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NBD: What can I do w/zero-dollar upgrades? Ibanez Mikro 5
- Thread starter steve_rolfeca
- Start date
I finally broke down, and ordered the blank ZB-2 nut blank from Goldtone/ZeroGlide.
This is is a bit of a gamble, and will definitely require some luthiery, so I would not recommend trying this yourself until I report back.
One of the issues is that it’s designed for 12” radius fetboards. I’m hoping that there’s enough meat in the fret ledge for me to flatten it out to the flatter miKro fingerboard radius. After that, I’ll also need to flatten out the supplied zero frets on top of cutting them to size and sizing/shaping/grooving the bone nut blank.
Still, based on my recent Hofner experiences, when a ZeroGlide fits, it’s a great way to get a little more beef out of short, low-tension E and therefore B strings…
This is is a bit of a gamble, and will definitely require some luthiery, so I would not recommend trying this yourself until I report back.
One of the issues is that it’s designed for 12” radius fetboards. I’m hoping that there’s enough meat in the fret ledge for me to flatten it out to the flatter miKro fingerboard radius. After that, I’ll also need to flatten out the supplied zero frets on top of cutting them to size and sizing/shaping/grooving the bone nut blank.
Still, based on my recent Hofner experiences, when a ZeroGlide fits, it’s a great way to get a little more beef out of short, low-tension E and therefore B strings…
BTW, based on my experience so far, the smart money for a low-buck experience with the 5-string miKro, is on making the early improvements I made in this thread.
Shielding, smoothing the back of the neck, rolling the fingerboard edges, using hand tools to shorten the saddle screws and springs on the bridge to fix the intonation, buying the upgrade Ibanez strings, etc., definitely fall into the low, almost zero-dollar category, and produce a perfectly giggable bass.
Let’s not forget that it’s not uncommon to have to do at least some of these setup fixes on $1,000 instruments as well…
Some other possibilities:
From there on out, it’s easy to start reaching the point of no return in terms of cost and resale value.
Getting into more expensive string brands on a $170 used instrument can quickly double your original investment if you don’t get it right on the first try, for instance. Ditto for $100-plus bridges, pickup sets, tuners, etc.
Modding is still fun and possibly justifiable if you’re a tech at heart like me, or obsessive about visual flourishes like murdered-out hardware and paint colours.
Still, if you’re paying someone else to do all or most of the work, at some point you’re going to reach the stage where you should have simply sprung for a Mayones in the first place, no?
Shielding, smoothing the back of the neck, rolling the fingerboard edges, using hand tools to shorten the saddle screws and springs on the bridge to fix the intonation, buying the upgrade Ibanez strings, etc., definitely fall into the low, almost zero-dollar category, and produce a perfectly giggable bass.
Let’s not forget that it’s not uncommon to have to do at least some of these setup fixes on $1,000 instruments as well…
Some other possibilities:
- There are reports of some miKro’s having poorly-grounded bridges. If touching the strings doesn’t affect pickup noise in high-gain situations, then loosening the strings, removing the bridge and cleaning any clear coat off the ground wire is advisable.
- Adding a D’Addario 0.035 Nickel XL to the 4-string Ibanez upgrade set would be the cheapest way to achieve E to C standard tuning. If that’s something that appeals to you, it’s certainly a fun way to add a 5-string bass for solo noodling to your arsenal.
From there on out, it’s easy to start reaching the point of no return in terms of cost and resale value.
Getting into more expensive string brands on a $170 used instrument can quickly double your original investment if you don’t get it right on the first try, for instance. Ditto for $100-plus bridges, pickup sets, tuners, etc.
Modding is still fun and possibly justifiable if you’re a tech at heart like me, or obsessive about visual flourishes like murdered-out hardware and paint colours.
Still, if you’re paying someone else to do all or most of the work, at some point you’re going to reach the stage where you should have simply sprung for a Mayones in the first place, no?
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I’ve had mine for. Few years. I made a pickguard, changed to EMG J pickups, better tuners and an Artec three band eq/ preamp. I like the stock strings.
I’ve got advanced degenerative arthritis. I got this bass after my hands froze up after a 6 hour biker gig. I made it into a great sounding, fine playing bass. It took about 6 weeks for my hands to heal up to make the stretches on my 34-35” scale basses.
I’ve got advanced degenerative arthritis. I got this bass after my hands froze up after a 6 hour biker gig. I made it into a great sounding, fine playing bass. It took about 6 weeks for my hands to heal up to make the stretches on my 34-35” scale basses.
Great looking Mikro bass. Which model EMGs did you install on it? are those like 4 string pickups? Are they active or passive? love the pickguard. very cool.
Based on my understanding of the EMG catalog, I suspect that they are EMG active Mexi-J neck pickups.Great looking Mikro bass. Which model EMGs did you install on it? are those like 4 string pickups? Are they active or passive? love the pickguard. very cool.
I looked into buying those as singles for my miKro, but EMG was having parts availability problems when I asked (I think that was mid-November). They couldn't provide me with a pair of neck pickups, or a date when they could be sure of building me something custom.
In other news, I checked with Bill Lawrence/Wilde, and after a bit of back and forth with Becky, we were able to confirm that a pair of 4-string J-45 neck pickups in their standard housing would work. The J45 has 9 slugs, which makes for a nice, dense magnetic field and ensures that all five strings will get even coverage, even on a narrow-spaced bass like the GSRM25. There was no surcharge for purchasing two neck pickups as a set.
If you put a regular 4-slug J-bass neck pickup in the GSRM25, then the A string will fall in the hole in the middle, and be weak. There's a good chance that the B and G will be as well, due to the narrow string spacing at the bridge.
The only other 4-string neck pickups that will work properly in the 5-string Mikro aside from the J45, are bar-magnet pickups like EMG active J's, Nordstrand Zen or Big blades, or the Aguilar DCB 4J.
Nordstrand is used to doing custom sets, and assured me that the visible cut in the exposed edge blade is just a visual element- it's still a full-length blade, and should still give even coverage. Expensive, though...
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Thanks for the info both Steve's. The stock pickups are ok, I thought if I could find something better to drop in that didn't cost too much I would try something else. I have an old set of Bartolini's which I think are 9J's I might drop in just to hear what they sound like. The bridge pu looks to be the same length but the neck pu is a little shorter than the Ibanez one. I have an Audere Classic pre in my Mikro 5 and it's a big improvement compared to the passive sound. It's a 3 hole configuration so I didn't have to drill any extra holes. The pots are; #1- Vol/bal. #2- Lo mid / hi mid/ #3-bass / treble. I travel a lot so this bass is great for that. The B string is a little flubby but that's to be expected. I'm using DR Hi Beam shorts on it which feel and sound great but I may try some String Joy strings or something else with a little higher tension. BTW I saw some EMG Jazz X pickups. Do you know anything about those?
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SR,
Have you seen this? Wish this was my zero dollar upgrade… alas, I have no talent…
Have you seen this? Wish this was my zero dollar upgrade… alas, I have no talent…
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Made a couple of changes last night:
When I ordered the Newtones, I treated myself to two B-strings, tapered and regular. I’ve had mixed results with tapered strings over the years, but in this case, the tapered string won out.
As expected, I had to tweak the intonation, saddle and pickup height to get it just right, but the balance between the B and the rest of the set is much better. Overall, it sounds fuller and more “grown up” compared to the upgrade strings that Ibanez sells on Amazon. I like that it feels more like a regular short-scale bass, and the B string doesn’t flop as much.
I will use Newtones again on oddball projects like this. They feel very smooth for nickel rounds, with minimal finger noise.
The jury is still out on going to standard values with the new wiring harness. The stock pots didn’t feel as good, as you would expect, but at 500K, it had an angry active Jazz vibe with the controls wide open. It was a bit harsh and brittle sometimes, but I could always tame it with the tone pot, and I enjoyed the extra bite.
- I forgot I had an unused 250K EMG HZ Jazz wiring harness in my junk drawer.
- My custom Newtone strings finally arrived from the UK. B to G standard tuning, .140 to .045, roughly balanced tension.
When I ordered the Newtones, I treated myself to two B-strings, tapered and regular. I’ve had mixed results with tapered strings over the years, but in this case, the tapered string won out.
As expected, I had to tweak the intonation, saddle and pickup height to get it just right, but the balance between the B and the rest of the set is much better. Overall, it sounds fuller and more “grown up” compared to the upgrade strings that Ibanez sells on Amazon. I like that it feels more like a regular short-scale bass, and the B string doesn’t flop as much.
I will use Newtones again on oddball projects like this. They feel very smooth for nickel rounds, with minimal finger noise.
The jury is still out on going to standard values with the new wiring harness. The stock pots didn’t feel as good, as you would expect, but at 500K, it had an angry active Jazz vibe with the controls wide open. It was a bit harsh and brittle sometimes, but I could always tame it with the tone pot, and I enjoyed the extra bite.
This is a classic example of why I try not to make multiple changes at once.
I miss the extra growl the miKro had before, but of course I don’t know how much is due to changing the pot values VS the new strings.
On a happier note, the EMG parts are fairly recent, and plug and play. If I grab some more, I can mix and match without having to break out the soldering iron.
I’ve read that 500K for volume and 250K for tone pleases some people, so I might go there next.
I miss the extra growl the miKro had before, but of course I don’t know how much is due to changing the pot values VS the new strings.
On a happier note, the EMG parts are fairly recent, and plug and play. If I grab some more, I can mix and match without having to break out the soldering iron.
I’ve read that 500K for volume and 250K for tone pleases some people, so I might go there next.
New strings have settled down a bit, and I've tried the new setup through a few more inputs (Motu M4 interface into JBL LSR308's, Headrush FRFR 108, Boss Pocket GT headphone amp, G-K MB200 into a small sealed wedge with a Celestion 10").
Re-adjusted the pickup heights on the treble and bass sides to fine-tune the string to string response.
Although the bottom end with the Newtone's and 250K pots is more solid and a little darker, they still sound crispy up top, which makes the tone control feel a little touchy.
Still going to try 500K volume, if only on the neck pickup, to see if I can recover some growl on the B string.
Re-adjusted the pickup heights on the treble and bass sides to fine-tune the string to string response.
Although the bottom end with the Newtone's and 250K pots is more solid and a little darker, they still sound crispy up top, which makes the tone control feel a little touchy.
Still going to try 500K volume, if only on the neck pickup, to see if I can recover some growl on the B string.
Long-term conclusions- as soon as the New wore off the Newtones a bit, it became clear that I overdid it with the string gauges.
Going to a .145 for the B string definitely makes it feel more like my "normal sized" basses. I can lower the action a bit, and the open B doesn't display the hollow "twong" sound that you get with steel-core strings when they're too slack.
However, the growl is gone, and the bass sounds dark and thuddy.
Mid-neck is where I really hear the downside. This not a knock on Newtone, it's inescapable when you go too thick for a given scale length. Once I get up to the 4th fret and above, notes on the B string lack detail and definition.
I switched back to 500K pots to get back some treble, but it didn't make much difference.
I'm now of the belief that it's best to stop at .130 to .135, and just accept that a 5-string this short isn't going to have the sharp attack envelope and clarity of a long-scale below 40Hz.
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In other news, I've always been a P-bass fan, and the string spacing at the nut on the 5-string miKro is a little tighter than I'd like.
The GSRM20 comes as a P-J out of the box, and I already know from my 5-string that you can get a pretty decent low E at this scale length.
So I did the obvious, and picked up a cheap, mint 4-string. It's coming from a store in Calgary via an inter-branch transfer, so it could be as much as a couple of weeks until it arrives.
Still, it will be nice to be able to do an A/B test. I'm hoping it will clear the air as to where to go next on my miKro journey...
The GSRM20 comes as a P-J out of the box, and I already know from my 5-string that you can get a pretty decent low E at this scale length.
So I did the obvious, and picked up a cheap, mint 4-string. It's coming from a store in Calgary via an inter-branch transfer, so it could be as much as a couple of weeks until it arrives.
Still, it will be nice to be able to do an A/B test. I'm hoping it will clear the air as to where to go next on my miKro journey...
I really like the four-string MiKro in EADG. I mostly play 34” P/Js in BEAD and GCGCF with relatively low tension, so a .045/.065/.085/.105 set of Dunlop nickel rounds feels just right at 28.6”. The string spacing is still pretty tight—this is one of those notorious “skinny Ibanez necks,” which I must declare that only the SR line snd those derived from it (including Mezzo,
and MiKro)—so hopefully you already knew that going in. I’d put that Dynamix P pickup up against any pickup, at least in a MiKro.
My "hand-o-meter" is strangely calibrated for width and string count:
- I like wide string spacing at the nut, so I can easily get good vibrato in the first position.
- However, I also prefer chunky necks between 1 3/4" and 1 7/8" wide at the nut, regardless of how many strings are on them.
- That's why I prefer wide Precision over Jazz.
- Sensibly spaced 6-strings are completely out of the question- they're either too cramped (like the Bass VI), or too wide and cumbersome.
It felt fine with the Ibanez strings, and even better when I had it tuned E to C. With the oversized, balanced-tension 45-145 set that I have on there now, it feels a little cramped in the first position.
Thus my interest in the 4 string- in theory, it's too narrow, but the spacing at the nut is actually a little wider if the nut is correctly cut, and that has me curious.
I also like the fact that the body rout works with standard-sized P/J pickup sets, which is a plus.
The stock bridge pickup will hum, so not a bad idea to upgrade there if that’s a consideration, but I recommend giving that stock split coil a fair chance.
The four-banger arrived today. Did a little setup work on it, played it for about 30 minutes, then returned it for a refund.
Just one of those things, I guess. The fiver felt right to me from the first moment I picked it up. Sits on my body just right, feels like putting a capo half-way up the neck of an unusually light and comfortable full-sized bass. The stock ceramic pickups sound interesting, even if they don't rock my world.
The 4-banger made me feel foolish. Couldn't play it sitting down, didn't know where to put my right hand without the B string for a reference, and the skinny neck felt like a hand cramp waiting to happen. The pickups sounded meh as well- no grind or attitude.
I think the 5-string just became a permanent part of the family. It's funny- in over 50 years of playing out, I've never been a Jazz Bass fan. It turns out that I just needed to try a miniature one with an extra string!
Just one of those things, I guess. The fiver felt right to me from the first moment I picked it up. Sits on my body just right, feels like putting a capo half-way up the neck of an unusually light and comfortable full-sized bass. The stock ceramic pickups sound interesting, even if they don't rock my world.
The 4-banger made me feel foolish. Couldn't play it sitting down, didn't know where to put my right hand without the B string for a reference, and the skinny neck felt like a hand cramp waiting to happen. The pickups sounded meh as well- no grind or attitude.
I think the 5-string just became a permanent part of the family. It's funny- in over 50 years of playing out, I've never been a Jazz Bass fan. It turns out that I just needed to try a miniature one with an extra string!
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Hello! I just want to add a couple very important points. I have to play short scale bass due to nerve damage on my feet hand. I have 2 Ibanez Micro 5's one getting ready to mold for carbon fiber replacement necks.
My best advice to end all the floppy string conversation. Simply use heavier gage strings! If the low b is 125 get 130-135. 105-110e string 85-90 and so on. Eliminating alot of the looser string problem and giving the bass alot more bottom!!! And like bottom it starts with a b like bass. Lol
My best advice to end all the floppy string conversation. Simply use heavier gage strings! If the low b is 125 get 130-135. 105-110e string 85-90 and so on. Eliminating alot of the looser string problem and giving the bass alot more bottom!!! And like bottom it starts with a b like bass. Lol
