I just bought an ibanez mezzo 205(still in shipping) and im wondering if anyone owns one or has swapped pickups on them before? I want to swap my sadowsky pickups from my ibanez tmb35, but i remember my luthier saying that the dimensions of the tmb35 stock pickups are unusual (maybe the size of a 4 string pickup but made for 5 string?) so im wondering if they will fit in the new bass. Any info would be awesome
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Ibanez mezzo 205 pickup size
- Thread starter blazekwi
- Start date
Well, better late than never...... I just took delivery of one..... my 3rd Mezzo 5 (and this one will NOT be sold, lol).
The P pickup cavities are the same size as a normal 4 string P pickup cover. The width of the J pickup is 3.72" and the cavity is a hair wider. See pics.
I just bought a set of pickups from Wilde (Bill Lawrence ). They have a likker deal of $115 for the PJ set. The P pickups are the P46 with 5 Alnico 2 poles on each side, total of 10 poles, which were built for 4, 5 and 6 string basses. The J pickups are J45 with 9 poles that can handle 4, 5 and even some 6 string basses. These pickups get fantastic reviews, so I decided to snag them for this build. I will run them totally passive and see what result I get. I didn't see anybody running them with a preamp, but I'll probably experiment with that down the road.
Mine is a 2022 model and I snagged it off GC's website before anyone else. I've been waiting about 7 months to come across one. I was hoping it was in good shape and it turned out it's PRISTINE with very low action and properly intonated. It has a set of Dunlop SS super Bright strings (ZING!!). Sounds great from the get-go, but I'm looking for a bit more warmth and no preamp / bass boost / whatever it is in there, so here we go........... !!!! I hope yours turns out great, too. And, I'm pretty sure these pickups are the same model/dimension as the TMB35. Looking at the spec sheets for both, they are both "Dynamix" pickups. Feel free to PM me if you want to compare builds/mods! -Lenny
The P pickup cavities are the same size as a normal 4 string P pickup cover. The width of the J pickup is 3.72" and the cavity is a hair wider. See pics.
I just bought a set of pickups from Wilde (Bill Lawrence ). They have a likker deal of $115 for the PJ set. The P pickups are the P46 with 5 Alnico 2 poles on each side, total of 10 poles, which were built for 4, 5 and 6 string basses. The J pickups are J45 with 9 poles that can handle 4, 5 and even some 6 string basses. These pickups get fantastic reviews, so I decided to snag them for this build. I will run them totally passive and see what result I get. I didn't see anybody running them with a preamp, but I'll probably experiment with that down the road.
Mine is a 2022 model and I snagged it off GC's website before anyone else. I've been waiting about 7 months to come across one. I was hoping it was in good shape and it turned out it's PRISTINE with very low action and properly intonated. It has a set of Dunlop SS super Bright strings (ZING!!). Sounds great from the get-go, but I'm looking for a bit more warmth and no preamp / bass boost / whatever it is in there, so here we go........... !!!! I hope yours turns out great, too. And, I'm pretty sure these pickups are the same model/dimension as the TMB35. Looking at the spec sheets for both, they are both "Dynamix" pickups. Feel free to PM me if you want to compare builds/mods! -Lenny
Also, my upcoming mods will be a set of Gotoh Res-O-Lite tuners (GB350) in chrome and a Gotoh 404SJ-5 bridge. The bridge on this is fine, but I plan to run string-thru, so I can utilize full scale strings. I did that on a Warmoth Medium scale Z bass, 4 string. Turned out great and the string-thru access holes are radiused so there are no sharp bends/kinks. I ran EB Slinky Cobalt flats and wasn't worried at all about the angle coming up from the bottom, with that nice sweeping angle. I am really looking forward to getting this going. Oh, also..... the Gotoh bridge has 18mm string spacing; the exact same spacing as your Mezzo. You'd have to plug and drill new mounting holes, but well worth it!
I love the sound these give my Mezzo. I removed the 2 band pre, as I felt there was no need for it. I was right. Most excellent. However, I have to adjust the P pickup kind of the opposite way I'm used to; I "sink" the 2 screws towards the middle to get the A poles down a bit. The issue is that when I play the A string, both pieces of the P assembly pick up the vibration and make the A string a bit louder than the other 4 strings. I've had this issue with other pickups, but this is the most manageable. Still, I am on the hunt for a fairly affordable pickup that is balanced a bit more. I have been in contact with @laklandplayer and he has reached out to Becky at Wilde, along with EMG to see if they would be interested in producing a 5 string pickup that fits the standard 4 string P dimensions, with no "overlap" of the A string. Hopefully that will happen soon. Meanwhile, I have not given up on the Wilde P46 !
