pickups I have, about 11.7 x 3.5 cm with two screws on the bass side and a centered one on the right. Is it correct or do you base your default size on Bart's P2 or P4? If that's the case, do you charge extra for other covers?

- Are your J Alnico sets relatively "silent", hum-wise? Based on your photo of the coverless Neo J pickup, it looks like a true single coil, similar to a Nord's Big Single. Do you wind them wide and shallow (P style) or narrower and taller like Fender Js?

- Last, what are your shipping costs for the EU? Is your flat rate $45 for all countries, regardless of destination and parcel size?

 

[Matt Kustom]

Hi Matt, I appreciate you're into making alternatives for the BTB line, that's not for granted, given their hybrid sizes. Just out of curiosity, I have a few questions:

- P/J Ibanez BTB 5 String – Nine One Six Pickups These look like the covers of the older DFR 5 pickups I have, about 11.7 x 3.5 cm with two screws on the bass side and a centered one on the right. Is it correct or do you base your default size on Bart's P2 or P4? If that's the case, do you charge extra for other covers?

- Are your J Alnico sets relatively "silent", hum-wise? Based on your photo of the coverless Neo J pickup, it looks like a true single coil, similar to a Nord's Big Single. Do you wind them wide and shallow (P style) or narrower and taller like Fender Js?

- Last, what are your shipping costs for the EU? Is your flat rate $45 for all countries, regardless of destination and parcel size?

Hello. The covers we have for BTB 5 are bart P2 108 x 32mm

The J style are true single coils. They are shielded to keep them as quiet as a single can be .
As far as winding , the Neo pickups are wound to fit , a bit shorter than a factory fender to fit the magnets and backplate in the soap bar cover.

The bart p2 covers actually do not have a lot of room for p/j in Neodymium.

For shipping outside the US our default is $45 for shipping. PayPal charges more for outside of US sales. We have tried to get a shipping calculator for overseas sales but have not found a plug in for our site that is accurate.

If you would like to place a order contact us threw the website (916pickups.com) and we can run you address threw USPS and get the exact price on shipping. Possibly being a few dollars cheaper.

Attached is a picture of the coil installed with magnets and backing plate. This is as close as we can get to a factory p/j coil in the cover with Neodymium.

If you have any other questions , feel free to ask.

If you would like to talk with the person I designed these for he's friendly and will talk about his pickups. He has 916 Neo pj's in all five of his BTBs he tours with. He has not mentioned any issues running his single coil Neo j.

Dean
@deanmusicofficial
Instagram


Cheers.
Matt
@916pickups
Instagram

 

[User474755]

I’ve wanted a 35” 4-string with a 41-43mm nut for a while and was close to buying an LTD ML B-4, but figured I’d see if I could find a 4-string BTB first. This was listed online, I tossed the guy a fair offer, and now I have a MIJ BTB510 headed my way.

I’ll post some glamour shots when it arrives.

 

[Chris Hass]

I get annoyed intonating on the Mono-Rail 2 bridges.

Is there a solid replacement for these? They are so long that I can't find anything that would cover the route.

 

[Snert]

I get annoyed intonating on the Mono-Rail 2 bridges.

Why are you needing to intonate so often that this becomes an issue?

 

[EmaTheMirror]

I’ve wanted a 35” 4-string with a 41-43mm nut for a while and was close to buying an LTD ML B-4, but figured I’d see if I could find a 4-string BTB first. This was listed online, I tossed the guy a fair offer, and now I have a MIJ BTB510 headed my way.
View attachment 7077820
I’ll post some glamour shots when it arrives.

Nice one, as a MIJ 705 owner (similar, but 5 strings and ash+ovangkol body) I'm looking forward to reading about your update re. feel and tone when it arrives. When was it made? Mine's a '99, the launch year.

 

[User474755]

Nice one, as a MIJ 705 owner (similar, but 5 strings and ash+ovangkol body) I'm looking forward to reading about your update re. feel and tone when it arrives. When was it made? Mine's a '99, the launch year.

I received the bass Thursday, but just to playing around with it tonight. Playing it is effortless. Luckily, I actually received 2 basses, so I know it’s not just the “shiny and new” effect. As excited as I was for this bass, I was looking forward to the other bass more. The other bass is another MIA Fender Precision, but the BTB just feels like a different league of instrument. I didn’t get to play long, but I was really digging the tone. I can’t wait to spend more time with it.

It came in a crazy heavy Coffin Case. It’s not my style really, but it got the bass here safe. It looked like it was bought at auction. A couple minutes of internet sleuthing led me the the sale price of $275, so I don’t feel bad for paying as little as I did for it.

From what I can tell online, the BTB510 was just offered in 2001 and replaced by a similar model the next year. Its replacement, the BTB510E got the Bartolini pickups.

 

[SMonroeB]

Hey! I'm looking for an Ibanez BTB 456QM (2006-2007) model. If anybody has one that they're looking to let go of, please PM me. See link below for reference:

Ibanez BTB456QM 6 String Bass with TI Flats - SOLD

Ibanez BTB456QM 6 String Bass with TI Flats Loads of bass for the money, especially the neck which plays really well and IMO is as good as the neck on basses costing 4 times as much. Fitted with a fairly recent set of Thomastik-Infeld flats, plus a full set of spare strings (mostly used older one...

www.basschat.co.uk

Also, are there any other Ibanez bass groups on TalkBass?

Thanks for any help!

I have a BTB but it may be a 2005. If you are still interested, I will look it up. I would like to sell mine.

 

[jimmyfwl]

I have a BTB but it may be a 2005. If you are still interested, I will look it up. I would like to sell mine.

Ok, let me know. I might be interested. Thanks

 

[SMonroeB]

It is a BTB406QM made in February 2003. It is Transparent Black (code TK). Specifications can be found in full on the Ibanez Fandom site. It has an Ibanez case. I have not changed a thing and I do not play it often because I have always had multiple basses. My Rock band at the time preferred that I play a 4-string. It still has the cling plastic covering the plastic covers on the back of the body. I would say that it is in excellent condition as is the case. I've attached a photo of the serial number. I will be taking photos of it and I can post them. I am planning to sell it. I'll probably put it on Talkbass as Craiglist doesn't seem to be that active lately in my area.

 

[fhtagn]

Has anyone found a suitable hardcase for the newer 37" multiscale BTBs? The case they come with is good for basic storage, but I wouldn't want to fly with one. I've been eyeing the Ibanez MRB500C, but I fear that it might be a tad too short.

Repeating myself here, but still looking for one. Anyone?

 

[enricogaletta]

Repeating myself here, but still looking for one. Anyone?

I use a Gator Transit gig bag, the BTB fit perfectly and then I insert it in the SKB Roto Ata case and I'm more than fine for flying

 

[NitroBobby]

Added a BTB670 last week. Picked it up from a seller in Ohio off of Reverb. Everything went smooth. Had a little scare when the UPS driver asked “this isn’t a musical instrument is it?” . They had apparently stacked a piece of furniture on top of the box…
Seller’s packing was solid though. Bass was in the gig bag, wrapped in bubble wrap, then in the box also packed with bubble wrap. So, no issues with the bass thankfully.

The bass is apparently from the Japanese market. Seller said that he was the second owner and that he bought it from someone in Japan and had it imported. He mentioned including the original papers which I assumed was the manual but turned out to be a little surprise which was really cool. There was a hand written note to the original buyer, along with an inspection card, the original tag and a little Origami swan.

I took the round wounds off, cleaned it up, used a bit of lemon oil on the fret board and strung it up with some Ernie Ball flat wounds. It needed a truss rod adjustment and fresh batteries but that’s it. Plays great. The Bartolini pups are pretty hot. My BTB400QM output is quite a bit lower. I’m using the active pad on my head with this bass. It plays great and I love the natural wood finish.

Here it is:

 

[vindibona1]

Added a BTB670 last week. Picked it up from a seller in Ohio off of Reverb. Everything went smooth.

I took the round wounds off, cleaned it up, used a bit of lemon oil on the fret board and strung it up with some Ernie Ball flat wounds. It needed a truss rod adjustment and fresh batteries but that’s it. Plays great. The Bartolini pups are pretty hot. My BTB400QM output is quite a bit lower. I’m using the active pad on my head with this bass. It plays great and I love the natural wood finish.

Congratulations. I know you're going to love it. I had a BTB675M (maple fingerboard) and sold it rather than pay for the minor repairs needed. But I missed it and bought an BTB1825 to replace it. In some ways I liked the 675 better. The strings that I found I really liked on it, to my surprise were the Ernie Ball regular Slinky rounds. I also used NYXL's for a long time but liked the Slinky's better. A little stiffer but a really beefy sound.

 

[PrimitiveMan]

What year did BTB start using stainless steel frets? Anyone know?

 

[who]

What year did BTB start using stainless steel frets? Anyone know?

2017.

 

[SMonroeB]

What year did BTB start using stainless steel frets? Anyone know?

Mine was a 2003 and it had stainless steel frets. I think it started before then.

 

[who]

Mine was a 2003 and it had stainless steel frets. I think it started before then.

Are you sure about that? I don't think many makers were using stainless steel frets back then. Which model did you have?

 

[Quills]

Mine was a 2003 and it had stainless steel frets. I think it started before then.

I don't know about that. Mine's from 2007 and they were definitely nickel silver when I pulled them and replaced them with stainless. Mine's a relative cheapie made in Korea (BTB-555), though, so maybe the japanese ones had stainless in some models, but 2003 still sounds very early.

ETA: A friend of mine with an '08 1305e says they weren't stainless either, and they were about as fancy as it got back in the noughties.