NBD: Ibanez Portamento SRF705

[Inara]

It's not exactly the "new bass day" ... I received this last Wednesday, but was initially unsure if I was going to keep it. It had some strange things going on sonically, and I was skeptical. I actually even arranged a return with Sweetwater, but then picked it up one last time to play it before boxing it up, and it was like a different animal than it had been the day before. I have D'Addario tapes on it now, and have done a setup how I like it, and it's a wonderful bass.

For those who aren't aware of this bass, it is a fretless with a 30 "fret" fingerboard, giving it the same top range as a double bass played in thumb position. It has the two Bartolini MK1 magnetic pickups, plus a piezo system in the bridge. I'm not truly loving the piezo, though I'll spend some more time with it. I also suspect there is a wiring issue, but I'm planning on changing out the preamp anyway (and replacing the MK1's with USA Bartolini MK's), so that's not a big deal. Played with the neck pickup soloed and eq flat, it's just an awesome thumpy thing that also has life and air in the tone, and can still get nice and funky when played near the bridge pickup. I'm really loving it.

Here it is in my tiny "music corner" that I have to live with until we get the rest of the office / music room unpacked and arranged, lol. Pics aren't the best due to lighting and a not so great camera ... it's prettier in person, and doesn't have those "washed-out" looking areas in the finish!

 

[Moving Pictures]

Very nice! I haven't seen one here yet however I am very curious about them. I really hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of your new bass.

 

[ErnieD]

Hmmm, my Portamento 5 arrived today, noon-ish, so have spent a few hours playing with it. Was just running it thru my TC Electronic Combo.

First off, not blown away with it as much as I was when I first played around with my new, SRSC805 that came last summer. And maybe I'm just real familiar with the Bart MK1's after playing the 805 for about 1 year now. Cuase, not real blown away with the huge sounding Bart pups. But more is the very narrow string spacing on this Portamento, most my other basses are 19mm. I think my 805 is like 18mm, maybe 17.5mm but I get along fine with that bass. May just take some getting used to with more playtime, we'll see. I'm sure I need to get more used to the tonal options of this bass.

I too have some slightly, wierd, sonics(?) way up on the neck. Maybe that's the Piezo sound that others have mentioned. I think the Piezo does alot more on my Godin Ultra A5. But the Godin has alot of tone options to fiddle with. When I blend the Mag pup with the Piezo on the Godin, I seem to get better results. Maybe that's the Godin body material/design, not sure, more than likely I'm just more familiar with the Godin and not this Porty.

I'm taking the Portamento to 3pc band rehearsal tonite to see if I can do better with it. I use my Godin and SC805 in that band. I wanted this Portamento to use in that band so I could lighten my load from the heavier Godin. So many have gotten such good results with this bass, so maybe it's just the newness/feel of this bass to me. Might need some intonation adjustment too, as I hear that when playng up the neck, around 10th-12th fret(dot) area.

I was really leaning toward the Ibby 505F with just the Piezo. Not sure what the string spacing is on that one. Prolly need to go hold/play that one in person now. Bought this Portamento, untried hoping I'd get along with the narrow-er string spacing. I'll put more time on it to see, it (I) got along better the more I played it, peace, e.

 

[ErnieD]

OH YEAH, I did say while back that I hated the sound of the SC805 first day of playing with it. Then I put Chromes on it and that bass has played like a dream ever since. The Portamento has Chromes, maybe they need to settle down some. Or may try other strings. I do have that new pack of DR Black Beauties I was gona put on the Godin. But think I'd prefer some tapes.

Guess I better wait n see how I get on with the string spacing first. peace y'all. e.

 

[fretlessguy]

Congrats, Inara, on your new Ibby. There's not much more of a prettier sight than a 5 string unlined fretless neck in the bass world. I hope it gives you many years of enjoyment. I believe that you will get the piezo pups figured out in short order. Again, ENJOY it.

 

[Inara]

Hmmm, my Portamento 5 arrived today, noon-ish, so have spent a few hours playing with it. Was just running it thru my TC Electronic Combo.

First off, not blown away with it as much as I was when I first played around with my new, SRSC805 that came last summer. And maybe I'm just real familiar with the Bart MK1's after playing the 805 for about 1 year now. Cuase, not real blown away with the huge sounding Bart pups. But more is the very narrow string spacing on this Portamento, most my other basses are 19mm. I think my 805 is like 18mm, maybe 17.5mm but I get along fine with that bass. May just take some getting used to with more playtime, we'll see. I'm sure I need to get more used to the tonal options of this bass.

I too have some slightly, wierd, sonics(?) way up on the neck. Maybe that's the Piezo sound that others have mentioned. I think the Piezo does alot more on my Godin Ultra A5. But the Godin has alot of tone options to fiddle with. When I blend the Mag pup with the Piezo on the Godin, I seem to get better results. Maybe that's the Godin body material/design, not sure, more than likely I'm just more familiar with the Godin and not this Porty.

I'm taking the Portamento to 3pc band rehearsal tonite to see if I can do better with it. I use my Godin and SC805 in that band. I wanted this Portamento to use in that band so I could lighten my load from the heavier Godin. So many have gotten such good results with this bass, so maybe it's just the newness/feel of this bass to me. Might need some intonation adjustment too, as I hear that when playng up the neck, around 10th-12th fret(dot) area.

I was really leaning toward the Ibby 505F with just the Piezo. Not sure what the string spacing is on that one. Prolly need to go hold/play that one in person now. Bought this Portamento, untried hoping I'd get along with the narrow-er string spacing. I'll put more time on it to see, it (I) got along better the more I played it, peace, e.

Hope it settles in and works out for you!

The narrow string spacing is a plus for me ... I love the thin / narrow neck that it allows. The 505F has the same spacing, or at least I think it does, after playing one in a GC a few weeks back ... I may be wrong. The 505F has this weird thing on the fingerboard also ... there are fret lines, but they're filled with a black material. But the side dots and the larger on-fingerboard dots are where they would be for a fretted bass. My brain wasn't liking this mixture ... if I have a dark fingerboard like this one has without visible lines, I want dots on the fret position. If it were lined with lighter colored material, the way they have it would be fine. As it is, I just wish they had left the big fingerboard dots off of it and put side dots on the fret positions, as they tricked me any time I looked down. Though I know I could likely get used to this ... this was just playing it for a few minutes at the store, after all.

Having now spent some time with the Portamento, I am really happy I chose it over the 505F, for my uses. And yes, I think the strings have to settle down a bit for this bass to sound its best. It's such a resonant bass, and neck-through ... the bigger B string especially seems to have some extra resonance, emphasizing the second overtone (natural 12th) at places on the fingerboard. But as the strings are breaking in, this is getting less pronounced. I have a set of GHS Pressurewounds on the way to try as well ... I tried a lighter-gauge B string from a roundwound set, and it behaved a bit better. I've always wanted to try Pressurewounds anyway, so I'll give it a shot. But I'm loving these D'Addario tapes, after a few days - at first the D and G strings were just too "zingy," but they've toned down a bit. Still nice and lively, but they balance much better with the rest of the set now. I predict in a couple of weeks they'll be pretty perfect.

 

[ErnieD]

Hey thanks inara for all those details, hope I can settle into this bass too. I checked the store I ordered it from and though they have alot of Ibanez basses, they're a Auth Dealer, they don't have the 505F in their stock. Guessing they might order me one if I returned this Portamento but it's too soon to think about that. And yes, I wasn't crazy about the dark fret lines or the dots on the fingerboard of that bass. No bueno for me.

I had a hard time dialing in a good sound tonite at practice. At home, I struggled abit too but I was able to hear alot of the nuances of the bass as I turned different knobs. At practice, acoustic guitar, cajon thru PA. They happen to have the same TC Electronic' 15" combo that I have at home, so I run thru that. I tried the Piezo solo and several other combinations using all the different knobs. I just couldn't get a good working tone with the band at loud-ish, living room volume, the band was drowning me out. I didn't have much of an issue at all with the string spacing but more the tones out of this bass. We take cover tunes and sort of reggae/latin-jazz em up.

We ran thru the same tunes that I've used my Godin and SC805 basses on and I couldn't get a good control of my tone. Either way too much boom, mud or snappy highs with all my knob twiddling. Heck, maybe the battery is near dead, gotta check that out. Of course, this bass is new to me so could be user-error on my part. It was frustrating that I couldn't dial in a useable tone like I did pretty quick when I first took the Godin and SC805 to practice or gigs with this band.

After practice we ran up to a club nearby where a couple friends had a two man gig. They run two acoustic guitars with massive effects pedals thru their PA, just 2x12's on sticks, not even a monitor. They asked me to sit in. I ran the Portamento thru their PA and they really had the volume up quite high where I could hear it very well standing behind them and the PA speakers. But again, I struggled to get a tone I liked. Other bandmates said the bass sounded good over the PA. So maybe it's just to my ears that "the struggle is real", lol.

I hear all the nice fretless tones, mwah, etc in all those Youtube vids, I just couldn't reproduce that tonite. The bass does not seem to have any mechanical/electronic issues, at least to my ears and eyes. Just can't get those great sounds I've seen others get. Maybe the strings need to settle, I need to try new/different strings or just spend way more time with this bass to learn it better.

At least, I think I can live with the narrow string spacing but I will spend alot more time with this bass to see if I can make it work or send her back. I almost bought a Warwick Rockbass, fretless, unlined 5er as I shopped online last couple weeks. But I just see Warwick as "rock basses" and didn't think it would fit this band. If anyone has any recommendations on knob setting, new strings, etc to try on this Portamento. Please feel free to jump in. I do def like the very nice light weight, so I got that going for me. peace y'all, e. **AND sorry if I'
ve hi-jacked your thread with my Portamento issues that may just be my unfamiliarity of a new bass. Glad you've got yours dialed in.

 

[JRA]

really nice. definitley has the look....hope it has the feel for you! congratulations on your new instrument!

 

[fretlessguy]

Hope it settles in and works out for you!

The narrow string spacing is a plus for me ... I love the thin / narrow neck that it allows. The 505F has the same spacing, or at least I think it does, after playing one in a GC a few weeks back ... I may be wrong. The 505F has this weird thing on the fingerboard also ... there are fret lines, but they're filled with a black material. But the side dots and the larger on-fingerboard dots are where they would be for a fretted bass. My brain wasn't liking this mixture ... if I have a dark fingerboard like this one has without visible lines, I want dots on the fret position. If it were lined with lighter colored material, the way they have it would be fine. As it is, I just wish they had left the big fingerboard dots off of it and put side dots on the fret positions, as they tricked me any time I looked down. Though I know I could likely get used to this ... this was just playing it for a few minutes at the store, after all.

Having now spent some time with the Portamento, I am really happy I chose it over the 505F, for my uses. And yes, I think the strings have to settle down a bit for this bass to sound its best. It's such a resonant bass, and neck-through ... the bigger B string especially seems to have some extra resonance, emphasizing the second overtone (natural 12th) at places on the fingerboard. But as the strings are breaking in, this is getting less pronounced. I have a set of GHS Pressurewounds on the way to try as well ... I tried a lighter-gauge B string from a roundwound set, and it behaved a bit better. I've always wanted to try Pressurewounds anyway, so I'll give it a shot. But I'm loving these D'Addario tapes, after a few days - at first the D and G strings were just too "zingy," but they've toned down a bit. Still nice and lively, but they balance much better with the rest of the set now. I predict in a couple of weeks they'll be pretty perfect.

I think you will really like the Pressure wounds. I have found them to be c!osest to the perfect fretless set. They will make your bass sound more like a fretless bass guitar than the uprite-ish flats or tapes. Try working with regular pups till you get the sounds you are looking for, then just the piezos. Then try to add the piezos to the regular pups to enhance the sound you like with both. Most of all, have fun. I love a slight bit of chorus on my fretlesses.

 

[BassJuju]

There are many things to like about this bass and I liked mine, but all of the OP concerns are valid. The wiring issue continued to be problematic for mine as we discovered more and more bad connections and parts. Ibanez drug their feet in every way to ship parts. The piezo piece was something I really wanted to work, but it is plagued by static in the drier times of the year. I had to keep a can of static guard and a cloth nearby as it would "fuzz out" every few minutes. Ultimately I returned mine. I truly hope you have better success with yours.

 

[StatesideRambler]

Nice! I hope you enjoy it ever more over time. That model is on my short list of fretless basses when GAS next strikes.

 

[Mr_O'B]

Hope it settles in and works out for you!

The narrow string spacing is a plus for me ... I love the thin / narrow neck that it allows. The 505F has the same spacing, or at least I think it does, after playing one in a GC a few weeks back ... I may be wrong. The 505F has this weird thing on the fingerboard also ... there are fret lines, but they're filled with a black material. But the side dots and the larger on-fingerboard dots are where they would be for a fretted bass. My brain wasn't liking this mixture ... if I have a dark fingerboard like this one has without visible lines, I want dots on the fret position. If it were lined with lighter colored material, the way they have it would be fine. As it is, I just wish they had left the big fingerboard dots off of it and put side dots on the fret positions, as they tricked me any time I looked down. Though I know I could likely get used to this ... this was just playing it for a few minutes at the store, after all.

Having now spent some time with the Portamento, I am really happy I chose it over the 505F, for my uses. And yes, I think the strings have to settle down a bit for this bass to sound its best. It's such a resonant bass, and neck-through ... the bigger B string especially seems to have some extra resonance, emphasizing the second overtone (natural 12th) at places on the fingerboard. But as the strings are breaking in, this is getting less pronounced. I have a set of GHS Pressurewounds on the way to try as well ... I tried a lighter-gauge B string from a roundwound set, and it behaved a bit better. I've always wanted to try Pressurewounds anyway, so I'll give it a shot. But I'm loving these D'Addario tapes, after a few days - at first the D and G strings were just too "zingy," but they've toned down a bit. Still nice and lively, but they balance much better with the rest of the set now. I predict in a couple of weeks they'll be pretty perfect.

You are so knowledgeable!

I love reading your gear assessments!

 

[Jamarvic]

Congrats. I enjoyed reading you're detailed assessment.
I too am not a fan of MK1's, that was a huge factor why i sent the SRSC805 back and I wasn't inclined to swapping out the pickups.
I hope you get it to your liking.
Cheers

 

[Inara]

There are many things to like about this bass and I liked mine, but all of the OP concerns are valid. The wiring issue continued to be problematic for mine as we discovered more and more bad connections and parts. Ibanez drug their feet in every way to ship parts. The piezo piece was something I really wanted to work, but it is plagued by static in the drier times of the year. I had to keep a can of static guard and a cloth nearby as it would "fuzz out" every few minutes. Ultimately I returned mine. I truly hope you have better success with yours.

Thanks. I'm prepared to completely forgo the piezo if it misbehaves. As in disconnecting it and just using the magnetics. With a different preamp. It has so much else that I love and can't get easily in another bass ... Extremely light weight, narrow spacing, fast and comfortable slim neck, neck-through, extended fingerboard. If I take it as a platform and gut and replace the electronics, it will still be worth it to me.

 

[Inara]

You are so knowledgeable!

I love reading your gear assessments!

Aww, thanks. I know many who would argue with you over this, lol. Thank you.

 

[Lo-E]

The narrow string spacing of many modern Ibanez basses has kept me from buying them for many years but the quality of their basses - at pretty much every price point - impressed me over 30 years ago when I bought my first bass (a used '79 Ibanez ST-924 Studio) and still impresses me today. They make really good basses. If the Portamento 5-string was wider, I'd probably own one.

Enjoy your new bass!

PS- Piezo pickups tend not to be very different from each other, but piezo preamps can really make a big difference. It's very likely that Ibanez kept the price down by using mi-level electronics in that bass. Switching to a better preamp for both the mags and the piezo may even negate the need to replace the import Bart pickups which, with a good pre, really aren't too bad. I happen to be a fan of Bart preamps for fretless, but you're not likely to go wrong with any brand's top-shelf pre over the stock electronics.

 

[Inara]

So I played the Portamento at a loud-ish rehearsal tonight for the first time. It worked very well! This is a sort of eclectic goth-shoegaze-influenced rock band. Synths, heavily-effected guitar, drums, bass, and vocals. I use a few effects with this band, notably chorus, octaver, and distortion. Before tonight, I had been using my four-string fretless Ray34, and switching to my fretted Ibanez SR505 For a few songs for the extra lows.

The Portamento, even with the tapewounds on it, works very well in a rock setting. I kept it with the neck pickup soloed, no piezo, on-board eq flat, with a bit of mid boost dialed in on my Quilter Bass Block head, and it was great. Changing right hand position and technique gave all the tonal variations I needed, though next time I will try maybe about 25% bridge pickup added in.

And it's so light! Two hour rehearsal, standing, with no breaks, and my back, neck, and shoulders are fine. At eight pounds even, this bass is 1.5 pounds lighter than my Ray34, and it makes a huge difference. I can't play that one for a full set comfortably any more, unless I use the Slinger harness system I bought for it (shoulder straps for both shoulders plus a waist strap system).

I have another rehearsal with a different band tomorrow night, similar in some ways (sort of goth-shoegaze-retro-doom-ish). Then I have my first show with the bass Sunday night. Excited!

 

[Wisebass]

Hi Inara

It's not exactly the "new bass day"

it's never too late to post,

So I played the Portamento at a loud-ish rehearsal tonight for the first time. It worked very well!

I have another rehearsal with a different band tomorrow night

Then I have my first show with the bass Sunday night. Excited!

happy NBD!!!

may the bass be with you

Wise(b)ass

 

[Inara]

Thanks @Wisebass! I love the progression of jumpies and bassies!

 

[Inara]

Ok, used it tonight in the other band. This is a more established band, the first one being a new startup project. I didn't use any effects tonight, other than my TC Spectracomp, which is an "always on" thing. Quilter Bass Block 800 into a Carvin 10.2 Neo cabinet (seriously underrated piece of kit ... I keep this at our practice space, and keep my main cab, an Avatar SB126 at home). Mix of slow goth doom and more up-tempo stuff. One song in drop-A. Same experience as last night: the Portamento, though not really designed for it, excels in a rock setting. This time I played around a bit, and ended up with full-on neck magnetic pickup with maybe 20-25% of the piezo blended in. It added some cut to the tone that worked very well. And, though this was a shorter rehearsal, same experience with the light weight.

I'm super happy I decided to keep this instrument. There are still kinks to work out, likely being solved by installing a better preamp (Bartolini make my favorites for fretless). But this thing is a wonder. Honestly, as I'm thinking about it and knowing what I now know, I would have paid full Sweetwater price for it even if it had come without a preamp, and then gladly spent the extra $200-250 to put a good Bart pre in it. Where else am I going to get an 8 pound fretless 5 with extended fingerboard that plays like a dream and can cop everything from jazz standards, blues, Americana, singer-songwriter, soul, and even alt-goth-doom-industrial, lol?