New Ibanez SR2600 or used SR4500

[Silky999]

Merry Christmas,

I have the option of buying a new SR2600 or a used SR4500. Which would you go for?
 

The new one is just under twice the price of the used bass.
The SR2600 has 2 Nordstrand pups and the SR4500E has two Bartolinis. The SR2600 is Ibanez premium range made in Indonesia where as the 4500 is a prestige range made in Japan. Clearly the 4500 is older, 2012 I think, and will have a few battle scars. I already have an 1989 SR800 MIJ so know that the neck etc on both will be something I like and I’m used to. I can’t A B them as one is in a shop, the other on eBay. The bass will be used for gigging in a 4 piece pop/rock covers band I’m in.
 

I have no experience of the Nordstrand or Bartolinis except what I have seen and heard on YouTube. My SR800 has EMGX pups and preamp. In PJ config so different layout to both the basses I’m considering. Both basses sound good. 
 

The 2600 is visually stunning where as the 4500 is more understated but I would not necessarily go on looks as a decider. At the moment my heart says 2600 but my head says 4500. The 2600 can be used active or passive which I believe is also true of 4500. I’ve never bought any of my basses from new so that appeals to me but I appreciate that more bass can be had for the money buying used.
 

So do I go new or used? Would the Nordstrand cut through the band mix better than Bartolinis? Is the newer EQ better than the old.
 

Any advice, opinions and comments from anyone that’s has either bass or knowledge of them to help me decide is gratefully received. 

[ead]

I had an SR4000e Prestige a while back that I acquired scond hand.  Great bass and cost me very little in depreciation when I moved it on later in its life.  I think high end Ibbys depreciated hard so I say go pre-loved.

[Silky999]

6 minutes ago, ead said:

I had an SR4000e Prestige a while back that I acquired scond hand.  Great bass and cost me very little in depreciation when I moved it on later in its life.  I think high end Ibbys depreciated hard so I say go pre-loved.

Ead, how did you find the Barts?

[Wilco]

I’ve become a huge fan of the Ibanez Premium range this year, starting with the 2600 bought last January. Acquired both the 5 strings during the year, the BTB only last week. 
Fantastic spec, love the aesthetics, any tone I want & superb playability. I’m even toying with the idea of moving the Maruszczyk on for another Ibby Premium.

I’ve not tried a Prestige, but have considered them when I’ve seen them up for sale used. My conclusion has been, for a significant bigger outlay vs the Premiums, I’m not convinced I’ll be gaining much if anything at all....

The Nords or Aguilars are at least equal to the Barts & the other spec varies little. Is the difference in cost just the intangible country of production?

I believe @Woodinblack might have both? If so, he will have good insight.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Wilco

[Sparky Mark]

I've owned both Premium and Prestige SR basses and much prefer the more dynamic Nordstand pickups over the darker sounding Bartolinis. I still own and regularly gig an early Premium 1200 with Nordstrand big singles. The new prices are very high for an Indonesian made guitar but the quality, fit, finish and hardware are as good and better than anything else for the money. If you're going to pay £1200-1300 new I'd even consider buying the 4500 then replacing the barts with Nord B.S. 

Barts vs Nordstrand big singles is like night vs day in my experience.

P.s. I forgot to answer your question; yes, the Nordstrands will cut through the mix much more than the barts if you want them to.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Sparky Mark

[Paulhauser]

I have / had two Ibanez Prestige SR basses wit these curved top Barts in them and they sound great. 

These two basses were sounding a bit different mainly due to the woods and construction but the Barts sound great in both of them.

(One was a SR1005 with neck through maple neck, rosewood board and maple wings the other being a SR5006 with bolt on wenge/bubinga neck with wenge board and mahogany/wenge body)

Can't comment on the EQ as I used both of them in flat or passive.

Also can't comment on the Nordstrands but based on my experiences plus the huge depreciation you can suffer when buying the 2600 new I'd definitely buy the 4500. 

[grayn]

I agree with what you said about head and heart.

It makes sense to buy the Japanese, preowned but that 2600 is a real beauty and IMO Nordstrand Big Singles are probably the best bass pickups I have had/heard.

Either way, you're onto a winner.

 

[Woodinblack]

I currently have a 1605, the burled wood one that wasn't produced long which is known as #1 bass, the 2605 currilian blue (also burled) premiums and a 5005 prestige.

the prestige is good, no question, but it weighs a ton which is why I don't gig it as much. I love the nords on the premiums, although there is a lot more variations on the barts on the prestige, they are not like the standard range barts, they are closer to the nords than those. 

tbh, I find the 2605 harder to take out because I am worried about scratching it whereas the others are just wood.

obviously these things depend on price, the 2605 and 5005 would probably both be at the front if I had to sell one (the 1605 will be buried with me), but I would lose a lot more on the 2605 as I bough it new for more than the 5005.

i suspect the 4500 is lighter than the 5005 so if it came down to one, I would probably get that. Having said that the 2600s are beautiful things.

[Sparky Mark]

Even relatively heavy SR basses are lightweight when compared to most (especially Fender type) other bass designs. The really significant difference between the two basses you are considering is the pickups. If you can't play before buying you'll be wondering about the other. So the standard advice is try to play both first but my gut feeling based on your cutting through tone goal is you'll prefer the Nordstrands.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Sparky Mark

[BreadBin]

Your 2605 is stunning @Woodinblack one of the nicest looking I've seen 👍

[Woodinblack]

4 minutes ago, Sparky Mark said:

Even relatively heavy SR basses are lightweight when compared to most (especially Fender type) other bass designs. The really significant difference between the two basses you are considering is the pickups. If you can't play before buying you'll be wondering about the other. So the standard advice is try to play both first but my gut feeling based on your cutting through tone goal is you'll prefer the Nordstrands.

The 5005 is heavier than most fender types I have tried, except one late 70s fender which was I assume actually contained a small neutron star. The 2600 is very light. Now I look at the 4500, I suspect that it is light.

I was commenting on them yesterday, considering the similarity in construction and that the difference is just really the top panel, it is amazing the weight difference. the 1605 is so light that I had to change the machine heads for ultralites to stop the head heavy thing. The 5005 is dripping in wenge. 

The 2605 has that amazing neck with the 13 woods and they both have titanium rods. It pretty well never needs tuning.

Speaking as a confirmed nordy lover, although those pickups are great, strangely when cutting through, the 5005 probably wins as whatever the situation, you can vary its sound. There actually isn't much difference between the front and back of the premiums, the back is obviously more trebbly, but basically the sound the same. The front and back pickups of the 5005 (and I assume the earlier ones) don't even sound like they are on the same bass (they are not even close to the same volume)

Oh - one difference though, my 5005 has a glockenklang preamp in it. The original premium preamps are dire, and I assume this goes for the 4500 too, 3v things where the treble stops working (like if there is one control you need, its that one). The later ones got the same preamp as the premiums, because it is a good preamp.

I wouldn't want the choice you have, but obviously it would come down to the price, as previously mentioned, the resale prices are not great on ibanezes for whatever reason. I lusted after the  2605 when it came out but didn't get it because it was very expensive, then in the sales last year it went down £400 so I got it then. If I sold it I would almost certainly have to go down another £400 or so. The premium if I sold it would probably be the same I bought it for, maybe more as it was cheap (less than the 2605). I guess that is the way with second hand things. 

[Woodinblack]

And here is the family (although the fretless left home!). 2 premiums, two prestiges.

 

[Sparky Mark]

I would expect five strings to be heavier plus wenge is very dense. I owned a maple bodied 5 string SR briefly recently and that was relatively heavy. I think that I prefer the SR with mahogany body centres and wenge/jatoba necks. Having spent my youth playing a 10lb slab stingray SRs are a breeze.

[Woodinblack]

All bar one of mine are 5 strings so I wouldn't know.

Also all of my SRs have mahogany bodys and a certain amount of wenge in the neck. The 5005 is over 10lb, not sure how much.

Yep, both the 1605 and 2605 are 8.2lb, the 5005 is 10.4lb (and for reference my chambered Maruszczyk is 8.8)

Edited December 25, 2019 by Woodinblack

[Silky999]

Thanks folks for the advice and opinions. 
I am quite torn but I think at the moment, the 2600 has the edge based on the opinions of the Nords and I hate to say it.....the looks. I love a gloss finish on my basses and the 2600 is a cracker!

 I’ve never had a brand new bass always pre-loved so the prospect of having a bass that I completely know the history of is also a big factor. I’m going to trade in my Cort C4 LTD and maybe the SR800 to offset the cost. I don’t really want to part with the 800 but I suspect that it will be needs must if I get offered decent money for it. The 2600 is also £100 off in Andertons as well.

I have d’addario tapewounds on both my current basses and love the feel, lack of noise and great sound they produce. Would tapewounds be a good choice for the 2600 or stick to the stock Elixirs?

[Woodinblack]

16 minutes ago, Silky999 said:

I have d’addario tapewounds on both my current basses and love the feel, lack of noise and great sound they produce. Would tapewounds be a good choice for the 2600 or stick to the stock Elixirs?

Tapewounds would not go well with the nords I wouldn't think. I put tape wounds on my Maruszczyk that had a Nord P on it and it totally neutered it. They worked fine on a G&L - although I haven't played it much since then, so they probably won't last next time I play it.

I would qualify this by saying I like an agressive growl on a bass, which is what the nords excel at. Obviously this is the opposite of you want if you use tapewounds. If you like the sound of tapewounds, maybe the nords is not what you want?

[Woodinblack]

I would also say, and I am not one to talk down an ibby, but there is one really stupid thing on the 260x. The luminays. I have luminays on the Maruszczyk and they are excellent, a light blue glow when glowing and a white dot when not, on an ebony board, you can see them a mile off both lit and not. The 2605s luminays are light green against a light brown and when not lit or not freshly charged at gig lighting are almost totally invisible. Absolute killer for alright now

 

 

[Wilco]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

I would also say, and I am not one to talk down an ibby, but there is one really stupid thing on the 260x. The luminays. I have luminays on the Maruszczyk and they are excellent, a light blue glow when glowing and a white dot when not, on an ebony board, you can see them a mile off both lit and not. The 2605s luminays are light green against a light brown and when not lit or not freshly charged at gig lighting are almost totally invisible. Absolute killer for alright now

 

 

^^This has caught me out a couple of times on a dark stage. I’ve found even after a full charge the luminays only last 20-25 mins - not ideal in a 45 - 60 minute set. Not always easy to re-charge mid-set either. Just make sure now that if need be I’ve got good light where I’m stood. Still love the 2600 though! 

[Woodinblack]

43 minutes ago, Wilco said:

I’ve found even after a full charge the luminays only last 20-25 mins - not ideal in a 45 - 60 minute set. 

45-60 minute set? not done one that short for a long while!

I love it too, its a great bass, just that is a litte irritating as it is possible to fix it with a bit more thought. If they used the luminays with the border, it would have been visible even uncharged.

[Sparky Mark]

I agree totally with the above. Tapewounds will push you way back in the mix. Although good for lovely warm supportive pillowy bass you'll be limiting severely the wider tonal options that roundwounds will give you with the Nordstrands. 

[Wilco]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

45-60 minute set? not done one that short for a long while!

One of two - a break in the middle.

[Woodinblack]

24 minutes ago, Wilco said:

One of two - a break in the middle.

Yes, that is how I understood set, I was guessing 2, so 1.5hr-2hr gig. As I said, not done one that short in a while!

[ead]

On 25/12/2019 at 01:19, Silky999 said:

Ead, how did you find the Barts?

I played in a blues / classic rock band at the time and they fitted in rather well.  Warmish tone but with the rather good and flexible EQ you could generate a wide variety of characters.

[Wilco]

9 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Yes, that is how I understood set, I was guessing 2, so 1.5hr-2hr gig. As I said, not done one that short in a while!

I’ve done a couple of after meeting gigs at Newbury Racecourse this year. Literally employed to play for two hours after the last race. Pics below as they’ve got my SR’s in which is kind of topical to this thread!

 

[Silky999]

Folks to further complicate things, Andertons has a brand new SR1820 at half price. It’s got the Nords, the only difference I can see is that the neck is 5 piece as opposed to 13 and the body wood is different. 
I take it onboard about the tapewounds. I’ll stick with the stock elixirs. I used to use them anyway. 
So it’s now a choice between the 2600 and the 1820. Is there enough of a difference apart from finish between the two to justify the 2600 over the 1820?