Ibanez sr706 - problems with volume on the D,G and C Strings

[van_gogh_bass]

Hi Folks -
I recently took the plunge into the six-string bass world and bought an Ibanez Soundgear 706 from The Perfect Bass. The bass looks stunning and the slim neck makes it play like a dream. I've had a lot of fun exploring new sounds on it at home.

However, I seem to be having issues with it volume-wise in the upper registers when playing out with the band - it's like the bass drops out when I play the D string and above. My output is through a Carvin ProBass 500 amp with a Carvin 4x10 cab, which is still kicking pretty good after all of these years. My main bass has been a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz, which totally rocks and cuts through the mix.

When jamming at home the output seems pretty even. Live, it just seems to be not cutting it. I've been running the eq on the amp fairly flat, but have tried boosting the mids, but to no avail. The ibby has bass/mid/high boost/cut. I typically run the bass and mid at 75% and leave the high on the center indent (flat, or at 50%) to avoid any brittleness. I've changed the strings to a slightly heavier guage, raised the pickups, adjusted my action, boosted the mids and upper mids on my amp, but it just doesn't seem to be making a difference. I should add that B-E and A strings are cutting through just fine, which makes sense due to string mass, but you'd think D and G would at least have decent output since those strings are typical in the bass range. I would certainly expect the high C to have lower output due to the string mass.

We played Brown Eyed Girl the other night and you'd swear when I went to the D string my bass was cutting out. Weird.

Any ideas? When I called the Perfect Bass today, they suggested I try a new preamp in the bass. I just bought the thing brand new in January so I'd really rather not sink any extra money into it. The pickups are Bartolini's made for Ibanez, so you'd think they'd be decent enough.

Has anyone else ever experienced this with Ibanez products?

Thanks in advance! I've learned so much from everyone on this forum over the years!

Jim

Here's the bass - controls are volume, blend, low-mid-high boost & cut:
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Here is what the head looks like - which I run typically flat:

 

[woo10]

I'm no expert on this, but when I was doing research on the Ibanez ATK before I got one, one of the problems was the low quality control of the soldering job on the pcb board in the back. The problem, as I understand it, is that there is no easy fix, the whole pcb board has to be exchanged for a new one.
Since it's brand new, why don't you call Ibanez support and see what they have to say, it's still covered by the factory warranty.

EDIT: What's the return policy at ThePerfectBass? Maybe you can return it or at least exchange it for another one.

 

[EagleMoon]

I was told by an employee at Sam Ash (take that as you will) that they'd had quite a few Ibanez SR's come through the store with this same problem. I had picked up an SR600 (the natural ash one) and commented on how the D and G string had half the volume of the E and A.

 

[van_gogh_bass]

Thanks - I'm checking with The Perfect Bass about returns. Will also check with Ibanez since it is under warranty. I've found a local authorized Ibanez repair shop in Bedford, I may give them a call to cover all of the bases (pun intended!).

 

[musicman1987]

lose the C string