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Ibanez BTB33...

#21
skeeler said:
Keep in mind that basses are made of wood, so their weight fluctuates rather a lot. (This is one reason I like Sweetwater; they post weights for each serial number of each instrument.) My SR500 was just 8 lb 4 oz with the stock tuners, for example. That said, the BTB33 is on average heavier than the SR500 or SR650 you mentioned. The body is bigger and less rounded. Mine was 8 lb 13 oz with the stock tuners. That said, I find that balance is at least as important as total weight. The BTBs, including the 33, are very well balanced, even with the stock tuners. The GB350s I have on it aren't really necessary.
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Thanks for the response. I totally agree balance is a huge factor in comfort. I play a lot of solo bass lately (tapping Stu hamm type stuff, got burnt out on the whole band dynamic) and this bass looks very tempting although part of me wonders is this just a manifestation of the novelty aspect engrained in our DNA (grass is always greener).

Thanks.
 
#22
FWIW, my BTB33 is probably my favorite and most-played bass. I find the high C to be very useful for guitar or cello covers or other covers involving higher notes. If you play in a band with guitars, then it's not so handy, but it sounds like it would suit your solo bass playing well. Keep in mind the length is 33 inches and the spacing at the nut and bridge are more like the SR 5-strings than the other BTBs. If those sound like good specs to you, I encourage you to get one.
 
#23
I just got one about 2 weeks ago, can't say enough about the playability, definitely the easiest bass I've ever played.
I strung it BEADG, had to do a minor adjustment to the nut to fit the strings and believe it or not release the neck a little, the action is very low with no buzz anywhere.
I'm not at all happy with the tone, it sounds a little lifeless to me, I use Elixir's on all my basses and they have lots of tone and life, I'm not sure if the issue is just the pickups and pre or the natural sound characteristics of this bass and the fact that the strings are looser than a 34 or a 35, I keep going back and forth with the idea of returning it but the playability has me by the balls...
Have anyone changed either the pre or the pickups? What's the outcome tone wise?
Thanks
 
#24
I agree that the playability is excellent. If you don't like the tone you are getting with BEADG, you might consider going to a progressive-tension set. Alternately, you might try playing it in EADGC tuning for a while. The C string gives you good options for chords and melodies. I use this bass for EADGC and my SRSC805 for most BEADG playing.
 
#28
Picked up a BTB33 about 3 months ago and it's become my #1 very quickly. Still not 100% in love with the tone and exploring pickup/preamp replacement options as well. Reluctant to go with another set of Barts as I'm not entirely sure it will make a huge difference in tone. Would prefer to try somethin in the Aggy or Nordstrand realm.
 
#29
sparkyness said:
Picked up a BTB33 about 3 months ago and it's become my #1 very quickly. Still not 100% in love with the tone and exploring pickup/preamp replacement options as well. Reluctant to go with another set of Barts as I'm not entirely sure it will make a huge difference in tone. Would prefer to try somethin in the Aggy or Nordstrand realm.
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FWIW, on the mentioned link above, I've just included latest info on Bart's US dropped-in replacements for the BH1 pickups, which currently available in 4 variants, with at least 2 of them have entirely different internal magnetic coil structure than BTB33's BH1 dual coil pickups and some of them have coil switching ability (which BH1 don't). So, sure they would introduce different tonality. But of course, it's all up to you if you want to order from Aggy or Nordy to make custom fit pickups for BH1 replacement.
 
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#31
sparkyness said:
Cheers - taking a look. BestBassGear appears to have these in stock too.
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Yes, they do. But you might want to be careful when choosing the type. If you're interested in the 2J Square type, this one has quad coils inside, where there is gap in between each pair of coils, on which you need to measure where the gap goes in relation with the BTB33 string spacing, which is 17 mm, that is different than the rest BTB 5 string basses which generally have 19 mm string spacing.
 

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