NBD: My Ibanez EHB range starts!

[FDC484950]

Glad you’ve got it back. I do wonder about the different neck, sounds like both a design and a manufacturing fault. 

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

Glad you’ve got it back. I do wonder about the different neck, sounds like both a design and a manufacturing fault. 

Not sure, the broken one is later. Looking through the photos I took on the first day (in fact the first one on this thread) I realise the crack was always there but for some reason I hadn't noticed it. Whether it became bigger or not later, it wasn't something that started when I had it.

Seems odd that the second neck would actually be different wood / construction, its the same model and everything.

[Killed_by_Death]

On 17/06/2020 at 15:23, BassApprentice said:

can't be hung

They can, the Hercules hanger with the Narrow-Neck adjusters installed will work for hanging it:

On 17/06/2020 at 15:26, Woodinblack said:

I have done a big search and can't find any other people talking about it happening, so I am guessing it is just bad luck.

Just a few months ago a guy on Talkbass had the exact same thing happen. He received it in good condition, but it cracked all on its own.

It's the 'roasted' wood, makes it brittle.

The local luthier told me people come to him these days with repair work just from tightening the machine-head nut down too tightly on a roasted maple headstock.

It does make the wood stiffer, IME, but aren't there always compromises?

 

I bought a Gator Transit case for mine, but only just found out yesterday there's a more heavily padded one called the Pro Ultimate:

Edited January 27, 2021 by Killed_by_Death

[Woodinblack]

9 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

They can, the Hercules hanger with the Narrow-Neck adjusters installed will work for hanging it:

Just a few months ago a guy on Talkbass had the exact same thing happen. He received it in good condition, but it cracked all on its own.

It's the 'roasted' wood, makes it brittle.

The local luthier told me people come to him these days with repair work just from tightening the machine-head nut down too tightly on a roasted maple headstock.

I mentioned it fitted in the hercules hanger, but I don't do it  and I must admit with all that said, I would be rather reluctant to hang it in a hanger like that with the presure of it only going on the piece of wood that broke on mine - the part held is entirely the part that is glued on.

Quote

It does make the wood stiffer, IME, but aren't there always compromises?

 

I bought a Gator Transit case for mine, but only just found out yesterday there's a more heavily padded one called the Pro Ultimate:

Good case. Although I am ok with the existing one.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Woodinblack

[Woodinblack]

Fitted the John East knobs to it today, I think they go pretty well with the tuners.

Took the opportunity to take the socket apart. If you take it out, undo the little security screw (panic a bit as it makes one of the terminals fall out), then pull the black bit out of the metal bit (noting which way round it goes as I didn't), then under the orange tab is a little spring. You can make the spring shorter if you want to reduce the pressure of the release mechanism on the socket, or what I did, take it out as I never got the point of those things.

Now you can plug in and out like a normal socket.

[Killed_by_Death]

 

What is the active/passive switch wired to now?

 

[Woodinblack]

Just now, Killed_by_Death said:

What is the active/passive switch wired to now?

Didn't change the preamp, perfectly happy with that, just changed the knobs, its still an active passive switch.

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Ha-Ha, I read John East & automatically thought PREAMP.

TBH the EHB preamp is the only one I've actually liked, on other basses i don't like the fact that they're not parametric like the mid-sweep on the EHB.

Here's a fun fact, they're using the same preamp as many many other models, but the one on the EHB has the VM3 module plugged in for the mids-knob.

 

[Woodinblack]

10 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

Ha-Ha, I read John East & automatically thought PREAMP.

TBH the EHB preamp is the only one I've actually liked, on other basses i don't like the fact that they're not parametric like the mid-sweep on the EHB.

I agree, I am not sure why they went away from that in the first place. My SR1000 from mid 2000s had a parametric, it seems later they went to the bass / mid / treble, which is not as useful a control

10 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

Here's a fun fact, they're using the same preamp as many many other models, but the one on the EHB has the VM3 module plugged in for the mids-knob.

I didn't know that.

[Lfalex v1.1]

I don't think they've changed their EQs since the dawn of time! 

I can almost completely get Sting's MC924 tone from my EDB605. They're ~25 years apart in terms of age, and of wholly different construction, but the EQ set points (fixed 3 band) seem exactly the same.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the new ones are modifications on the same theme with a vari-mid F bolted on.

That said,  if it ain't broke,  don't fix it

[Woodinblack]

Just now, Lfalex v1.1 said:

I don't think they've changed their EQs since the dawn of time! 

Well, they have - as I said, the SR1000 prestige had a parametric EQ with 2 stacked knobs, bass/treble and mid boost/mid frequency. The standards had 3 way bass, middle, treble, while the more budget end had bass and treble. The SR5005 prestige has (had when I got it) a parametric EQ with 4 knobs originally and has now gone to the same style as the premiums in having Bass / Mid / Treble with originally a 2 way selector for mid frequency, and later a 3 way selector

 

Just now, Lfalex v1.1 said:

I can almost completely get Sting's MC924 tone from my EDB605. They're ~25 years apart in terms of age, and of wholly different construction, but the EQ set points (fixed 3 band) seem exactly the same.

That is quite likely with the fixed middle frequency being 'what ibanez do', as in noone is crying out for them to change it.

Just now, Lfalex v1.1 said:

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the new ones are modifications on the same theme with a vari-mid F bolted on.

A 3 band EQ is just a parametric control where you have fixed the frequency rather than letting the user change it, there is no more to it than providing a control.

[Lfalex v1.1]

⬆️⬆️⬆️ 

Sorry,  wasn't clear enough. I meant that the frequency points of the fixed 3 band EQs don't seem to have fundamentally changed since Ibanez started using them and that the B & T set points are likely the same even if the mid-control is variable or fixed. 

[FDC484950]

Yes I had an SR3006e from the early 2000s and the parametric mid was quite good. Fast forward to one of the earliest SR5006 basses with the 3v preamp and the EQ was pretty much useless, I even changed the batteries as I thought they were dying. 

[Woodinblack]

11 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

 Fast forward to one of the earliest SR5006 basses with the 3v preamp and the EQ was pretty much useless, I even changed the batteries as I thought they were dying. 

Same here, before I changed it. That was a bad choice, but at least they now have the premium EQ. Hopefully they will swap to the EHB Eq

 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

I love my EHB quite a lot, & even have considered selling all my other instruments, except perhaps my bongos.

The only thing that bugs me about it are the 'luminescent' fret-markers on the top side of the neck.

They don't glow for long at all, even when using a UV light to charge them, but they're initially darker than 'normal' dots:

As usual, I wish it was an amalgamation of the SR1800E on the left, with the Big Singles & the standard fret-markers.

I like those John East knobs & will see if I can buy some w/o buying an East preamp.

 

[Woodinblack]

17 minutes ago, Killed_by_Death said:

I love my EHB quite a lot, & even have considered selling all my other instruments, except perhaps my bongos.

The only thing that bugs me about it are the 'luminescent' fret-markers on the top side of the neck.

Yes, ibanez don't seem to have got the hang of those unlike some - the ones on my Maruszczyk are much more useable.

17 minutes ago, Killed_by_Death said:

I like those John East knobs & will see if I can buy some w/o buying an East preamp.

They are in a separate section under accessories.

[Killed_by_Death]

 

The local luthier quoted me $100 - $150 USD to put in LumInlay brand dots. I think there must be some conflict in Japan for Ibanez not using LumInlay, which is also a Japanese company.

https://luminlay.com/featuresen.html

adit/add:

found it, ESP is a user of LumInlay, so Ibanez would automatically not buy from them

https://luminlay.com/cuslink.html

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Killed_by_Death
additional info

[MDWagstaff]

4 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

I love my EHB quite a lot, & even have considered selling all my other instruments, except perhaps my bongos.

The only thing that bugs me about it are the 'luminescent' fret-markers on the top side of the neck.

They don't glow for long at all, even when using a UV light to charge them, but they're initially darker than 'normal' dots:

As usual, I wish it was an amalgamation of the SR1800E on the left, with the Big Singles & the standard fret-markers.

I like those John East knobs & will see if I can buy some w/o buying an East preamp.

 

Could you not swap the electronics from the 1800e?

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Yes, I've already measure pole-spacing & other dimensions, I could just move the Big Singles into the EHB.

I asked the local luthier how much he'd charge to swap them, I 'could' do it, but I'd rather get a pro. He wouldn't actually answer me & said more than once that he'd leave the EHB as-is.

I've compared them directly with the same strings on when I first got the EHB & I thought I could live with the difference, but now I feel a little differently.

For the moment I'm keeping them both, so when I want that extra BITE I'll grab the SR1800E. For now it's my B-Standard bass (Type-O-Negative).