NBD: Ibanez SRSC805 Cerro

[skeeler]

In truth, this is more like NBM (new bass month), since I acquired this SRSC805 a few weeks ago, but I wanted to live with for a while before posting.

Solo photos:

With my other Ibanez basses:

Here are my impressions so far.

Pros:

• Good tone.
• Noticeably more sustain than my other basses.
• Comfortable neck profile.
• Good combination of string spacing/neck width. Those of you who saw some of my earlier posts may recall that I was concerned that the 18-mm spacing would be too much for my left hand. It turns out that, when combined with the 45-mm nut, the string spacing ends up not being a problem. In fact, I like this combination a lot: It's narrow enough across the neck to fret in most positions, but wide enough over the pickups to make slap comfortable. I can't fret the B string much higher than the fret 12, but I don't think I'll have much need to do that, anyway.
  
• Beautiful finish.

(Minor) Cons:

• Balance. The balance isn't terrible, but it isn't perfect, either. I think the main culprit here is the position of the neck-end strap button, which is at fret 13.5 or so. Even with lightweight tuners and a little tungsten ballast, the bass doesn't like to stay at the ~40-degree angle that I prefer; it drifts down to ~30 degrees.
• Bridge position and reach. The bridge is in the same position as on the other SRs. That's closer to the end of the body than some basses, but 10 or 15 mm further away than on my BTB33 (or other BTBs). That position, combined with the 1-inch-longer scale length make the reach to lower frets noticeably farther. (The bridge position also adds to the balance issue.) I don't think normal-sized people would consider this layout a shortcoming, though.

 

[eee]

Very cool bass.

 

[walldaja]

How heavy is it in comparison to yourt other basses?

 

[Captain Chaos]

Nice bass and this is coming from a guy who doesn't like basses with tumors.

 

[skeeler]

How heavy is it in comparison to yourt other basses?

It was 8 lb 3 oz when I got it. 8 lb 1 oz with the Hipshot tuners. I am now experimenting with ballast to address the balance. 6 oz seems to work somewhat.

The SR500 is 8 lb 1 oz with Hipshots and balances well. The BTB33 is 8 lb 7 oz with GB350 tuners and balances perfectly.

 

[Aidil]

About the balance, did you try it with GB350 tuners first?

Gotoh Res-O-Lite GB350 might make the Cerro more balance since these tuners are 10% lighter than the Hipshot Ultralite HB6Y.

 

[skeeler]

I measured the Hipshots to average 42.4 g each with the screw. The Res-O-Lites averaged 40.0 on the same scale, so the Gotohs are about 5.7% lighter than the Hipshots. The difference for a set of 5 is 12 g. That might be worth trying. The reason I haven't tried yet is that I originally bought the Hipshots for the BTB33 but discovered the A and D tuners were positioned too close together for them to fit. Once I discovered the Res-O-Lite GB350s, I bought those. So, I had the Hipshots on hand when I bought the Cerro bass.

 

[kobass]

Best looking single-cut out there.

Congrats and enjoy!

 

[Aidil]

well, I didn't know the Ultralite is 42.4 gram (with the screw). What I've read on [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] is that, the 3/8" string post Ultralite is 44 gram (with the screw). I would have weighed it myself, but mine, installed on 2 of my Cort 6 stringers, are the licensed version Ultralite tuners. They are slightly heavier than the USA ones. I did weigh a few of them and they are 49 gram each (with the screw).

And I've also weighed few of my GB350 Res-O-Lite tuners. They are, as claimed by Gotoh on their website, really 40 gram each (with the screw). That is why I wrote that they are 10% lighter.

I've posted snapshot pictures of weighing these tuners on few TB threads.

 

[skeeler]

Kobass, thanks. Will do.

 

[Real Soon]

Resurrecting this thread, because gorgeous.

I had a shoulder injury last fall, and while heavy basses weren't an issue for me before, they are now. I have a an Ibanez ATK305 whose sound I love (esp since it came with an OBP2 for extra beef), but that ~14 lbs is keeping me from playing it. And it's my only 5 banger.

So....I'm considering selling it and putting the cash toward a lighter instrument, and these have seriously caught my eye. They seem to sound pretty killer as well, and I wouldn't mind getting a slightly wider spacing than the ATK's 16.5mm, either.

Think I'm barking up the right tree on this thing?

 

[Real Soon]

Welp, I managed to talk myself into it. One Ibanez SRSC805DTF should be here Wednesday, and I'll be testing it out while putting two basses on the market. Every minute of every demo I see/hear of it makes me feel that much lustier about it. GASsier, maybe.

I doubt I'll be as ready to mod it out of the box, but I'm taking note of the pros/cons it's presenting.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Nice bass and this is coming from a guy who doesn't like basses with tumors.

LMAO!

I think the Cerro is cool, but that was funny!

 

[skeeler]

Sorry I didn't respond earlier, Real Soon.

You'll find out for yourself on Wednesday, all the SRSC805s I've seen have been quite light. Mine was 8 lb 3 oz. All the SR basses from Ibanez are light, but the SRSC805 is the only one with 18-mm spacing, and it sounds like that is a draw for you. Mine sounds very good and has great sustain. My main problem is that the balance is not what I would like

If you have shoulder problems that affect the mobility of your left arm, you might also consider something with a shorter scale. Most short- and medium-scale basses seem to have the bridge positioned far from the end of the body, so the reach to the low frets isn't much shorter than on long-scale basses. I really like the ergonomics on my BTB33. It's scale is only 1 inch shorter than the SRSC, but because the bridge position and upper-horn length, the reach to the 1st fret is almost 2 inches shorter.

 

[Tyso]

If only Soundgear would offer this as a 4-string, I'd own it already.

If only Soundgear would offer custom basses, I'd own it already.

If only Soundgear would offer me an endorsement deal, I'd own it already.

If only, Soundgear.

 

[skeeler]

If only Soundgear would offer this as a 4-string, I'd own it already.

It comes as a 4-string. It's even in stock now: Ibanez SR Cerro Single-Cutaway - Natural Flat

 

[Tyso]

You just blew my mind.

 

[skeeler]

You're welcome.

 

[Real Soon]

No prob! I had a really busy week when it came in, but over the last few days I've been getting quality time in.

Body/shape wise, this thing really delivers. It's slightly lighter than my already light Washburn 4-string, and the neck just BEGS to get played on. This is by far the nicest bass I've owned, possibly the nicest bass I've ever played on period. Every time I pick it up, just....whoa.

My left shoulder is still fully mobile, thankfully, and I think going lightweight will keep it that way. I do see what you mean with the bit of neck dive, but it's minimal and doesn't pull out of a natural-enough position for me that I'm fine with it for now.


HOWEVER...I have an electrical issue to deal with. It looks like the bass EQ pot is faulty; it was randomly making a range of odd hisses and pops and even regularly pulsing thumps (not me playing haha), and the pot wasn't responding as it should. Wiggling the hot terminal got it to behave, but that terminal is clearly loose/bad. Bypassing eliminates the issue 100%. With no repair centers in my state, I'm faced with shipping the bass off again just to replace a module....and I'd be paying for that shipment. It would cost less to just buy a replacement module.

Ibanez isn't returning my emails and I doubt they'll just send me a new module, so I'll probably try to order one thru a local dealer. Moreover, I don't want to return the bass as I've gotten rather attached to this particular one so yeah, one thing to figure out, & then I'll make my OWN NBD post!

 

[arbiterusa]

but I wanted to live with for a while before posting.

Bought a bunch of new stuff this year and am waiting until next month to review. That's a damned fine looking instrument.