Ibanez Mikro 5 string bass upgrade questions, help needed ?

[Davyo]

Looking to do some mods on my Ibanez Mikro 5 string GSRM25.

Pickups: Jazz style obviously, looking for passive with a bright crispy sound, the Seymour Duncan’s look interesting but not sure which ones/models will give me that bright sound.
I’m open to other brands of pups, preferably drop-in fit with no mods required.

Looking for Bridge and Tuners that will be a drop-in fit as well.

Thanks in advance for any help and opinions.
Cheers, Davyo

 

[Davyo]

Looking to do some mods on my Ibanez Mikro 5 string GSRM25.

Pickups: Jazz style obviously, looking for passive with a bright crispy sound, the Seymour Duncan’s look interesting but not sure which ones/models will give me that bright sound.
I’m open to other brands of pups, preferably drop-in fit with no mods required.

Looking for Bridge and Tuners that will be a drop-in fit as well.

Thanks in advance for any help and opinions.
Cheers, Davyo

One more related question for anyone that’s upgraded the pups on the 5 string Ibanez Mikro, was the upgrade worth it as far as better tone and sustain ?
I’m not unhappy with the current stock pups but if upgrading the stock pups is going to make my bass sound noticeably better then I’m all for it.
Opinions and feedback would definitely be appreciated.
Thanks again in advance.
Cheers, Davyo

 

[TrustRod]

I like the pickups, if you change them some people will say it sounds better, for others it will sound worse. If you tell people which set was the most expensive that will probably be the favorite. The few I've played seemed bright and what I would call vintage, similar to some Aero's I had. I suspect anything hotter will be less bright and crisp.

Here's one option from left field. Try an original EMG set, not the X or anything but the old ones. Use their 2 band EQ. It's what's in my Guild Pilot and about a million basses from the '80s and 90's. Downside is no passive option. It's still one of the best sounding, highly flexible sets to my ears.

 

[Davyo]

Perhaps I’ll just stick with the original pups, I’m not at all unhappy with the sound of my Mikro 5 banger, I was just wondering if different pups would make a big positive difference in sound quality and justify the cost of buying and installing new pups.
Cheers, Davyo

 

[AG42]

I have a Mikro 5 which I've done a few mods on...

I fitted a Hipshot A-style brass bridge (but a direct fit, but some careful measuring and drilling is fine) and am trying to fit new pickups. Be aware, the bridge pickup is a short width one, and the only pickups I could easily find to fit are the Bartolini 59J1 S/SB set - I ordered some but was shipped the 9J1 S/SB 4 string set which fit but the A string doesn't work at all (the pickups are dual rails with a magnetic field gap right where the A string is). As the bridge had string thru holes I've drilled those out, fitted ferules, and have to find medium length strings, but I'll have to get custom ones made as no one seems to make a medium length 5 string set that I've found (I normally use D'Addario and after talking to them they were unable to help).

Also, I fitted some Wilkinson tuners, they dropped in fine, I'll find out what they were and post here, but I did fit black ones to match my SR506 and make it look less obvious it's a small bass, which chrome ones seem to do.

I'm going to try putting the original pickups back in to see how they sound, as the best change I've made so far is a John East preamp - now that did take quite a bit of fitting, but made such a difference to the sound and flexibility!

 

[Davyo]

Thanks for the info, very much appreciated.
Definitely sounds like you’ve done a lot of mods on your 5 string Mikro, very cool.
I’m using my 5 string Mikro’s for all my gigs nowadays and haven’t touched my regular scale 4 string bass’s in quite a while now.
The Mikro 5 string is just a blast to play they have become my new comfort zone and running thru my Hartke bass amps my Mikro’s sound actually really good.
I’m thinking I might just upgrade the tuners only and just leave the stock pups, at least are my thoughts at the moment now.
Cheers, Davyo

 

[Bassiclees]

@Davyo did you put a new bridge on your Mikro5? Was it drop in? I wasn't clear from @AG42 's post if the Hipshot A went in without drilling.

 

[Davyo]

@Davyo did you put a new bridge on your Mikro5? Was it drop in? I wasn't clear from @AG42 's post if the Hipshot A went in without drilling.

Na, I didn’t go thru with the planned upgrades, I’ve got 3 of the Mikro 5 string bass’s now and the only thing I did on them was just replace the chrome knobs with black knobs,, big upgrade (lol)
Trying to find a drop-in black bridge just got a bit challenging so I just kinda dumped my plans to replace all the chrome hardware with black hardware.
I gig with my Mikro 5 string bass’s regularly and have really had no issues with tuning or anything else.
I’m also using my Ibanez Mezzo 32” scale 5 string bass as well for gigs.
And running all my bass’s thru my Hartke HD500 combo sounds absolutely amazing.
Cheers, Davyo

 

[Doug Parent]

Perhaps I’ll just stick with the original pups, I’m not at all unhappy with the sound of my Mikro 5 banger, I was just wondering if different pups would make a big positive difference in sound quality and justify the cost of buying and installing new pups.
Cheers, Davyo

Yeah changing to some high performance pickups would change the overall experience of ownership.

 

[AG42]

@Davyo did you put a new bridge on your Mikro5? Was it drop in? I wasn't clear from @AG42 's post if the Hipshot A went in without drilling.

Hi...I did have to drill new holes, but I've been doing this for a while replacing almost all of my basses with either Hipshot or Babicz bridges. Both brands are incredibly stable and I've definitely noticed better sustain and clarity. The original holes can be filled with dowel (I used bamboo skewers), and drilling holes is easier than you think, it just takes a little measurement an positioning - in fact I was able to move the Hipshot back 5mm to give the B string more space .

@Davyo Just out of interest seeing as you have 3 of them (I'm jealous!!!) what strings do you use? Are you still using the original Ibanez strings and if so what do you think? I like them but don't use Dunlop 55 string cleaner, I had two sets of strings have the nickel rub very quickly off them after using it.

@Doug Parent I'm about to put the original pickups back in and see how they go with my John East preamp. The Bartolinis I have do sound really good, but I'm wondering if the pickups will make that much of a difference - I didn't dislike at all the originals when it was passive. I'll report back when I do it...

 

[filler83]

I have a Mikro 5 which I've done a few mods on...

I fitted a Hipshot A-style brass bridge (but a direct fit, but some careful measuring and drilling is fine) and am trying to fit new pickups. Be aware, the bridge pickup is a short width one, and the only pickups I could easily find to fit are the Bartolini 59J1 S/SB set - I ordered some but was shipped the 9J1 S/SB 4 string set which fit but the A string doesn't work at all (the pickups are dual rails with a magnetic field gap right where the A string is). As the bridge had string thru holes I've drilled those out, fitted ferules, and have to find medium length strings, but I'll have to get custom ones made as no one seems to make a medium length 5 string set that I've found (I normally use D'Addario and after talking to them they were unable to help).

Also, I fitted some Wilkinson tuners, they dropped in fine, I'll find out what they were and post here, but I did fit black ones to match my SR506 and make it look less obvious it's a small bass, which chrome ones seem to do.

I'm going to try putting the original pickups back in to see how they sound, as the best change I've made so far is a John East preamp - now that did take quite a bit of fitting, but made such a difference to the sound and flexibility!

Sorry for the necro response, but looking for drop in tuner replacements for my Ibanez Mikro bass. Can you tell me what tuners you ended up going with? Thanks

 

[AG42]

Sorry for the necro response, but looking for drop in tuner replacements for my Ibanez Mikro bass. Can you tell me what tuners you ended up going with? Thanks

I put in Wilkinson WJB-750 tuners in black... They're not that light but they did fit directly and they hold the nicely.

 

[filler83]

I put in Wilkinson WJB-750 tuners in black... They're not that light but they did fit directly and they hold the nicely.

Thanks!!!

 

[filler83]

For those interested, I was able to install Gotoh GB707 tuners in the mikro and they fit right in!

 

[Mark77]

@Davyo did you put a new bridge on your Mikro5? Was it drop in? I wasn't clear from @AG42 's post if the Hipshot A went in without drilling.

Unfortunately - no drop-in replacements – I ordered an Ibanez B305 – the top two holes match but the bottom 5 are off slightly. Also the smaller screws supplied aren’t great – two broke off. I ended up having it installed by an expert luthier. The 305 is a nice upgrade – high mass, quick load, and more room for intonation.