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Ianhin

Ianhin

Inactive
Mar 1, 2015
380
143
64
South Africa
#1
Some of u might remember my lamenting about my Ibby SR605 sounding crummy - my Gio sounded better!
Well, i finally managed to get a set of Ibanez DX5 pups to replace those awful Bartollini Mk1 s. I know the DX5 s arent that great either but the bass was unplayable before. The DX5 s are MUCH BETTER! Suddenly i have almost equal volume across the strings ( with the barts, my B was super loud, and the E was super soft and the whole overall sound was weak thin and vague. Now i have a richer, fuller sound, and i m very happy, i played for about 5 hrs last nite, i couldnt put it down! (i m not in the 15k bass league) It s still far frm perfect and i think the Bart mk1 eq/pre must go too! Then i m done with spending any more money on it. It has Elixer Nanoweb s on it and they re extremely playable strings, but u get spoilt using them coz suddenly everything else feels terrible (Nanowebs r R1000 here in South Africa!)
So there u have it - one more happy bass player!
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#2
Ianhin said:
Some of u might remember my lamenting about my Ibby SR605 sounding crummy - my Gio sounded better!
Well, i finally managed to get a set of Ibanez DX5 pups to replace those awful Bartollini Mk1 s. I know the DX5 s arent that great either but the bass was unplayable before. The DX5 s are MUCH BETTER! Suddenly i have almost equal volume across the strings ( with the barts, my B was super loud, and the E was super soft and the whole overall sound was weak thin and vague. Now i have a richer, fuller sound, and i m very happy, i played for about 5 hrs last nite, i couldnt put it down! (i m not in the 15k bass league) It s still far frm perfect and i think the Bart mk1 eq/pre must go too! Then i m done with spending any more money on it. It has Elixer Nanoweb s on it and they re extremely playable strings, but u get spoilt using them coz suddenly everything else feels terrible (Nanowebs r R1000 here in South Africa!)
So there u have it - one more happy bass player!
View attachment 623833 View attachment 623833 View attachment 623833
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Dont know WHY there r 3 pics??!!
 
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#6
Jjdhawg said:
Nice glad you're happy with your bass now. I have a lower end sr500 and while I won't say I love the MK-1's I would hardly call them unplayable. What made them unplayable to you? Just curious.
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The sound was terrible. Weak, thin, vague and diff volumes aceoss the strings. Both bands that i play with (who know very little about sound) both commented at the very first prac with the SR, that my Gio sounded better! I think it might be a combination of things, it still doesnt have the same in ur face sound/volume as the Gio but it s MUCH better. I think it s just the guitar itself, a lot of people r very happy with Bart mk1 s but a lot of people dont like the treble twangy piano like sound. It s a stunning bass to play, very fast, and light.
 
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#7
That's weird....maybe you got one with some wiring issues..........I have an SR500 (4 string) that has the Bart Mk1's.......level sound across the board and absolutely thunderous if I want it to be....can dial in all sorts of tones on it........I don't do "piano twang".....

perhaps the 'fivers' are a different story........
 
#8
ZenG said:
That's weird....maybe you got one with some wiring issues..........I have an SR500 (4 string) that has the Bart Mk1's.......level sound across the board and absolutely thunderous if I want it to be....can dial in all sorts of tones on it........I don't do "piano twang".....

perhaps the 'fivers' are a different story........
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Yes the chap at Bartolini sounded really offended when i told him it sounded "terrible". But a lot of chaps on this forum agreed that the mk1 s werent much good. Maybe its the Elixer Nanowebs, i just dont know.
The best way to describe it is; my Gio sounds raw anologue and my SR sounds digital. Maybe it its becoz my Gio s strings are much older.....? (about 1,5 years and my SR s nanowebs r new....?
 
#12
Dominic D said:
Lemons make it out of factories all the time. I had a bass with a humbucker that was out of phase from the factory. It was epoxied and only had two wires so all I could do was return it.
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You ve got a point there.
I ve just come back frm a worship prac at our church and although my SR is a LOT BETTER,.....I came home and plugged my Gio in........its MUCH better. The bass on my SR is .......BOOMY. It doesnt matter what i do with the eq. I put all the eq on flat, on the amp as well, and turn the bass about 2 o clock - boomy. Not a dry precise sound like my Gio. I m gonna change the eq/pre...then the strings, and then i m done, if it s still not to my liking its bye bye.....
 
#15
Now, I know you said these are your favourite strings, but a lesson I learned a long time ago is that finding the right strings for each bass is worth the effort. Strings that sound great on one bass may not work well at all on another. You have to find the ones that do. Could get expensive, but a set of strings is still cheaper than a new preamp. (And a lot less trouble to replace.)

-Alex
 
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#17
I wanted to like Bart's but after several tries I have found I just don't like the tone (I loved the MEC's my thumbs had). It's not just that I am a passive bass guy now, they just always had sort of a weak signal and lack of full range tone. I know I will get a lot of crap for this as many high end builders use them almost exclusively, just not for me. I have a BC pickup that's about to go on the bay.
 
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#18
Matthew_84 said:
That's a beauty bass you got there!

Ibanez SR's are the best feeling basses I've played for me... I've settled on one for months (maybe a year now), but every time I'm a few days away, something comes up... Car issues, birthday/wedding/baby shower/housewarming gifts, home issues, :banghead:, :banghead:, :banghead:.
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Thanks! It is. A beautiful bass to look and wonderful to play - just the sounds not to my liking. Hope u get one sooon!
 
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#19
Abner said:
Now, I know you said these are your favourite strings, but a lesson I learned a long time ago is that finding the right strings for each bass is worth the effort. Strings that sound great on one bass may not work well at all on another. You have to find the ones that do. Could get expensive, but a set of strings is still cheaper than a new preamp. (And a lot less trouble to replace.)

-Alex
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Yup. I ll start with the strings. Thanks.
 
#20
Abner said:
Now, I know you said these are your favourite strings, but a lesson I learned a long time ago is that finding the right strings for each bass is worth the effort. Strings that sound great on one bass may not work well at all on another. You have to find the ones that do. Could get expensive, but a set of strings is still cheaper than a new preamp. (And a lot less trouble to replace.)

-Alex
Click to expand...
Ok so i bought a set of Rotosound strings today. 10 x better than the Nanowebs but i cut the B too short so it s only got about half a wind around the post...it s also a SLIGHTLY lighter guage 125....i think the old one was about a 130. The B is soft. Could this b coz its not enough winds on the post?
 

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