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NBD? NGD? What is it? AN ABOMINATION!

#42
J Wilson said:
Ibanez is the absolute leader when it comes to building stuff from the 'What If?' file.

This is a brilliant but practical reworking of a baritone guitar that can bridge the gap between a bass and a guitar.

They make the broadest, most diverse range of bass guitars out there, and I'm a big fan.
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100%

I think of Ibanez as the Toyota of instrument manufacturers (which is a fun game to play on a slow day): they don’t have the sexiest reputation, but they make a good version of just about everything at just about every non-astronomical price, and whatever you pay you get a lot for your money.
 
#43
Prodigus Filius said:
@Riff Ranger What's the distance from the lowest string ball end to it's tuning post?
I looked into this bass and it's sibling non multiscale, when I first became aware of the glaring ommision of a 30" scale 4 string bass in the Ibanez SR family. Like someone posted earrlier, I'm taking a bit of a fresh look at this bass, in lieu of there being no 30" 4 stringer. I owned a Mikro at one point and I loved it, so I am familiar with the treble side of this bass as far as feel goes.
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A bit tricky to measure as this one is string-through-body only, but I’ll see if I can measure it.
 
#45
Riff Ranger said:
100%

I think of Ibanez as the Toyota of instrument manufacturers (which is a fun game to play on a slow day): they don’t have the sexiest reputation, but they make a good version of just about everything at just about every non-astronomical price, and whatever you pay you get a lot for your money.
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Toyota actually made bass guitars at one stage, or at least had them made with their name on it
aagcb5zffe6mwvsidxow.jpg
 
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#47
Prodigus Filius said:
@Riff Ranger What's the distance from the lowest string ball end to it's tuning post?
I looked into this bass and it's sibling non multiscale, when I first became aware of the glaring ommision of a 30" scale 4 string bass in the Ibanez SR family. Like someone posted earrlier, I'm taking a bit of a fresh look at this bass, in lieu of there being no 30" 4 stringer. I owned a Mikro at one point and I loved it, so I am familiar with the treble side of this bass as far as feel goes.
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A possible clue: the Eastwood Hooky Bass VI strings made by GHS taper at precisely the right point. I can’t find a winding length for these specific strings, but GHS short scale Boomers have a winding length of 32.75”.
IMG_1573.jpeg
 
#48
Riff Ranger said:
A possible clue: the Eastwood Hooky Bass VI strings made by GHS taper at precisely the right point. I can’t find a winding length for these specific strings, but GHS short scale Boomers have a winding length of 32.75”.
View attachment 5381048
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The Hooky is a top loader and the bridge looks like it sits quite far fwd. Looks to have a ball end to tuning post distance about 1/2" longer than a Mikro. So your 'abomination' has to be longer than that, given the string throu and additional scale length. I'm thinking at least 35" Amyhow I won't labour the point. Just like to focus on possible string choices before I buy something now days
 
#49
Prodigus Filius said:
The Hooky is a top loader and the bridge looks like it sits quite far fwd. Looks to have a ball end to tuning post distance about 1/2" longer than a Mikro. So your 'abomination' has to be longer than that, given the string throu and additional scale length. I'm thinking at least 35" Amyhow I won't labour the point. Just like to focus on possible string choices before I buy something now days
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I just measured the .084 from the set that came on it, which tapered at ~35.25”, but appeared to have wrapped around the tuning post starting at ~34.75”. The Hooky set seems like a better fit than the stock strings in that regard as seen above, but the nut slot should be widened for the .105 (I haven’t bothered as I remain within the return window), and the ball ends of the thinner four strings rest on the outsides of the ferrules, though that’s barely noticeable standing up with the instrument on a strap and entirely unnoticeable while in a seated position.
 
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#51
Aren’t the strings too slack if you tune this to B instead of E?
You might be better of just using a regular scale six string if you want to tune to low B...it will also sound better/fuller/more bass-like with the larger scale.

This ibbie is designed to be a bass VI, not a regular six string bass.
 
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#52
Riff Ranger said:
I just measured the .084 from the set that came on it, which tapered at ~35.25”, but appeared to have wrapped around the tuning post starting at ~34.75”. The Hooky set seems like a better fit than the stock strings in that regard as seen above, but the nut slot should be widened for the .105 (I haven’t bothered as I remain within the return window), and the ball ends of the thinner four strings rest on the outsides of the ferrules, though that’s barely noticeable standing up with the instrument on a strap and entirely unnoticeable while in a seated position.
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When you get the GHS singles and before you remove the current Hookies, can you mark one of the latter at the nut with a marker, so that we also know what the minimum winding length is? Ta muchly.
 
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#53
Prodigus Filius said:
@Riff Ranger So those are the GHS 'Hooky' set in this headstock shot? View attachment 5381739
If so it appears 34.5" winding length as per GHS medium scale strings
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These are the Hooky strings, and I bet you’re right. I don’t have this instrument handy at the moment but I think it can take either short or medium scale strings, at least from GHS.
 
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#54
Prodigus Filius said:
@Riff Ranger So those are the GHS 'Hooky' set in this headstock shot? View attachment 5381739
If so it appears 34.5" winding length as per GHS medium scale strings
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HaphAsSard said:
When you get the GHS singles and before you remove the current Hookies, can you mark one of the latter at the nut with a marker, so that we also know what the minimum winding length is? Ta muchly.
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IMG_1586.jpeg

If we’ve got this straight, it looks like either medium or short scale strings should fit, i.e. 32.5–34.5” ball end to taper. Still wearing the Hooky set here, which I will keep on as long as they last. The various GHS short scale and guitar Boomer singles I ordered to try should arrive tomorrow.
 
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#55
Riff Ranger said:
View attachment 5383224
If we’ve got this straight, it looks like either medium or short scale strings should fit, i.e. 32.5–34.5” ball end to taper. Still wearing the Hooky set here, which I will keep on as long as they last. The various GHS short scale and guitar Boomer singles I ordered to try should arrive tomorrow.
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So it looks ball end to nut is 33" for lowest string. I think most short scale winding length are shorter than that. DR short scale winding lengths are 34" . This says GHS medium scale is 34.5" FAQ - Bass , but confusingly I have read elswhere it is 35.5" e.g GHS tension chart. Maybe they were at some point it was reduced. String boffins with more knowledge than I would clarify this discrepancy for sure
The reason I'm blathering on bout this, is that if I got one of these, I certianly would be opting for heavier gauges than it ships with. Flats as well. So I keeping in mind not wanting non tapered string around the lowest string post in that regard
 
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#56
Les Fret said:
Aren’t the strings too slack if you tune this to B instead of E?
You might be better of just using a regular scale six string if you want to tune to low B...it will also sound better/fuller/more bass-like with the larger scale.

This ibbie is designed to be a bass VI, not a regular six string bass.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your interest and concern, but I did address virtually all of this myself in my initial statement in this thread, where I also said that this is an experiment.

To answer your question, I do think most bassists would find a roundwound .105 tuned to B0 on a 30” scale too slack (which I also said at some point earlier in this thread). I’m not most bassists when it comes to playing with slackened strings, especially when approaching this instrument more like a guitar (which would have comparable string tension to what I have on this instrument now), and I like the results I’ve gotten with this set in this tuning thus far. The GHS short scale .120 and .107 arrived yesterday, and I look forward to trying them out, but I’m in no hurry as the Hooky set is working quite well for me for my very specialized purposes.

I may still want to try a six-string with more typical scale length and string spacing at some point, but I think this instrument is scratching the chords-and-leads-on-bass itch for me at the moment.
 
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#57
Riff Ranger said:
Thank you for your interest and concern, but I did address virtually all of this myself in my initial statement in this thread, where I also said that this is an experiment.

To answer your question, I do think most bassists would find a roundwound .105 tuned to B0 on a 30” scale too slack (which I also said at some point earlier in this thread). I’m not most bassists when it comes to playing with slackened strings, especially when approaching this instrument more like a guitar (which would have comparable string tension to what I have on this instrument now), and I like the results I’ve gotten with this set in this tuning thus far. The GHS short scale .120 and .107 arrived yesterday, and I look forward to trying them out, but I’m in no hurry as the Hooky set is working quite well for me for my very specialized purposes.

I may still want to try a six-string with more typical scale length and string spacing at some point, but I think this instrument is scratching the chords-and-leads-on-bass itch for me at the moment.
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sure, you should do what you please. Have fun with the experiment!
 
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#58
 
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#59
I’ve seen members successfully embed video from instagram, but I’m getting nowhere. My reply immediately previous to this one leads to an 82-second video of the Abomination in action. It still has the Hooky strings on it, tuned B0–B2, but I finally had the nut slots widened so it plays better and the lowest notes don’t go sharp. Bridge pickup soloed, moderate boost at 750hz from the onboard preamp. Quite different from the slick official demos on the Ibanez website, of course, but the clip features the full range of the instrument with the lower tuning and earthier sound.
 
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#60
Sounds great! I can definitely see why this is often marketed toward metal and heavy rock players - your tone is perfect for that! I can’t wait to find a straight fretted version so I can make some cool sounds too :bassist:

how’s the string tension balance feeling now that you’ve put some time and work into it?
 
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