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New Ibanez Mode series
- Thread starter Naviiin
- Start date
I'm usually only lurking around here, but I figured I'd chime in with my new MDM1306.
I picked up a Squire 6 string last year as my first 6 string AND my first Jazz ($350 brand new!), and it turns out that I love it. I've spent the last 20 years of bedroom noodling trying to make my humbucker basses sound like a Jazz, and all this time I had no idea how much the pickups had to do with it (I just blamed my amateurish technique.
)
So I've been on the casual hunt for a "nicer" 6 string Jazz (Nicer in quotes because that Squire is honestly pretty great IMO).
Last night, I slapped on a set of DR LoRiders with a 130 B, same as I have on the Squire, just to get a good comparison.
I set up the Ibanez as close as I could to the Squire as far as pickup height, neck relief, action, etc...
A few observations..
The Squire still has a bit more of the typical Jazz sound. The Ibanez sounds like a Jazz, but definitely with a bit of a polite/modern twist,
Out of the box, the action on the Ibanez was quite high. And even after an attempt at proper setup by yours truly, the B is still sitting much too high at the nut. It came with a 130 B, so I would have expected the LoRider 130 to be spot on. The Squire was perfect.
Also, either they are not being too picky with the wood, or somebody got a little over-enthusiastic with the neck roasting on mine. The top of the head stock looks like it's almost stained. I also had tiny fragments of paint flake off the tuning keys. Not a big deal for me, but it's definitely no Sadowsky. At least there's no fret sprout like the BTB I used to have.
I also think I prefer the 17mm spacing on the Squire over the 18mm Ibanez. It definitely takes a minute for me to adjust.
The white has a pearlescent flake to it that looks great in person. I wasn't expecting that from the pictures. My partner has already taken to calling this one Edgar.
I picked up a Squire 6 string last year as my first 6 string AND my first Jazz ($350 brand new!), and it turns out that I love it. I've spent the last 20 years of bedroom noodling trying to make my humbucker basses sound like a Jazz, and all this time I had no idea how much the pickups had to do with it (I just blamed my amateurish technique.
)So I've been on the casual hunt for a "nicer" 6 string Jazz (Nicer in quotes because that Squire is honestly pretty great IMO).
Last night, I slapped on a set of DR LoRiders with a 130 B, same as I have on the Squire, just to get a good comparison.
I set up the Ibanez as close as I could to the Squire as far as pickup height, neck relief, action, etc...
A few observations..
The Squire still has a bit more of the typical Jazz sound. The Ibanez sounds like a Jazz, but definitely with a bit of a polite/modern twist,
Out of the box, the action on the Ibanez was quite high. And even after an attempt at proper setup by yours truly, the B is still sitting much too high at the nut. It came with a 130 B, so I would have expected the LoRider 130 to be spot on. The Squire was perfect.
Also, either they are not being too picky with the wood, or somebody got a little over-enthusiastic with the neck roasting on mine. The top of the head stock looks like it's almost stained. I also had tiny fragments of paint flake off the tuning keys. Not a big deal for me, but it's definitely no Sadowsky. At least there's no fret sprout like the BTB I used to have.
I also think I prefer the 17mm spacing on the Squire over the 18mm Ibanez. It definitely takes a minute for me to adjust.
The white has a pearlescent flake to it that looks great in person. I wasn't expecting that from the pictures. My partner has already taken to calling this one Edgar.
Attachments
Can the string spacing be changed to the 17mm? It's supposed to be the 18mm +/- 1.5mm?I'm usually only lurking around here, but I figured I'd chime in with my new MDM1306.
I picked up a Squire 6 string last year as my first 6 string AND my first Jazz ($350 brand new!), and it turns out that I love it. I've spent the last 20 years of bedroom noodling trying to make my humbucker basses sound like a Jazz, and all this time I had no idea how much the pickups had to do with it (I just blamed my amateurish technique.
So I've been on the casual hunt for a "nicer" 6 string Jazz (Nicer in quotes because that Squire is honestly pretty great IMO).
Last night, I slapped on a set of DR LoRiders with a 130 B, same as I have on the Squire, just to get a good comparison.
I set up the Ibanez as close as I could to the Squire as far as pickup height, neck relief, action, etc...
A few observations..
The Squire still has a bit more of the typical Jazz sound. The Ibanez sounds like a Jazz, but definitely with a bit of a polite/modern twist,
Out of the box, the action on the Ibanez was quite high. And even after an attempt at proper setup by yours truly, the B is still sitting much too high at the nut. It came with a 130 B, so I would have expected the LoRider 130 to be spot on. The Squire was perfect.
Also, either they are not being too picky with the wood, or somebody got a little over-enthusiastic with the neck roasting on mine. The top of the head stock looks like it's almost stained. I also had tiny fragments of paint flake off the tuning keys. Not a big deal for me, but it's definitely no Sadowsky. At least there's no fret sprout like the BTB I used to have.
I also think I prefer the 17mm spacing on the Squire over the 18mm Ibanez. It definitely takes a minute for me to adjust.
The white has a pearlescent flake to it that looks great in person. I wasn't expecting that from the pictures. My partner has already taken to calling this one Edgar.
The +/- on all the newer mono rail bridges is only .75mm in one direction or the other for a total of 1.5mm, so you can get it close-ish enough.
Recently picked up my first Ibanez—Mode MDM1606…
I’ve had MTD USA, Fbass, and Dingwall 6’s, and must say…this bass is fantastic value overall! Arrived flawless from SW (9.4 lbs) and plays great! Only issue: included ramp was for a 5-string version, but SW is getting me a replacement.
I normally play 18-20mm bridge spacing, so the new 18mm series makes Ibanez viable in my case. The tuner’s are surprisingly smoother than all my Hipshot UL basses. Definitely projects more modern tone(s) vs legendary single-coil passive jazz bass tone…but I’m good with that. The gigbag (imo) is useless—zero padding, but I didn’t need it anyway.
Preamp has a very quiet noise floor; zero dead spots/great sustain over the entire fb; fretwork is fantastic. Neck is more traditional C (and slightly thicker) than my 6-string preference, but very close/not a deal-breaker for sure. Think it’s a keeper!
I’ve had MTD USA, Fbass, and Dingwall 6’s, and must say…this bass is fantastic value overall! Arrived flawless from SW (9.4 lbs) and plays great! Only issue: included ramp was for a 5-string version, but SW is getting me a replacement.
I normally play 18-20mm bridge spacing, so the new 18mm series makes Ibanez viable in my case. The tuner’s are surprisingly smoother than all my Hipshot UL basses. Definitely projects more modern tone(s) vs legendary single-coil passive jazz bass tone…but I’m good with that. The gigbag (imo) is useless—zero padding, but I didn’t need it anyway.
Preamp has a very quiet noise floor; zero dead spots/great sustain over the entire fb; fretwork is fantastic. Neck is more traditional C (and slightly thicker) than my 6-string preference, but very close/not a deal-breaker for sure. Think it’s a keeper!
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I saw the MDM1005 being (finally) available at Andertons here in the UK so ordered it. Been waiting for it for a while, glad to see they’re finally out in the wild. Expect my thoughts soon!
I got to check a 4 and 5 out earlier this week. The 4 neck was pretty chunky for a jazz style bass. The 5 felt good. Overall build seems really nice, but I wasn’t blown away by either of the instruments. I did not plug in.
I’m not really a fan of Ibanez basses, though I did like the original BTB 5.
I’m not really a fan of Ibanez basses, though I did like the original BTB 5.
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I dropped my MDM1006 at my local luthier and we both agreed that the B string nut slot needed to be cut down quite a bit. The other slots were spot on.
Everything else about the setup was easy peasy. As others have said, the fretwork is great.
This bass loves to growl when I dig in. I get a smile on my face every time.
Everything else about the setup was easy peasy. As others have said, the fretwork is great.
This bass loves to growl when I dig in. I get a smile on my face every time.
Mine just came in today, 8.2 lbs naked, no strap, no ramp. So far, I'm liking it. The neck I would say it's medium size thickness. The neck is smooth. I think my L2500 might have slightly narrower string spacing, but it's not too far off. I might leave it. Compared to the L2500 the bass sits (when I'm sitting more to my right (right-handed bass) which might take some getting use to. I use Chromes on the G&L, I'm not sure if I'll change these steels(?) The gig bag is not terrible, someone said it was a thin covering for the bass, I don't think so, it's not that bad and it's a back-packer. I checked this out because I wanted to hear the B string breathe, and this it does; it might be that I have chromes on the G&L, I am not sure.
Been playing mine for about a week now (MDM1605). It was the first time I bought a bass without seeing, or trying it. Set up was pretty much perfect out of the box. Neck is fine, action is fine, no intonation issues. There is a little buzz on some frets but it doesn't come through when plugged in, or recorded so I left it alone. The G feels a little further from the rest, so I'll probably move it a bit, but for now, I'm just getting used to it as is.
Frets are great, neck is a little chunky but still very comfortable and very fast. The finish feels thin, don't know if it's actually thin, or if it'll cause problems down the line. One complaint I have is that the wire for the battery connector has absolutely no play, so it's very hard to change the battery. The bag it came with is fine, it's not snug, but I'm not worried transporting it.
B string is great, the sound is balanced in active, and passive mode. The knobs are very responsive, and the tonal variety is very wide. It sounds like a Jazz bass, I can make it sound close enough to a PBass, I can get that early 2000s nu metal sound, I can make it sound super modern, or vintage, and it takes distortion like a champ. Zero hum even with distortion. I'm happy, my band is happy, which is a relief because I sold my sterling ray 5 to help pay for the bass.
I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but so far, it outclasses my fender jazz bass. If I feel the same way after a year or so, I'll probably consider selling the fender. Probably.
Frets are great, neck is a little chunky but still very comfortable and very fast. The finish feels thin, don't know if it's actually thin, or if it'll cause problems down the line. One complaint I have is that the wire for the battery connector has absolutely no play, so it's very hard to change the battery. The bag it came with is fine, it's not snug, but I'm not worried transporting it.
B string is great, the sound is balanced in active, and passive mode. The knobs are very responsive, and the tonal variety is very wide. It sounds like a Jazz bass, I can make it sound close enough to a PBass, I can get that early 2000s nu metal sound, I can make it sound super modern, or vintage, and it takes distortion like a champ. Zero hum even with distortion. I'm happy, my band is happy, which is a relief because I sold my sterling ray 5 to help pay for the bass.
I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but so far, it outclasses my fender jazz bass. If I feel the same way after a year or so, I'll probably consider selling the fender. Probably.
I agree, the battery wires are way too short, I can only get about a third of the snap for the battery out of the hole it's in.
I'll consider changing it, only if I'm keeping the bass, but I will call L&M today and inquire what could be done.
I'll consider changing it, only if I'm keeping the bass, but I will call L&M today and inquire what could be done.
I've opened up the preamp compartment on the back to see if there were any movement with the battery wires. There's enough in there to pull the wires through to the battery compartment, so now you are able to pull out the battery (about an inch and a half) to facilitate changing the battery, without any stress.
All good now.
All good now.
They must have clipped in the battery and then pulled the wires snug inside the electronics compartment. Probably only used the minimum amount of wire, which is typical in mass production operations. If you want to see the opposite case, here's the inside of my Ibanez SR370EF electronics cavity. If you need extra wiring, you can have a couple feet of mine?
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I received the MDM1005 today and took it straight to rehearsal tonight. What a great bass!
It is super balanced, enough weight to it but quite comfortable still. No neck dive.
Finish is overall quite good, despite some tiny marks in the paint but nothing to lose sleep over. Frets are good. Set up was good too! Stock strings aren’t amazing but that’s not an issue.
Sound wise, there’s a lot of potential. I am very much used to playing Pbasses with my band that I quickly settled on the neck pickup, and with some EQ tweak, it did mimic the Pbass punch reasonably well. Not 100% but still very good in the mix. It is definitely more on the modern side sound and look wise. Sounds good too with both pickups on. EQ is powerful!
The neck is super comfortable too. Smooth and fast. The roasted maple is so brown that it visually takes me back to when I used to play Warwick basses with Ovangkol necks
I am very happy so far, it’s a very different animal compared to my Fenders but that’s what is interesting. I’ve been wanting to get a 5er again for years, so here we go.
It is super balanced, enough weight to it but quite comfortable still. No neck dive.
Finish is overall quite good, despite some tiny marks in the paint but nothing to lose sleep over. Frets are good. Set up was good too! Stock strings aren’t amazing but that’s not an issue.
Sound wise, there’s a lot of potential. I am very much used to playing Pbasses with my band that I quickly settled on the neck pickup, and with some EQ tweak, it did mimic the Pbass punch reasonably well. Not 100% but still very good in the mix. It is definitely more on the modern side sound and look wise. Sounds good too with both pickups on. EQ is powerful!
The neck is super comfortable too. Smooth and fast. The roasted maple is so brown that it visually takes me back to when I used to play Warwick basses with Ovangkol necks
I am very happy so far, it’s a very different animal compared to my Fenders but that’s what is interesting. I’ve been wanting to get a 5er again for years, so here we go.
How is the B on these?I received the MDM1005 today and took it straight to rehearsal tonight. What a great bass!
It is super balanced, enough weight to it but quite comfortable still. No neck dive.
Finish is overall quite good, despite some tiny marks in the paint but nothing to lose sleep over. Frets are good. Set up was good too! Stock strings aren’t amazing but that’s not an issue.
Sound wise, there’s a lot of potential. I am very much used to playing Pbasses with my band that I quickly settled on the neck pickup, and with some EQ tweak, it did mimic the Pbass punch reasonably well. Not 100% but still very good in the mix. It is definitely more on the modern side sound and look wise. Sounds good too with both pickups on. EQ is powerful!
The neck is super comfortable too. Smooth and fast. The roasted maple is so brown that it visually takes me back to when I used to play Warwick basses with Ovangkol necks
I am very happy so far, it’s a very different animal compared to my Fenders but that’s what is interesting. I’ve been wanting to get a 5er again for years, so here we go.
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