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Ibanez Mezzo…$299!

#21
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...

Your comments about the "meh" parts remind me we all have different tone goals. You don't like the midrange thwonk...I read your description and thought "sounds potentially cool to me." You don't like the fret buzz, and I'm getting set to drop the action on my current #2 a little so that I can get some more clank and buzz out of it.

Don't get me wrong, though, you are right and your opinion is informative and helpful - Thank You! My current tone goals are being driven by the band I'm in now. Two years ago, I'd have been right there with you on the fret buzz thing. I like mids, but I agree there are good mids and bad mids. My 32" Urge is definitely mid-forward, and I can see that not being a good thing for a lot of people.

If I find one of these used for next to nothing someday, it might come home with me. Unless I've shifted back to your way of thinking about tone, which is entirely possible.
 
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#22
wvbass said:
Your comments about the "meh" parts remind me we all have different tone goals. You don't like the midrange thwonk...I read your description and thought "sounds potentially cool to me." You don't like the fret buzz, and I'm getting set to drop the action on my current #2 a little so that I can get some more clank and buzz out of it.

Don't get me wrong, though, you are right and your opinion is informative and helpful - Thank You! My current tone goals are being driven by the band I'm in now. Two years ago, I'd have been right there with you on the fret buzz thing. I like mids, but I agree there are good mids and bad mids. My 32" Urge is definitely mid-forward, and I can see that not being a good thing for a lot of people.

If I find one of these used for next to nothing someday, it might come home with me. Unless I've shifted back to your way of thinking about tone, which is entirely possible.
Click to expand...

I played it again last night - and I'm still fighting that - but really digging the size.

I plan to take it band practice tomorrow night see how the thwonk fits in there...
 
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#23
I didn't intend to get black strings, but while looking for flatwounds, in medium scale, in stock gauge, there were few options. Turns out it makes the whole guitar for me now. Sounds much more how I like and looks rad to boot.

IMG_0871.JPG
 
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#24
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...
You know you can get rid of the play in the tuning machines by tightening the screw at the handle end.
 
#25
Well I got one of these Mezzo bass' and unfortunately it's going back to the vendor. There was a defect in the neck on the one I got. The maple fingerboard slab had expanded away from the maple neck leaving a sharp edge. I also couldn't dial in a satisfactory tone from the active electronics. There seemed to be a high end 'chirp' that couldn't be dialed out without messing up the overall tone profile. This is my first 'active' bass so maybe that's normal. ???

The J neck profile was also just too extreme for me with the nut width being 1.490". I didn't realize how much different this super narrow neck would feel compared to my current (Ibanez TMB30) P style bass neck. I'm new at this bass stuff but the tiny Mezzo neck just felt really awkward to me.
 
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#26
But why is the K version more expensive? Just for a black pickguard? Tried to see any other difference but couldn't.
wvbass said:
The "K" in the model number just means it has a black pickguard, doesn't it. I've been wondering about the difference between SRMD200 and SRMD200K models, and it just registered - CMYK...K is black.
Click to expand...
 
#27
I have my eye on getting a short/mid scale in the near future (once I sell one of my other basses . one-in-one-out policy), tried a Mezzo at the store and y'know, I wanted to like it, really I did, but the sound just wasn't there for me. Even tried two of them and found them too mid-treble-centric, compared to the Talman anyway. I guess the TMB30 will be the short/mid-scale for me.
 
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#28
Maxdusty said:
I have my eye on getting a short/mid scale in the near future (once I sell one of my other basses . one-in-one-out policy), tried a Mezzo at the store and y'know, I wanted to like it, really I did, but the sound just wasn't there for me. Even tried two of them and found them too mid-treble-centric, compared to the Talman anyway. I guess the TMB30 will be the short/mid-scale for me.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I have TM30 and I absolutely LOVE it. My only minor complaint is the rather generous neck dimensions. For my med sized paws (with some problems) it's a little difficult to use at times.

I wanted to like the Mezzo (bought it and then returned it) but the weird 'honky' tones (to me) were just a huge turn-off. I think the Mezzo would be a way better bass if it had more standard bass pups.

I have to also admit it was a little embarrassing owning a bass that had those ridiculous promo vids. :rollno:
 
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