• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Luthier idea about my bass

wishforbass

wishforbass

Jun 23, 2016
966
909
Iran
www.youtube.com
#1
Finally after a long time my tour with my band arrive to a place that we can access to big music shop and luthier .
I met one of the best Iran luthier and he checked my bass and do a little bit adjustment as we talked he said that you know ,I work with more than 1000 basses and between them I should say Ibanez ones are in the bad side even the high end model ones .
I asked :("what's wrong with them?")
He answered:("look ,they mostly have unstable necks ,I face a lot of neck problems on them espcialles 4 string ones and no matter what line they are from usually they have problem after years .")
I was surprised because I'm using ibanez premium Sr 1300 and that was surprising.
I asked ("ok them what basses do you recommend as luthier ?")
He said well look the thing a luthier see is not the sound side but more built side .
Fenders are kind of not good for their price and the only line I find good was vintage modified and worst ones was american deluxe Especially after 2012 the eq part is very low quality and overall performance of them are really normal .
In other hand ibanez mostly face neck problems although they come out with good electronic I don't recommend them for bass but for guitars they are amazing .
Sire ones actually start show themselves under heavy use with some neck problems so not very recommend although their price is a killer so if you wanna use it a lot it can make some problems for you .


Actually he recommended bass mods.
Cort a customes
Yamaha trb
Fodera
Music Man bongo



That was interesting talk for me because I was hearing a luthier opinion about basses from a different view .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dimbass777 and Torrente Cro
#4
Well, Fodera is another price league than Ibanez, isn't it? Also a Bongo is probably twice a "High End" Ibanez. On the other hand, Ibanez is such an experienced manufacturer with decades of ongoing production and I guess with high Quality standards - so I cannot imagine that you can generalize that Ibanez have "Neck issues". Most of them come from Indonesia so the climate shouldn't be a problem neither - I find his observation on fenders interesting though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wishforbass
#6
Most Ibanez, Cort, Yamaha, some fender and a bunch of other manufacturers are using the same factory in Indonesia. Granted, the level of details and specs go along with the respective price, but again, most of these instrument come out from the same hands!

(btw, the only bass I have ever had a neck going bad was a Fodera Monarch!.. go figure :) )
 
  • Like
Reactions: wishforbass
#7
Really thin necks like on many Ibanez models and the Geddy Lee Jazz are a crapshoot if they don't have reinforcing rods in addition to the truss rod. That has been my experience. Yours may vary, but I don't think the guy is completely wrong in his opinion.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: wishforbass
#9
DirtyHarry69 said:
Well, Fodera is another price league than Ibanez, isn't it? Also a Bongo is probably twice a "High End" Ibanez. On the other hand, Ibanez is such an experienced manufacturer with decades of ongoing production and I guess with high Quality standards - so I cannot imagine that you can generalize that Ibanez have "Neck issues". Most of them come from Indonesia so the climate shouldn't be a problem neither - I find his observation on fenders interesting though.
Click to expand...
Actually it was over all talking so it was not about price.
Actually he was talking about what came in under his hands so I belive a lot of model and brands are not included because most basses in my region are Ibanez (premium and standard )
Fender and squier
Sire v7 and m7 (p never came in shop )
Cort
Yamaha
Fodera (only two are available in my region )
Mtd
These brands are acaiavail so a luthier like him has to fix and adjust this kind of instruments.
My friends with sires face problems before especially in warm weather in cities that weather become 52 c.
In other hand ibanez shops in mu region warm you about fret sharpness so I think they are not really good for our weather but not only it didn't make them less loved but also they are kind of the most famous brand of bass in my country so you will see 4/1 Ibanez to Fender .
I belive more basses cause more problems so the luthier actually gets a little bit senstive over them .
 
#11
My SRMS805 with Jatoba/walnut 5 piece neck hasn't needed anything on the truss rod for as long as I've had it. My Sire v7 has needed a fewfew adjustments with the rock maple neck. I always check neck relief and make some minor tweaks so I don't really see it as a defect as such.

Of course, the temperature range in Iran is pretty extreme so there is a much higher likelihood of neck changes where you a touring / travelling and there is wide temperature variation. Ibanez necks are on the slim side compared to most, so I'd expect more adjustment necesssry.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wishforbass
#12
So Fender and Ibanez are no good huh....Why are Fender basses played on more recordings that ALL other basses combined? In a lot of stores Ibanez outsells Fender. Your luthier is pretty opinionated.
He recommends Cort which max out at about a thousand dollars, and Fodera that start at about $5000, unfair.
Why bongo? All U.S. Musicman basses are made in the same factory, from the same wood.
I think your man likes what HE likes, and it has little to do with the real world.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JtSD619, GilmourD, wishforbass and 2 others
#13
If Ibanez is the most popular brand in your area 4-1 then your luthier probably thinks Ibanez has faulty necks because he sees them 3x as often as any other instrument as it is.


Sharp fret ends, called fret sprout, can happen to any guitar in a harsh hot climate, because as the wood dries the fretboard shrinks ever so slightly, frets protrude.
but once it’s fixed it’s generally never an issue again.



Also Cort makes a whole lot of models for Ibanez, so if he’s mentioning them first while saying they’re better then he probably makes money selling them and didn’t tell you. Then you trade in your “defective” Ibanez for him to set up and sell also
 
  • Like
Reactions: GilmourD and wishforbass
#14
I live in Central Alabama, it can be like summer one day, and winter the next, sometimes you even get spring, summer, fall, and winter all in the same day. Normally high humidity, and the past 6 months it's been above what even we call normal here with all the rain we have had. The only problem I had with the neck on my brand new Ibby was back at the end of August when I first got it and then it only took either
a) it settling into the climate
b) me adjusting the saddles a little
c) both

I did adjust the saddles on the E & A strings, actually raised the action a hair higher. After that first week there hasn't been any issues. The bass gets gigged weekly which means for the last 7 months it's has gone from the ac in the house to the hot humidity of being loaded into the car, back to ac in the bar. Or it's gone from the dry heat in the house, to the bitter wet cold of being loaded into the car, back to somewhat warmth of a bar. Heck one night I played it got so cold in the bar we were playing I had to put a jacket on and my hands were going for my pockets between songs. I couldn't wait to get out of that place and to the warmth of my automobile. It was so cold in there my fingers were beginning to hurt. But the neck on my Ibby hasn't so much as given me one iota of an issue through all of it after that first week of it being here.

I think the question to ask this luthier is not what brands he sees most, but what neck woods he is seeing most.
My Ibby has a 5 piece maple / walnut neck with jatoba fretboard. I couldn't be happier with it. But I have read here at TB about a few neck issues with Ibbies that had a 5 piece maple / rosewood neck, and they were lower end models, 300 series.

Funny him mentioning Cort though. My Ibby was made in the Indonesia Cort Factory. And I also own a Cort Curbow Signature Series. I've touched the Cort once since buying my Ibby at the end of August.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: wishforbass
#15
maurilio said:
Most Ibanez, Cort, Yamaha, some fender and a bunch of other manufacturers are using the same factory in Indonesia. Granted, the level of details and specs go along with the respective price, but again, most of these instrument come out from the same hands!

(btw, the only bass I have ever had a neck going bad was a Fodera Monarch!
Click to expand...
Clark W said:
I live in Central Alabama, it can be like summer one day, and winter the next, sometimes you even get spring, summer, fall, and winter all in the same day. Normally high humidity, and the past 6 months it's been above what even we call normal here with all the rain we have had. The only problem I had with the neck on my brand new Ibby was back at the end of August when I first got it and then it only took either
a) it settling into the climate
b) me adjusting the saddles a little
c) both

I did adjust the saddles on the E & A strings, actually raised the action a hair higher. After that first week there hasn't been any issues. The bass gets gigged weekly which means for the last 7 months it's has gone from the ac in the house to the hot humidity of being loaded into the car, back to ac in the bar. Or it's gone from the dry heat in the house, to the bitter wet cold of being loaded into the car, back to somewhat warmth of a bar. Heck one night I played it got so cold in the bar we were playing I had to put a jacket on and my hands were going for my pockets between songs. I couldn't wait to get out of that place and to the warmth of my automobile. It was so cold in there my fingers were beginning to hurt. But the neck on my Ibby hasn't so much as given me one iota of an issue through all of it after that first week of it being here.

I think the question to ask this luthier is not what brands he sees most, but what neck woods he is seeing most.
My Ibby has a 5 piece maple / walnut neck with jatoba fretboard. I couldn't be happier with it. But I have read here at TB about a few neck issues with Ibbies that had a 5 piece maple / rosewood neck, and they were lower end models, 300 series.

Funny him mentioning Cort though. My Ibby was made in the Indonesia Cort Factory. And I also own a Cort Curbow Signature Series. I've touched the Cort once since buying my Ibby at the end of August.
Click to expand...
I have ibanez myself and like it a lot .it plays good and sound very good .

Actually the only Cort available here are a custom models and the luthier face a lot of low end ibby .gio ones are really papular because our salary is low , so a 1000$ bass guitar normally cost 1500$ and out salaes is a about 200$ per month.so it tool me two years so can buy a premium ibanez .as you can imagine a lot of player are low budget as I was for my Yamaha bb415 (350$)so a lot of basses that comes under hos hand are not really well made ones .
 
#16
wishforbass said:
I have ibanez myself and like it a lot .it plays good and sound very good .

Actually the only Cort available here are a custom models and the luthier face a lot of low end ibby .gio ones are really papular because our salary is low , so a 1000$ bass guitar normally cost 1500$ and out salaes is a about 200$ per month.so it tool me two years so can buy a premium ibanez .as you can imagine a lot of player are low budget as I was for my Yamaha bb415 (350$)so a lot of basses that comes under hos hand are not really well made ones .
Click to expand...
I hear ya. No one ever said playing was cheap. I imagine even the Ibanez Gios are a little pricey compared to one's income there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rabidhamster

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back