barry44

mark, that fretboard looks luvverly, will need to see this in the flesh, if i can ever get allowed out again!!!!

me at the glasgow barrowland 2 a couple of weeks ago. [attachment=12658:DSC00068.JPG] it was on a camera phone, so apologies for the quality....

right.... i took the K5 to the studio yesterday and had a fiddle around with various things and i feel that i am on the right track to getting a good sound out of it. first of all i set all the amp bass, mids and treble knobs to centre and found a sound i liked using the pre amp. Once this was done i boosted all of the knobs to centre, to get a general boost on the sound. I was still losing mids and was getting rather overwhelmed with the pre amp. eventually, i rolled of the gain on the amp, i usually drive the gain quite hard, and then it all became clear. My mids were a lot more responsive and the guitar was starting to cut through. the ACG preamp controls on the filters are boost all the way with a centre indent for reference, i was using them as a cut/boost control, so i was boosting everything to max which when used with my sansamp was causing feedback from the treble, not surprising as i had walloped +18dB onto the treble. so after about 2.5 hours of messing around, i started to get a sound i liked. next time, i shall start at zero on the boosts and have a tinker around there as i was obviously missing a lot of different sounds by using them as a cut/boost control. the pre amp shall take a bit of getting used to, but i am very happy with my decision to put this in. i shall keep you all posted.

I have an SD SPB-1 for sale if you are interested. See here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=23738&hl=SPB-1"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=23738&hl=SPB-1[/url] cheers y'all...

i will see what i can do. my mate does all the recording for the band, i will speak to him once i figure the pre amp out!!! thanks again for all your advice and encouragement on this, i have learned a lot about my bass and also what sounds i like

got my acg preamp today and have fitted it in the K5. first impressions is that i now have the bass i wanted, the range of sounds out of this pre amp is overwhelming.... i can honestly say that the difference is night and day. going into the studio tomorrow, i hope i won't need my SRX.....

don't have the facility to record i'm afraid

[quote name='lowhand_mike' date='Aug 19 2008, 03:01 PM' post='265568'] whats that then? nice, the playability of the SR's is really nice and i like the look of the feldy one, and getting the green light to mod is a nice touch and should give you a sweet bass. are you changing the pickups too? [/quote i'm going to leave the pups as they are at the moment, should hopefully not need to alter them. if i need to i assume that the barts on the sr should drop right in?? i am really looking forward to getting the pre amp in as i don't want to give up on the feel and playability of this bass

mark that down as two in scotland!! just ordered one for my ibanez K5 as the pre amp in it seemed to cut more than boost, especially around the higher mids. sounds like this will be just the ticket.

definitely going towards the new pre amp route, the sound samples sound really good( based on the EQ1 system). have had clearance from the missus to get one..... will keep you all posted.

the ACG preamp looks rather interesting, does anyone have experience of this? however, before i get too carried away with this, the bass was a swap to try out five strings and i am about to be a father for the second time next friday, so it might be best for me to swap or sell this on!!! i have mucked around with the sansamp following advice and might get a better sound from it in the studio on sunday..... will keep you all posted, once again thanks very much for all your advice.

i think the treble is just a small boost. i had it through the sansamp with a lot of drive, when i boosted the treble i heard a fair amount of hiss, so i guess it must be boosting. if the treble is such a small boost, which does tie in with the freq charts i attached on the other page, would you think i would be better replacing the pre amp with the equivalent from the SR series? from the response curves, the SR pre amp appears to boost everything a whole lot more than the K5. the K5 does appear to only have decent boost in the low and lowmids, with very little towards the highs. Damn you Fieldy!!!! would i be able to buy an SR preamp? all i can see from the ibanez site is the vari mid for the SR but passive only where the K5 is an active set, or does this actually matter as i thought all pups were passive?

mike, you're an absolute gent.

had a muck around with it, got it sounding again!!! i think the treble control may be goosed, i do not notice the same boost cut as when i move the bass control. either that or it is very subtle and i miss it!! boosting the upper mids as directed by the chart also makes a very subtle difference, where the lower mids are very pronounced??? can anyone suggest anything? i will need to get it into the local shop for them to have a once over. will keep you all posted. cheers, barry

cheers noisedude, will try that next week, roll on sunday. going to mess with it in the house between times

guys, i have been doing some research on the vari mid control on the K5 and also where frequencies sit in the mix. from my problems i think i need to boost the high mids, going towards the treble ranges along with the treble control. i understand that the upper mids are generally between the 600Hz - 3 KHz range, which can be easily found on the varimid control as this tops out at 5KHz. therefore by boosting this, i should be able to cut through the mix better? i have downloaded the ibanez catalogue and attach the freq response curves for anyone who can help translate this for me. my understanding is that the K5 mid fully boosted at 5KHz provides a 5dB boost, which from the attached, appears to be exactly the same boost as the treble control provides???? Can anyone decipher these curves for me to help me understand? i am actually enjoying these problems as it is helping me understand my bass a lot better. cheers, Barry

i had the k5 in the studio yesterday and made some progress on the sound. i think the amp may have something to do with the sound but i am not 100% sure. i unpadded the -15db and got closer to the sound i wanted but i still could not get the A, D & G cutting through the mix even with the treble boosted. i played it through the sansamp, via the effects return of the amp, and got a little better but still the same problem with the higher notes, my bandmates said it sounded muddy, i don't disagree. i swapped over to my SRX700 and on the same settings it pwned the mix!!! i could hear everything across all the strings, perfection. i have a new set of elixirs coming for the K5, so next sunday looks to be last chance saloon. i am gutted that i cannot get on with this as it really is such a dream to play and i feel that the problems are with me not the bass!!!

[quote name='geilerbass' post='260123' date='Aug 11 2008, 04:48 PM']Barry44 - does your K5 have a Wenge/Bubinga neck? That's what the new K5 model is missing...[/quote] yeah,mine is the older version. the neck on it is fantastic, it plays so well and feels great. i really like this bass, i just need to sort out it's sound..... and i fully agree with the post above re the SRX700, that is pretty much my dream bass, had a gig on saturday and it never lets me down....

my sig says it all. loving the ibbys, here is some porn!!

it is the Padauk/Mahogany sandwich and is the most luvverly bass i own, which makes this problem all the worse!! yeah the new one is solid mahogany with a black stain and a maple/walnut neck, i much prefer the one i have, tis gorgeous!!

thanks guys for all your posts. i have got it sounding sweet in the house via a small practise amp. i haven't been using my sansamp recently in the studio as they have bought in some nice ampeg heads and cabs. however one room is smaller and therefore has a smaller head and cab, this is the room where i lose the bass. i think by bringing this back into use may give me the sound i am looking for with the rest of the band, i hope..... i hope that this does work as i am really enjoying playing this bass, i find the neck plays like a dream, giving that it is unfinished. it is so good, i am considering sanding down my other necks to the wood.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='255307' date='Aug 5 2008, 12:41 PM']Whilst I haven't played a K5, I have owned an Ergodyne EDB600 (with fixed mid freq 3 band eq), and played a BTB with a vari-mid 3 band EQ. I managed to wring some excellent sounds from the Ergodyne before I accidentally broke the body, and that was with a fixed Frequency mid. The BTB only improved on the experience for me. In no time at all, I managed to dial in a tone which I liked, and had people in the shop commenting positively on the sound (rather than the playing!?) To set variable mids (for me, and I like the bass to "sing" in the upper-mid registers) ,I centre all the controls (vol at max-ish), and crank the mid level right up, and work gently thorugh the frequency range from bottom to top. I then adjust the mid-level down to taste and tinker with the bass and treble to suit my taste. I then use the pick-up pan to voice the bass to suit me (often 60/40 bridge/neck) and away I go. Amp stays FLAT and with all gubbins like copressors, pre-shapes etc. OFF, so I can hear what the bass is doing without too much contribution from the amp. I reckon the K5 is oft overlooked because of its "metal" image. Given that the vari-mid eq isn't just tailored to give a massive mid-cut like Fieldy's, it should prove fine. The K5 has a nice body wood, and if Ibanez have stuck to their normal neck profile, it should prove eminently playable. My only concerns? Weight (not often an Ibanez issue!) Mid-voicing of the EQ. As ever... Try before you buy. If you can![/quote] thanks for the reply. i think i need to have a play about with the mid control as you describe and see where i go from there. my problem is that the A, D & G strings really do not seem to be outputting as much as the B & E. when the rest of the band are playing, i cannot hear myself on these strings. the settings i use on the mid control, which sound great by myself, is the frequency, fully anti clock wise with boost on the level. i wonder if i am boosting the lows, which is providing the B & E string to sound louder whilst cutting the mid and treble thus cutting the A, D & G. however if such a concept defys the laws of physics then i welcome any advice. the worst thing is that all reviews you read on the bass, if you get by the usual slating of fieldy, give high marks on the many tones from the bass so i reckon i must be doing something fundamentally wrong. it is an absolute dream to play, however, the step from 4 to 5 has been pretty much seamless and a lot easier than i expected. i may try and trade it for an SRX705 if i cannot get any joy... cheers guys. barry

currently playing dan le sac vs scroobius pip - angles.

+1 on the misfits

hi, i am looking for advice from any owners of the above bass specifically regarding the vari mid controls. Please PM to discuss. Cheers, Barry