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Slim-necked 5 with a Good B under $1.5k ????

#61
Bill Murray said:
I’d blame technique and/or the preamp
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excluding all the electronics- it's a problem acoustically, beyond the first few frets it sounds like a bell right off the string. could be setup or technique but even making sure to slowly perfectly fret it for a single note still has that 'dong' sound that the other strings don't when fretted. posted an example earlier in the thread.

All Ibanez’s are fairly treble/hi-mid forward. You really can’t dial that out of their basses and I find that specific EQ does any B string no favors.
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interestingly with the bartolini's on this I find it pretty muted. switching the preamp on and cranking treble all the way still doesn't give me completely what I'd want. it's not a problem though as I'm using this in a studio.

That being said I’d actually recommend trying a new set of strings and adjusting the pickup height before parting ways. I’d had a similar issue on my stingray and adjusting the pickup height alone fixed it instantly.
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yeah, I'll give new strings and a setup a go if I decide to stick with it. still deciding if I want to, as I really enjoy playing it... except near the nut.
not sure pickup height will be the magic bullet as it really is just the string itself giving that sinusoidal bell tone, unless the magnets are messing with it.
 
#65
Dingwall Combustion 5. Fantastic B (37", I think?), usable pre, amazing value. The fanned frets take about 5 minutes to get used to, then start to feel really natural. The only spot I find I have to look for is the bit of extra reach needed for the first fret on the B...
 
#68
Willie5String said:
Schecter Stilleto 5, try it 1st for width tho.
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That was my first thought on seeing the subject line, and I was a little surprised it didn’t come up in the first couple of pages. The high-end thru-neck Stilettos have a decent B and a really nice neck for small hands. I bought one after A/Bing versus Yamahas and Ibanezes at twice the price. Sold it because the string spacing is just too tight for my big right plucking hand, presumably not an issue for the OP.
 
#69
lyralain said:
excluding all the electronics- it's a problem acoustically, beyond the first few frets it sounds like a bell right off the string. could be setup or technique but even making sure to slowly perfectly fret it for a single note still has that 'dong' sound that the other strings don't when fretted. posted an example earlier in the thread.


interestingly with the bartolini's on this I find it pretty muted. switching the preamp on and cranking treble all the way still doesn't give me completely what I'd want. it's not a problem though as I'm using this in a studio.


yeah, I'll give new strings and a setup a go if I decide to stick with it. still deciding if I want to, as I really enjoy playing it... except near the nut.
not sure pickup height will be the magic bullet as it really is just the string itself giving that sinusoidal bell tone, unless the magnets are messing with it.
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I honestly cannot distinguish anything out of the ordinary through the samples posted. It just sounds like an aggressive pluck would.

Muted is another good description of the tone they generally provide. They’re not overly bright and there is a lack of low end (at least for my personal tastes). You could also say the EQ is not very versatile.


Based on this conversation so far and the samples, I think its likely that you just are not going to like how B strings respond to your playing. IMO they require a soft touch and lots of low end to excel.

Why is it your looking to stick with 5 strings as opposed to 4? (Don’t get me wrong I do not own a single 4 string haha)
 
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#70
The EHB has a monstrous B string. I suggest you adjust your pickup height and do some setting up. IMO ibanez stock preamps are a weak point and swapping them out makes a massive improvement in tone. And I say this as a big ibanez fan boy and I've owned many over the years to include an EHB.
 
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#71
Maybe your amp is the problem. The B string on MIM active jazz always sounded tubby through my GK mb150 amp, but now it sounds like honey through a Aguilar Tonehammer 350. Oh, and i now use a 0.125 GHS exposed core steel, which also helps a lot.
 
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#72
lyralain said:
interestingly with the bartolini's on this I find it pretty muted. switching the preamp on and cranking treble all the way still doesn't give me completely what I'd want. it's not a problem though as I'm using this in a studio.
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yeah you're not gonna get a bunch of topend with those barts. That's long been established. They're not bad but they're not nordstrands up top
 
#73
Just be aware that the Bart BH2s are very different from the Mk1s. I've had multiple examples of both and now have BH2s in my SR fiver. First played them in my BTB845 and love them. ❤️
 
#77
lyralain said:
Hey all- I experimented with a few cheapo 5s, wasn't satisfied with the B string, and decided I'd sell some things to splurge & give the EHB1005MS a shot, hoping the multiscale would help.

It's a gorgeous bass, especially the fingerboard. It's playable with my small hands (though playing octaves towards the nut I start to really feel a stretch). But it's 35" B just, still isn't cutting it for me as it stands.

an open E has some nice growl from upper freqs. The same E played with the 5th fret on a B string is dull & sinusoidal. open->fretted may not be a fair comparison, but playing up on the neck at the same frets across strings, the B always seems significantly duller than the other 4. If I apply the onboard bass boost or a shelf afterwards, the B gets WAY too boomy as well. Would need a fair bit of dynamicEQ/multiband comp to tame.

So, tl;dr questions-
1. The title- what would your recommendation B for a 5 under $1.5k that both sounds good & is playable (especially for small hands?)
2. If I were to decide to keep the gorgeous, playable EHB1005MS, other than post processing, how would you address the B? Would a thicker string gauge help?
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I'm hesitant to give recommendations in threads like this because I haven't played dozens and dozens of different basses in my life, so my experience is limited. But I thought I'd throw something out here...

You mention a slim neck because you have small hands, and a good B.
My general experience with Ibanez slim necked basses is good. And there's one that has a peculiar neck profile that could possibly be of interest to you.

I played an EDA905 for a few years and really, really liked its very slim neck. The string spacing is also very wide at the bridge, but extra tight at the nut, which makes fretting a breeze. The B, on mine anyway, was tight, punchy and sounded as full and clear as the other strings.
I wouldn't recommend the EDA because of its luthite body, but I'd look into the Affirma version.

Keep in mind that it features a soap bar pup and piezo, which is not to everyone's tastes.

I've read people mention G&L L2500 here for slim necks. That's what I currently play. And compared to the EDA/Affirma's, the G&L neck feels to me like a tree trunk. Just saying.
 

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