Blackbird88

Hi guys, I recently bought a p bass and I'm having a technical issue with it. The volume seems to randomly cut in and out, and I don't know enough about electronics to understand why. I've figured out that it's definitely the bass, the first time it happened I was at band practice through my full setup and pedalboard (thankfully I had another bass with me). Since then I've found it still happening through my practice amp at home with a different cable. It also seems to happen regardless of pot positions, I've had it with tone full on, off or somewhere between and with the volume full on or halfway. It also happens regardless of if I'm playing hard or soft, fingers or what passes for slap and pop in my case. I've had the pick guard off and can't see any obvious issues (wires loose, etc), but I'm not really an expert. For reference it's a Fender Ltd Sandblasted Precision, they're American made with standard American passive electronics. I don't want to have to return it to the shop as it's not local, and for the sake (and cost) of travel, plus I guess they'd probably return it to Fender for repair and then I'd have to go back to pick it up, so I'm hoping it might be easier/cheaper to have it done by a tech locally, especially if I can isolate the issue first. Any help is hugely appreciated.

I've seen pictures of the yellow and the red, and I played the green one Mark had at Bass Direct shortly before the London Bass Show, Sheldon loaned it to him to go on his stand there, playability was everything you'd expect from a Dingwall, and there's a wide range of tones available, esp. with that EQ. I would say bear in mind that the pictures do not do that green one justice, it is a much brighter colour than it looks in photos, really striking, so I'd assume the blue is the same. I'm still trying to decide if I want one of these or not, I'm tempted to continue saving further and go the same way as Dood, the AB1 is awesome and that pickup configuration has so many tonal options available. Plus they look damn sexy.

It's not a problem if there's a variant in the UK you can test drive, but when there are almost none of an entire model in the UK shops it becomes a real pain in the ass. Which is less common but still happens. For example, I believe there's no Warwick dealer left in the UK as it stands, only the rockbass instruments are available new I believe. Fortunately in that case there's a plethora of s/h instruments available for trying and buying.

I've experienced this with Ibanez myself (I'm certain they aren't the only ones however), at one time I was looking for an Ibanez SRA555 which was never marketed over here, could only find them in American shops or eBay from America, and I think there was also an SRZ model in addition to the SRs and SRXs which was also US only. The SRA had the higher output of the SRX, a slightly slimmer neck much like the normal SRs and an arched top to the body, real meaty looking beast. Not sure why the marketing strategy is the way it is, only that it's extremely annoying when it happens. I'd suggest it's to do with potential loss of profits. It's much less impactive to ship say 5 in 100 to the US, when the sheer size of the country means they shift a hell of a lot more models. Or maybe it's used as a trial period for something they aren't sure of, but they find it not profitable enough to ship it here. Not sure I explained myself very well there, but at least I tried, haha.

Bought a beautiful Ibanez AGB 200 from Mike on Sunday, seemed like a great guy, left me to try it out with no pressure and afterwards he tried to talk my ear off! Pleasure to deal with, couldn't be happier.

I bought one exactly the same as you mention only a few weeks back, it's a great bass for the money, I'm with Mornats though, it could do with a new pickup. I find it kind of wooly sounding, but I'm unintentionally comparing it to my SBMM Ray 34, which is stunning. A good alternative to one of the SBMM Sub Ray 4s I reckon. Great thin, fast neck, really playable, and comfortable to play too.

I'm in the middle of this search myself at the moment, I've got an Ibanez BTB 775, which sounds great tonally but gives me left hand cramps when I play for a decent amount of time, and it's never been remotely comfortable, so I'm looking to sell it on in favour of something slimmer. I've found the Yamaha RBX 375 has a great comfortable neck, as do the Ibanez SR 5s, the Rockbass Streamer 5 I didn't like, didn't like the MIM Fender Jazz V Deluxe either. I tried some ESP/LTD thing as well which just generally felt, sounded and looked horrible. The numbers suggest the Yamaha TRBX 505 should be pretty good but I can't find one anywhere (I think GAK had one, but Brighton is a long drive from here), and I emailed the UK distribution centre for Dean Guitars recently for the neck width on the Hillsboro 5 (after playing the 4 string w/ MM p'up 2 weeks ago in Nevada Music, and loving it, and then going back and buying it Saturday), they said nut width was 45mm, 12th fret width 61.5mm, last fret width 68mm, so all in all not far off the Soundgear necks, and you can get them under £400 as well, the 4 I got is a cracking bass for the £300 I paid. A little rough paintwork round the truss rod access (it's on the body at the base of the neck, not covered over), but it's got a lovely maple neck and fretboard on it, punchy pickup and feels pretty solid, and I've no reason to believe the 5 is any different. Based on owning an Ibanez EDB 550 I imagine the 5 string Ergodyne basses should be pretty slim necked, the 4 I have is comparable to the Soundgears which seem to pretty much be the standard for slim necks. I'll be looking for an EDB 555 in the near future to compliment my 4, once I can afford it. They're just hard to find because they're discontinued.

I've got wear on the top bout (from my forearm) and lower back edge just below the control cover (from clothing rubbing) of my Ibanez EDB550. She came second hand to me 2.5 years ago but there wasn't really any noticeable wear there back then, although to be fair I only picked up on it recently. She's got a natural finish though, no poly/lacquer either, just oiled I guess. I was horrified when I first found the wear, but I've kind of come to like it, it feels like I've put something of myself into it through the hours of playing.

My ibanez EDB 550. It was almost my first bass, my actual first bass was a handed down cheap and nasty P clone (shouldn't complain too much, it was free), a week later the same guy who gave me the P sold me my EDB. I was too new to the bass to appreciate how good it was at the time, but in the 2.5 years since then I've tried or bought many basses that haven't even come close to it, picking it up is like reuniting with an old friend. Sonically the only thing is own that compares is my BTB 770, but it's an entirely different animal, the bartolini pup's give it a darker and heavier sound, coupled with the 18V preamp it's much louder too. The EDB just has this great clean tone with just a little growl that I love. Never, ever selling her.

I was doing a little searching for information/reviews on the Ibanez AGB200 4 string, and then I spotted the AGB205 on the Ibanez website. I'm intrigued, it has a 30.3" scale and to my knowledge, with a few expensive exceptions short scale 5 stringers tend to have a pretty muddy B string, so I'm wondering whether it even has a low B or if its strung with a high C. There's nothing on Ibanez website (or anywhere else for that matter) that states one way or the other, so I'd assume its a B, but to get clarity on that short a scale you'd need some serious string tension, therefore thicker strings right? In which case they'd be hard to get hold of I'd guess, 125-135 being standard B string gauge. There seem to be a few places selling them to order but no one online has them in stock as far as I can tell. Has anyone seen, played, owned or even heard anything regarding this bass? I'd consider ordering one to end my curiosity, but if its a high C it'll be pretty useless for me (I rarely use my G string). Link to Ibanez page: http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_eb_page13.php?data_id=221&color=CL01&year=2013&cat_id=2&series_id=117