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Ibanez mikro..what mods are really essential?

quadrogong

quadrogong

Jul 6, 2006
2,388
12
NYC
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#1
thinking of buying one,inproving the tuners,etc..do some fret work..some DR short scale strings..maybe even a preamp.
i love it for my backup,or lazy nights,that little guitar bag it comes in? i LOVE it.
judging from my $99 Ibanez beater GSR200(that i found in the trash!),they all probably sound decent.I'll take a risk on one for $169 brand new,

to all Mikro owners..please~

what would u say are some things about the bass,in its stock form, that need work?:bassist:
 
#2
I just bought my son the white one about two weeks ago and don't really have any complaints about it other than the usual truss rod adjustment and has a couple of sharp frets but it sounds really good for $169.99.... I am not doing any mods to it....
 
#5
All I did was change the strings for LaBella flats and shorten the saddle spring on the E string to get the intonation correct.Everything else was fine from the box,it sounds great and I gig it every week in a small jazz combo,It cuts through Sax,Keys and full Drum kit,no problems at all.The tuners are fine and hold well in tune.The knobs are plastic and if I could figure how to remove them,I would fit metal ones,but they are on really tight and I don't want to pull the shafts out of the pots.
 
#7
Greetings,

Am thinking of having a baritone graphite neck made for my Mikro bass body. I found an American company that can do it for about $500. Haven't got the bass body yet, but does anyone know the length of the body's heel-pocket? I like the idea of a tiny bass, even shorter than a Mustang and Bronco.
 
#8
To me it seems like the Mikro's weakest link is probably the pickups, even if they are decent.

At least the P pickup.

The Jazz pickup to me sounds somewhat thin, weak and bland, but blend in with the P it adds some nice top still.

All in all they leave a little to wish for in terms of definition and clarity, to my taste.

Other then that you might find that the intonation screw for the E saddle needs to be cut in order to go far enough back.

I needed to tighten up the screws on the mechanisms to the tuners when I got it as well, and it had a horrible setup from stock, like the strings floating an inch over the fret board or something like that and the pickups adjusted accordingly high.

Beside that it is really a surprisingly well build bass for such a low price.

All I done to mine in terms of mods, beside purely visual ones, was to replace the stock pickups with a pair of EMG Geezer Butler pickups and the stock bridge with a cheap standard copy of an old Fender bridge in black to match mines finish.

Also that would enable me to set the string height lower than the stock bridge allowed me if I wanted to go for that.

I kind of like it were I was able to get it with the old bridge though since I play with fairly slim string gauge.

The best bass I ever had playabillity wise, even if I owned some 1000$+ basses, and it sounds amazing as well after the pickup swap.

Go for it! :bassist:
 
Last edited:
#9
AmadeoAntonelli said:
Greetings,

Am thinking of having a baritone graphite neck made for my Mikro bass body. I found an American company that can do it for about $500. Haven't got the bass body yet, but does anyone know the length of the body's heel-pocket? I like the idea of a tiny bass, even shorter than a Mustang and Bronco.
Click to expand...

Try asking in this thread: "Official" Mikro Bass Club Part 3
 
#10
NoiseNinja said:
To me it seems like the Mikro's weakest link is probably the pickups, even if they are decent.

At least the P pickup.

The Jazz pickup to me sounds somewhat thin, weak and bland, but blend in with the P it adds some nice top still.

All in all they leave a little to wish for in terms of definition and clarity, to my taste.

Other then that you might find that the intonation screw for the E saddle needs to be cut in order to go far enough back.

I needed to tighten up the screws on the mechanisms to the tuners when I got it as well, and it had a horrible setup from stock, like the strings floating an inch over the fret board or something like that and the pickups adjusted accordingly high.

Beside that it is really a surprisingly well build bass for such a low price.

All I done to mine in terms of mods, beside purely visual ones, was to replace the stock pickups with a pair of EMG Geezer Butler pickups and the stock bridge with a cheap standard copy of an old Fender bridge in black to match mines finish.

Also that would enable me to set the string height lower than the stock bridge allowed me if I wanted to go for that.

I kind of like it were I was able to get it with the old bridge though since I play with fairly slim string gauge.

The best bass I ever had playabillity wise, even if I owned some 1000$+ basses, and it sounds amazing as well after the pickup swap.

Go for it! :bassist:
Click to expand...

I agree about the pickups. I'm putting Bartolinis in one of my MiKros and EMGs in the other.

Have to say the stock MiKro pickups are not too bad. I just want to hear that Bartolini and EMG sound, which I like a lot more.

While swapping the pickups maybe replace the pots? Especially if the stock pots are minis.

Then maybe the tuners and bridge although I have had zero problems with either and until I do I won't be changing anything.

The nut could possibly be improved with a Tusq of exactly the same size.
 
#11
quadrogong said:
thinking of buying one,inproving the tuners,etc..do some fret work..some DR short scale strings..maybe even a preamp.
i love it for my backup,or lazy nights,that little guitar bag it comes in? i LOVE it.
judging from my $99 Ibanez beater GSR200(that i found in the trash!),they all probably sound decent.I'll take a risk on one for $169 brand new,

to all Mikro owners..please~

what would u say are some things about the bass,in its stock form, that need work?:bassist:
Click to expand...
None really.
 

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