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New Ibanez Mode series

#261
Also it didn’t go unnoticed at rehearsal. Both my drummer and singer complimented the look of it. And after the rehearsal, the guy at the venue’s desk was like “man, your B string sounded huge”. He’s a bassist himself, so I showed him the bass and was impressed by it.
 
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#263
Testing123 said:
I'd consider changing out the battery compartment for either one of these:

View attachment 7464585



View attachment 7464586
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Interesting, but the second one is a deeper pocket, since the battery is on its side. You'd have to have enough depth in the body wood to accept that. I hate snap caps, they are prone to failure, but I've heard the first model shown above also has issues, if the battery is slightly off-sized?
 
#264
I discovered that the nearest GC had a couple of the fives in stock, so I tried one of them yesterday, and I thought it was fantastic. It was light, with excellent build quality, ergonomics, and playability. It was difficult to evaluate the tone, because I'm not familiar with the MarkBass combo I used, which was rattling on the E and B strings. But from what I could tell, it sounded like a fairly thick, heavy version of J-bass tone. I liked it, and was pleasantly surprised that the passive tone control worked in active mode. That's cool.

I don't need another J, but if Ibanez released the five-string Mode with a maple fretboard, it would be very tempting.
 
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#267
Nedmundo said:
I discovered that the nearest GC had a couple of the fives in stock, so I tried one of them yesterday, and I thought it was fantastic. It was light, with excellent build quality, ergonomics, and playability. It was difficult to evaluate the tone, because I'm not familiar with the MarkBass combo I used, which was rattling on the E and B strings. But from what I could tell, it sounded like a fairly thick, heavy version of J-bass tone. I liked it, and was pleasantly surprised that the passive tone control worked in active mode. That's cool.

I don't need another J, but if Ibanez released the five-string Mode with a maple fretboard, it would be very tempting.
Click to expand...
They have a a 5er with a roasted maple neck/fretboard and an ash body!
IMG_6620.jpeg
 
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#268
Bassplayer1586 said:
They have a a 5er with a roasted maple neck/fretboard and an ash body! View attachment 7472173
Click to expand...
Ha! The GC had one in that finish too, but the fretboard looked dark at a quick glance, so it didn't occur to me it could be maple. I have a Strat with a roasted maple neck and fretboard, which aren't nearly as dark.
 
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#269
Nedmundo said:
Ha! The GC had one in that finish too, but the fretboard looked dark at a quick glance, so it didn't occur to me it could be maple. I have a Strat with a roasted maple neck and fretboard, which aren't nearly as dark.
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Yeah, the roasting process that Ibanez uses isn’t very accurate from bass to bass from what I’ve seen. Of course, that could totally be up to the wood itself. Either way, I’m a huge fan of these new Mode basses!
 
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#277
Ive basically been trying to turn my soundgear into a Jazz bass, so these really appeal to me.

A local GC had a 1305 and 1605 in stock so I got to try them and compare with some other J style 5s. I played everything in passive mode.

I love the feel of the Mode neck. The setup was not great, particularly on the 1305, which was a bummer because I liked the sound a lot.

The 1605 looks nicer in pictures. I really hate the texture to the burl top on these. I was they were finished smooth like my SRMS805. It also sounded much brighter than the 1305 to my ears. Much more modern. I preferred the 1305. A little less sharp on the top end, but not so much so that it was dull.

I got to compare them to an American Elite Fender.

The Fender was big and heavy. Clunky compared to the MDMs. The neck felt similar to the MDM, maybe a bit thinner, but the satin finish on these does feel pretty incredible. Sounded great. More in the low mids than the Ibanez, but lacking some kind of grit/growl in the mid mids. I preferred the MDMs overall.

I also played the Markbass GV5. I've played these fairly often and always come away impressed for the money. Obviously a different vibe compared to the MDMs, but still a J style 5. Felt a little less "premium" I guess, but the tone had a really strong vintage character. I think I'd want it more as a flavor in my arsenal than as my daily driver.

Overall, I came away wanting a 1305 bad. I'm gonna bring my soundgear with me next time so I can do a direct comparison and see if I actually like it better or if im just craving something shiny.
 
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