Tin, Tin, Tin

[SRX Benny]

So I recently came across the Ibanez SR300E, thinking the PowerTap feature was pretty cool and for 350 was a great deal for the amount of electronics packed into the thing. I bought it at GC where I played for about 30 minutes, loved the fast neck, asked if there were different colors and brought it home. At home I realized that the bass was extremely tinny, giving off a metallic timbre when playing. Not a bad thing for funk and slaps, but playing Black Sabbath sounds a whole nicer with the extra tin.
Is the tinny sound just a new bass thing, and will fade over time?
Am I an idiot for buying an Ibby Bass?
Does anybody else have this problem?

 

[IronLung1986]

Reminds me of this classic...



OP do you like the tin? You're saying Black Sabbath sounds nicer with added tin. It is metal after all. The tin will fade as the strings age. Then it will come back with new strings.

 

[Sid the Kid]

Probably just the strings. If they feel really slick they are Elixirs and that's just what they sound like. I'm not 100% sure they come stock on that model but I know they were stock on mine.

 

[CORBS]

Here is what I would check:
The active preamp (boost or cut knobs) - replace the 9v battery with a newer, known good one.
Pan the pickup selector knob to see if it's just one of the two pickups that's doing it.
Check whatever you're running the bass through to make sure it is not causing it.
Compare the treble preamp function to the amp's preamp function by cutting and boosting treble one with the other at default volume.

 

[elgranluis]

I am curious about the rig at gc vs your rig. Playing the bass for half an hour, then upon arrivibg home , finding out that the tone is drastically different, points me towards the amp , not the bass

 

[SRX Benny]

Thanks for the responses.
The tinny sound is awful to me, and by "nicer" on Black Sabbath stuff I meant that it's not as mean as it should sound.
The strings would probably be the cause.
The amp I used at GC was the 15" Ampeg, I use the Rumble 50 at home and I've played other basses through it, so I don't think it's the amp.
Treble cut may also do it. In fact, I'll go check right now.
Thanks guys.

 

[CORBS]

Really old or really poor quality strings can sound bad, but usually that's not the worst part of the problem. More often if a string is of poor quality or old it will sound duller. If there's an annoying area of the tone it's almost always from the electronics side. I can't find info on a Rumble 50 anywhere but if it's a smaller amp (like the Rumble 40, a 1x10), you should expect less low end, which may have balanced out the sound at GC and made the high end less noticable. If you try headphones (decent ones) and still get the tin, it could be the speaker(s). If you're going line out into something else, this can sometimes bypass the preamp section of your amp.