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New Ibanez (headless, multiscale)
- Thread starter chanson
- Start date
Trust me. As much as I want to, I have to be a responsible husband and father. If I was actively gigging it’d be a different story and I could justify it. My 2 mains were already WILDY more expensive than one of these lol. I am supremely interested in one of these 6s tunes F#-G though. I know Dingwalls do the F# thing easily but I’ve yet to get an answer from anyone who owns the EHB if it’ll do it AND do it well.
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Interesting. Looking at the close up of the bridge, it looks like the same, or very similar saddles as used in the monorail bridges in my 846v, but with the tuner added to the end.
As and engineer, I like that sensible parts bin approach. Also give me an idea for something in the future.
Anyone mod their Ehb1000s yet? Dying to know what it sounds like with different pickups. I'm having a hard time picking between the short scale or the EHB1500.
yes, modded:
Nordstrand Big blades on a 1005sms. Now thats a match ! at least for me.
Then, added: John East EQ, as a 4band setup.
I think some very specific charme with the Big Blades went away with the East EQ.
Pups set close to the strings with og EQ/pre, was the B-Blades sound going into compression. Up to hard compression, and would also become quite agressive, but dependend on how hard you hit the strings.
It was really "playable". ....IMO, a lucky match, kind of.
with the East pre has the whole charakteristics changed. But i prefer it overall so.
Big Blades is definitly a very interesting starting point for a modd
(and easy, since you would just pick the stock 6 strings version ( costly), in P4 shape / its all one magnet /same should be true for the Zen blades)
The B-Blades have a very loud output. This might have been in the play vs. the compressed sound with OG pre. While it would run the east EQ in contrary into a overdriven sound under some settings. Which is finally kind of a pleasing sound also, in this case, so its usefull either.
really really really like that Bass in this setup.
( but i often do experimental electronic music assoon i plug it in / so thats not exactly your best friends Country band uses...... )
Added a second EHB1005MS in the color I wanted all along! and it already has Nordstrands!
I just noticed that Ibanez is finally offering these for lefties, albeit not yet in the USA. I am deciding between EHB1005MSL and a 5string Kiesel Zues (not multi scale).
The Ibanez gives me opportunity to try Multiscale at a reasonable price, which I am a bit nervous I may not get along with. The Keisel will give me opportunity to get all the custom features I want (mostly cosmetic).
any thoughts on risk of getting a multi-scale without trying one? Anyone try both EHB and Keisel headless basses?
Back ground: I no longer perform, I play in studios and rando jams mostly while sitting down. Mostly funk, acid jazz or what ever tickles me. I mainly thump my active Jazz Bass.
The Ibanez gives me opportunity to try Multiscale at a reasonable price, which I am a bit nervous I may not get along with. The Keisel will give me opportunity to get all the custom features I want (mostly cosmetic).
any thoughts on risk of getting a multi-scale without trying one? Anyone try both EHB and Keisel headless basses?
Back ground: I no longer perform, I play in studios and rando jams mostly while sitting down. Mostly funk, acid jazz or what ever tickles me. I mainly thump my active Jazz Bass.
I got the chance to play a multiscale in the store. I understand the complains I've seen about people switching back and forth from MS to straight. I also understand it takes a bit to get used to. Currently, I don't practice enough to make MS work for me, but that's the key I think. It just takes more practice since it is different. I did settle in with my left hand in a few minutes, but the right hand is awkward. I tended to pluck up and down as on a straight bass, and ended up between the pickups instead of on them.
I'm not trying to slam MS. I think it's a great idea, and it needs to be an option. It might even take over. I'm just trying to mention things I noticed, that would take some practice to get used to. And unfortunately I don't practice that much. Everyone is different though.
I will say, the straight fret 1005 and 1000s I played sounded great and were very light. I'm not sure what setting was different on the 1000s, but that one sounded the best at that store. felt really short though. None of the EHBs sounded bad. I keep inching closer and closer to buying one.... just gotta get that bread for it....
I have not laid my hands on the Ibanez yet, but I ordered one. With the 35-33" fan, it will be barely noticeable. I can say that with some confidence, because I have the Brice one that's 37-34". That one is noticeable, but not at all challenging to play. If it were headless, and not elevendythree pounds, I might use it as the gig bass.
I have been down this road.
The smaller fan of these 2 instruments take less getting used to than the larger fan of a Dingwall. The Ibanez fan span is is a little more dramatic than the Kiesel but both are comfortable and require little getting used to.
The Kiesel has superior electronics. The Nordstrand pickups sound great on their own but the preamp in the Ibanez detracts from the tone of the pickups. The Kiesel single coils also sound great, but they are less aggressive sounding. I have found the Kiesel provides an easier tone for me to shape where the Nordstands just want to growl.
For playing comfort I found the Kiesel to be all around better. The neck is slightly more substantial and I prefer the classic profile. The Ibanez neck has a different feel to it, almost like a flattened D shaped profile. Between the Ibanez neck profile and the angled back I would recommend trying to get your hands on one in person for a little while. The Kiesel is very comfortable to play both sitting and standing. The reach to the first fret is not as bad as it may seem, I am very sensitive to this. I prefer the 19mm spacing of the Kiesel and the radiused pickups are a more effective ramp than the flat wood Ibanez supplies. The glow in the dark dots on the Kiesel actually work, not so much on the Ibanez.
Fit and finish goes to Kiesel as well. Won’t have any cracked headpieces or thin finishes to worry about. Ibanez quality is not bad but there are a lot of rough spots on these EHB Basses and the Kiesel will be perfect. The EHB needed my luthier to pull and re crimp 13 high frets. I also had a horrendous ground issue causing massive buzz that was super fun to chase down on a $1600 bass. The cost of the service I needed put the cost of my EHB equal to that of the Kiesel.
If you want to run a big fat low F# string the EHB will accept a .165, where the Kiesel maxes out at .140.
I didn’t come here to poo-poo all over the Ibanez. They are great mass produced Basses, but in this comparison there is a clear winner. My 4h headless Kiesel is currently in production. Hope this helps.
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I left out a detail. Kiesel will not be fanned, they don’t offer multiscale for us lefties
Ibanez is only company that offers fanned frets for lefties under $2k.
Ibanez is only company that offers fanned frets for lefties under $2k.
My next one isn’t fanned, and I wish my fanned one wasn’t fanned. Turns out I don’t care for it unless I’m playing heavy down tuned metal. I went with a Thanos 5 this time.
It’s a shame about the left handed bass availability, I guess the Ibanez stands in a league of its own there.
It’s a shame about the left handed bass availability, I guess the Ibanez stands in a league of its own there.
How do you like Big Splits vs BigRigs on those basses? Is the output level similar? I was thinking a BigRig neck and Big Split bridge would work well together.
If I had to pick one over the other I can't. I'm keeping both but for different voices. The rigs are a little smoother and do great classic rock and vintage P stuff. The big splits are just great big growly pickups. I've considered the exact setup you mentioned for a kind of P/MM set up.
Well said. My experience has been similar; the multi scale thing has never been as natural for me as many others seem to find it. However, switching back and forth has not been my main issue: For a couple months I would sometimes miss octave jumps and otherwise get tripped up when string skipping. Even now, I still have to pay more attention to my plucking hand location and orientation than I’d like to.
I’m thinking I will probably stick with parallel fret basses in the future, especially if I start playing more fretless again.
That’s a well organized, thorough comparison - thanks for sharing your experiences! One factor that you don’t mention and I have come to take for granted is the 17mm spacing (with adjustment travel to go slightly wider) on the EHB1506ms. I can’t find the specs on their new website, but as I recall Kiesel only offers 16.5 or maybe even 16.25 on their 6 string headless models, which unfortunately is pretty much a deal breaker for me.
I would eventually like to get a 4 string bass for those times when I just don’t need the extended range, and I think I’d probably go with the Thanos over an EHB1000 for all the reasons you mention. Not to mention the ability to customize the Kiesel, and the somewhat more traditional aesthetics - I’m thinking go 3 tone sunburst and put a tort pick guard on there and no one will ever notice it’s headless
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