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Ibanez BTB Club, Part 2!

My BTB33 has been doing fine in the ATK1000C case. I use a little bit of soft foam to wedge it in so it doesn't move.

You can literally take a mallet to it.
Use a small board to buffer the mallet from puncturing the fabric & just whack the foam down.

I've bought Peavey cases before & whacked the foam into shape to fit a Fender.

Wow! Thanks for the quick replies guys, and thanks for quashing the sudden onset of fear of damage to my hard earned cash investment. I expect Ibanez felt it necessary to fix a potential bad mark on it's QC.

Thanks again!
 
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Is anyone experiencing problems with the older cases? I have a BTB33NT with the ATK1000C case. I've read some unfriendly stories and mine also is a very snug fit in order to close. I'm considering the BTB 845 and noticed that the case has been redesigned and the ATK1000C is no longer available. Now I worry about stress on the bass from the case.

It's always something.

Also any feedback about the BH2 pickups would be appreciated. I'm hoping for a workhorse with a "mostly" all around tone availability, with the understanding that my Le Bass Pre may fill most tone voids. I know I can't have it all.

I have found that the BH2 pickups sound good. But, in case you want to replace them, their non-conforming shape will make doing so difficult. You would need to have a new set custom made. I would completely recommend any Ibanez Premium line bass over the standard models. The fret work, finishes, electronics and quality of everything about them is amazing for the price. My premium BTBs stand up to the custom made basses that I own. The premium BTBs are worth the extra money over the standard models and the US made Nordstrand pickups that come stock in them are not only great, but P4 size, so replacing them is easy, should you wish to do so. Try finding a used BTB premium at GC, Reverb or in the Talkbass classifieds.
 
Hi BTBers,
I own a BTB776 and replaced the preamp with an Aguilar with great results. I'm ready for some new pups.
Anyone have recommendations for some drop in replacements? Rather not do and mods if it isn't worth it sonically.

Thanks all,
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Mike
 
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Okay, I have been a fan of Ibanez basses my whole life. I loved the SDGR basses but never enjoyed the string spacing. When the ATK came out it was perfect but I never found a good deal on a five ATK. I tried the Talman out but just never fell in love with it. Great basses especially the lower priced models. Then these two fell in my hands. I played a BTB about 15 years ago but didn't like the one I played. MKI pickups really turned me off. I think I'm going to keep these two. Both used and in need of some fret leveling and I may change the preamps out to Nordstrand. Very happy with them both and the 17mm spacing on the six string works fine. It reminds me of my Modulus and I easily adapted.

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I have a BTB1205E, and love it, but lately, I'm not so impressed with 5 strings anymore; 4s just seem to feel more natural to me.

I played a BTB740 4 string yesterday, and was very impressed.

Warm P-bass tones with Lemon Song-type Jazz tones in one bass.

My 5 string can do this, but I love the wider string spacing on the BTB740.

Temptation.

Mike
 
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This was a BTB1605 that I had a set of Nordstrand Dual Coils and Aguilar OBP-3 preamp dropped in and it was simply amazing. Also had D-Cline Designs make a custom resin set of knobs to perfectly match the top of this bass. Would play with and outdo some 3-$5000 basses I've owned. To this day it is one of the 2 most regretted selling basses I've had.
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I just received my new Ibanez BTB1805 and let me say these Aguilar pups are as good as anything I played. This bass so far is the best I’ve owned in the Ibanez line and honestly sounds and is made as good as some of the boutique basses tha cost me $3000-5000. I’m blown away by this thing so far and the preampnis what they use in the new Prestige basses. The passive tone control really is nice touch. Loving this bass. Oh and it’s barely over 9 pounds on my digital scale so I’m very happy about that.
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I played my Ibanez BTB1805 today at 2 different gigs and my band all raved about how this bass sounded better than any of the Boutique basses I've owned over the years. In a way that made me really happy but in a way it made me mad. To think that this bass at 1/4 of the cost of some of my basses outplayed and sounded better is a little bittersweet lol. This bass is amazing in the power and finesse it puts out. It's a keeper for sure.

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Hi. I just bought BTB685. What are you Single Cut BTB bass owners using for a case? Will these basses fit in most Genaric bass cases? Waiting for it to come in the mail from GC, thought I would buy a case in the meantime



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Me too have been wanting to buy hardcase that can fit my single cut BTB685SC as well as the 7 string BTB7, but the old ones available from Ibanez were only wooden cases which were badly built. So, I'm stuck only using gigbags from GruvGear Gigblade for single carrying and the M80 Dual Electric Bass from Mono in case I'm bringing 2 basses.

But there's a recent Ibanez hardcase model seems nice. The new MRB500C hardcase can fit several different Ibanez bass models. I'd own one had it been available in my country.

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