I have a 2020 SR 1100B Premium, with the Nordstrand Big Single pickups. I'd love to get a "fatter" sound from it. Do you have any string suggestions? I'm currently using D'Adarrio NYXL, and I have a set of GHS Pressurewounds that I am thinking about trying. Would flatwounds work well?
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Ibanez SR owners: string suggestions, please
- Thread starter Jhass
- Start date
i have chrome flatwound on one of mine and labella tapewound on another. i like them. tapewound sound fatter but duller than chrome flats.
Sadowsky flats and Labellas would work. It depends on what level of decay or sustain you want. I use Sadowsky flats because I get the fundamental of the note with great mids and sustain. You might want a fat tone with quick decay.
I have Elixir's on an SR805 (Like!), and I'm a huge GHS Pressurewound fan (sound great, especially on Fender!), but I've never had them on the Ibanez.
I also love GHS Pressurewounds. I've used them on my NS Design Radius bass for years. Maybe I should try those on the SR, and report back to the club.
D
I own an SR2605. It has the Big Singles so probably very similar sound. I've tried LOTS of different strings on this bass. I never quite liked the tone I got from this bass until I tried Thomastik Jazz Flats. These strings sound amazingly fat on this bass and they somehow cancel out the signature Ibanez honky mids that I'm personally not a huge fan of. With the TI flats it feels like a kick in the gut every time I dig in on low notes. Really powerful!
Before the TI flats I testet several different types of roundwounds (all too honky for my taste with those characteristic Ibanez mids) several different types of flatwounds (too muddy/boomy for this bass IMO) and the GHS Pressurewounds (very stiff and unresponsive and the mids were just wrong for me).
The TI flats have an amazing punch and just enough presences in the upper mids to cut through. The TI flats also have slightly slimmer lows than most strings which works GREAT with a tiny bit of low boost on this Ibanez preamp. With every other string it got too boomy with even the slightest boost. I generally don't like the eq points on Ibanez preamps but for some reason they work better (for MY taste) with the TI flats.
I should probably mention that I'm really more of a vintage P-bass person so for MY taste I was actually trying to make the Ibanez sound less like an Ibanez. If you love the slightly honky Ibanez mids you might like other strings better.
I noticed that the SR1100B has the same mono rail saddles as the SR2605. Does it have any intonation issues? The SR2605 (and also the 4-string SR2600) have SEVERE intonation issues. They've mounted the saddles too far from the neck, making these models impossible to intonate with most strings. The only way to get SOME strings working with these basses is to replace the intonation screw with a longer one and adjust the saddle so far forward that it's out of it's "rails". Moving the entire "bridge" isn't an option as the individual saddles are recesses into the wood. The SR2605/SR2600 should have been recalled IMO. Ibanez is 100% aware of the problem as I've made several complaints. It's a disgrace that they still sell these seriously flawed models. There are certain other big manufacturers where something like this wouldn't surprise me but I honestly expected better with Ibanez.
Still, once it's set up right and with a set of strings I like it's a seriously good bass for the money. The design is a bit of a "guilty pleasure" for me. I'm not sure whether I love the looks or find it hideous... but the craftsmanship/woodwork is outstanding!
Before the TI flats I testet several different types of roundwounds (all too honky for my taste with those characteristic Ibanez mids) several different types of flatwounds (too muddy/boomy for this bass IMO) and the GHS Pressurewounds (very stiff and unresponsive and the mids were just wrong for me).
The TI flats have an amazing punch and just enough presences in the upper mids to cut through. The TI flats also have slightly slimmer lows than most strings which works GREAT with a tiny bit of low boost on this Ibanez preamp. With every other string it got too boomy with even the slightest boost. I generally don't like the eq points on Ibanez preamps but for some reason they work better (for MY taste) with the TI flats.
I should probably mention that I'm really more of a vintage P-bass person so for MY taste I was actually trying to make the Ibanez sound less like an Ibanez. If you love the slightly honky Ibanez mids you might like other strings better.
I noticed that the SR1100B has the same mono rail saddles as the SR2605. Does it have any intonation issues? The SR2605 (and also the 4-string SR2600) have SEVERE intonation issues. They've mounted the saddles too far from the neck, making these models impossible to intonate with most strings. The only way to get SOME strings working with these basses is to replace the intonation screw with a longer one and adjust the saddle so far forward that it's out of it's "rails". Moving the entire "bridge" isn't an option as the individual saddles are recesses into the wood. The SR2605/SR2600 should have been recalled IMO. Ibanez is 100% aware of the problem as I've made several complaints. It's a disgrace that they still sell these seriously flawed models. There are certain other big manufacturers where something like this wouldn't surprise me but I honestly expected better with Ibanez.
Still, once it's set up right and with a set of strings I like it's a seriously good bass for the money. The design is a bit of a "guilty pleasure" for me. I'm not sure whether I love the looks or find it hideous... but the craftsmanship/woodwork is outstanding!
Highlighted for emphasis. This seems to be a recurring theme although I don't have a handle on which string sets "play nicely". The staggered / offset monorail layout looks neat but is over-compensated IME (limited forward movement leaves string flat).
Question should be "which strings work?".
Riis
Thanks for the TI flats recommendation. More of a p-bass sound is exactly what I want. Maybe I should sell the Ibby and get a p-bass!
I’m not having intonation issues with the NYXLs. I do find that I have to fiddle with the tuning a bit, though. Once the open string is tuned, the octave will often be slightly flat, and I will have to make tiny adjustments to tune the string slightly higher, still keeping it within the “in tune” range on my Boss tuner, until the octave also falls into place. This often takes several tries. But so far, I’ve been able to
I’m not having intonation issues with the NYXLs. I do find that I have to fiddle with the tuning a bit, though. Once the open string is tuned, the octave will often be slightly flat, and I will have to make tiny adjustments to tune the string slightly higher, still keeping it within the “in tune” range on my Boss tuner, until the octave also falls into place. This often takes several tries. But so far, I’ve been able to
I’ve owned an original premium sr since it came out. Never had intonation problems but I had it professionally set up with medium dadarrio prosteels and never looked back. Never even thought about putting flats on it...sounds like a cool vibe although it seems a bit odd to me going completely against the aggressive characteristic of the nordstrand big singles. Not judging at all though since I never tried it. Btw, the prosteels can be really deep and juicy but it depends on how you play. My fix if I want a fatter sound? Ease up on the hard plucking and let the fingers do the talking. Oh yeah, and turn off the preamp. Lots of unneeded high clank from that thing. I just love the straight passive sound of those big singles.
[/QUOTE]Oh yeah, and turn off the preamp. Lots of unneeded high clank from that thing. I just love the straight passive sound of those big singles.[/QUOTE]
I agree. With the preamp on, I always end up dialing back the highs significantly, but in passive mode I leave that knob set flat.
I agree. With the preamp on, I always end up dialing back the highs significantly, but in passive mode I leave that knob set flat.
SR300 has D'Addario Tapes which I love. SR500 has D'Addario XL Chrome lights. Both are superb.
I'm a huge TI Flat fan, might throw some on at some point.
I'm a huge TI Flat fan, might throw some on at some point.
