New 2023 Ibanez Basses?

[Mikey D]

Starting to be seen out in the wild...

 

First: fretless EHB1005F-AOB

 

 

 

https://www.ibanez.com/eu/news/detail/20221207141839.html

 

5 string EUB?

More widely available black flat ehb1505ms?

Some new SRs as is usually...

No new prestige range (yet)?

Edited December 31, 2022 by Mikey D

[gafbass02]

I’m loving the new SR500 colour

[Linus27]

I really don't know what to make of this. On one hand I absolutely love it, fretless, headless and a blue fretboard but on the other hand it's just too whacky. I can't decide if it's a pure genuine piece of art or something that a drunken insecure art student would design to try to be different. Its blown my little traditional fretless brain to pieces 😂

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Linus27

[Woodinblack]

Well, I love it. The only thing I don't love is the brown bit by the end of the neck, would it have killed them to make it blue?

[Russ]

There's a new fanned-fret version of their Bass VI thingy - the SRC6MS: 

Looks nice. I really, really wish they wouldn't use the rubbish Bartolini BH-2s in their basses though. I'd happily pay a little more for the Nordys. 

[lemmywinks]

27 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Well, I love it. The only thing I don't love is the brown bit by the end of the neck, would it have killed them to make it blue?

 

Thought exactly this when I first saw it, otherwise it looks great.

[Linus27]

7 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Well, I love it. The only thing I don't love is the brown bit by the end of the neck, would it have killed them to make it blue?

Yeah I agree, it does look a bit odd or unfinished. As it has a bolt on neck, I thought you could do something with it but looking at this picture, you can see the reason it's done that way as it's the neck wood blending in under the fretboard. It would probably look odd if it matched the colour of the board as the sides would then look odd. Just wish they'd used a dark wood instead. It also appears to be passive only so I thi k it will be priced at around £999. Could be wrong though.

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Linus27

[Machines]

1 hour ago, Linus27 said:

 It also appears to be passive only so I thi k it will be priced at around £999. Could be wrong though.

 

That's the standard Ibanez 3 band EQ, but it can be set passive.

 

Nothing particularly enthralling in there, however I can see the fretless/fretted abomination is back with a new colour.

[Linus27]

3 minutes ago, Machines said:

 

That's the standard Ibanez 3 band EQ, but it can be set passive.

 

Nothing particularly enthralling in there, however I can see the fretless/fretted abomination is back with a new colour.

Ok thank you, I'm not up with Ibanez stuff but nice it has the option of being passive.

[lemmywinks]

1 hour ago, Linus27 said:

Yeah I agree, it does look a bit odd or unfinished. As it has a bolt on neck, I thought you could do something with it but looking at this picture, you can see the reason it's done that way as it's the neck wood blending in under the fretboard. It would probably look odd if it matched the colour of the board as the sides would then look odd. Just wish they'd used a dark wood instead. It also appears to be passive only so I thi k it will be priced at around £999. Could be wrong though.

 

 

It looks jarring on this one as the fretboard is very dark, on the standard EHB100x series it doesn't stick out so much as the fretboard and neck wood are a similar colour:

 

Would have looked a lot better with the panga panga / walnut neck from the 1505 and 1265 basses.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, lemmywinks said:

Would have looked a lot better with the panga panga / walnut neck from the 1505 and 1265 basses.

 

I love coloured necks, so I like it, it is just that bit.

I would certainly get one of those if it turned up, although there is the cost of new pickups. 

[Linus27]

1 hour ago, lemmywinks said:

 

It looks jarring on this one as the fretboard is very dark, on the standard EHB100x series it doesn't stick out so much as the fretboard and neck wood are a similar colour:

 

Would have looked a lot better with the panga panga / walnut neck from the 1505 and 1265 basses.

Yep, totally agree, panga panga or walnut would have looked so much better. Disappointing also there's no 4 string option.

[tauzero]

12 hours ago, Linus27 said:

I really don't know what to make of this. On one hand I absolutely love it, fretless, headless and a blue fretboard but on the other hand it's just too whacky. I can't decide if it's a pure genuine piece of art or something that a drunken insecure art student would design to try to be different. Its blown my little traditional fretless brain to pieces 😂

 

 

Ibanez don't seem to be embracing fretlessnessesesses with any great enthusiasm - exactly the same amount of enthusiasm as they show for lefties, in fact. Five string variant only (I'm a 5-string player, but I recognise that the majority of bassists are 5-string impaired), and only the bass base model spec with very ordinary finish and the Bartolini pickups which are reasonable but a bit lacking compared to the Nordstrands in the EHB-15 series or the Aguilars which are a worthwhile upgrade for the EHB-10/EHB-12 series.

 

I can't understand why you're bemused by this when the EHBs have been out for a couple of years and quite a few of us have them. Have they so far passed you by?

[Linus27]

11 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

Ibanez don't seem to be embracing fretlessnessesesses with any great enthusiasm - exactly the same amount of enthusiasm as they show for lefties, in fact. Five string variant only (I'm a 5-string player, but I recognise that the majority of bassists are 5-string impaired), and only the bass base model spec with very ordinary finish and the Bartolini pickups which are reasonable but a bit lacking compared to the Nordstrands in the EHB-15 series or the Aguilars which are a worthwhile upgrade for the EHB-10/EHB-12 series.

 

I can't understand why you're bemused by this when the EHBs have been out for a couple of years and quite a few of us have them. Have they so far passed you by?

 

Yes, I'd say pretty much passed me by but I'm more bemused by the fact I have never seen a fretless with what appears to be a blue fretboard and on a headless fretless (apart from Status). I've seen these EHB basses before but not fretless, coloured board and headless so it was a bit of a woah moment. This is just very different to the usual lined rosewood headed fretless basses that most manufacturers put out. I'm a big fan of Ibanez basses and think the SRF500 is the best looking fretless on the market as well hankering after a fretless Musician at some point so full credit to them for making this. I'm very tempted to actually get one to be honest. I don't play 5 string but it could be a good challenge for 2023.

Edited January 1, 2023 by Linus27

[tauzero]

6 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

 

Yes, I'd say pretty much passed me by but I'm more bemused by the fact I have never seen a fretless with what appears to be a blue fretboard and on a headless fretless (apart from Status). I've seen these EHB basses before but not fretless, coloured board and headless so it was a bit of a woah moment. This is just very different to the usual lined rosewood headed fretless basses that most manufacturers put out. I'm a big fan of Ibanez basses and think the SRF500 is the best looking fretless on the market as well hankering after a fretless Musician at some point so full credit to them for making this. I'm very tempted to actually get one to be honest. I don't play 5 string but it could be a good challenge for 2023.

 

It looks well worth it, although if you found the pickups a bit lacking in clarity, you would need to budget another couple of hundred quid for a pair of Aguilars or more for the Nordstrands.

 

The fingerboard is Richlite - @Andyjr1515 built a neck using it for @fleabag so one of them might have a comment on what it's like. From having a quick look back at this:

 

 

 

I think any issues Andy had with it were with the fretting part and sticking it to anything.

 

[Andyjr1515]

40 minutes ago, tauzero said:

The fingerboard is Richlite - @Andyjr1515 built a neck using it for @fleabag so one of them might have a comment on what it's like.

From a finished article and player's point of view, it's fine.  I've played both basses and guitars with Richlite and they have all played, looked and felt good. 

 

From a builder's point of view - hmmm, it's in the category of 'jolly hard work' 

 

[lemmywinks]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I love coloured necks, so I like it, it is just that bit.

I would certainly get one of those if it turned up, although there is the cost of new pickups. 

 

They could just put T1 pickups on there and have a great sounding bass which would probably be cheaper. Don't know why they (well Cort really) keep slapping a Bart license on such flavourless pickups and preamps.

[lemmywinks]

Good that they're bringing the Black Ice finish to the 5 string EHB but they really need to let the Tropical Sea Floor one out of Japan, keep ogling them on eBay.

 

 

[tauzero]

2 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

Good that they're bringing the Black Ice finish to the 5 string EHB but they really need to let the Tropical Sea Floor one out of Japan, keep ogling them on eBay.

 

 

 

That and the Ocean Inlet one both look interesting.

[horrorshowbass]

Disappointing finishes overall compared to last year.

The EHB fretless is interesting though. Still have a hankering for one of these in a 4.

 

[Count Bassy]

On 31/12/2022 at 20:30, Mikey D said:

Starting to be seen out in the wild...

 

First: fretless EHB1005F-AOB

 

 

 

https://www.ibanez.com/eu/news/detail/20221207141839.html

 

5 string EUB?

More widely available black flat ehb1505ms?

Some new SRs as is usually...

No new prestige range (yet)?

 

It's such a shame that the Demo Video doesn't show it being played as a bass.

[velvetkevorkian]

14 hours ago, horrorshowbass said:

Disappointing finishes overall compared to last year.

The EHB fretless is interesting though. Still have a hankering for one of these in a 4.

 

This would be 10x nicer if they didn't leave the wildly mismatched neck laminates showing, imho.

 

Wait, is that even a through neck?

[Ed_S]

18 minutes ago, velvetkevorkian said:

This would be 10x nicer if they didn't leave the wildly mismatched neck laminates showing, imho.

 

Wait, is that even a through neck?

 

Nah, they're bolt-on. I much prefer a solid colour finish on the top and around, if not over, the neck joint. That said, I picked a 1305SB up genuinely cheap in the 2021 Black Friday sales and it's been a very nice bass feel/sound-wise, but the best I can say about it aesthetically is that it should be quite forgiving when it comes to repairing any gigging dings with a bit of felt-tip, nail polish or superglue! The finish on the majority of SRs does seem to be quite soft, so I'm taking that as a legitimate bonus.

 

That's the thing that concerns me about the new 1355B - I like the mocha finish, but I bet it will be an absolute damage magnet... and show it.

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, Ed_S said:

The finish on the majority of SRs does seem to be quite soft, so I'm taking that as a legitimate bonus.

 

There are a lot of soft finishes, but if you need them, there are hard (ie, non wood) finishes too, such as heavy varnish.

[Ed_S]

7 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

There are a lot of soft finishes, but if you need them, there are hard (ie, non wood) finishes too, such as heavy varnish.

 

I don't think I've seen any Premium or Prestige SRs in high gloss poly - have I missed a beat? Or do you mean just in general I should buy other basses that do come in the finish I'd prefer? Or drop down to the 300/400 series SRs to get the shape and the gloss finish but lose the niceties? Or something else entirely like have a body refinished?