LeeCassidy

With the help of some of you fine fellows, I kept my eye out for one of these, and one popped up in the FS section, courtesy of Gweb (who was extremely cool to deal with, a true gent), so I jumped on it. And holy sh*t is it a step up from my GSR206! It feels very nice to play, and it records so much better. I did a track to show it off on a guitar player's forum (that's what I am, I don't claim to be a bassist). The controls are all set flat, and this is the bridge pickup: [media]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12437848/BTB675.mp3[/media] After coming up with that little phrase, I kind of plugged on and did some more work on the track, and the bass sits really nicely in my (amateur) mix. Here it is in a longer song (ignore that nonsense lead guitar, I just left it running after playing the riff an octave higher): [url="https://soundcloud.com/leecassidyguitar/btb675-song"]https://soundcloud.c...tar/btb675-song[/url] You guys are all probably very aware of how these look, but gear pics are always welcome, aren't they? Bass volutes are awesomely huge:

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1350333320' post='1837545']Amps heads, etc. (sorry dude, this got truncated 'cause you failed at quoting (haha) so had to just summarise your post) [/quote] I'm just a bedroom guitarist, so I don't need a live rig. The driver would just be something to whack the bass into before it hits my Axe FX for any effects, etc. I've heard some absolutely awesome results over on the Axe FX forum with guys doing this, although to be fair, most of them are using Dingwalls or other great basses. [quote name='Blackbird88' timestamp='1350334921' post='1837583'] [url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/ibanez-sr506/1001611134"]http://www.gumtree.c...r506/1001611134[/url] Not sure if this would be any good to you, Ibanez SR506. I can vouch that the seller is a good guy, I know him from school. He posted this on his Facebook a few days ago, I'd have had it myself, in spite of the fact I've never played a 6 string, if I had the space for another bass. That and I'm GASing for a Jazz Blacktop. I do have a BTB775 myself as it happens, and the bartolinis on mine are pretty potent. It's also immensely loud, I've got other active basses and this thing is so much more. It does take two 9V batteries though. Tone sounds damn good to me, though I'm rather inexperienced, I've only been playing 2 years. The SR 4 string necks are incredibly smooth and playable as well, I have a SR400, and I'd imagine the playability of a 5 or 6 in that model would be similarly good. The SR 5 string basses have a narrower neck than the BTB 5s by the way, which should in theory mean closer string spacing if that's what you're looking for, so an SR would probably be preferable. [/quote] That is a good deal. Does he post on here? It would be good to ask some questions. That's good to know about the thinner necks on the SRs. It's actually not so much the fretboard side of the spacing that's a concern, more the bridge end. I find navigating from string to string on the GSR fairly troublesome when doing any string skipping (specifically skipping two strings on fast passages). Those BTBs do look mighty fine, though. I love those individual bridges. [quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1350264927' post='1836626'] Ibanez basses are quite widely used by metal guys, and the normal Soundgear ones will sound a million times better than the entry level GSR models. If you like the way they feel I'd recommend looking at those ones first! Personally, they don't work for me... I'm more of a Peavey man! They also feel very comfortable to play, and I prefer the sound! About the pickups... Two of my Peaveys have the stock pickups in and I bought them used for £50 and £100 respectively. I won't be changing them any time soon! The 6 string cost me £250 used, and has been 'upgraded' to Seymour Duncan Basslines pickups... which sound amazing... But I actually prefer the smoother sound of the original ones so I might put them back in! Those are my two suggestions anyways You could always just get a new preamp or pickups for the GSR if you wanna save money though! [/quote] Is the GSR viable as a modding platform? I'm ok with replacing pickups and any hardware that's a direct replacement, but anything that would require routing and suchlike I just can't really do. I'm rubbish at that sort of thing, which I've found out to my cost on plenty of guitar parts (got lots of them lying around my flat now). So, for example, are there decent bridges that are a direct swap for this? A better nut? I'm also guessing that this isn't a choice cut of wood that's been used, so it's probably getting into pig in make up territory (it certainly would be on a guitar from this range).

Also, another noob question; if you're going for a real staccato, tight, percussive metal bass sound, what pickup do you use? Bridge, neck, or both? This is by no means the be all and end all of the bass sound I'm going for, but if I wanted to get this sort of tone, what would you recommend? I'm guessing this is the bridge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DICc7oUNdWc

Thanks for all the replies, dudes. Most appreciated. There's a little bit of conflicting info here, would be good to clear it up. Specifically around the Ibanez BTB and Yamaha TRB series. Are they considered wide spacing or not (even at 17mm)? Some of you recommend them, some say they're too widely spaced for a noob (scale length isn't really a problem, btw). It does seem like you're all saying the pickups and preamps on those are fine, though. That's good to know. I did spy someone selling one of those K5's for a reasonable enough price recently (£400, I think). I think it's still available, too. I can't stand the stupid inlay. I could live with it if it's an amazing bass, but I got the impression it's not the only gig in town at that price range. I also wondered if the pickup placement was a bit limiting at all. Lastly, I've read on here and elsewhere that some folks don't think mahogany is a great tonewood for a bass. It's amazing on guitars (I just bought an Ibanez RG7CT (one of just 22 left in the world) on the weekend *massive grin*). Am I talking nonsense (although the inlay is definitely fugly)? One last thing, slightly unrelated. I don't have an awful lot to plug the bass into. At the moment I've only got my (darling of the guitar world) Axe FX 2, which isn't bad, but isn't the best device in the world for basses. I was considering one of the following: Darkglass B3k SansAmp Bass Driver Hartke Bass Attack Is that Hartke worth avoiding? It's the cheapest of the lot, and I the clips of the B3K I've heard, so it would make sense to just plum for that straight off the bat?

I currently own an Ibanez GSR206 (bought here) and an OLP 4 string. Neither of these are great instruments. The Ibanez feels quite nice to my guitarist's hands, but it doesn't sound very good, no matter what pickup/EQ config I use, what I plug it into or do to the recorded tone. The OLD sounds and plays like arse. So I need some recommendations on something to replace them with, but I'm really not very hip to the intricacies of the bass world. Who is? You bass nerds! I've got a budget of around £400 (looking in the second-hand market). What I'm looking for is 6 strings (or 5), decent pickups and preamp, and pretty narrow string spacing. I play with a pick a fair bit, but I'm trying to get better at fingerstyle and do terribly on wider spacing. Sound-wise, it's mostly modern-ish metal and prog that I play, so I want to get a good punchy tone but I'm an enormous fusion dude (Patittucci, Browne, Kennedy, Philpot, Shreeve ). I was thinking of one of the BTB 6/5 strings with the Bartolinis, but browsing on the (awful) Bartolini site, it looks like they're a special series for the BTB's. Is that right? Normally, in guitar world, branded pickups designed for a specific guitar are pretty awful and are only a tiny bit ahead of own brand guitar stock pickups. Is that the case with the Bartolinis in the other Ibanez basses they appear in? I'm also assuming that most of the stock pickups in new £300-500 basses are worth avoiding, too. But is that also wrong? Most guitars in that range would have sucky pickups, so I'm just assuming it applies to basses, too. Any help is massively appreciated.

I bought Doc B's GSR206. Great communication, great packaging and very prompt delivery. All round top fella, in my book.

I think I have to start one of these. If not, apologies to the mods. Please delete. Let the love commence!

Thanks Doctor. [quote name='TheButler' post='558214' date='Aug 2 2009, 01:22 AM']I'd try and pick up an Ibanez SR506, i had one of those things... damn it was lovely. Regret selling it big time. You should see one second hand within budget [/quote] The bassist of my band has one (he's an endorser of Ibanez), and it's really nice. I find it very playable and guitar player-friendly. There's one on eBay right now, actually. And funnily enough, it's being 'Bay'd by a store in Brighton (where I live) that's owned by a guy I know. Coinci-mental. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibannez-SR-506-6-string-bass-SR-506-Active-monster!_W0QQitemZ120453919832QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090731?IMSfp=TL0907311610002r14282"]Ibannez SR-506 6 string bass SR 506 Active monster![/url] I'm keeping an eye on it. I know him fairly well, but I don't think he'd give me a discount, so I may as well not tip my hand yet. I've seen some nice 7 strings on eBay, but I think the fretboard's would be too wide for me. Plus, I'd never make use of that high string.

Thanks for the welcome, chaps. I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for. But certainly nothing excellent, as it'd be wasted on me. A real entry level 5 or 6 would do me. Not looking to head over the £300 mark. I'm not really sure what options that gives me. But having seen the Hudson 6 on here, I think that'd do me nicely.

Hi all, A friend recommended this place to find a decent 6 string bass on, so here I am! I'm Lee, from Brighton. I'm a guitarist in a progressive rock/metal band called Son of Science and a couple of other projects. I'm learning bass at the moment and have come to realise I'd like something with at least 5 strings, but could probably use something with 6. I love the harmonics on a 6 and also love tapping. Biggest heroes on bass are John Pattitucci, John Myung, Sean Malone, Billy Sheehan, Tom Kennedy, and a bunch of others. Basically, the show off guys Currently using an OLP 4 string tuned down to A Standard. It's not a terrible bass, but I can feel the lack of quality compared to a friend's bass I recently borrowed (a Fender 5 string), and the bassist of my band's 6 string Ibanez Prestige. I'm a massive gear whore, and only buy 7 or 8 string guitars, and have quite a guitar rig and recording set-up. But I'm really lacking on bass gear. I'm slowly learning on bass, but as I improve, I'm noticing that the tools need to improve, too. So I'm on the look out for a nicer 6 or 5 string! Cheers, Lee