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Sweetwater says this BTB33 is 8 lb 13 oz, which is the same weight they claimed for my current one. Res-O-Lite tuners should take it down by 90 g to about 8 lb 10 oz.
The maximum winding length of 37 inches on the lowest string limits the options for B strings. I bought a set a Kalium steels in 43, 59, 79, 106, 142. I'll try those and adjust as needed.
The maximum winding length of 37 inches on the lowest string limits the options for B strings. I bought a set a Kalium steels in 43, 59, 79, 106, 142. I'll try those and adjust as needed.
Well that is intense!!! You got any sound demos of it?
@Aidil
The switch is active passive switch and the 2nd is a mid frequency select. The preamp is powerful and one of the best I've seen.
The switch is active passive switch and the 2nd is a mid frequency select. The preamp is powerful and one of the best I've seen.
how many mid freq option does it have with OBP-3?
I've been thinking swapping the preamp in my BTB686SC cause it has no active/passive option and it would be nice if it could have 3 mid freq selection instead only two with current stock EQB-IIIS preamp. But... I don't want to make a new hole for additional mini switch.
Bart HR-5.4AP/918 is what I could find that meets all criteria, but it's not available locally in Indonesia, whereas the Aggie OBP-3 is available through local distributor.
The mid switch is only 2 frequencies so if your wanting 3 you would have to go with another pre-amp. For me it's not a problem with the 4 band preamp on my Mesa D-800. Can dial in any tone I need.
Here are a couple of photos to answer my own question, in case anyone else is wondering how the 33 compares to a full-sized BTB 5-string.
The body of the BTB33 is very slightly smaller. The 33's scale length is 94.3% of the normal BTB, and I'd say the body is about 94% scale in length. Most of the extra width of the larger BTB comes from the wider neck, which is wider due to the extra string spacing.
The larger bass is a BTB1605 that I bought a couple of months ago. It was a very nice instrument, and it sounded very good, but I ended up returning it; the combination of 35-inch scale length and 19-mm string spacing was just too much for me. I wish Ibanez offered a premium version of the BTB33 with Nordstrand pickups, carbon rods in the neck, and all the build quality of the BTB1605.
Here are a couple of photos to answer my own question, in case anyone else is wondering how the 33 compares to a full-sized BTB 5-string.
The body of the BTB33 is very slightly smaller. The 33's scale length is 94.3% of the normal BTB, and I'd say the body is about 94% scale in length. Most of the extra width of the larger BTB comes from the wider neck, which is wider due to the extra string spacing.
The larger bass is a BTB1605 that I bought a couple of months ago. It was a very nice instrument, and it sounded very good, but I ended up returning it; the combination of 35-inch scale length and 19-mm string spacing was just too much for me. I wish Ibanez offered a premium version of the BTB33 with Nordstrand pickups, carbon rods in the neck, and all the build quality of the BTB1605.
Man those pics hurt, if only the BTB33 had the top and color of the 1605. That said, *** is Ibanez thinking with those cheap ass looking knobs on many of the BTBs? If their aim is the "boutique" aesthetic then they should really consider changing those.
How do you feel about the neck size differences between the 33 and 1605? What kind of difference do they have in sound?
For what it's worth, I like the look of the 33 in person, though it depends on the grain pattern of the particular instrument in question.
Do you mean the plastic knobs on the Premium and Prestige basses (both SR and BTB), or the aluminum ones used on the standard basses? I like the aluminum knobs from the cheaper models better. Fortunately, it's not too hard to replace the plastic ones with the aluminum ones, though you do have to look around a bit to find them.
You can see the specifications on the Ibanez site. The necks are the same thickness, but the 33 neck is narrower, due to the string spacing at the bridge and the narrower nut. The neck is also shorter on the 33. I find it much easier for my small hands to manage.
The two basses did sound different. The 1605 has Nordstrand Big Single single-coils, while the 33 has Bartolini BH1 dual-coils. The pre-amps are also different, and the 1605 has an active/passive switch. That said, I don't think my ear is well trained enough for me to articulate the difference. I'm happy with how my 33 sounds.
Thanks for the reply! Yeah I meant the plastic knobs on the Premium ones at least. They look like something you'd find in a cheap amp or overdrive pedal. Of course it's easy to just get ones that look better but you shouldn't have to. The stock ones on the BTB33 look fine though.
I'll probably go give the BTB33 another try on Monday. I've tried it briefly without an amp in a store and really liked how easy it was to play. For someone who is primarily a guitarist it felt very comfortable. Don't know if it's the short scale, narrow string spacing, finger ramp or all of them together. I do dig the high C string over low B as I find the low B is often not that well defined on 5-strings.
Too bad Ibanez insists on the 19mm string spacing and 35" neck on nearly all the BTB models. I really hope they put out a BTB multiscale with narrower string spacing next year.
Ibanez seems to be positioning their bass models for different demographics, with little overlap between. Examples:
- The SR/GSR line has narrow string spacing and extremely slender necks along with the standard long scale.
- The BTB line has wider spacing, wide but thin necks, flat fingerboards, and 35-inch scale.
- The TMB line has retro styling and thicker, more traditional neck dimensions.
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For me, it's primarily the combination of the slightly short scale, the thinness of the neck, the narrow spacing, the bridge position (which keeps the reach low). The overall balance of the instrument and the flat fingerboard also contribute to good ergonomics, at least for me.
Yeah I've tried the fanned fret one too. I feel Ibanez doesn't do fanned fret right yet. The scale length differences are pretty minor and placing the parallel fret at the 12th fret makes the fan at the lower frets quite drastic while not drastic enough on the higher frets. I have a fanned fret Kiesel guitar that places it at the 7th fret and that feels a lot better than the fanned fret guitars or basses Ibanez does.
I guess what I wish Ibanez would do is not use different body types for specific combinations of string spacing and scale as I don't really like the SR shape as much as the BTBs.
I own the Ibanez fanned fret bass, the 6 string one. You are right that the scale length differences aren't drastic. As a matter of fact, I don't feel the low B string requires longer stretch than my 5 string BTB.
But regarding the position of the parallel fret (Ibby puts it at 9th or 10th, not the 12th), I say that they have done it just right. Yes it makes the lower frets fan more compared to higher ones, but... It is just what bass players might need, especially when playing chords. We tend not to play chords at lower frets as they would sound too muddy. For sure I usually don't go playing chords bellow 7th frets. I play them as high as the available frets. I find it's harder to play chords if the frets are fanned. So, Ibby's take on the SRFF where the higher frets are not so fanned is just okay to me.
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Now that I look at it you are probably right, they seem to do it differently on the bass than the guitar models which I'm more familiar with. The lower parallel fret helps balance out the fan and makes it more natural. I need to give the SRFF another go. I guess with a fanned fret it's always a balance of what scale lengths keep all strings sounding good as some say that the low B sounds and feels best at up to 37" scale while other strings can become thinner sounding on a longer scale so with a fanned fret if the difference from low to high string in scale is too drastic the strings in the middle might not sound as good as they could.
