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P (or P/J) Bass 5 string & neck through?


Al Krow
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4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I'm also a massive fan of Ibbys and have a SR1206 (as well as the more modern SR1800). BUT I would just say, JimBob, that beauty is clearly in the eye of the beholder: IMHO there is no need for that particular bass with that particular finish being auctioned in your link really to ever leave the US! :D I guess it's the difference between a Pontiac Firebird and a Jaguar E type, both are fast...

That one is a bit dark, true. They did one with a more natural finish, still mahogany back, maple top, wenge/maple neck-through. I did months of research looking for what was considered the "best" Ibanez and this one came up a few times. Rare as hens' teeth, though, with only a few hundred made in the mid-90s (quite possible of the whole series, so 1200, 1205, 1206, both the maple/maple version and the mahogany/maple versions). I hav been keeping an eye out for an SR1205FL - the fretless version - but now that Ibanez recycled the series name, finding an original 90s SR1205 is still difficult but now also mighty frustrating! 

I have the SR1206 from the same series but, sadly, this was a bit wasted as I found that I really cannot get along with the wide neck on it. It, too, has EMG 40P in the neck and 40DC in the bridge. 

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5 hours ago, JimBobTTD said:

That one is a bit dark, true. They did one with a more natural finish, still mahogany back, maple top, wenge/maple neck-through. I did months of research looking for what was considered the "best" Ibanez and this one came up a few times. Rare as hens' teeth, though, with only a few hundred made in the mid-90s (quite possible of the whole series, so 1200, 1205, 1206, both the maple/maple version and the mahogany/maple versions). I hav been keeping an eye out for an SR1205FL - the fretless version - but now that Ibanez recycled the series name, finding an original 90s SR1205 is still difficult but now also mighty frustrating! 

I have the SR1206 from the same series but, sadly, this was a bit wasted as I found that I really cannot get along with the wide neck on it. It, too, has EMG 40P in the neck and 40DC in the bridge. 

I've just acquired a Yammy BB1025 which I hope is going to scratch my P bass itch for the near term - I've decided to forgo my 'perfect' combination of including a neck through in favour of getting a tried and tested and much loved bass - it does seem that getting something in a finish that I'd like means going bespoke and potentially paying 2 to 3 times what my Yammy has just cost or alternatively having to wait for a hen's tooth to surface!

Shame your SR1206 is being wasted. I'm about to change the string set up on mine to be: EADGBE i.e. an octave down from a normal six string electric, with the ability to play chords and solo riffs that such a set up should more easily allow. I wonder if that might make for an interesting set up for you also to get another dimension / use out of the Ibby? Just a thought!

Edited by Al Krow
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Funnily enough I love a thru-neck too and got a passive PJ 5-string built by Jon Shuker a couple of years back with a set neck option. Pretty much a Fender 70’s Jazz style with MOP blocks on the neck. Got a similar styled “active” 5-string from him too but that has Wizard Humbucker pickups instead of the PJ. Both cracking basses & cant beat that thru-neck feel. 

7B0BDC0B-75B1-44B5-A832-DF9EA031821D.jpeg

675EFB6E-B2E6-4EFF-9DEB-7202BD36B810.jpeg

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Cheers Cuzzie, It’s currently sporting a tort pickguard as Jon Shuker cut me a mint white, a tort & a white pearl pickguard when the bass was built. No extra to pay, he just thought I’d fancy different options. He really is a fantastic person to build a bass with.

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43 minutes ago, largo said:

Funnily enough I love a thru-neck too and got a passive PJ 5-string built by Jon Shuker a couple of years back with a set neck option. Pretty much a Fender 70’s Jazz style with MOP blocks on the neck. Got a similar styled “active” 5-string from him too but that has Wizard Humbucker pickups instead of the PJ. Both cracking basses & cant beat that thru-neck feel. 

7B0BDC0B-75B1-44B5-A832-DF9EA031821D.jpeg

675EFB6E-B2E6-4EFF-9DEB-7202BD36B810.jpeg

My word...I feel a bit weak at the knees looking at that. That neck! The join! The overall aesthetic! Gnnnnnnggghhh!

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51 minutes ago, largo said:

Funnily enough I love a thru-neck too and got a passive PJ 5-string built by Jon Shuker a couple of years back with a set neck option. Pretty much a Fender 70’s Jazz style with MOP blocks on the neck. Got a similar styled “active” 5-string from him too but that has Wizard Humbucker pickups instead of the PJ. Both cracking basses & cant beat that thru-neck feel. 

Lovely indeed and you've delivered proof of concept! But I'm guessing a bespoke Shuker didn't come cheap! :) 

It is kinda strange that this design i.e. neck through + P (or P/J) + 5 strings seem so obviously a good one (well certainly to me and clearly already to you) that you would have thought just one decent bass manufacturer would have picked up the baton and included a model or two in their range?

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Going a bit off topic because neither of these were PJ but here’s a couple of pics of the Sei basses I had built & used to own. Proper Jazz thru-necks and I have no idea why I sold either of them 😟 can only guess Basschat GAS but they led me to my Shuker’s so all good in the end 😁

 

8886DAD7-7EE6-41A8-9BF0-A2C59E2C45D9.jpeg

6C4707EE-F53B-4C46-9CD8-842E4D40C31B.jpeg

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Again - a couple of lovely basses and I love the neck throughs! (Of my current herd, none are neck through...yet...although I've loved the look of the Warwick neck throughs I've seen / handled...and hence my current GAS for a NT)

So fess up, what sort of bands are you playing in to permit yourself such nice gear? :) 

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I play weddings & functions mostly but believe me when I say there’s a very strict one in, one out policy. Only ever have a couple of basses max so I try to make sure they’re what I like and buying/selling doesn’t work out too expensive in the long run. Still hankering for an early Warwick Stage 2 4-string the same as one of my first basses though, although I know it doesn’t make sense for the band I’m in and can’t bring myself to part with the Shuker’s. Heart over head and all that. 

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Well in which case, it sounds entirely reasonable to me - your gigs will pretty quickly be covering the cost of your gear, which is always a nice position to be in.

My 'strict' one in one out policy lasted all of 5 days into 2018 before I succumbed to a keenly priced vintage white Yammy BB1025 which, given that they are no longer supposed to be in stock with retailers, I decided to snap one up.

I share your GAS for a Warwick S2, although with my current GAS for a NT and P that is trumped by GAS for a Warwick Streamer Stage 1. Now if they only made a 5 string in anything other than their German custom shop (aka get a second mortgage) range :) 

 

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@Al Krow practically anything looks good with me playing it in front my mirror.

Out of interest why do you think optically it looks bad for a PJ to be housed in a soap bar box.

i am reasonably sure that roughly the day before you made that statement on the Yammy vs Spector PJ thread you thought that was an excellent idea.

Did the wind change again Bazzy Poppins.....?!

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No dear Cuzzie, I've never really thought that soap bar pups look particularly good. All just personal preference (and unlike the 'I don't like gold hardware' brigade - see Gen Discussion, I'm completely cool with gold hardware!) For me the P bass 'signature' is the split coil pup configuration. Just as Bill Haley's was his little kiss curl (which to be fair couldn't cover up the fact that he looked nothing like Elvis!) :) 

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23 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Course you like Gold Hardware, you’re in Laaaaaaaandon where the streets are paved with gold and you drink shandy although @krispn is slowly converting you

@krispn's illicit beer (which currently retails for under £2.50 a pint) is some of Scotland's finest and heartily recommended.

As it happens I did used to drink bitter shandy as a teenager - but that was when I was a hard core Midlander :D

Actually London's streets are currently seeing (a completely sensible) fall in house prices. I just hope not too many folk get their fingers burnt and into negative equity, but not the place to find buried gold! :) 

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  • 1 month later...

Hah!! The good news is I've finally found it! A 5 string neck through, part of a 'standard' (i.e. not bespoke custom) product line of a mainstream and (very) well regarded manufacturer.

Image result for YAMAHA TRB 5P -TRS

The bad news is I'm 10 years out of date...

Free bass plectrum to the first person who guesses correct make &  model :) It's going to take one of you no more than 14.5 seconds to work out.

Edited by Al Krow
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Haha. Definitely cheating! I was wondering if I should have saved the pic first before uploading to muddy the audit trail...

It got me wondering why Yamaha stopped making neck throughs, when they were so widely admired and eg their BB1200 is still regarded as unsurpassed by later models in the BB range? 

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On 02/01/2018 at 17:55, pete.young said:

Mk1 Yamaha TRB5P would fit the bill. 

Haha - you did indeed; and I even thanked you for it, so I can't even pretend not have spotted it first time around :)  I'm clearly going full on Lady Gaga! 

Interesting that they have reserved the neck-through for their current 'ultimate' high end model (the BBNE2) - they clearly still recognise that neck through can be VERY good in a bass! Sadly not a P in the way the TRB5P was.

 

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15 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

Interesting that they have reserved the neck-through for their current 'ultimate' high end model (the BBNE2) - they clearly still recognise that neck through can be VERY good in a bass! Sadly not a P in the way the TRB5P was.

 

Having owned both, I'd say it makes an even better P sound than the TRB5P . The combination of the stacked humbuckers and the pre-amp gives you any tone you want. Just because it looks like a Jazz, doesn't mean it is one.

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