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NBD: 1991 Ibanez SR886

#26
Standalone said:
I like them too. Kind of a classic “modern” look.

I am intending on using this hiatus and quarantine to finally work up a decent thumb pop technique And these pickups definitely create a lot of space for me to try different techniques and see where my hands work well with popping the D, G, *and C* :)

There is a white Heartfield on Reverb that I covet. I like to play white Basses on stage but it was $1k... This was the local inexpensive alternative.

I’ve been researching the pickups. The 1991 catalog posted here lists them as Lo-J6 but the 1992 catalog is different. My 885 has the AFR and they’re ok but I feel like these are better. I have to A/B them once I throw some fresh strings on this baby.
Here is a review that seems to indicate that the 1991 Lo-6 pickups are EMG’s sirius1o1's review - Ibanez SR886

This bass has a very nice straight ahead two band active jazz tone. I am liking it a lot, even with these old strings. Prev. owner seems to have the neck pickup lowered a bit.
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It sounds like those pickups may be single coils; do they hum when soloed? A six string with Jazz tone sounds like a lot of fun!:bassist:
 
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#29
Dr. Cheese said:
It sounds like those pickups may be single coils; do they hum when soloed? I six string with Jazz tone sounds like a lot of fun!:bassist:
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I’ve only played it on my living room acoustic guitar practice amp, which sort of has its own buzz... but no, it doesn’t. And I think I read elsewhere that these pickups had dummy coils underneath to make them hum cancelling. I will look for that thread, and will see if they hum in my main rig.

They certainly sound very jazz, though the scooping and cancellation with the blend at center detent is not pronounced. That’s a good thing. I have zero Jaco chops but I find my RH playing Jaco style and speed when noodling on it. To your point about jazz pickups being fun on a six — yes I think that is it.

This seems like it is a good bass to be trying out some other approaches while I have some time on my hands.
 
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#33
Standalone said:
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I was on the fence about this bass for a long time — I think I first saw it listed three months ago. I did some homework and one review I read on TB panned the pickups. But after finding this video, I decided I disagreed with those posts.

The woman I picked it up from had a matching black 886 with a Les Claypool “Bass Sucks” autograph, which was cool and worth the extra dollars but so went with the less expensive offering.

This bass is more comfortable than my Tune, which was just too much of a monster for me, no matter how amazing it sounded. This feels much more comfortable. I’m looking forward to a new set of strings and doing a little setup tweaking.
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nice snag! that bass is close to my heart. I got one when they came out, and it was my main for ten years! In fact its in my current profile picture. enjoy :)
 
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#39
Nice bass, OP. In the early 2000's that Ibanez 6 string headstock was my absolute favorite, even though I had never played a 6 string then. There was just something about it that got me super stoked. Ended up getting a GSR 5er eventually to scratch the itch. These days I'm really only playing vintage short scale 4 stringers, but it made me feel super nostalgic to see your new addition :thumbsup:
 
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