bagsieblue

Still reading..... Yes, in that case IEM's would be good as you are effectively needing and wanting your own mix.

For a couple of songs the E goes up a step to D#. Yes - set up is key - absolutely. My gigging basses are set up accommodate the switch between C# and D# Using various different strings - I'm not wedded to one string type, gauge, manufacturer. I like/dislike different strings similar to how I like/dislike certain basses. For me, If anything was unsuitable to my playing preference, I'd change the strings and the set up. Scale length is way down on my list of things to change.

Haha - gotcha - three half steps isnt really that much either.... In my band the E string is dropped to C# - three half steps, the other strings dropped down a half step. 3 x half steps on 34" works for me - happy to link to recent recordings. With suitable strings and a suitable set up this works fine too across multiple basses. Of course, its not a sound for everyone - Agreed this changes the quality of the sound with the slackness and the rattle of the string as well as the pitch, different sounding beasts indeed.

Yeah - fair point. I was commenting on the background of the Ibanez comments of it being well set up, sounds OK unamplified, but doesnt sound good when amplified..weak, sounds like 2 different basses. Or to put it another way - I can forsee a possibility here of trying a different bass - into the same rig and the same mix - and that too sounding weak and like 2 basses.

Yeah I agree - I (still).... I dont think the poor old Ibanez bass is the problem. For this genre - £250 ish quid on a second hand Tech 21 Dug Pedal or a second hand HX stomp - 10 minutes downloading some presets and picking the one that worked best and you'd be golden on this.

Yes, that would give the pitch - in the Stoner/Doom etc mentioned above, downtuning also gives the sloppy/rattle quality to the sound too.

A 34", set up, strung as BEAD, then tuned down half a step to A# wont work? Why is that? - my experience is that can work, and relatively easily too. I've played a 33" scale 5'er, strung with a low B, was fine and I'm sure would have gone down half a step just fine too. I've played an even shorter one too - that I think was 30.5" scale - not 100% sure on the scale, certainly less than 33" - again played well strung to low B, would go down half a step nicely too I expect.

Yes, that's why I asked how the bass sounded unamplified.

Good points - EQ'ing downtuned guitars and bass in a mix can be tricky. I've had it in the past where the mix has been great in one part of a song in the verse - bass sounding fantastic. Get to the chorus and the bass disappeared, complete loss of bottom end in the whole mix - I didnt change anything but the guitarists each stepped on whichever pedal it was for them at that part of the song and destroyed the overall mix. The more I read this the less I think the bass is the problem. 12 Band EQ on the Amp - Trace Elliot by any chance? - you dont happen to have the shape button engaged do you?, sounds glorious played solo, but disappears in a band. Or on the Orange Terror Head - flat settings are mids up full, bass and treble all the way down

Yep - this is a genuinely useful thread and not just a rehash of stuff that has been covered many times before. I realise I'm ploughing a lone furrow on questioning the current bass. I've had an SR300 and it was fine. I have a £100 Yamaha stung BEAD and downtuned and that copes fine too. There are lots of threads these days on how great lower cost instruments are too - and rightly so. It's good and interesting to see some negative comments on a bass having had a good set up but sounding like 2 different basses. Cross referencing comments in this thread with many of the comments in the "For those who pretend tone doesn't come from wood" thread would be interesting - now there is a thread that has been rehashed many, many times. Getting new gear and a 'better' bass is great - so if it was me I'd want to be 100% sure the bass - as its currently set up etc is the problem, and whichever new bass replaced it solved the problem.

I agree - a few question marks over this one. Maybe a 70N (natural?) model on the same page - though may have expected a more attractive piece of wood for a natural finish. The back of the bass looks more attractive than the front on this one to me too. The pickup channel route is strange indeed.

..but no (high end) bass?- haha. Sorry to ask again - how does the Ibanez SR300 sound unamplified???

Still curious on this - also as you say - pretty weak and the tone changes so much across the range of the instrument How does the bass sound when played unamplified?

Ok, and you say it sounds pretty weak and the tone changes so much across the range of the bass - strange!. Nothing extreme going on in the EQ? Using any pedals? What is the amp and cabs out of interest?

Ibanez SR300 is a solid bass. Drop A# tuning, so key is string gauge and the set up. Also a pretty neutral EQ is needed in my experience when going that low. What are your band members opinion of your amp/cab/combo? Is that good enough for them?. Low A# is what 29hz? - given we hear the overtones - , Is your amp/cab/combo comfortable in reproducing something so low with a reasonably flat EQ?

Reef - Naked for Sony Minidisc for me.

Bought a neck off Rich - great guy to deal with - great deal. Would be more than happy to deal again - Thanks Rich