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Ibanez Portamento Club

#2,401
I was about to pull the trigger on a 705, but then I saw a nice used SRD 905 and now I'm having trouble deciding between the two. I've watched some you tube videos but still stuck. I'm an upright player mostly in a jazz trio setting so I'm assuming they both would be equally good at the piezo producing upright bass sound. Besides that, what's important to me is playability, easiest for getting good fretless intonation, and sound versatility. The 905 has what appears to be sound holes, chambers? Maybe that would aid in the acoustic sound?
Analysis Paralysis!
Worst case scenario is I buy both and keep the one I like best and return the other.
 
#2,402
Well I'm back in the club after being out for a few years (I don't think I ever asked for a number--I'm not really a number guy). I bought a used SRF700 back in 2021 and had it for a couple of years. Then I played a fretless Sandberg Booster and was blown away and so ordered a Booster built to my specs from Sandberg. It took many months to arrive, and when it did I sold the Ibanez. But over time I found myself never getting comfortable with the Sandberg's body shape. So I eventually sold it and then experimented with a few other different fretless basses, none of which did the trick for me. Recently I was listening back to some recordings where I had used the SRF700, and was reminded how great it sounded. So I bought another one and it arrived last week, and I'm enjoying it's familiar feel and sound very much. :)
FullFront.jpg
 
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#2,403
fretlessman71 said:
So apparently the "Search Thread" function is gone, and I am not sifting through 100+ pages to find the answer I want. So...

Did any of you replace your preamp with something that kept the piezo functional? What did you end up getting and why? Pictures please, if you had to make physical modifications. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Anyone...?
 
#2,404
fretlessman71 said:
Anyone...?
Click to expand...
If you look earlier in this thread, you'll find the conversion I did to Audere preamps and Nordstrand pups. I used an Audere Classic for the piezo and a Pro Z on the magnetics. Each mag pickup had it's own volume control on the Pro Z, and the piezo had it's own volume control on the Classic.

Since Audere is no longer doing business, I'd recommend the Nordstrand preamps.

You need two preamps because the character of the magnetics are different than the piezos, so you want to be able to adjust bass/mid/treble for each preamp to get them to mix well. Then run the two preamps in parallel configuration to the output jack.
 
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#2,405
I've had my 706 for a few months now and am thinking about changing the pickups for the Nordstrand Zen Blades. I see that the Zen 6 is too long for the cavities but the Zen 5's will fit. It seems like the blade is full width so there shouldn't be any sound drop off because of the "poles". Are there any considerations, other than esthetics, that I should be aware of? I have searched the thread and directly read about 70% of it, but didn't notice any info that addresses my concerns. Thanks a lot!

King-and-Queen.jpg
 
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#2,406
Can't say anything for the 6, but the Zen Blade 5 left a (roughly) 1mm gap around the cavity that you don't notice unless you stare at it. It's interesting that the 6 is too long as I was under the impression when talking to Nordstrand about the Zen Blade that the Bartolini was slightly larger than average. I've got a Big Rig in the bass position, and it too leaves a 1mm gap around the edges.

Hunter34

Post in thread 'Ibanez Portamento Club'

Ok, the transformation is complete! Well, almost... my two Nordstrand pups are stuck in single-coil. I think... I don't hear a different switching between series, parallel, or single-coil, so I know something is up with my wiring attempt.

Anyway, it sounds fantastic! The piezo delivers a much better quality mwah than stock, and I've got three tone controls with a mid-frequency selector to put the piezo exactly where I want it. I'll report back on the pups when I get the wiring straight. I had already played around with the BigRig before changing out the rest of the electronics and was...
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#2,407
HELP!

My 706 just started doing this awful thing yesterday and I don't know where to start or who to ask or take it to.

I use the piezo for part of my tone blend, and I was in the studio yesterday. We discovered that with certain preamps, when the piezo volume is up, if you push directly down on a string towards the body, it makes an audible "thump", and often it makes 3 or 4 thumps in a row. This is something that happens with the heel of my hand since I use a guitar pick (long story for another time).

I have iPhone video of the phenomenon, but I can't seem to attach it to this post (suggestions for doing this are welcome).

When I shake the bass, the same thing occurs.

When I plug into my amp at home, I am unable to recreate the issue. Which makes things harder to diagnose.

I prefer not to use an amp at certain performances for stage volume reasons, plus I prefer IEMs when I can use them.

I am now terrified of having this issue turn up at a venue during soundcheck.

Has anyone else dealt with this? I know there are people here who are less than enthusiastic about the AeroSilk piezo. I'd love to hear any bright ideas on what to check.
 
#2,408
I wasn't able to make my EHB1005SMS work for me, so I sold it. I went a different direction and picked up an SRF705 at used Guitar Center during the Labor Day sale. It's in great condition and I was able to get it setup the way I like. Once or twice a month I play at our blended service, which is piano led and throws in a hymn with some older and newer christian music. We also do a gospel night a few times a year. This should fit well in those applications.

It's in nice shape, but only issue is the G trim pot doesn't do anything. It's all the way up no matter how I turn it. The rest work, so I turned them all up so it's even. I can adjust with the piezo volume. Has anyone had the that issue and solved it?
 

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#2,409
Somewhere in this thread, I believe, is my explanation of how I dealt with the horrible sounding piezo tone. I loved the bass (it was a 6 string) but hated the tone. Changed the pickups to Lace, the preamp to Audere, and made my own piezo preamp. Sure sounded great after that. I doubt I will ever buy another Ibanez due to their questionable choices in pickups and electronics. To each their own. If anyone wants to know what I did, and can't find my explanation, just pm me and I will explain in detail what I did and how I did it.
 
#2,411
Johno Dunn said:
I changed the pickups in my 700 to Nordy Z-Blades and my preamp to an Underhills filter based pre. I was not a big fan of the piezos, so I eliminated those. It is still my main bass.
Click to expand...
The 700 series, be they fretted or fretless, with or without piezos, seem to be a great mod platform. Up to buying my 706f, I had never ever even heard of a system with passive mag pickups and active piezos. I didn't care for the tone of either. I think no piezos make for better piezos than the Aerosilk system. The piezos are NOT the problem; the preamp is. I got rid of the individual piezo adjustments and used some parts from GraphTech. I bought their summing board and connected all six piezo outputs directly to the little summing board and wired the summing board to my own piezo preamp. I used an EMG ABC (active balance control) to mix the output from the Audere preamp I used with the Lace pickups with the piezo signal. My preamp presents a very high input impedance (over 3Meg) which is the key to good piezo sound, and converts it to low impedance. I used a dual concentric 50K pot for piezo volume and tone and fed that to the other input of the ABC. The result was excellent tone from both mag and piezo pickups.
 
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#2,412
BQFS said:
The 700 series, be they fretted or fretless, with or without piezos, seem to be a great mod platform. Up to buying my 706f, I had never ever even heard of a system with passive mag pickups and active piezos. I didn't care for the tone of either. I think no piezos make for better piezos than the Aerosilk system. The piezos are NOT the problem; the preamp is. I got rid of the individual piezo adjustments and used some parts from GraphTech. I bought their summing board and connected all six piezo outputs directly to the little summing board and wired the summing board to my own piezo preamp. I used an EMG ABC (active balance control) to mix the output from the Audere preamp I used with the Lace pickups with the piezo signal. My preamp presents a very high input impedance (over 3Meg) which is the key to good piezo sound, and converts it to low impedance. I used a dual concentric 50K pot for piezo volume and tone and fed that to the other input of the ABC. The result was excellent tone from both mag and piezo pickups.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't change the tone on my SRF700, it's just what I was looking for. I did however just purchase an SR500n that I might put a different pre in. Might look at Audere, or have Carey put a Nordy in it to match the pickups that came in it. I love the SR body shape!
 
#2,413
Johno Dunn said:
I wouldn't change the tone on my SRF700, it's just what I was looking for. I did however just purchase an SR500n that I might put a different pre in. Might look at Audere, or have Carey put a Nordy in it to match the pickups that came in it. I love the SR body shape!
Click to expand...
Audere's are at a premium now, if you can even find one. I am hoarding the two I have. David closed his business a while ago. I have run into others who like the tone of the stock 700s, I just wasn't one of them. I think Lace makes great preamps, but the Nords will drop in without modification so there is that, and most of the Nords I have heard sound great. The Darkglass Tone Capsules are great also.
 
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#2,414
BQFS said:
Somewhere in this thread, I believe, is my explanation of how I dealt with the horrible sounding piezo tone. I loved the bass (it was a 6 string) but hated the tone. Changed the pickups to Lace, the preamp to Audere, and made my own piezo preamp. Sure sounded great after that. I doubt I will ever buy another Ibanez due to their questionable choices in pickups and electronics. To each their own. If anyone wants to know what I did, and can't find my explanation, just pm me and I will explain in detail what I did and how I did it.
Click to expand...
I saw your posts when I was researching this bass. Thanks for those posts!

Unlike all the other Ibanez's I've tried, this doesn't sound that bad as is. The preamp is definitely the weakness. I may try your route at some point, but I think I'll take the magnetic pickups passive instead and then try to follow your path with the piezo. Once the preamp is out, I can see how I feel about the Bartolini's before I replace them.
 
#2,415
jurberg said:
I saw your posts when I was researching this bass. Thanks for those posts!

Unlike all the other Ibanez's I've tried, this doesn't sound that bad as is. The preamp is definitely the weakness. I may try your route at some point, but I think I'll take the magnetic pickups passive instead and then try to follow your path with the piezo. Once the preamp is out, I can see how I feel about the Bartolini's before I replace them.
Click to expand...
Taste in pickups is totally subjective. My best friend loves Barts, I have no use for them. I didn't like the ones that came with the bass, and I absolutely hated the ones that I paid Bart to create. Over $400, and I sent those back. The Laces were a great improvement. To each their own. I sell the piezo preamp on Reverb. All of $19.95. One year guarantee. I don't want to speak too soon but the fine folks at F Bass may be considering using my preamp instead of the one they've been using for years.
 
#2,416
jurberg said:
I saw your posts when I was researching this bass. Thanks for those posts!

Unlike all the other Ibanez's I've tried, this doesn't sound that bad as is. The preamp is definitely the weakness. I may try your route at some point, but I think I'll take the magnetic pickups passive instead and then try to follow your path with the piezo. Once the preamp is out, I can see how I feel about the Bartolini's before I replace them.
Click to expand...
I missed your comment about the preamp being the weakness. There is no preamp for the mag side, at least there wasn't on mine. The preamp, that Aerosilk travesty, was only for the piezos. The mag side was totally passive. The weirdest setup I've ever seen.
 
#2,418
BQFS said:
The 700 series, be they fretted or fretless, with or without piezos, seem to be a great mod platform. Up to buying my 706f, I had never ever even heard of a system with passive mag pickups and active piezos. I didn't care for the tone of either. I think no piezos make for better piezos than the Aerosilk system. The piezos are NOT the problem; the preamp is. I got rid of the individual piezo adjustments and used some parts from GraphTech. I bought their summing board and connected all six piezo outputs directly to the little summing board and wired the summing board to my own piezo preamp. I used an EMG ABC (active balance control) to mix the output from the Audere preamp I used with the Lace pickups with the piezo signal. My preamp presents a very high input impedance (over 3Meg) which is the key to good piezo sound, and converts it to low impedance. I used a dual concentric 50K pot for piezo volume and tone and fed that to the other input of the ABC. The result was excellent tone from both mag and piezo pickups.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't change the tone on my SRF700, it's just what I was looking for. I did however just purchase an SR500n that I might put a different pre in. Might look at Audere, or have Carey put a Nordy in it to match the pickups.
 
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#2,420
BQFS said:
Taste in pickups is totally subjective. My best friend loves Barts, I have no use for them. I didn't like the ones that came with the bass, and I absolutely hated the ones that I paid Bart to create. Over $400, and I sent those back. The Laces were a great improvement. To each their own. I sell the piezo preamp on Reverb. All of $19.95. One year guarantee. I don't want to speak too soon but the fine folks at F Bass may be considering using my preamp instead of the one they've been using for years.
Click to expand...
What's your link on Reverb?
 
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