Jellyfish

Having gotten very used to my Ibanez Prestige 5-string bass, I am now seeking a bass guitar of similar proportions or more specifically, 16.5mm string spacing. I've looked at most of the major brands and can only see Ibanez that do them with the string spacing like this. Does anyone else know of any other 5 string basses that have 16.5mm spacing? Thanks!

I know exactly what you mean. Their RBX 5 strings are quite lackluster, but the shop I work in primarily stocks Yamaha and so I can only vouch for their 5 strings and the 5 strings that I've played, but the 35" scale on the BB and TRB range really make a nice difference if you can get on with the extra inch. And of course, the BB is a great alternative to a Fender. I've also owned a G&L and Ibanez 5 string, the G&L being slightly cheaper, and they were both 34" scale and brilliant. If you're willing to buy used then you won't ever buy a bad 5 string with that budget, but it is hard to find the right one.

Don't know if this helps your hunt at all, but I work at a music shop and we recently got in a 5 string Yamaha BB. One word = wow.

Not strictly music related, but an independant company that go by the name of Jaben.net sell mainly 'audiophile' type gear from about £50 upwards. They're actually out in the far east but supply international shipping on all their goods. Anyway, I purchased a £61 pair of headphones off them and about a year later I was wearing them and running past the bed when the wire got caught and actually snagged an earphone clean off the wire! I e-mailed and asked them if there was anything I could do in terms of repair or replacement and offered to pay for a new pair if I had to, simply because I loved the sound of the earphones so much. They replied back with 'send us a photo and we'll send you a new pair free of charge'. I didn't really deserve them but who was I to argue. On the other end of the scale, I had to wait [b]6 months [/b]for PMT in Birmingham to give me store credit for a bass guitar that had an electrical fault. It was the third time it was getting sent away with the same fault and I was told 'Don't worry dude, three strikes and its out, we'll give you in store credit as soon as they sort it.' It was extremely long-winded as you can probably imagine, and I won't go into detail, but suffice to say that's the last thing I've ever purchased from them.

Don't think I need it but good luck to the 'winner'.

Hi everyone, I need some strap advice. I own a Neotech Mega Strap, which is super comfy, but unfortunately is just slightly too big for me at its shortest. I've looked around at a couple of the more similar strap in its price range but not many of them seem to go lower than 43" or are even adjustable at all so I was wondering if anyone could throw me some names to take a look at. Thanks.

Well, I do have a bit of money put aside to buy myself one of these... Only problem is the waiting list.

I owned a Yamaha RBX170 for two years and they are fantastic basses. Yamaha do make absoloutly fantastic basses, and TRBboy is right in saying that if you aim a bit higher and get an RBX270, or even 374, you'd be completely set!

Thanks for all the replies. I've been offered (as a 'gift' from my work in a music shop) either the Attitude or a Musicman Bongo (made-to-order) for a very very good price. But I think, as a 5 string player, a Bongo would be much better for me.

Cheers for the advice. Would be great if I could get to try one out. Looking pretty impossible though.

I've recently had the opportunity presented to me to purchase a Yamaha Attitude II bass for a very good price, but unfortunately I can't find much info on the internet about their quality and any reviews. I've heard some YouTube videos and I also love BIlly Sheehan's tone. The only thing that worries me is the double output and how it works. If anyone owns one and can give me an idea of what it's like then please let me know.

As others have said, no use for the lanyard, but more than happy to donate. Hope things get fixed quickly.

Any excuse to show off my Prestige.

[b][u]From Ibanez:[/u][/b] [i]The Ibanez SR4005E electric bass guitar offers powerful pickups, precise EQ, and an elegantly simple look.[/i] [i]The Ibanez SR4005E 5-string electric bass guitar provides the playability and build quality you've come to expect from Ibanez's bass guitars. A member of the Ibanez SR Prestige Series, the 5-string SR4005E features a balanced mahogany body with cutaways for easy access to the upper frets on its premium 5-piece wenge / bubinga SR5 neck. The neck is topped with a wenge fingerboard. The Ibanez SR4005E bass guitar works well for practically any style, thanks to its Bartolini Custom passive soapbar neck and bridge pickups. A Power Curve 3-band EQ with a bypass switch lets you easily tweak the tone on the Ibanez SR4005E electric bass guitar.[/i] [b][u]The Hardware[/u][/b] The brigde is a mono-rail IV which boasts isolation of string vibration which means that vibrations won't naturally pass onto other strings while being left untouched. It does its job very well and, combined with the Gotoh tuners, helps keep my bass in tune almost perfectly on a daily basis. I was able to adjust the intonation perfectly without much trouble, which is a blessing. The pickups are a curved set american made Bartolini Custom with a 3-band EQ as well as passive/active switch. The 4 small knobs control Bass>Mids>Mid Frequency and then Treble. The two larger ones control master volume and pickup panning. I can only comment on the electronics from a fairly novice point of view but they do everything I need them to do and the name should tell you that these will be able to cater to just about any type of music you want to play. In passive mode they're fairly strong and give a nice modern electric bass sound. [b][u]The [/u][/b] [b][u]Body[/u][/b] [b][u]& Neck[/u][/b] As read above, you'll know that the body is made purely from mahogany which means the bass weighs about that of an average 5 string, if not a little bit lighter (this is compared with a G&L 5 string made of ash and maple and a Fender 5 string). It is transparent black and looks quite glossy from a distance but actually has a nice smooth feel to it. The shape of the body is like that of all Soundgear's and gets extremely thin towards the edges and even more so towards the top horn. The neck joint looks as good as it actually is gives you a good image of what the 5-piece neck looks like underneath the frets. Like all Soundgear's, the neck is an absolute dream to play and, as someone who mainly plays fingerstyle i.e. very little slapping and popping, I find that the narrow string spacing (16.5mm) and the ability to adjust the action really low helps me to play with a lot more relaxed fingers while skipping all over the neck. The back of the neck is very 'matte' and is extremely smooth. The wenge fretboard is very easy to maintain as it is very oily and just needs a damp cloth scrubbed over it every time I change my strings. As well as this, it looks rather wonderful as well. As far as truss rod adjustments go, only time will tell. For now however I've only needed to have it adjusted once (for the extremely low action I like) and it's been like this through cold and heat on a constant basis and has held in place very well. [b][u]The Sound[/u][/b] I don't have a wide array of clips for you, nor do I attest to the quality of my playing in them as being any good, but here are some clips demonstrating the Active circuit with various EQ settings. http://soundcloud.com/xclusiveyt/sets/ibanez-sound-clips/ [b][u]The Result[/u][/b] It's hard not to be biased with such a lovely bass. It's the most I've ever spent on a bass (I purchased it for £600 second-hand) but I feel like if I had spent anymore, it wouldn't have been justified in comparison. There's not a large amount of variety in higher end basses that stock this kind of gear and materials while boasting a super-fast playable string spacing and neck dimension. If I had to compare it with anything, it'd be a Euro Spector probably and luckily, I've also managed to play one and I do prefer the Japanese crafted Ibanez. It's all personal opinion of course, but I'd have to disagree with anyone who said that the Prestige line of Ibanez's can't hold its own against the bigger makes.

Might have to exploit the new job at a music shop and get them to order a Sabre in!

You're always going to get a range of answers. I'm quite picky about my headphones, especially in-ear, but I found [url="http://jaben.net/shopping2/Hippo_VB.html"]these[/url] to be top notch. They're highly recommended by a lot of 'audiophiles' and the company from which you can purchase them from are great. Broke mine accidentally recently (was running through the house and they got caught on something and an ear piece tore completely clean off!) but a quick e-mail to Jaben and they replaced them... for free!

Hope nobody minds the double-post (as I already posted this pic in the Amps & Cabs bit ) but I'm so excited over my [b]first[/b] rig. A TC Electronic BH250 paired with a super-light Genz Benz Focus LT112T. Oh, and of course my Ibanez Prestige 4005e.

After what feels of months of waiting, I finally have a giggable rig! But what is it? Just a teaser... Annnd the whole picture. A brand spankin' new Genz Benz Focus LT112T with the new TC Electronic BH250. The cab is just brilliant and the amp has exceeded my expectations extremely . The tone prints are wicked, the amp is tiny and the cab is dead light, but they produce a magnificent sound. See you in a few days when I finally come out of my bedroom...

Just got a call from Mark at Bassdirect today telling me that he's got them back in stock. Quickly bought mine, so now I really can't wait to get it.

I've owned both a Ibanez BTB 475 and currently own an Ibanez Prestige 4005e. I love Ibanez bass's, and the Soundgear's are definitely my favourite as I much prefer smaller string spacing and the smaller neck. However, I've been lucky enough that the 5 string Prestige's are 34" scale and still sound amazing. Whereas the only SR bass I've played that didn't have a lackluster B string, that wasn't a premium or prestige, was the K5. I did absolutely love my BTB and the sound it made was brilliant i.e. the pickups were fab'. Mine did have some electrical faults, but I would have kept it had it been without said faults. You do have a generous budget, so if you're an Ibanez fan (like I am ) then be on the lookout for something near to a Premium as Ibanez bass's have a bit of a reputation for selling for a lot lot less on the used market. To put it into perspective, I managed to buy my Prestige for £600. But if you know you're going to keep it then you don't have to worry about the resale value. I'd also recommend that you try and get a feel for what kind of neck profile you like as well. The BTB's have quite a solid neck and quite tight string spacing, whereas the SR goes even tighter and has a neck that feels tiny, but great to me.

Just be grateful that that was the only problem.