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Ibanez BTB Club, Part 2!

#1,861
cipruk said:
OMG Im so happy to find this thread.

My btb have been in hiatus for 5+ yrs and now that I'm start gigging again, took it out, never had anyone to talk to about this bass (no one around me seems to know much about btb).
Will post some pictures if it when I get home, in the meanwhile, this is the only picture on my phone of her (cavity.. lol;)).
View attachment 3620518

Some question on my mind around it:
1. if one to change the neutrick locking thingy, what kind should fit comfortably (same dimension ?)
2. I love NYXLs but pretty hard and expensive to come by where I am now. Would regular slinkys long enough to fit into this long beast ?

@lowfreqman nice setup ! how u liking the audere ? :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I bought a generic gold jack plate that completely covered the Neutrik jack hole and its screw holes, drilled some new screw holes for the new generic plate and installed a Switchcraft jack instead.

I use Dunlop Superbright nickels on my BTB. I love those strings, and they are not too expensive.

The Audere is awesome! It is a very flexible preamp with a lot of usable tones. The price is right, and the customer service is great too. On multiple occasions, I emailed Audere with some questions and got detailed, very helpful responses back from the owner within a couple of hours.
 
#1,862
@lowfreqman glad to hear them guys at audere still keeping up the good work.
So you fabricate the plate.. I'm not handy enough for that.. eventho u might call it a walk in the park.. Lol

@Aidil thx brooh.. Ketagihan nyxl gara2 di indo broooh . My guitar/bass tech told me that for me personally i wouldn't like any other string better than nyxl.. Turn out he know me so well..
 
#1,863
So.. Here's my Gracie..
Audere 3band,lowZ and mid switch selector.
SGD neodymium hb pu, tight spacing on neck and wide on bridge.
My (long pending) next work would be to install switch so i can select single or dual coil on the pickup.. Though im wondering where can i put the extra switch/es.
IMG_20191208_115240-01.jpeg
 
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#1,864
Symphony2040 said:
So after months of waiting, I was finally able to receive all of the parts in order to customize my BTB746. I've got to say...I'm incredibly pleased with the results.:D
View attachment 3615869
This was my first time customizing a bass on my own. I figured it would be a little fun project, despite myself not being a very 'handy' person. I actually went with @Npunk42 's suggestion to go with the gold knobs. I have to say...I'm very glad that I did! It really does make the burl on this bass pop! Here is a comparison shot. In the first picture, the bass is tuned ADGCFBb (Top 6 strings of a 7 string bass, tuned down a whole step). It is currently tuned in standard BEADGC tuning. This comparison should really show how beautiful the wood is in different lighting situations.
View attachment 3615870
I don't mean to brag, but I've got to say that I am so lucky to have been able to score this gorgeous instrument when I did. To this day, I have yet to see an Ibanez BTB746 that has a top like this one. There is just something so...distinctive about it. You see, when looking at the instrument indoors under normal lighting conditions, it looks like a somewhat figured walnut top. The color of the top matches evenly when looking at it indoors. In some other lighting, it actually looks as though one side is entirely lighter than the other. Adding the gold hardware just really sets the look off, and it feels great to know that I own such an affordable instrument that inspires me to play.
View attachment 3615888
I attached some bonus shots! There is also an indoor picture as well, that way you could have a better idea of how the top looks in darker lighting. To be honest, the fingerboard is very beautiful as well. :hyper::bassist:
View attachment 3615873
Click to expand...
That really is beautiful, it draws attention to the burl. I wish there was a color that worked so well with my btb846sc, deep twilight.
 
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#1,865
cipruk said:
@lowfreqman glad to hear them guys at audere still keeping up the good work.
So you fabricate the plate.. I'm not handy enough for that.. eventho u might call it a walk in the park.. Lol

@Aidil thx brooh.. Ketagihan nyxl gara2 di indo broooh . My guitar/bass tech told me that for me personally i wouldn't like any other string better than nyxl.. Turn out he know me so well..
Click to expand...

I didn’t fabricate the plate. I found a generic one on Amazon. It had all the dimensions listed, so I knew it would cover the big hole left by the Neutrik jack without hanging over the edge.
 
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#1,866
cipruk said:
@lowfreqman glad to hear them guys at audere still keeping up the good work.
So you fabricate the plate.. I'm not handy enough for that.. eventho u might call it a walk in the park.. Lol

@Aidil thx brooh.. Ketagihan nyxl gara2 di indo broooh . My guitar/bass tech told me that for me personally i wouldn't like any other string better than nyxl.. Turn out he know me so well..
Click to expand...
Sama² broh cipruk... :)

Has the Neutrik jack failed on you or you just don't like the locking thingy? It was quite hard to deal with when I first got my BTB and it felt unnecessary. But I have gotten used to it, so I let it be.

The NYXL cost to much in OZ? I thought it's already expensive enough in Jkt. How about buying it internationally from eBay or others like TB own store, FN, SBM, etc and choose cheapest available shipping method?

Also as other poster have mentioned, you might want to check out Dunlop Super Bright Nickels had you liked the NYXL so much. These are awesome strings and quite cheap. More so if you could get discounted price from seasonal sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Some of my Super Brights were from seasonal discounts and have them shipped to Indonesia using the most economical shipping, which then were still cheaper than getting them from local stores.

Ernie Ball Slinkys are also good. Lots would swear by them. But to me, they just felt like standard XL Nickel strings.

Your Gracie has beautiful top by the way. Where did you get it?
 
Last edited:
#1,867
Aidil said:
Sama² broh cipruk... :)

Has the Neutrik jack failed on you or you just don't like the locking thingy? It was quite hard to deal with when I first got my BTB and it felt unnecessary. But I have gotten used to it, so I let it be.

The NYXL cost to much in OZ? I thought it's already expensive enough in Jkt. How about buying it internationally from eBay or others like TB own store, FN, SBM, etc and choose cheapest available shipping method?

Also as other poster have mentioned, you might want to check out Dunlop Super Bright Nickels had you liked the NYXL so much. These are awesome strings and quite cheap. More so if you could get discounted price from seasonal sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Some of my Super Brights were from seasonal discounts and have them shipped to Indonesia using the most economical shipping, which then were still cheaper than getting them from local stores.

Ernie Ball Slinkys are also good. Lots would swear by them. But to me, they just felt like standard XL Nickel strings.

Your Gracie has beautiful top by the way. Where did you get it?
Click to expand...

I just didn’t like struggling to remove instrument cables during bass changes. I have never had an issue with cables being pulled from or falling out of basses, so I made the mod. I have been happy with the change.
 
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#1,869
Aidil said:
Sama² broh cipruk... :)

Has the Neutrik jack failed on you or you just don't like the locking thingy? It was quite hard to deal with when I first got my BTB and it felt unnecessary. But I have gotten used to it, so I let it be.

The NYXL cost to much in OZ? I thought it's already expensive enough in Jkt. How about buying it internationally from eBay or others like TB own store, FN, SBM, etc and choose cheapest available shipping method?

Also as other poster have mentioned, you might want to check out Dunlop Super Bright Nickels had you liked the NYXL so much. These are awesome strings and quite cheap. More so if you could get discounted price from seasonal sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Some of my Super Brights were from seasonal discounts and have them shipped to Indonesia using the most economical shipping, which then were still cheaper than getting them from local stores.

Ernie Ball Slinkys are also good. Lots would swear by them. But to me, they just felt like standard XL Nickel strings.

Your Gracie has beautiful top by the way. Where did you get it?
Click to expand...


same like @lowfreqman and @Npunk42 , never had issues of jack falling off (ever), and find the effort of plugging out of it super annoying (change bass, saving your battery, etc). This one occasion the jack had these cracking noise like its dirty/faulty, when I replace it turns out someone played it and didn't know he had to press to pull out, so there's a tip of a broken jack inside it causing that noise (and I just found out after the neutrik's replaced, not broken after all:drool:)

got the bass off ebay in 2010. build 2006/7, Korean.
always wanted to try 35 scale cause I loove B string and and on some particular sessions would love to have that low register standing out. turns out doing the job very very well for the price (then).

thx for the info on the strings btw.. the slinky go as low as $30 for 5 strings, that's the reason I want to try them .. lol..
 
#1,870
Hey all...I have a BTB776PB made in 2011, 18V preamp.

I put two fresh batteries...say January of this year. Today, the bass went quiet while playing (luckily just at home)...figured out that the batteries were dead.

Here's what is odd. One battery is dead. The other still "Good", in the green, like a brand new battery. They are wired in series and I can see the splice in the battery compartment.

Is this normal? Should I keep looking at wiring expecting to find out it's been running on one 9V?
File photos, it's the one on the left.
20190922_134635.jpg

On my other active basses, usually I hear a distorted signal long before it goes dead. Interesting to know this one goes straight dead without warning...unless the preamp or wiring is bad.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: I tested a brand new battery, same brand and expiration...the needle is in the "Good" at exactly the same spot. I would have expected identical drainage on both 9V batteries wired in series.
 
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#1,871
RyanOh said:
Hey all...I have a BTB776PB made in 2011, 18V preamp.

I put two fresh batteries...say January of this year. Today, the bass went quiet while playing (luckily just at home)...figured out that the batteries were dead.

Here's what is odd. One battery is dead. The other still "Good", in the green, like a brand new battery. They are wired in series and I can see the splice in the battery compartment.

Is this normal? Should I keep looking at wiring expecting to find out it's been running on one 9V?
File photos, it's the one on the left.
View attachment 3634354

On my other active basses, usually I hear a distorted signal long before it goes dead. Interesting to know this one goes straight dead without warning...unless the preamp or wiring is bad.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: I tested a brand new battery, same brand and expiration...the needle is in the "Good" at exactly the same spot. I would have expected identical drainage on both 9V batteries wired in series.
Click to expand...

Maybe there is a short in one of you battery harnesses, allowing current to bypass one of the batteries.
 
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#1,877
Nol Taylor said:
Hey everyone! Fairly new BTB owner here. Here’s my 846V. Be ok if I can get a number?
Click to expand...
Congrats.

Those who buy a 6 string bass are most likely those who often go up using the higher registers to play melodic fills, chords, and soloing. I imagined tuning a 33" 6er like BTB846V to EADGCF would be easier to play and less twangy sounding on the higher strings (GCF) than my regular 35" BTB7.
 
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#1,878
Thanks!
At the moment I’ve kept all the controls on the bass flat. I also keep the EQ on the amp flat. So far I haven’t heard any twang from the bass at all. It’s very smooth. But I’m a novice to 6 string. I’ve only ever played two others and one of them was a fret less Carvin. I can say though, that I love this bass and I’m excited to go on many a musical adventure with it.
 
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#1,879
If anyone has one of the newer BTB Premium basses with the Aguilar pickups, I would be curious to hear your opinions about the sound of the instrument. Having tried a few, I just don't think the Ibanez preamp is doing the pickups justice. Almost as if it's " choking" the output.
 
#1,880
Chatdawg said:
If anyone has one of the newer BTB Premium basses with the Aguilar pickups, I would be curious to hear your opinions about the sound of the instrument. Having tried a few, I just don't think the Ibanez preamp is doing the pickups justice. Almost as if it's " choking" the output.
Click to expand...

I love Aguilar DCB pickups. I have them in another bass, besides the BTB I own. You are right, the stock Ibanez 3-band preamp wasn't a good fit with the DCBs, imo. I swapped-out the Ibanez preamp for a 3-band Audere Pro-Z. The range of tones and responsiveness is much improved with the preamp upgrade!
 
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