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The Ibanez Club (Part 4)

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#761
There seems to be somewhat of a divide among those that either like or don't like the Bart pups. I want to demo more of the models that have Barts.

Guess I'm growing more curious about Barts vs. other modern Ibanez pickups.
 
#763
500 series and up have barts. I don't like them. Too dark. Mix them with the elixer strings that come stock on Ibanez and you get dark lows with harsh, glassy highs. Not my thing at all.

Ibanez EXF pickups with Circle K strings makes for a passable tone. But overall I'm not a fan of the electronics used in Ibanez basses.

I plan on slapping some SGD Humbuckers in the SR505 I'm getting. I have high hopes for it.
 
#764
I will say that putting Roto 66's with those Barts sounds fantastic. They're bright enough to cut some of that dark sound that KingRazor mentioned, and they've very clear and articulate. Just a little rough on the fingers. The pickups do tend to be dark, but I really like it. The elixers plain suck on the basses, I can't believe that's what comes stock.
 
#765
Staccato said:
There seems to be somewhat of a divide among those that either like or don't like the Bart pups. I want to demo more of the models that have Barts.

Guess I'm growing more curious about Barts vs. other modern Ibanez pickups.
Click to expand...

Kinda depends on which Bart's you're talking about. The cheapie MK1's don't sound any better than the Ibanez pickups but the USA Barts on the Prestige series are much better than Ibanez made pickups on their higher end basses that don't have Barts.
 
#766
I played one of those at a store in South Carolina, really liked it! I think the maple really suits the SR505 very well. Congrats!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I love it. I thought the original SR505 neck didn't give enough contrast with the body to be pleasing to the eye, and I really don't like those pearly inlays.

I just wish my ear was good enough to figure out what exactly a "good" tone is. I do so much experimenting with the EQ yet I can't tell very much difference between the sounds.

As far the Bartolinis with the stock Elixer strings sounding dark, that's definitely not the case with mine, probably due to the maple neck. Bought it at the end of May and still haven't changed the strings, but it still sounds fairly bright. Just bought new strings today; I honestly don't know what to look for in strings though :P
 
#767
Jinro said:
Thanks. I love it. I thought the original SR505 neck didn't give enough contrast with the body to be pleasing to the eye, and I really don't like those pearly inlays.

I just wish my ear was good enough to figure out what exactly a "good" tone is. I do so much experimenting with the EQ yet I can't tell very much difference between the sounds.

As far the Bartolinis with the stock Elixer strings sounding dark, that's definitely not the case with mine, probably due to the maple neck. Bought it at the end of May and still haven't changed the strings, but it still sounds fairly bright. Just bought new strings today; I honestly don't know what to look for in strings though :P
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That's probably true (concerning the brightness of the maple board), I had the same experience when I played it. I almost bought it on the spot, but money was tight and I had a pile of basses at the time. Experimenting with strings is something I've never done due to the cost of new strings, and now that I've tried the Rotosound Swing 66's I'm pretty sure I'm sticking with them for a long, long time!
 
#768
Jinro said:
Thanks. I love it. I thought the original SR505 neck didn't give enough contrast with the body to be pleasing to the eye, and I really don't like those pearly inlays.

I just wish my ear was good enough to figure out what exactly a "good" tone is. I do so much experimenting with the EQ yet I can't tell very much difference between the sounds.

As far the Bartolinis with the stock Elixer strings sounding dark, that's definitely not the case with mine, probably due to the maple neck. Bought it at the end of May and still haven't changed the strings, but it still sounds fairly bright. Just bought new strings today; I honestly don't know what to look for in strings though :P
Click to expand...

It's the strings that are bright, the pickups are dark. You'd think they'd balance each other out, but IMO you get the worst of both worlds with that combo.

I used D'Addarios on my Ibanez for a while, but didn't care for them much. I finally got sold on Circle K strings. I'll never use anything else.

That being said, DR makes a wide variety of great strings. They're bound to make something you'll like.

Knowing what good tone is just comes from listening to a lot of different bass tones. Two years after I bought my first bass, I bought a P bass because I found that was the tone I liked best.

I will get another Ibanez, though. Just miss that neck and the low B string (although the one on my Ibanez always buzzed and never really sounded great to me). Just need more money.
 
#773
TK4261 said:
You can always put some Nordstrand "Big Singles" in it :)
I am really loving those pickups that came in my SR1200e....
I can get a nice Jazz tone and a thick clean humbucking sound out of it to. :hyper:
Click to expand...

Singles aren't really my favorite tone. I'm a split-coil kind of guy. The big singles have too much "growl" for me.

I could go with Big Splits, but SGDs are cheaper, and I know I like their tone (or at least, I really like the sound clips I've heard)
 
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