Finally got the new pick guard - now waiting for a new set of Geezer p/j's. The first set was bad on the J side but the p side was really good
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Ibanez Mezzo Upgrade Path
- Thread starter technocraft
- Start date
With a Geezer P/J I think I would rip out the pre-amp and make it a passive P/J with VT VT controls. I’m considering doing just that with mine, but with less expensive pickups. I have a couple of Fender pickups laying about waiting for a worthy vessel.
Yeah that is what I am going to do - make it passive and in the 4 hole, I may put that producer switch that leads people on.
Hey Fellaz & Fellazettes !
Do we get numbers for writing here?
I got my SRMD200-BKF recently. Horrible fret sprout on both sides of the neck that i will have to fix asap, but other than that i absolutely love it. Not as much noise as i had expected from other players' comments here. The guy i sold my Mustang to didnt want the Labella MUS so i put them on this bass & i love the tones i can get out of it. It's my only bass now as i put my Sire U5 up for sale.
Do we get numbers for writing here?
I got my SRMD200-BKF recently. Horrible fret sprout on both sides of the neck that i will have to fix asap, but other than that i absolutely love it. Not as much noise as i had expected from other players' comments here. The guy i sold my Mustang to didnt want the Labella MUS so i put them on this bass & i love the tones i can get out of it. It's my only bass now as i put my Sire U5 up for sale.
That's what a lot of people echo here about the J pickup being a less worthy pickup than the P. I was originally about to go the Geezer route but something persuade me to go the DiMarzio route to be period correct of how Ibanez back in the lates 70's/80's had them as stock pickups.
How difficult is the bridge upgrade? at first glance it looked like a standard 5 screw fender mount, but I'm looking at it closer now and it seems like this weird 4 slightly offset + 2 pattern.
If looking at the bridge on the bass - the center hole lines up and the 2 to the right also line up. But had to drill new holes for the ones on the left side. All in all works nice and was not that big of a deal to put on.
My recent Mezzo mod -- converting a 4 string to a 5 string -- strung E to C. Rail style bridge had to have some mill work on the inside edges of each rail to reduce the overall span of the bridge. Rather than pull the nut, I used baking soda and super glue to fill in the A and D string slots and then filed in the 3 new slots I needed. The center string was being lost on the original J Bass pickup -- it lined up between pole positions and had less volume, so a cheap Korean blade pickup fixed the issue. The stock P Bass pickup voices all the strings evenly. Put some black knobs and tuners on to match the black bridge. Currently debating yanking the pre-amp and going passive -- I'm finding the bass boost to be pretty heavy handed even when modestly applied. Currently sports a set of well worn Tomastik flats. I'm mostly a Jazz/RnB player.
I think you can try passive by just taking out the battery and putting an alligator click in the right place.
Revisiting this thread now that I’ve bought this back untouched from mods which I will do again soon.
Upgrades I have in mind:
Nordstrand NP4A + NJ4SE
Nordstrand 3-band Preamp (volume/volume stack, tone (pull passive), mid (pull frequency switch), and treble/bass stack).
I will have to call Carey to see if he could swap the volume stack to be blend instead but that’s pretty much the process I’m going with than what I did before.
Upgrades I have in mind:
Nordstrand NP4A + NJ4SE
Nordstrand 3-band Preamp (volume/volume stack, tone (pull passive), mid (pull frequency switch), and treble/bass stack).
I will have to call Carey to see if he could swap the volume stack to be blend instead but that’s pretty much the process I’m going with than what I did before.
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Hey - does anyone have an extra black Mezzo pickguard they want to sell or trade for a white pearloid.
This so great, do you have the right model name/number for this Zero Mod thumbrest? I couldn't find it in their website. Thanks in advance!
If you email them, or contact them, send this pic, they will quote you and make it. Hope it helps
Connect
Will do. Thanks!If you email them, or contact them, send this pic, they will quote you and make it. Hope it helps
Connect
The Ibanez Mezzo does look like a good mod platform and there has been some good work done in this thread.
I play fivers so this has piqued my interest. The 18mm string spacing and 32" scale look like they would be quite comfortable to play.
SRMD205 | SR MEZZO | ELECTRIC BASSES | PRODUCTS | Ibanez guitars
It seems the weakest elements that you get the most benefit from upgrading are the bridge J pickup, preamp, and strings so I'm thinking a Bartolini B-Axis humcancelling jazz in the bridge, a John East 4-band Uni-Pre, and a set of Dunlop nickel roundwound medium scale strings might get this where it needs to be?
Bartolini b-axis J45J-L-18 b-axis Jazz Split Coil Alnico 5 String Standard 18mm Bridge - 70.4mm - Best Bass Gear
John East Uni-Pre 4 Knob - Best Bass Gear
I play fivers so this has piqued my interest. The 18mm string spacing and 32" scale look like they would be quite comfortable to play.
SRMD205 | SR MEZZO | ELECTRIC BASSES | PRODUCTS | Ibanez guitars
It seems the weakest elements that you get the most benefit from upgrading are the bridge J pickup, preamp, and strings so I'm thinking a Bartolini B-Axis humcancelling jazz in the bridge, a John East 4-band Uni-Pre, and a set of Dunlop nickel roundwound medium scale strings might get this where it needs to be?
Bartolini b-axis J45J-L-18 b-axis Jazz Split Coil Alnico 5 String Standard 18mm Bridge - 70.4mm - Best Bass Gear
John East Uni-Pre 4 Knob - Best Bass Gear
Hopefully the zombies have not eaten everyone on this thread.
Keen on getting a mezzo but we play drop D standard and so I’m wondering if anyone else plays this way (or lower!) and how it all goes with buzz, intonation etc etc. I ask because one med scale I tried could not be dropped, it just would not stop buzzing even adjusting the action and truss rod.
Thanks!
Keen on getting a mezzo but we play drop D standard and so I’m wondering if anyone else plays this way (or lower!) and how it all goes with buzz, intonation etc etc. I ask because one med scale I tried could not be dropped, it just would not stop buzzing even adjusting the action and truss rod.
Thanks!
Nope still alive and well. About to make this more active once I get my mezzo back from my luthier this weekend. I’ve never played my mezzo in drop D but I’m positive you won’t get any buzz. Although that could depend on how the mezzo is setup.
Mods: black Ibanez pickguard, black Thumbrocker thumb rest, black Ibanez knobs, black Ibanez bridge, black Gotoh tuners, black Schaller strap lock buttons.
Anyone tried putting a bridge from a SR300 or higher model on one of these? I am wondering whether it will have the same weird 4 hole screw spacing as the one on the Mezzo. The Accu-cast B120, to use the Ibanez part designation, isn’t a bad bridge (not that there is a lot wrong with the stock Mezzo one), if I remember correctly from various SRs I have owned.
