The Soundgear Club

[Oliver Stein]

here a random clip

That sounds great and quite different from my 1345. I'm aware that this might be due to your much better playing, but would you mind to share your setup for this recording? Strings, PU blend, EQ, Preamp, Interface, whatever you did to the signal…

PS: I just listened to the original track and heard the bass is quite prominent in this tune. Maybe it's also due to the underlying original sound? Do you have a clip of 1345 only from that recording?

 

[stingray69]

That sounds great and quite different from my 1345. I'm aware that this might be due to your much better playing, but would you mind to share your setup for this recording? Strings, PU blend, EQ, Preamp, Interface, whatever you did to the signal…

Thanks for the kind words. To be fair, that is not a clean/uneffected tone. But the setup if pretty simple.

I'm using a Zoom B1 Four with just the DarkPre (emulates a DarkGlass B7K) and EBH360 (emulates an EBS HD 360 bass amp). EQ is was a little scooped at the 800hz freq on the 1345 and not much EQ at all on either of those Zoom B1 effects.

For strings, just nickel round wound of your favorite choice. PU were blended 50/50.

I just take the output of the Zoom B1 Four and plug it into my Zoom R16 recorder. No EQ-ing afterwards or anything.

Out of all that, I'd say the meat-n-potatoes of the tone your hearing is imparted by the Darkglass B7K emulation. Well, combined with the tone of the Nordstrand Big Singles too.

 

[stingray69]

Quick question for those who have SR models with the Power Span pickups & Power-Tap system - what do you think of them? Most comments I see here on TB seem very positive.

I might be considering picking up an SR405 in mint condition, so I'm curious to hear others take on these. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated & thank you ahead of time!

 

[Snert]

I have a 4 and a 5 with the PS and I like them a lot.

 

[stingray69]

I have a 4 and a 5 with the PS and I like them a lot.

So does the Power Tap choose between single coil (outer coils), single coils in Series mode and then full dual humbucker mode? Trying to understand the coil selections.

 

[fourstringbliss]

So does the Power Tap choose between single coil (outer coils), single coils in Series mode and then full dual humbucker mode? Trying to understand the coil selections.

I had a few with those pickups and they're good pups. They're not Nordstrands but they're great for stock pickups on relatively cheap basses.

To be honest I couldn't tell you exactly what's going on with the switching. I took a look at the insides once and it's a lot of circuit boards and connectors. I'm guessing they saved money on production by having the preamp made of parts with solderless connections (much like new houses are made out of premade sections), but because of this I couldn't tell which wire was what coming from the pickups and whether there was coil splitting happening.

I can tell you that you have one setting that sounds like parallel, one that sounds like series, and another that sounds like it could be parallel with some sort of vintage filter on it. All of the settings are hum canceling which is why I don't think you get true single-coil action. All of them sound good and have uses, and they all sound different enough from each other that there isn't reducancy.

 

[stingray69]

I had a few with those pickups and they're good pups. They're not Nordstrands but they're great for stock pickups on relatively cheap basses.

To be honest I couldn't tell you exactly what's going on with the switching. I took a look at the insides once and it's a lot of circuit boards and connectors. I'm guessing they saved money on production by having the preamp made of parts with solderless connections (much like new houses are made out of premade sections), but because of this I couldn't tell which wire was what coming from the pickups and whether there was coil splitting happening.

I can tell you that you have one setting that sounds like parallel, one that sounds like series, and another that sounds like it could be parallel with some sort of vintage filter on it. All of the settings are hum canceling which is why I don't think you get true single-coil action. All of them sound good and have uses, and they all sound different enough from each other that there isn't reducancy.

Thanks for the insight on that. I've been trying to dig through some YT videos for sound examples. If nothing else, I could always entertain the notion of dropping in some Nordstrands down the road, if they fit. But so far, some sound clips I've been finding have sounded pretty good!

 

[fourstringbliss]

Thanks for the insight on that. I've been trying to dig through some YT videos for sound examples. If nothing else, I could always entertain the notion of dropping in some Nordstrands down the road, if they fit. But so far, some sound clips I've been finding have sounded pretty good!

Sure! And, when I say they're not Nordstrands, I'm only saying they're different. Former member Killed by Death commented that he liked these just as much as Nordstrands for different uses.

 

[stingray69]

Sure! And, when I say they're not Nordstrands, I'm only saying they're different. Former member Killed by Death commented that he liked these just as much as Nordstrands for different uses.

Thanks, good to know! Some of the clips I've seen today are really nice sounding. The only reason I'm inquiring about the SR405 model in general, is that I'm coming around to the realization that I might actually prefer my SR705 (Mahogany/Maple top) over the newer SR1345B that I recently purchased. Even though I have Big Singles in both, the SR705 has better note definition and clarity and seems more punchy. The SR705 just seems more interesting/complex/harmonically richer to listen to across the tonal spectrum if that makes sense. I can only assume it's the Maple top? The 1345B sounds fantastic, but I have a gig coming up this weekend and decided to put new strings on both to use as a main & backup for the gig. This is the first time they've both sported brand new strings (of the same kind) and I was struck by the extra clarity of the SR705 against the SR1345B.

I noticed that the SR405 has the same Mahogany body/Maple top construction as the SR705, and it's got the gears turning wondering if it might be worth getting one and seeing if it also has the same qualities as my SR705.

 

[Robert Mossack]

I'm getting my SR405EQM out of layaway next week, I'll be posting pics to celebrate the occasion when I do.

 

[Robert Mossack]

NBD! SR405EQM in Surreal Blue Burst

 

[Oliver Stein]

I have a question about my SR1345: today I opened up the electronics compartment and made these pictures of the preamp:

This first picture shows that there are two INPUT contacts - the right labeled 0dB and the left +6dB. The jack in my bass was inserted into the right one 0dB. Changing the Inputs did not made any difference... My initial thought was, that the outsignal should be different by 6dB when changing the connector, but there was no difference between the two.

This second picture shows the output connectors (middle connector removed to make the labeling readable): it schows two outputs VM3 Out and BEQ3 Out. My bass was connected at the lower VM3 OUT, but switching to the other connector didn't change anything.

Can anyone give me some insight how this options are meant to work?

To give you the full picture, I attached two recordings of the bass:

Active-Passive_Comparison_Ibanez-SR1345.mp3
This first file compares the signal from my bass from active to passive - all controls at noon in active mode, in passive mode tone blend fully open. Beside the huge difference in sound there's also a huge level difference between both modes.

Active-Passive_Comparison_level-matched_Ibanez-SR1345.mp3
Even in this level-matched comparison (active first, then passive) the sound difference is more than obvious.

My question to all SR owner with the latest electronics (3 frequency switchable mids): is this similiar to your basses? Or do I have a banana?

Edit: I found another thread about this preamp (The mysteriously unreferenced current model Ibanez 3EMP3LD EQ) and according to this information directly from ibanez my bass was wrongly setup as the output was connected to the VM3 Out connector but should be connected to the BQ3 connector. And after I switched it to this connector the output in active mode is much less muddy. But the level difference stayed the same as in my examples.

 

[stingray69]

I have a question about my SR1345: today I opened up the electronics compartment and made these pictures of the preamp:
View attachment 4864722
This first picture shows that there are two INPUT contacts - the right labeled 0dB and the left +6dB. The jack in my bass was inserted into the right one 0dB. Changing the Inputs did not made any difference... My initial thought was, that the outsignal should be different by 6dB when changing the connector, but there was no difference between the two.


View attachment 4864723This second picture shows the output connectors (middle connector removed to make the labeling readable): it schows two outputs VM3 Out and BEQ3 Out. My bass was connected at the lower VM3 OUT, but switching to the other connector didn't change anything.

Can anyone give me some insight how this options are meant to work?

To give you the full picture, I attached two recordings of the bass:

Active-Passive_Comparison_Ibanez-SR1345.mp3
This first file compares the signal from my bass from active to passive - all controls at noon in active mode, in passive mode tone blend fully open. Beside the huge difference in sound there's also a huge level difference between both modes.

Active-Passive_Comparison_level-matched_Ibanez-SR1345.mp3
Even in this level-matched comparison (active first, then passive) the sound difference is more than obvious.

My question to all SR owner with the latest electronics (3 frequency switchable mids): is this similiar to your basses? Or do I have a banana?

Edit: I found another thread about this preamp (The mysteriously unreferenced current model Ibanez 3EMP3LD EQ) and according to this information directly from ibanez my bass was wrongly setup as the output was connected to the VM3 Out connector but should be connected to the BQ3 connector. And after I switched it to this connector the output in active mode is much less muddy. But the level difference stayed the same as in my examples.

FWIW, my SR1345 is connected exactly as your was stock (0db and VM3 out).

 

[Oliver Stein]

FWIW, my SR1345 is connected exactly as your was stock (0db and VM3 out).

This is interesting! According to the wiring scheme from Ibanez it should be the BQ3 Output. The BQ3 sounds much better to my ears, I'll document that later here. And I can follow the logic that VM stands for Vari-Mid which our SR don't have. Does anyone have a good explanation for BQ3? 3 Band us obvious, but BQ?

 

[Zooberwerx]

Not sure if this helps but stumbled upon this blurb by accident:

"Ibanez bass tone lifehack

If you have a relatively new active Ibanez bass (roughly 2014 and later) it is worth checking if your onboard preamp supports some tricks described below. As I have just found most of Ibanez basses use the same preamp 3EMP3LD, which has two inputs (+0DB and +6DB, the second one makes your bass louder) and two output voicings ("BEQ3" and "VM3"). You can easily switch your voicing by connecting the output connector between the two sockets.

The BEQ3 voicing is the emulation of the infamous old SR505'ish Bartolini MK1 preamp. The VM3 voicing is a neutral channel, it is used on the most expensive Ibanez basses.

All your controls will continue to function"

Riis

 

[stingray69]

This is interesting! According to the wiring scheme from Ibanez it should be the BQ3 Output. The BQ3 sounds much better to my ears, I'll document that later here. And I can follow the logic that VM stands for Vari-Mid which our SR don't have. Does anyone have a good explanation for BQ3? 3 Band us obvious, but BQ?

Not sure if this helps but stumbled upon this blurb by accident:

"Ibanez bass tone lifehack

If you have a relatively new active Ibanez bass (roughly 2014 and later) it is worth checking if your onboard preamp supports some tricks described below. As I have just found most of Ibanez basses use the same preamp 3EMP3LD, which has two inputs (+0DB and +6DB, the second one makes your bass louder) and two output voicings ("BEQ3" and "VM3"). You can easily switch your voicing by connecting the output connector between the two sockets.

The BEQ3 voicing is the emulation of the infamous old SR505'ish Bartolini MK1 preamp. The VM3 voicing is a neutral channel, it is used on the most expensive Ibanez basses.

All your controls will continue to function"

Riis

Interesting - I like the voicing/tone of my SR1345 as it is, but this is easy enough to test out myself.

I could see something like this also proving very handy for someone who switched out the stock pickups and didn't like the way they sounded with the preamp - they could try out the other BEQ3 voicing and see if it agrees better with their new pickups. Very cool.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Interesting - I like the voicing/tone of my SR1345 as it is, but this is easy enough to test out myself.

I could see something like this also proving very handy for someone who switched out the stock pickups and didn't like the way they sounded with the preamp - they could try out the other BEQ3 voicing and see if it agrees better with their new pickups. Very cool.

Looking forward to the results. This makes perfect sense in terms of production: manufacture a single preamp that will accommodate multiple control configurations.

Riis

 

[ardgedee]

Looking forward to the results. This makes perfect sense in terms of production: manufacture a single preamp that will accommodate multiple control configurations.

Found this old Reverb listing for a 3EMP3LD that includes diagrams for four different configurations. (Technically five, but two of them seem to be identical plus/minus a bypass switch.) Looks like it might be possible to go absolutely nuts with tone options if anybody wanted to try.

 

[Oliver Stein]

The BEQ3 voicing is the emulation of the infamous old SR505'ish Bartolini MK1 preamp. The VM3 voicing is a neutral channel, it is used on the most expensive Ibanez basses.

If I compare the two voicings to the passive sound the VM3 is farest away from neutral and the BQ3 is nearer, but not neutral either. See my sample below...

Interesting - I like the voicing/tone of my SR1345 as it is, but this is easy enough to test out myself.

I'd love to hear the different results from your bass - all neutral, PU middle, VM3, BQ3 and passive with open tone blend.

Looking forward to the results.

I compiled this small audio file with the results of my tests: What you hear is the SR1345 with D'addario XL Nickel Wounds - first Active VM3 Output, then Active BQ3 Output, the Passive Tone Blend fully open. All EQs at noon (neutral) in active modes, PU 50/50. All segments are level-adjusted to allow them to be compered.
Active-VM3_Active-BQ3_Passive-Comparison_Ibanez-SR1345.mp3

What I don't really get is why both active modes seam to steal so much top end from the signal - they are both far away from being neutral. Maybe I can manage somehow to make a measurement of the voicing by feeding a sweep into the preamp and recording the output.

 

[Ach]

Not sure if this helps but stumbled upon this blurb by accident:

"Ibanez bass tone lifehack

If you have a relatively new active Ibanez bass (roughly 2014 and later) it is worth checking if your onboard preamp supports some tricks described below. As I have just found most of Ibanez basses use the same preamp 3EMP3LD, which has two inputs (+0DB and +6DB, the second one makes your bass louder) and two output voicings ("BEQ3" and "VM3"). You can easily switch your voicing by connecting the output connector between the two sockets.

The BEQ3 voicing is the emulation of the infamous old SR505'ish Bartolini MK1 preamp. The VM3 voicing is a neutral channel, it is used on the most expensive Ibanez basses.

All your controls will continue to function"

Riis

I bet this was written by me some time ago. I have realised since then, that the VM3 mode is designed to be used with Variable Mid control module, while the BEQ3 mode is designed to be used when the bass has fixed (or switched equipped) mid control preamp.