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Ibanez Mezzo…$299!

jd56hawk

jd56hawk

Sep 12, 2011
18,717
42,162
The Garden State
#1
Another nice entry-level bass!
Photo-Editor-20190122-213424.jpg

I don't know what they were thinking with the video, though...sounds like a Generation Z Playtex Sport Tampon commercial.

This is much better.

Ibanez-SR-Mezzo-Basses.jpg
 
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#11
Yah i've been building a med scale in Warmoth for a while..and am close to pulling the trigger. Then these came and I thought mmmm maybe test med scale with this.

But no, that's the consumerism mentality wrecking the planet. Think i'll just stick wtih Warmoth and build the thing I want.
 
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#18
Well, I played about a half-hour with it last night and so far, overall it's meh-plus.

I love the size and weight. I'm a relatively small guy with small hands (just measured my fret hand spread from thumb to pinkie at 8.5") and it feels great. Lined up with my Super Swede, the 12th fret is one fret closer (or in other words, the first 13 frets take up the same space as 12 frets on a full scale). This is great on songs where I'm using all four fingers in a row (Rock This Town) - my weak-ass pinkie gets some relief.

I love the controls. One volume, pickup blend and bass/treble.

So what makes it meh?

The tuners have a lot of play (though I'm really picky about tuners). But most importantly is the sound. There's plenty of flexibility - the two eq bands have a nice range - but there's a mid-range "thwonk" I don't like at all. And there's some fret buzz to dial-out.

I'm going to play it a bit more, then put some flats on it (as on my others) and see where that gets me. If I still enjoy the feel, I'll see about new pickups and/or electronics. At $299 retail, there's a lot of room to experiment with it.
 
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#19
technocraft said:
Well, I played about a half-hour with it last night and so far, overall it's meh-plus.

I love the size and weight. I'm a relatively small guy with small hands (just measured my fret hand spread from thumb to pinkie at 8.5") and it feels great. Lined up with my Super Swede, the 12th fret is one fret closer (or in other words, the first 13 frets take up the same space as 12 frets on a full scale). This is great on songs where I'm using all four fingers in a row (Rock This Town) - my weak-ass pinkie gets some relief.

I love the controls. One volume, pickup blend and bass/treble.

So what makes it meh?

The tuners have a lot of play (though I'm really picky about tuners). But most importantly is the sound. There's plenty of flexibility - the two eq bands have a nice range - but there's a mid-range "thwonk" I don't like at all. And there's some fret buzz to dial-out.

I'm going to play it a bit more, then put some flats on it (as on my others) and see where that gets me. If I still enjoy the feel, I'll see about new pickups and/or electronics. At $299 retail, there's a lot of room to experiment with it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the update on this! I think these look great. This model and the short scale stingray are the two basses I’m most looking forward to from all the Namm offerings this year, glad to hear some unbiased hands-on impressions.
 
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#20
technocraft said:
Well, I played about a half-hour with it last night and so far, overall it's meh-plus.

I love the size and weight. I'm a relatively small guy with small hands (just measured my fret hand spread from thumb to pinkie at 8.5") and it feels great. Lined up with my Super Swede, the 12th fret is one fret closer (or in other words, the first 13 frets take up the same space as 12 frets on a full scale). This is great on songs where I'm using all four fingers in a row (Rock This Town) - my weak-ass pinkie gets some relief.

I love the controls. One volume, pickup blend and bass/treble.

So what makes it meh?

The tuners have a lot of play (though I'm really picky about tuners). But most importantly is the sound. There's plenty of flexibility - the two eq bands have a nice range - but there's a mid-range "thwonk" I don't like at all. And there's some fret buzz to dial-out.

I'm going to play it a bit more, then put some flats on it (as on my others) and see where that gets me. If I still enjoy the feel, I'll see about new pickups and/or electronics. At $299 retail, there's a lot of room to experiment with it.
Click to expand...

How is your neck? The back of mine has a few rough spots.

My tuners are great and feel tight with little play, I guess it just luck of the draw.
 

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