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Making an Ibanez sound ......"better"....

R

russpurdy

Guest
Apr 16, 2013
819
31
#1
yes, yes "better" is a totally subjective can of worms.....

So I was playing a few Ibanez SR models yesterday and noticed that they were all incredibly comfortable to play and had fantastic, super low action. I liked the neck and the very raw feeling wood as well. What I did not like was the sounds that they were putting out. I played a mid level model with bartolini's and a few premium models with Nordstrands and they all had a similar sound profile to my ears. I'm used to passive basses so I guess that's part of it but none of the ibanez basses could get either a nice warm tone or a proper burpy bridge sound. Treble also seemed uncontrollably zingy at higher levels.

So my question is, have any of you figured out a way to get a warmer more traditional sound out of a slick feeling Ibanez?
 
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#3
russpurdy said:
yes, yes "better" is a totally subjective can of worms.....

So I was playing a few Ibanez SR models yesterday and noticed that they were all incredibly comfortable to play and had fantastic, super low action. I liked the neck and the very raw feeling wood as well. What I did not like was the sounds that they were putting out. I played a mid level model with bartolini's and a few premium models with Nordstrands and they all had a similar sound profile to my ears. I'm used to passive basses so I guess that's part of it but none of the ibanez basses could get either a nice warm tone or a proper burpy bridge sound. Treble also seemed uncontrollably zingy at higher levels.

So my question is, have any of you figured out a way to get a warmer more traditional sound out of a slick feeling Ibanez?
Click to expand...
I got an SR600 older model, all gloss black, has 3-piece maple neck, solid ash body, Gotoh tuning keys, Accu cast B-4 bridge, 34" scale, 24 fret rosewood fretboard. It came with passive P-J pickups, no name pickups. And I gutted out the pickups and passive knobs and put in 2 Carvin HB4 MUSIC MAN DOUBLE HUMBUCKERS with the ACTIVE/PASSIVE 18v 505S 3-band EQ ICON preamp.Now that SR600 is thick,fat,warm and punchy sounding, a whole hell of a lot better than it was. Of course you have to have a pretty good amp and cab also..
 
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#4
I know exactly what your talking about, I love my sr1800 but their is just I tiny bit of something missing sometimes that the bass just can't produce, I suspect the very thin neck has something to do with it because it seems to be less apparent on the 5 string sr's., the stock elixr strings they come with might also be a part of it, mine sounded a lot better once I get a set of high beems on it
if you like the styling of the sr's and not the sound try a spector ns or euro model the styling is similar and the sound is kickass
 
#5
I use a late '90s soundgear and I get can get a warm sound out of it.
I use the eq on full, blend in the middle position and some older strings.
But more importantly it's a really responsive instrument where you play on the string and how hard you play change the tone dramatically.
Spend some time with it acoustically trying to get the fattest tone that you can get out of it, it will translate to a fatter tone plugged in.
Mine can go from old school to modern slap to clear chords to dub just through touch. No knob twiddling required.
 
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#6
russpurdy said:
yes, yes "better" is a totally subjective can of worms.....

So I was playing a few Ibanez SR models yesterday and noticed that they were all incredibly comfortable to play and had fantastic, super low action. I liked the neck and the very raw feeling wood as well. What I did not like was the sounds that they were putting out. I played a mid level model with bartolini's and a few premium models with Nordstrands and they all had a similar sound profile to my ears. I'm used to passive basses so I guess that's part of it but none of the ibanez basses could get either a nice warm tone or a proper burpy bridge sound. Treble also seemed uncontrollably zingy at higher levels.

So my question is, have any of you figured out a way to get a warmer more traditional sound out of a slick feeling Ibanez?
Click to expand...
Well, you can try to find an Ibanez SRX300 (or whatever SRX). It has two humbucker pickups and an SR neck. I didn't like the weight of it as it was heavy, or at least I felt it was heavy. But, the pickups, in my opinion, allow you to dial in a beefy tone. Or look for an ATK bass.
 
#7
a good bit of the sound "issue," if you will, is the preamps used by ibanez on their basses, IMO. i recently put in a Tone Monster, 3 band, active/passive (a very nice preamp for $50, and, at the very least, an improvement), in my sr375, and my bass came to life. i like the stock pickups (they're ceramic magnets, and they have been improved in a few ways in the past few years), so i kept them. oh yeah, and i feel a whole lot better when gigging since i don't have to ever again worry about ending up with a dead slab of wood in the middle of a song!
 
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#10
I put an aguliar pre in my sr500 and saw a decent inprovment then I routed it for emg hz's witch wer a little fatter but id like to try some better active emg's or some nordstrand dual coils at some point but I don't see myself keeping it much longer so I don't think ill be investing the cash to satisfy my curiosity
 
#11
Nobody said:
The new SR650 and SR750 basses are active and passive with a passive tone control with PJ Nordstrands. I bet you can find about any sound you want with one.



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I tried one of the 6 string models today....the SR756. I liked it a lot! Thinking about getting it, posted about it but so far no one has answered.

Anyway, I know it's all subjective, but I have an SR505 and have always gotten compliments on how good it sounds. Folks have always said it's "fat, rich, full and clear." Cool! For the rare live gigs I use a GK MB115 and for church I use a Zoom B3. Setting on either as well as on the bass itself can make or break it. I'll admit that I have to be careful with the treble setting because yes, it can get very "zingy" as you said so I generally keep it no more that 1/4 of the way up....if that!
 
#13
russpurdy said:
yes, yes "better" is a totally subjective can of worms.....

So I was playing a few Ibanez SR models yesterday and noticed that they were all incredibly comfortable to play and had fantastic, super low action. I liked the neck and the very raw feeling wood as well. What I did not like was the sounds that they were putting out. I played a mid level model with bartolini's and a few premium models with Nordstrands and they all had a similar sound profile to my ears. I'm used to passive basses so I guess that's part of it but none of the ibanez basses could get either a nice warm tone or a proper burpy bridge sound. Treble also seemed uncontrollably zingy at higher levels.

So my question is, have any of you figured out a way to get a warmer more traditional sound out of a slick feeling Ibanez?
Click to expand...

Yes. I bought an older model SR400 and had DiMarzio P/J's put in, and strung it with Chromes. Sounds just like a p bass.
 
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#17
I did the same as Trayster2, I put in a set of DiMarzios p/j and found that it a great improvement in the sounds I got from my 2002 SR400. When I string with La Bella Deep Talkin' flats it's a very thick sound (my favorite), and for rounds I like Rotosound Swing Bass the best so far of what I've tried. I hardly ever use the tone controls on my bass, but then I'm just a beginner. I've been trying to focus on learning how to get different sounds with my fingers first.
 
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#19
Mike M. said:
I tried one of the 6 string models today....the SR756. I liked it a lot! Thinking about getting it, posted about it but so far no one has answered.
Click to expand...

Part of the problem is only a few brick and mortar stores carry the new Ibanez basses- I know my local GC has none of them.
They don't have the SR650, SR750, any of the Talman basses, TMB100 and TMB300. I also wanted to know more and get my hands on the SR750.
Very little info here and elsewhere on the net in terms of reviews. Other than that videos posted by Nobody above, hard to find any review videos.

There was a thread about the Talman basses but only a few people actually bought one as of yet, some have returned them due to quality issues (whether through shipping damage or from the factory). A few people love the Talman basses - I finally got to try one at another store and actually loved it.
It's inexpensive and would fit my needs for a beater bass - prices are $199 for TMB100, $299 for the TMB300. Differences in the bridge pickup and also the neck inlays and binding.
I happened to find a "scratch and dent" special on Musicians' Friend for the TMB100 - $127. I ordered it and it just got shipped out today. Curious about it.
What I like about this bass, well - it's what you'd get when you combine features from Ibanez, Fender (Squier) and Yamaha. It reminds me of a Squier Jaguar with an Ibanez touch in the electronics along with a thicker Yamaha RBX neck. The one I tried sounded pretty good for a bass in that price range. I imagine switching out the pickups will make it even better, but that's in the cards for the future.
 
#20
Try changing (in the following order):

1. Strings
2. Pre
3. Pickups

My cheapest ibanez (sr370f) sounds great, but I spent almost 75% of its price to upgrade it. Is it worth it? Not sure. Would I do it now? Probably not. But if I ever decide to sell it, I can always put back the original stuff. So, you CAN make it sound better. But does it make sense - that's for you to decide! :-)
 

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