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NBD: Ibanez EHB1005MS Headless Multi-scale Bass
- Thread starter Aidil
- Start date
camerondye, I thought I had answered your questions, but apparently, it wasn't posted.
I have both. I've been using a BTB 5 string since sometime in 2015. Though I have to say that I'm not a pro player. I play purely as a hobby with friends, mostly from works and also from college. The BTB685SC has been a workhorse for me. Not only I play it at home and studios, but I also had it at various events: tight, small, and large stages, indoor, semi-outdoor, and outdoor stages, well-airconditioned and even very humid while the rain was pouring just outside the stages. It went in car, train, and bus trunks. The only reason it hasn't gone in the airplane cargo bay cause I haven't owned a hardshell case that would withstand baggage handlers' abuse when I had fly dates.
While with the EHB, I haven't got any gigging experience just yet. I got it exactly a year ago, right before the whole world went into the pandemic state. Still, these are my takes on both:
Comfort-wise, obviously, the EHB is way much lighter at 3.4kg compared to 4.3kg of my BTB 5 string Single Cut. But, the reach to the first fret is somewhat shorter on the BTB despite both (low-B's) are 35" in scale length. Obviously, it's due to the tuners on the EHB are located behind the bridges, on the player's right-hand side, which shifts the bridges and the whole playing area to the player's left.
Tone-wise, the Bartolini BH1 on my BTB are known as dark-sounding pickups. I don't mind cause they won't make the G string sound twangy. I just need to compensate by always putting stainless steel strings on. The newer Bartolini BH2 pickups on the EHB have more top-end frequency responses. But, the hollowness of the EHB chambered body is somewhat not making the tone way noticeably brighter, although the stainless steel frets seem to help lessen darkening the effect (and probably the roasted maple fretboard too), cause they make the string pops sound snappier, at least acoustically.
I've put on NYXL in the place of stock XL Nickel strings, which are more flexible despite the same nickel-plated steel outer wraps. They seem to sound a bit brighter too. Probably because the flexibility is making the string to stainless steel fret clank effects heard more. Next, I might try putting stainless steel (round wound) on the EHB. Or, I probably might try the cobalt round wounds.
One thing I haven't got any clue, how the EHB would perform in a real live band mix. The guitar player I used to play with, a local professional guitar player who genuinely lives from playing music, praised and liked the sound of this BTB 5er with stainless steel strings of mine better than when I brought in my Soundgear bass, despite it has the same BH1 pickups but with nickel-plated steel strings on. Don't know when I'll ever use my EHB on stages...
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I have a question for you guys, asking for help.
I love my Ehb but could not find a best gigbag for it.
Since the Ehb is slightly bigger than a electric guitar, It is quite hard to find one.
I saw a thread that guitar Mono M80 fits but I want a lighter bag.
I found out that Mono Sleeve is 1/2 inch smaller than the M80 in length.
I really liked my Mono Bass Sleeve's quality and lightness therefore want to go for its guitar version if it fits.
Will the Mono Sleeve be long enough for Ehb?
I love my Ehb but could not find a best gigbag for it.
Since the Ehb is slightly bigger than a electric guitar, It is quite hard to find one.
I saw a thread that guitar Mono M80 fits but I want a lighter bag.
I found out that Mono Sleeve is 1/2 inch smaller than the M80 in length.
I really liked my Mono Bass Sleeve's quality and lightness therefore want to go for its guitar version if it fits.
Will the Mono Sleeve be long enough for Ehb?
Which EHB do you have, the MS or the non-MS/parallel fretted one (I assumed not the short scale nor short multi-scale one)?
I've shown pictures of my EHB1005MS fits inside both electric guitar versions of the M80 Classic and M80 Vertigo on this very thread. I don't own the M80 Sleeve, but a ½" shorter internal dimension would probably still be okay for the non-multicale EHB models. And looking at my EHB inside the M80 Vertigo, I'd say the MS models would also fit inside the M80 Sleeve although it would be a tight fit.
If you preferred the slim kinda gigbag like the M80 Sleeve, you could opt for the newer M80 Stealth Electric Guitar which internal length is even longer than both M80 Classic and M80 Vertigo by a ½", which means an inch longer than the M80 Sleeve. Although price-wise, the M80 Stealth is more expensive then the M80 Sleeve.
TL;DR: I expected a supercar, but recieved a utility vehicle.
I received the short scale (EHB1005SMS) version yesterday and I am somewhat dissapointed about the attention to detail. I will upload photos soon, but here are a few observations. They might be minor points, but it's still an expensive instrument (€1200,-). That's why I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. To summarize:
Does the EHB1005SMS feel nice: absolutely! Does it have broad options for different sounds? Yes. Does it look and feel like a €1200,- instrument compared to my other basses? Hell no. It feels like a €200 bass, even the TMB35 was put together with more attention to detail.
I would love to know from other owners: what was your initial impression of how well your instrument was put together?
I received the short scale (EHB1005SMS) version yesterday and I am somewhat dissapointed about the attention to detail. I will upload photos soon, but here are a few observations. They might be minor points, but it's still an expensive instrument (€1200,-). That's why I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. To summarize:
- The neck joint looks strange, like they used a neck that was meant for a diferent model on this guitar
- There is a scratch next to the jack input. Nothing big, and will probably get there eventually, but this is a brand new instrument.
- The paint job is sloppy in some places: the paint did not reach the pockets for the screws for the neck joint
- The pockets of the screws should have been sanded for 5 seconds each to make them look better
- The end of the neck feels rough, like it was not sanded down well enough
- One of the controls is skewed a little.
Does the EHB1005SMS feel nice: absolutely! Does it have broad options for different sounds? Yes. Does it look and feel like a €1200,- instrument compared to my other basses? Hell no. It feels like a €200 bass, even the TMB35 was put together with more attention to detail.
I would love to know from other owners: what was your initial impression of how well your instrument was put together?
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As promised: here are some photos.
The bass as I recieved it, it was pretty dusty. Around the 12th fret there is a strange spot on the neck (below the G) that reflects light different. It looks like a big white spot when playing. As if they sanded against the grain or something.
Scratches and burrs around the truss rod.
Burrs around the neck screws.
The quality inspection label.
Surface underneath bridge is like it was not sanded down at all and/or painted over dust.
Bare wood around the screws.
Strange dips and lumps below the sadles.
Scratches around the jack input. There are other places where you can see black spots coming through the green paint, but these were hard to take photos of.
The neck does nog follow the body nicely, but has a 1-3 mm "edge".
The bass as I recieved it, it was pretty dusty. Around the 12th fret there is a strange spot on the neck (below the G) that reflects light different. It looks like a big white spot when playing. As if they sanded against the grain or something.
Scratches and burrs around the truss rod.
Burrs around the neck screws.
The quality inspection label.
Surface underneath bridge is like it was not sanded down at all and/or painted over dust.
Bare wood around the screws.
Strange dips and lumps below the sadles.
Scratches around the jack input. There are other places where you can see black spots coming through the green paint, but these were hard to take photos of.
The neck does nog follow the body nicely, but has a 1-3 mm "edge".
My only complaint was the top screw of the two bridge pickup screws got loose when I received my EHB, so the strings were keeping the bridge pickup from popping out. I suspected the basswood body was too soft. But, after I reseated the bridge pickup and tighten both screws, it has been just fine in this past year.
The surface under the bridges on mine is also not smoothly finished. But, it's just something under the hood, so not a deal breaker for me. Also the edges of the truss rod access pit aren't smooth. But again, I even immediately chipped the edge at the first time I turned the truss rod. So, also never a deal breaker.
Forgot to comment on the price, it's quite a high price that you had to pay to get the EHB1005SMS. I checked at Thomann, it's priced at €986.84. In the US, Sweetwater priced it at USD1,149 or roughly EUR964. In my country, it's about IDR14,8 mil which roughly equals EUR860.
In Germany and other european countries, VAT is already included in the price and when we talk about pricing, we always include VAT. It looks like in the US people talk about the price excluding VAT and other taxes. Furthermore, Thomann list their prices for non-european countries excluding VAT, therefore you see about 990€ outside the EU, whereas in the EU you see a price of 1179€.
Ah... so, the website automatically excludes VAT for non-EU visitors. Thanks for clearing this up.
How long have most of you waited for this bass? I’ve canceled twice already from different places because I didn’t really trust the place I ordered from I just finally decided not to wonder about it anymore and order the multi scale 5 string in seafoam green just to see what what the three major wonders I have are like. Roasted maple neck,headless,multi scale. I’m really hoping this doesn’t take forever to get but I’m going to be waiting this time for sure.
In my case, I'm one of the early adopters of the 1st production phase. I got mine just before the pandemic shutdown most of the entire world activities, in February 2020. But, I also waited.
The different is, I wasn't eagerly waiting for one, as there wasn't any review available. As mentioned in my OP, a local Ibanez dealer contacted me in September 2019 to tell that Ibanez was going to introduce a new lineup of headless basses for 2020. He sent pictures and the one that got my attention was the black 5 string multi-scale. So, I put an order for one. Although, it turned out later that our local distributor only brought in 1 unit of the 5 string multi-scale and it was the Sea Foam Green one, thus it is what I got.
In a sense, I had to wait for 5 months before getting mine, and it was in a non-pandemic situation. So, with the current Covid-19 thing isn't over yet, I'm not surprise if it takes longer time to get one.
Here’s another question for everyone how is everyone liking the pickups? I’m very curious if I will like these. I reached out to nordstrand today about a possible set of big splits they use in 1505ms and they said they can do it but it’ll be a custom order. I feel like they get a lot of messages about this they should just make it a regular option at this point or Ibanez just get rid of the barts and go full nordstrand. Nordstrand also said the 6 string zen blades and big blades would work with this bass without having to customize or anything. Glad to know. I’m a bit worried about if this bass will ship in okay shape I hear horror stories of it coming in like crap spending over 1200 dollars for qc problems is not happening on my end I ordered from Sweetwater and should have this by mid June.
The thing is, tonality is a subjective matter. Some like the Bart BH2 pickups on the EHB, some don't. I don't have any problem with the sound of Bartolini BH2 pickups on my EHB1005MS. Even if somehow I end up upgrading these pickups, I might just buy Bartolini Classic pickups which I use several times on other basses and available as direct replacements (the P46CBC) for the BH2s on the EHB1005MS.
Why not the Nordstrand? I had a BTB Premium with Nordstrand Big Singles pickups. These got many praises here. But, they just weren't my thing. I like single-coil jazz bass sound, but I just didn't bond with the Big Singles. So, I had them only for a couple of months and ended up selling the bass.
I got lucky I think, it only took 3-4 weeks to get it delivered.
That’s great! I ended up canceling my order because I found a demo unit for sale on reverb and scored it for 200 dollars less I haven’t looked bad since I love the bass so much that I’m considering getting a second one for a back up.
I'm still geting used to the bass (1005SMS), but I'm in the luxury position that I also have a 1994 Fender URGE (MIM, active J) and Fender PJ Mustang (MIM). They all have their own character. The Ibanez is definately the more modern sounding, the URGE is my slap bass and I use the Mustang for rock. For a live gig I would probably take the Ibanez with me now.
Can anyone check the body and tell me where thw champering is done ?
I.e. can the lowed body be sawed strait off and glued to a buitar to make a doubleneck ?
I.e. can the lowed body be sawed strait off and glued to a buitar to make a doubleneck ?
The chambering used to be pictured at Ibanez website. Seems they have removed it.
IIRC, both of the top and bottom half of the body are chambered.
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