Do you have the older sr500 with the stock ibanez pickups? The newer barts and preamps are pretty wicked...
What Bass Should I Buy?
- Thread starter MatrixClaw
- Start date
Spectivum
DisMember
I have a similar concern as the OP. I tried a SR505 and the sound was very smooth - which I like for technical death metal to compliment the guitars, just afraid of mixing stage problems of too much low end concentration.
- I could get the 505 and hope it fits in the mix
- SR505 has a version with maple fingerboard (vs rosewood), would that have a better balance?
- I could get a different SR series that has different wood and upgrade the pickups
any suggestion on that?
P.S the reason for the SR Ibanez is the neck. just love it, it is the easiest bass neck to play as a guitarist. Has anyone tried to get a luthier change the neck profile yet? it could be an option to get a random good sounding bass and change the neck profile to have the playability...
- I could get the 505 and hope it fits in the mix
- SR505 has a version with maple fingerboard (vs rosewood), would that have a better balance?
- I could get a different SR series that has different wood and upgrade the pickups
any suggestion on that?
P.S the reason for the SR Ibanez is the neck. just love it, it is the easiest bass neck to play as a guitarist. Has anyone tried to get a luthier change the neck profile yet? it could be an option to get a random good sounding bass and change the neck profile to have the playability...
Have you tried a BTB 5? I really like the neck on the 4 string SRs, but the 5 string BTB puts the 5 string SR neck to shame IMO
Spectivum
DisMember
didn't have a chance, but string spacing is narrower on the SR which I prefer that's why I was looking at that.
MarcusGHedwig
Member
second hand Spector Rebop could be had for about double your price range. I bought one recently and I freaking love this bass. It's the exact opposite of a j bass sound though, no mids or even mid controls to speak of, passive emgs with a killer built in pre and eq called the "tone pump". It sounds HUGE.
Don't buy another bass just because it looks cool.... I own so many half decent instruments that I don't need or really use very often. I wish I had been sensible and just bought one amazing bass, one amazing acoustic, one amazing condenser etc
Don't buy another bass just because it looks cool.... I own so many half decent instruments that I don't need or really use very often. I wish I had been sensible and just bought one amazing bass, one amazing acoustic, one amazing condenser etc
There's a ReBop 5 on TalkBass for a pretty decent price that I've been eyeing. Waiting to see if he relists at a lower price.
I'm willing to go up to ~$800 now, as long as it's really worth it - So far, the basses I'm seeing in my price range that seem interesting are:
- Peavey USA Millennium J/J & J/MM
- Warwick Corvette Standard 4 (Not sure on this one, because there's one that just sold in the classified section of TB and the guy said he was selling it because it's too "polite," sounds like the SR I'm already using... I've always heard these Warwicks had a lot of growl though...? Maybe a double-buck, instead? )
- Warwick Thumb Bolt 4 (I actually had the 5 string version for a while and reallllllly liked the neck, but I don't really remember what it sounded like)
- Spector Euro (if I can find one cheap enough, otherwise, maybe a ReBop, but the EMG HZs scare me, cause if they're anything like the guitar version... do not want
) - Ibanez SR1500 Prestige
- Ibanez SR1005 Prestige (Bartolini pickups might be too smooth for what I'm going for... but it looks way more hawt than the 1500
- G&L L-2000
Only thing I'm really concerned with about buying a 5 string, is that it might detract bands who play 6 string guitars from using it... I'd certainly like to have the extra versatility of the 5, but I also don't want people refusing to play it, because it has one more string than they're used to (eventhough they could just not use the top string...). What do you guys think? :\
egan.
daylightdies.com
TBH I'm confused about what you're after. If you love the jazz sound then buy a jazz. Going from the SR neck to warwick or spector is going to be a rude awakening (they both use thick necks) but between those I'd go spector as they are generally more aggressive sounding. With other Ibanez basses, make sure you aren't getting another mahogony/bart bass or you're going to end up right back here is a month. Ultimately TB is a great place to buy but if you don't know exactly what you want it makes more sense to get out and play some stuff.
Josh Burgess
Member
I disagree. I own an SR5006 (6 string), and it's a pretty incredible bass.
Eyal Levi over at Audio Hammer just bought one recently, and is using it on the new Last Chance To Reason album he is producing/mixing.
Sure, it's probably more naturally suited to smooth, jazz-influenced sounds than clanky metal sounds, but it's pretty versatile. I think it's an all-around great bass and plays very well. I had a Spector Euro 5 string before that, and it sounded pretty cool, but it didn't play anywhere near as well as the Ibanez...
egan.
daylightdies.com
Have you read the whole thread Josh? He says he has an Ibanez SR with the mahogany bart combo and it's too smooth. Great bass or not, the similar wood and pup combos from the same manufacturer are probably going to end in similar tones. I'm not saying "this will sound bad." I'm saying "this will sound like the thing you are trying to replace."
Josh Burgess
Member
Ah, no, I didn't. sorry... but I guess I just don't really see brightness being an issue. If you really want that clanky distorted metal sound, you'd use stainless steel strings, and the stainless steel strings I've used (DR and D'Addario) are extremely bright. I have a hard time imagining a bass with active EQ and stainless steels not being able to get trebly enough. The spector I had was overall far too bright for my tastes when using stainless steels... You didn't have to approach anywhere near the upper limits of the treble controls on the EQ to get that bright clank. I've actually gone back to using regular nickel D'Addarios for bass, but I like more of a balanced kind of sound... not too smooth/warm or too thin/bright...
Matt-Steele
Member
I totally agree with your disagreement.
The wood and pickups are what make the bass period. I'm a guitar player that happens to play bass for recording when necessary and I've owned a handful of basses in my life. What I can tell you is that the wood type makes all the difference in sound. I'm in love with my current 5 string bass and the body is made of ash. Obviously new strings are important, duh! but new strings won't magically make a bad sounding bass better than a great sounding bass with new strings. Does that make sense? :/
MarcusGHedwig
Member
egan.
daylightdies.com
Yeah, I like my ash basses. I have a solid maple in the works now too. I like my old mahogany bass too it's just a much darker tone than the ash/alder/basswood basses I own.
So... I went to Guitar Center today, cause I noticed they had some of the basses I was looking at in their used inventory. I tried:
Warwick Corvette 5
Fender MIA & MIM Jazz
Fender MIA P-Bass
Ibanez SR500 (for reference)
Ibanez BTB505
Ibanez BTB 705 (I think?)
Spector MK5
Carvin LB20F
Peavey USA Axcelerator
Sterling Stingray 34
Squier VM Jazz
and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head.
Surprisingly, I really liked the Ibanez SR through the amp I was playing (Mesa M9 Carbine & matching 4x10, with all knobs set to middle, so I could discern the difference in tone between all of the basses), it had the attack I wanted, but not the note definition if you're letting one note ring out while playing another after (typical metalcore string skipping riffs). I liked the Jazz basses, but there wasn't a huge variation in tone between the models, the MIA felt better, but not $700 better than the Squier. I really liked the beefier neck of the Warwick, but it had a lot of low-end and note definition on the "skipping strings" test was disappointing. It DID have a growl in the low mids, but I liked the clanky upper mid tone from the SR and Jazz. The Spector was similar to the Warwick, but a bit more balanced in the lows. I didn't really like the neck. Stingray was definitely the most unique sound - Not at all what I remember from them. GIGANTIC lows with a good bit of top end clank. It didn't seem to be particularly present in the mids, though. I really dug this one, but it was so different than the others that I'm not sure if I could make it work nicely in a mix or not.
Interestingly enough, the Peavey, one of the cheapest basses I tried, was BY FAR the clearest, and it had just enough clank. Really, REALLY dug this one. I had to keep myself from buying it on the spot, actually.
I tried the Carvin, just for the hell of it, cause I thought playing a fretless would be weird, but holy hell, that was the easiest playing stringed instrument I've ever touched in my life. Obviously it didn't have the clank (no frets) and the note definition wasn't as good as the Peavey... But I liked it so much, that I think I have to have one now
So... After today, it looks like I'll be buying BOTH an Axcelerator and the LB20F. Gonna look around for better prices before I commit to the ones at GC, but those two basses definitely sold me... And I can buy both for less than I was looking to spend on the higher end models
Warwick Corvette 5
Fender MIA & MIM Jazz
Fender MIA P-Bass
Ibanez SR500 (for reference)
Ibanez BTB505
Ibanez BTB 705 (I think?)
Spector MK5
Carvin LB20F
Peavey USA Axcelerator
Sterling Stingray 34
Squier VM Jazz
and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head.
Surprisingly, I really liked the Ibanez SR through the amp I was playing (Mesa M9 Carbine & matching 4x10, with all knobs set to middle, so I could discern the difference in tone between all of the basses), it had the attack I wanted, but not the note definition if you're letting one note ring out while playing another after (typical metalcore string skipping riffs). I liked the Jazz basses, but there wasn't a huge variation in tone between the models, the MIA felt better, but not $700 better than the Squier. I really liked the beefier neck of the Warwick, but it had a lot of low-end and note definition on the "skipping strings" test was disappointing. It DID have a growl in the low mids, but I liked the clanky upper mid tone from the SR and Jazz. The Spector was similar to the Warwick, but a bit more balanced in the lows. I didn't really like the neck. Stingray was definitely the most unique sound - Not at all what I remember from them. GIGANTIC lows with a good bit of top end clank. It didn't seem to be particularly present in the mids, though. I really dug this one, but it was so different than the others that I'm not sure if I could make it work nicely in a mix or not.
Interestingly enough, the Peavey, one of the cheapest basses I tried, was BY FAR the clearest, and it had just enough clank. Really, REALLY dug this one. I had to keep myself from buying it on the spot, actually.
I tried the Carvin, just for the hell of it, cause I thought playing a fretless would be weird, but holy hell, that was the easiest playing stringed instrument I've ever touched in my life. Obviously it didn't have the clank (no frets) and the note definition wasn't as good as the Peavey... But I liked it so much, that I think I have to have one now
So... After today, it looks like I'll be buying BOTH an Axcelerator and the LB20F. Gonna look around for better prices before I commit to the ones at GC, but those two basses definitely sold me... And I can buy both for less than I was looking to spend on the higher end models
Trevoire520
Member
A band at one of my gigs this weekend had an absolutely awesome clanky metal bass tone. No pedals just straight into a £8 DI box from Thomann (he also had a valve Ampeg stack behind him but I'm talking about the signal I was getting through the desk)
Squier Vintage Modified Jazz. Again. Every time I deal with a bass player that has one of these it sounds awesome. Gotta get me one!
Squier Vintage Modified Jazz. Again. Every time I deal with a bass player that has one of these it sounds awesome. Gotta get me one!
