Thinking about buying a new bass..

yevveh

I turn 21 in a week and a half and I'm looking at the Ibanez SR1000 / 1005 (http://ibanez.com/bass/guitar.aspx?m=SR1005EWN). I currently own an Ibanez SRX700. I'm wondering if anybody has anything to say about this bass in particular, as it's a high-end model and I don't think anywhere in Dublin stocks it, so I'd have to gamble on ordering it from Thomann more than likely.

I like my sound a lot so that's why I don't want to stray from Ibanez, but I'm looking for a model with even better playability and I reckon a neck-through model might do the trick. I've heard good things about Bartolini pickups, though I have no idea about them. By the way, my SRX700 is an older model (3 years I believe) and it's not neck through like the new SRX700 seems to be (http://ibanez.com/bass/guitar.aspx?m=SRX700). Aside from that they're pretty much the same.

Cheers!

It wasn't me!

I played a 905 in Musician Inc a year or two ago, gorgeous bass, left me planning to save for one. Hard to go wrong with a high-end Ibanez, in my opinion.

yevveh

Aye, SR905 looks like a piece of work, but what with custom pickups and individual string bridges the 1005 should be even more impressive. I'm just seeing if anyone has played any of the Prestige basses, I pretty much have my heart set on ordering it by now.

Doctor J

I have a SR3006, the 6 string version of the range the 1005/1006 replaced. It's a great bass, really can't say enough about the build quality. I thought the Bartolini pickups were ****e, however, and had them replaced which made an absolutely huge positive difference. Other than that, the preamp, the fretwork, everything else about it is top drawer, no question.



This one is MIJ, the newer ones are Korean, I think. It shouldn't make a difference really, but it's worth bearing in mind. Just don't buy it in Ireland. I saved about a grand on the prices quoted by the shops here and bought it from the states, the prices I was quoted here were ****ing disgraceful (and in order for them to get one in for me to try, I'd have to buy it first anyway :rolleyes: )

It wasn't me!

If it's Ibanez and says Prestige on the headstock, odds are you're getting a fairly rockin' instrument.

yevveh

Doc, I figured I'd get a very helpful answer from you. the price I'm being quoted by both Music Tech and Thomann is €1255 (incl. hard case, and I assume including delivery for the former), so I doubt I'll be saving a grand on that! How did you decide which pickups to replace the Bartolinis with? I'll have to try them first to see what I think. On a side note, I much prefer the inlays on your bass than the one on the current 1005.

You're right about the newer Prestige models being made in Korea. So long as they're the same standard, I'm not bothered.. I bloody well hope so anyway.

Cheers dude, and I must say, your bass is a beaut!

Doctor J

Cheers

I tried to live with the Barts for a few months but in the end they had to go. I just found them too clean, too polite and they didn't really pick up the low B too well. They're not a standard size either so I had to get a custom set made to replace them. I went with Christopf from www.bassculture.de, talked to him about the sound I was looking for and he suggested a set of stacked humbuckers which pretty much nailed it and they weren't too pricey either.

Other than that, the only thing I'd change is the string spacing, which is a bit narrow for really digging in with the oul fingers, 16.5mm, but since you're playing an SR already you're probably well used to that by now I like the new one, I must say, and I like the lineage, how they continually tweak the range every few years. I've no doubt you'll get years of enjoyment out of it.

yevveh

It seems Ibanez are going for that kind of clean sound rather than a really dirty sound, which is fine by me. I'd prefer to get a clean bass sound and dirty it up with an amp - at least this way, you can get a perfectly clean sound when you want. But given that I love a bit of filth, is there any way I could hear the sound of your bass if I wanted to switch the pickups in future, just to get an idea!

Yeah, I've been playing an SRX for 4 years, I'm well used to it in fact I prefer it to when the strings are too far apart - I guess the spacing will be lesser on the 5 string though, it'll take me a while to get used to it I'm sure. Can't find anything on string spacing on the Ibanez site, are you looking at the catalog?

Hitch-Hiker

What's your price range?

Doctor J

yevveh wrote:

I guess the spacing will be lesser on the 5 string though, it'll take me a while to get used to it I'm sure. Can't find anything on string spacing on the Ibanez site, are you looking at the catalog?

No, just going on the SR3005, which was 16.5 too. The SRs have skinny spacing the BTB have Fender sized spacing.

Regarding the pickups, it's not that they were clean that annoyed me, they just sounded castrated. The new ones have a much fuller sound, they sound like a real bass and can do clean superbly. The Barts were just... sterile... soulless, it's not about filth and grind, just a bit of meat, ya know?

yevveh

Hitch-Hiker wrote:

What's your price range?

I was more looking for a high quality bass that had the right sound for me. Plus, I'm very used to the SRX's playing, which is why I wanted to stick within that range, as I want a bass with high playability. If you have any suggestions under €1500 I'll be interested to hear your comments, though it'll take a lot to sway me from an Ibanez bass. I'm planning on ordering it pretty soon too.

Doc, course I get ya. Though I can't imagine custom Bartolinis, coming from a company specialising in pickups, to be any worse than the standard Ibanez-made humbuckers on my SRX700. Not that I think they're bad pickups, but I must admit my ignorance - I just found a sound that was good for me and stuck with it! As I mentioned before, I'd like to hear how your bass sounds, just to compare

Hitch-Hiker

yevveh wrote:

I was more looking for a high quality bass that had the right sound for me. Plus, I'm very used to the SRX's playing, which is why I wanted to stick within that range, as I want a bass with high playability. If you have any suggestions under €1500 I'll be interested to hear your comments, though it'll take a lot to sway me from an Ibanez bass. I'm planning on ordering it pretty soon too.

Well, personally I'm a big fan of the Fender Jazz, although it doesn't sound like the kind of thing you're going for. Sure you know yourself what you like and what kind of sound you want.
I don't know enough about Ibanez to give any proper advice. I was never a big fan of the look tbh.

yevveh

Hitch-Hiker wrote:

Well, personally I'm a big fan of the Fender Jazz, although it doesn't sound like the kind of thing you're going for. Sure you know yourself what you like and what kind of sound you want.
I don't know enough about Ibanez to give any proper advice. I was never a big fan of the look tbh.

I love the Fender J's too but the lack of a second full octave irritated me. I just found out some models have the second octave, which is handy. It's got a great sound though, I might look at getting one in the future as a backup / alternate bass. Cheers anyway!