Found a 360 animation of Sting's 54' precision and grabbed some pics. On the back of the bass the finish is almost completely worn away. I wonder just how much maintenance an old bass like this really needs given he plays it constantly.
If i was a newbie with no posts asking £11k for a bass, i would at least introduce myself, state my location and upload some razor sharp high-res images of the instrument.
I bought this guitar size gigbag for my short scale Ibanez Mikro. Excellent quality. More a soft case than just a gigbag. The pics dont do it justice. Its actually black with brown. Looks black + pink on website.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_premium_gigbag_eguitar_br.htm?ref=search_rslt_Guitar+gigbag_243805_7
I was offered a lefty one for £2500 by a local music store which was closing down some years back. I declined to try it because I knew I would want it if I played it. I later found out it eventually sold for £1750.
Had a bolt-on 4 string.
Loved - the small size body, the lovely woods, the thin fast-playing neck, the passive/ active electronics.
Hated - the neck dive, the ridiculous stretch needed to play those low notes, the angled bridge pickup.
Down to only two for now although if an original lefty Steinberger should present itself it may become a three-way. On the left, Alvarez mini travel electro-acoustic, and an Ibanez Mikro. Both short scale, compact bodies.
Interesting.
I read somewhere that the noise is because the wrong resistors have been fitted to these basses but It didn't explain why and what a remedy would be. I have managed to get a great action with almost perfect intonation on my bass so really happy with that aspect. My E is tight with maybe the harmonics my only grump.
I have looked at an active EMG PJ set as someone also wrote that you tend to get less noise issues with an active bass. No idea about this either. Considering that a good set of pups will cost almost as much as the bass itself I didn't want to buy ones which need major mods.
I shielded the cavity and replaced the plastic knobs with black anodised ones. The lightweight and size is great. The neck is quite flat and wide even though it is short scale with good access. I still have the strings on it that it came with. Will need to borrow a micrometer to determine what gauge they are although its possible it won't be standard. I did contact Ibanez on their website but never got a response.
I like my Ibanez Mikro bass so much it has become my main bass and so I'm keen to make it sound as good as it possibly can. I think the PJ setup works really well with a good range of tones available but its either an issue of wrong pots or dodgy pups as there are some noise/hum problems and also bleeding between pups and tone etc. If this can be fixed by changing the pots alone I would be happy to know but otherwise I'm wondering if anyone knows if any brands will be a direct replacement fit for the existing pups?