Ibanez EHB1000S Review

[scrumpymike]

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I've got the 5 string - the reach is shorter. The bridge is basically in the same place as any other bass - near the rear strap button, so the shortness is from the other end.

 

If you put your finger on a F on the shorter scale that probably is close to where G or G# would be on a 34 inch bass.

Thanks for that.  I'm familiar with the difference between standard and short-scale.  It's the difference between this Ibby and other s-s basses I need to understand.  This one has its top strap button around F10 as opposed to the normal F12, which should bring F1 even closer.

[Obrienp]

Purely subjective view of my 4 string is that the neck feels shorter than my other short scale bass. It does take me a few minutes to get used to it when I switch to it from another bass. I find myself relying on the dot markers on the side of the neck more than with other basses. I think the body is the same size as the 34” scale version but I admit I haven’t compared the measurements. It sits well on the strap despite all of this.

[jazzyvee]

Any pointers to a luminay supplier in the UK? I havent found any on my searches.

[fretmeister]

I had my side dots drilled out and replaced with old fashioned bright white plastic dots.

 

I've had a variety of UV reactive stuff and it's all been crap. So for me, it's either just a visible bit of plastic, or go the whole way and get LEDs.

[6feet7]

On 07/03/2022 at 10:13, fretmeister said:

I had my side dots drilled out and replaced with old fashioned bright white plastic dots.

 

I've had a variety of UV reactive stuff and it's all been crap. So for me, it's either just a visible bit of plastic, or go the whole way and get LEDs.

I'm having mine done (plastic white dots) at this very moment

[Woodinblack]

I have luminays in several basses and I must say they vary from not really that useful to worse than white plastic dots. In fact the not really that useful ones are the ones in my elwood, and I would say that as they look like white plastic dots, or could be because the board is ebony, so they are easy to see. They are worse in the EHB where they don't stand out very much at all.

[Peter Train]

I was interested in the EHB1000 but have to say that I’m put off by the number of issues that people have with the inlays and pick ups. Don’t really want to spend this sort of money on a bass only to have to spend a lot more to make it useable. 

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Peter Train said:

I was interested in the EHB1000 but have to say that I’m put off by the number of issues that people have with the inlays and pick ups. Don’t really want to spend this sort of money on a bass only to have to spend a lot more to make it useable. 

 

I am not sure that anyone really has issues with the inlays, there are a lot of people customising theirs, mine are standard as they are fine. Its a matter of preference.

Pickups also, it depends on what you want. I am not a fan of the barts particularly, but it is a choice.

 

My only non standard bits (although mine is a 1505) are the knobs and the jack socket mods, because I fancied metal knobs and I don't like locking mods.

 

[Obrienp]

18 hours ago, Peter Train said:

I was interested in the EHB1000 but have to say that I’m put off by the number of issues that people have with the inlays and pick ups. Don’t really want to spend this sort of money on a bass only to have to spend a lot more to make it useable. 

I would say it’s many advantages outweigh, the few disadvantages. You get used to the dot markers. I see the luminous thing being an additional plus, so if it doesn’t work that well, then you are just where you would be with a lot of other basses. 
 

As Woodinblack says, the “issue” with the pickups is very subjective. The OEM Bart’s are a bit old school but then how many basses at this price point come with pickups you would never want to change? I whinged about it at first but I now realise that, with all its other features, the budget would not stretch to more expensive pickups. I did put Aguilars in mine but I was being a sheep really. I wanted to hear what everybody else was raving about. They do sound very good by the way and probably make the bass more versatile tone wise. I don’t think this is unique to the EHB1000S:  I know plenty of people who have bought more expensive “standard” model Fenders and the first thing they did was replace pickups and bridge.

 

I do have to state a bit of a vested interest here, in that I am probably going to have to sell mine soon. I operate a strict one in, one out policy and it looks like my Nordstrand Acinonyx may finally be arriving this month. I will be sad to part with the EHB1000S. It is probably the most ergonomically designed instrument I have ever owned. It balances well on the strap, weighs very little, has a minimum reach neck, is nicely contoured, so no sharp edges digging into the picking arm, etc. All of this adds up to a bass you can play for a long gig with minimum discomfort.

[Peter Train]

Let me know if you do decide to sell yours I might be interested 

[Obrienp]

14 hours ago, Peter Train said:

Let me know if you do decide to sell yours I might be interested 

I’ve PMd you.

[fretmeister]

The old school nature of the pickups can be 'improved' (if that's your taste) by moving the plugs on the preamp. It takes about 10 mins and is reversible. No money needed.

 

[Obrienp]

On 07/04/2022 at 16:46, fretmeister said:

The old school nature of the pickups can be 'improved' (if that's your taste) by moving the plugs on the preamp. It takes about 10 mins and is reversible. No money needed.

 

I guess you are referring to the +6DB port. Funny, I tried that on another Ibanez I had but didn’t think of doing it with the EHB1000S. Doh! However, I am happy with the Aguilars now; so much so, that I never use the active circuitry.

[fretmeister]

On 08/04/2022 at 23:15, Obrienp said:

I guess you are referring to the +6DB port. Funny, I tried that on another Ibanez I had but didn’t think of doing it with the EHB1000S. Doh! However, I am happy with the Aguilars now; so much so, that I never use the active circuitry.

And the other plug too. It changes the “flat” EQ curve on the preamp to slightly reduce the mids and increase top end presence.

[Peter Train]

I’m now the happy owner of an EHB1000 and loving it.

[maxthestork]

Hey all, first post here all the way from Australia!

 

Got hold of the EHB1000s back in August and I'm loving it so far.  The range of sounds is great and I was pretty happy with the build quality.  Setup was spot on for intonation and action was comfortable straight out of the box.  

 

I've since put on flat wounds and they feel and sound great.  Possible to get decent slap and pop with some tweaks to the EQ even with the flat wounds. 

 

One thing is driving me crazy over the last few days though.  The EQ pot that is in line with passive/active switch (as opposed to the EQ pot that is in line with the pickup blend and volume pots) does not appear to have a detent on the lower section of the pot.  The smaller upper pot has a detent.    I can't remember if it started out having a detent on the bottom pot or not.  The pot works fine just a little annoyting for there not to have a detent when it looks like it should be a pot with a detent.

 

Can any owners confirm if all the EQ pots have a centre detent position?  TIA.

Overall though very happy with the playability and sound of the bass.

 

cheers!

 

[Obrienp]

14 hours ago, maxthestork said:

 

 

Can any owners confirm if all the EQ pots have a centre detent position?  TIA.

Overall though very happy with the playability and sound of the bass.

Hi, Welcome. I’m originally from NSW but I’ve been living in the UK off and on since I was 7. Nice to have another antipodean on here!

 

Trying to remember the layout on my EHB1000S (let it go a few months back). I think you are referring to the mids control, in which case, there wasn’t a detent on the sweep part (lower part of the control stack). That makes sense, as it would be difficult to decide on a factory default frequency range.

 

You watch , somebody will correct me😏. 
 

Enjoy anyway. Great little bass. Only let go of mine to help fund a Nordstrand Acononyx.

[Woodinblack]

30 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

Trying to remember the layout on my EHB1000S (let it go a few months back). I think you are referring to the mids control, in which case, there wasn’t a detent on the sweep part (lower part of the control stack). That makes sense, as it would be difficult to decide on a factory default frequency range.

 

You watch , somebody will correct me😏.

 

Nope, you are right.

 

Bass, treble and centre have a detent in the middle which is the mid way - so one side of the detent is cut and one side of the detent for all of those controls. The other one is the mid frequency, which as you say has no centre position, so this is right. That one being the bottom of the 3rd knob from the neck end.

[maxthestork]

12 hours ago, Obrienp said:

Hi, Welcome. I’m originally from NSW but I’ve been living in the UK off and on since I was 7. Nice to have another antipodean on here!

 

Trying to remember the layout on my EHB1000S (let it go a few months back). I think you are referring to the mids control, in which case, there wasn’t a detent on the sweep part (lower part of the control stack). That makes sense, as it would be difficult to decide on a factory default frequency range.

 

You watch , somebody will correct me😏. 
 

Enjoy anyway. Great little bass. Only let go of mine to help fund a Nordstrand Acononyx.

Thanks for confirming that and that makes sense.  The Nordstrand Acononyx looks lovely!  

[maxthestork]

11 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Nope, you are right.

 

Bass, treble and centre have a detent in the middle which is the mid way - so one side of the detent is cut and one side of the detent for all of those controls. The other one is the mid frequency, which as you say has no centre position, so this is right. That one being the bottom of the 3rd knob from the neck end.

 

Thanks again for confirming this for me.  It's just one of those mindless niggly things that was driving me crazy while completely not affecting the function of the bass!!

can go back to actually concentrating on the music now  🙂 

[lemmywinks]

Had to ask the same question when I got mine, both my other basses with a mid sweep control had a centre detent so I thought it was broken!

[Woodinblack]

3 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

Had to ask the same question when I got mine, both my other basses with a mid sweep control had a centre detent so I thought it was broken!

 

I would say the others were!

[lemmywinks]

On 27/10/2022 at 17:44, Woodinblack said:

 

I would say the others were!

 

I can see arguments for both really, the Sire is centred at 600hz I think so most people's preferences will be there or thereabouts. I do like the super low mids on the Ibanez though, one of the first things I did was roll it all the way back and boost a little. Sounds killer.