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Ibanez owners


chilievans
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The thing that persuaded me to buy my SR600 (apart from how light and well balanced it is) is how well its tone cuts through. I usually don't have a lot of treble in my tone and find that just rolling off the treble EQ stops the bass from sounding too "zingy".

The first time I heard one of these basses, it was an SR500 played through a Laney 1x12 60 watt combo and it was cutting through no problem in a communal jam where there were 6 (yes six) guitarists playing simultaneously, a vocalist, a keyboarder and a guy playing an electronic drum kit - oh yes and me, playing another bass through a 2 x 10 cab. I just couldn't help but be impressed.

Just an observation too; Ibanez seem to be using more woods these days that have previously been the domain of Warwick basses – woods such as wenge, bubinga and jotoba. Add to this the new arched bodies on the SRT basses (a la Warwick Thumb) and I'm now finding it hard to justify continuing the long-term GAS I had for an expensive Warwick Thumb NT4, when I could have a much better balanced and at least as well spec’d Ibanez SRT900 for around £700. :)

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The Thumb-ness of the SRT basses is what caught my eye. The only youtube clip I can find of one however sounds, well, not quite in the same league as a Warwick IMO:



Compare that to a Corvette tested by the same shop:



Apples and oranges I know, and a pretty poor player in the first clip, but the Ibanez sounds quite wooly in comparison.

Man, I'd love that corvette based on sound alone, if only the top horn didnt look like a penis.

Edited by Wil
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I've got an SR20th5 and an SR1016 6-stringer, both built in the Fujigen Gakko factory in Japan.

They both have the classic SR body shape - thin and streamlined - and are therefore very light in the body.

The necks are possibly the fastest and easiest to play that I've ever encountered, but with narrow string spacing are probably not everyone's cup of tea. I have the action pretty low which is facilitated by the necks and this again increases ease of playing, though doesn't compromise the tone too much.

The SR1016 has Ibanez pick-ups with the Vari-Mid EQ. There's a huge range of possible tones, but as other people have stated, it possibly lacks a bit of punch or growl. Compared to my Warwick Streamer, I can sometimes get a bit lost in one of my bands where the two guitar mix fills up most of the frequencies. I've found I've managed to counter this by using a Sans-Amp BDDI along with my amp's EQ and compressor.

The SR20th5 has a the Vari-Mid, but with US Bartolinis. The result is a bit punchier, even given a decent slap tone and again, a vast range of sounds. Again though, it still lacks the growl of say, a Music Man, but I've found it has enough presence to cut through when required. Compared to the SR1016's Ibanez pickups, it has a slightly lower output (the SR1016 has a very hot output), but still pushes out a pretty fat signal.

In all honesty, I'm still looking for the perfect sound, but in terms of playability, I can't fault the SR's and have yet to find anything which is as satisfying to play.

I'm intrigued by the SRT range, since it looks as though they've retained the body and neck, but beefed up the electronics. And at the £700~ price point, they're relatively affordable. Will have to see if I can try one out...

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[quote name='Spoombung' post='1027015' date='Nov 17 2010, 04:15 PM']Christ, this would put anyone off buying an Ibanez.... :)[/quote]
and if it makes you that happy too, wow.

though it does look the nuts, he just looks bored outta his mind and it seems hes deaf to the treble

though if the sr500 is anything to go by that should be one awesome bass

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[quote name='RussFM' post='1026892' date='Nov 17 2010, 02:15 PM']Yep, after looking at that SRT video, it's near identical to my Prestige, with different pickups. I like the curved back, that was a reason I bought it, fits my beer belly nicely![/quote]

and so does mine :)

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