Obrienp

Maybe but it balances well on a strap, so they got something right.

Thanks for the info on that. I feel more comfortable soldering than trying to source the correct plugs. 🤞 that it doesn’t come to changing them but if I do, I now know what to do. I have ordered some D’Addario Pro Steels, which I hope will make it sound clearer.

Thanks for the info on that. I was obviously looking at the wrong two leads. As I said, I haven’t unbundled the wiring so I could get a better look at what is going on. I can only see one plug connector onto that board but obviously there must be another, which is currently obscured by the wiring. I imagine I could find some of those plugs online, if I wanted to do a neat job, or as you say reuse the old ones. Something to think about anyway but at the moment I am hoping to avoid having to change the pickups. 🤞

That is what it looks like but I haven’t cut the tie wrap and started pulling the wires around, so I may have been tracing the wrong set of cables. Definitely a pair of cables with black and white leads are soldered to that board. There are molex plugs all over the place after that. I am guessing replacement pickups don’t come from Aguilar, etc with molex plugs on them, so soldering is going to be needed anyway.

Yep, I’m not trying to be too objective about this. It’s all personal opinion and taste based on my particular bass. Others may vary in certain characteristics, like the stiffness of the tuners. I take the point regarding having a passive tone control. Compared to some switchable active basses, this is definitely a plus. I have only ever had stock active basses from Ibanez. Of those, 2 are active only and one (an SR) was switchable active /passive and I am pretty sure it had a passive tone control (and 5 controls without the sweepable mids). Looking at the specification of after market active preamps, several Aguilars have this feature, either with, or without a passive tone control. I can’t see one with a separate passive tone control and I guess another control on the EHB would be over the top. A question for anybody who has changed the pickups on an EHB, whether 4 or 5 string: it seems the pickup lead connections are soldered onto a circuit board attached to the blend control. How did unsoldering the original pickup leads and soldering the new ones go compared to doing the same on conventional potentiometers? I feel nervous about frying the board but at least you don’t have to solder the earths on the back of the pot. Also the cavity looks very full with all the boards and cables. My inclination would be to undo the retaining nut on the blend pot and pull it clear of the cavity to do the work. Obviously I would have to cut the cable tie and pull the preamp board and cables clear as well but is there sufficient length of wire between the pots to enable one to be pulled clear on its own, without touching the others? It becomes a really major job if you have to pull all the pots clear and possibly disconnect the jack socket to do this. I am hoping to be able to avoid the pickup change but the difficulty of the swap would also influence my decision to do the mod.

Hi Folks. I thought I would do a little update after owning this bass for a couple of weeks and using it at a band rehearsal. Plus points: 1. It really is comfortable to play for extended periods either sitting, or standing; 2. Balance is great on a strap; no dive and it stays where you put it; 3. The neck is very comfortable despite being a bit wider than you might expect for Ibanez, i.e. compared to an SR; 4. The tuning seems more stable than my conventional headed basses; 5. It does look good and I am even getting used to the colour 😊; 6. £16 outlay on decent metal tele style knobs has improved the looks and feel; 7. You can use standard length strings and cut them, rather than expensive short scale; 8. The locking jack socket is great and getting less difficult to use as time passes. Not so good: 1. I am beginning to understand why people are not happy with the Bartolini pickups. They sound great in the studio through my all valve head and Barefaced cabs: if, like me, you like a quite vintage clean sound. During rehearsal on a stage in a hall, they just disappeared into a barely audible rumble. When I increased the mids and treble to make them cut through a bit, they just sounded harsh, so much so that one of the guitarists asked me to do something about it. This could be because I was using my Ashdown Little Stubby (30 watts) on 11 on master volume but with the gain quite low to try to get a clean sound. Obviously the amp just doesn’t have the headroom but I am sure the sound source has something to do with it. I am suspending judgement until I try it through my 500 watt (admittedly class D) head, which should give me a lot of headroom and finer tuning of the mids (low and high). At the moment I feel uncomfortable about having to lay out an extra £200 on upgrading pickups and if I do, Aguilar, or Nordstrand? Get it wrong and it could turn into a money pit; 2. Standard string guage on this and many Ibanez basses. Why the light medium hybrid? I play across the strings rather than up them and it sounds like I have switched basses when I hit the G. OK easy enough to try 50-105 mediums but then I am going to have to enlarge the slots and that will prevent me going back to the standard fit, if it doesn’t work, without changing the nut. I am probably going to do it though, because I want to try some flex steels to make it brighter/clearer and hopefully avoid a pickup upgrade (see 1 above); 3. Why do Ibanez put those nasty plastic nuts on expensive basses? The black looks good but surely it wouldn’t break the budget to go for graphite, or even Graphtec? All three of my Ibanez basses have this irritation; 4. The tuning system seems to hold tune well but the knurled adjusters are a bit stiff (I guess they have to be), so it is quite difficult to do fine adjustments. Perhaps this will loosen up with use; 5. The treble control knob doubles as the passive tone control. This means that when you switch between passive and active, it is bound to be in the wrong position for that setting. It makes switching a two step process. Probably not a huge problem and common to most active preamp setups but there you go: an inconvenience. With the exception of the pickup issue, the above are common to most Ibanez offerings and a lot of other makes too, so this is a bit of a general whinge. Overall, I am happy with the purchase and I am certainly going to hold on to it. You get a lot of features for your money and the overall format is sound. I hope this helps anybody considering it.

4.2 kg and 4.5 for the standard Jazz style model. Great idea but a bit hefty for me.

I would definitely please yourself. His is just one view. I enjoy modifying guitars and basses, however I’ll advised it may be. With the Bronco you can create a quite decent bass for not very much. Like many modifications (to whatever basic platform) you are unlikely to recover your outlay but how often do you make a profit selling a modern instrument?

I had never heard of those. I had a quick squint at the website. I can’t see any that look like a direct replacement but maybe there is old stock around? All the dimensions seem to be in inches, so I am not sure if they will fit without modification. The standard Bronco peg holes are 12mm. All the Kiesels seem to be 9/16”, which I think is just over 14mm, so you will have to enlarge the peg holes. Also you are going to have 4 redundant screw holes per machine head, as the Kiesels just seem to have screw in bushes, although they may have a pin, or tang to stop them twisting. I am not saying it is a bad idea but there will be some modification and cosmetic tidy up to do. I found cocktail sticks pretty effective for filling the screw holes but you can see them close up.

Right, I am going to have to adjust my understanding of “silly expensive” but congratulations, I’ve heard they are great cabs. Reading ahead to your later posts, I bet it will sound fantastic with the Orange Terror on top. What a rig! I’m not jealous 🤣🤣.

Yes, understood. I am certainly not recommending the Northwest Guitars tuners over the ones from WD. If I had known about the ones from WD beforehand, I would have gone for them. Much easier to be able to go for the drop in tuners, as long as they are genuinely better than the stock items. Unfortunately, nobody has reviewed them on this forum, so they are a bit of an unknown.

Yes, there were quite a few suggestions on there. I was surprised at the Squier P or J suggestion not requiring some woodwork. I would have thought the post diameter would be bigger, even if they can use the same screw holes. I opted for Northwest Guitars lightweight tuners which didn’t fit any of the screw holes and the post holes needed to be enlarged to 14mm. I used toothpicks to fill in the redundant screw holes and it doesn’t look too bad from a distance. Look close though and they are quite visible.

Hi, if you are interested in changing the machine heads, which I think is a worthwhile mod, see the Advice on Changing Squire Bronco Machine Heads thread (sorry I can’t work out how to paste a link). WD Music do some tuners that look as though they will drop in without changing the post holes or screw positions.

Yep, you guys are right. No need to spend cash on upgrades, if I am happy enough with it stock: with the exception of the control knobs that look like the tops of toothpaste tubes! However, I have only played it through my valve amp and 2 Barefaced One10s, which I think will make anything sound pretty good. I am wondering whether my more transparent sounding class D heads will reveal inadequacies I haven’t noticed yet. Only one way to find out….

What is it that you don’t like about the Bartolinis and what will the Aguilars bring that the Barts lack? The reason I ask is that I recently bought the 4 string version of this bass and I like the sound the Barts make but they have been so widely criticised that I am beginning to doubt my judgement. I kind of baulk at paying out £200 on replacement pickups on a bass that cost £800 (or £1k in the case of the 5 string). Will the Aguilars really be that much better?

I should have added that the Ashdown RM EVO II range also includes a 2 x 10 and a single 15”, which do seem to be available now (nice discount at Bonners Music). Trouble is they weight in at 15.5 and 15 kg respectively, which is lightweight compared to old cabs but not in the super lightweight category IMO. Also they are 8 ohms, so they are not going to give you a single box solution to get the full welly from your Class D amp. Personally I think the 12 is the best compromise in the EVO II range and 2 of them are manageable, without taking up too much space. Two are going to handle a 500 watt head pretty well, as long as you don’t have everything on 11. Mind you my Barefaced One10s, while capable of surviving that sort of treatment, wouldn’t sound good either. In fact, they start to break up earlier than the RM112T.

I guess it depends on what you mean by silly expensive. Barefaced and GR have been mentioned and they are great (I have 2 x Barefaced One10s) but I wouldn’t exactly call them cheap. Also if I was doing it again I would get the Two10, which works out cheaper than 2 x One10s and is 4/12 ohm switchable. They are also vintage voiced, which might not be want you want. if you want a transparent sounding, lightweight cab there are the Barefaced 12s, which come in various cab sizes but they are pretty expensive. I understand the GRs are transparent too (I haven’t tried one so that is 3rd hand) but also pretty expensive. I have an Ashdown RM112T EVO II, which is cheap as chips in comparison and pretty transparent sounding. It’s only 12kg, which is not super lightweight but the handle is well placed and it is compact, so easy to carry. It is 8 ohms and rated at 300 watts. You can get a pair of them for less than a Barefaced Two10 and have enough change for a decent effects pedal. Well, I say you can but there don’t seem to be any in the country at the moment. I have been looking for a second to replace one of my Barefaced One10s. Ashdown tell me there is a shipment arriving mid August.

They look good. Where did you get those?

They look good. Where did you get those, if you don’t mind me asking?

OK, for what it is worth, I bought the 4 string version of this. The pickups are the same as the 5 (as far as I can see) and the same controls, so I am assuming the preamp is the same. I had a look under the cover on mine and yes, there is an empty port labelled +6db. With the preamp engaged, it seems marginally louder than in passive mode, so I won’t be using the 6db boost but I guess you could use it and lower the pickups. Personally, I like the tone as it is.

The Affirma must be the exception. It is in the Premium range and has metal knobs.

I finally succumbed to the GAS and bought the 4 string version of the EHB short scale. I know there is a thread on the 5 string but I thought this warranted it’s own. First impressions are very favourable. It seems pretty well made. Not quite in the same league as the Premium and Prestige ranges but easily as good as say, a Mex Fender. There is one flaw in the finish on the top of the residual headstock and that might be the result of the head rubbing on the packaging in transit (see photo later). Otherwise the finish is excellent. It is super light, almost like picking up an acoustic. It makes my Gretsch Junior Jet feel decidedly overweight. The back of the body is heavily sculpted from the centre line on the upper bout. This makes it very comfortable to sit with and balance on a strap is good too. I think it is going to be great for extended sessions. I can understand why some people criticise the Bartolini pickups. The Ibanez website says they are dual coil: humbuckers to the rest of us I guess and that is always going to put them in a certain tonal range. I can’t find that model on the Bartolini website, so they must be Ibanez specific. On top of the humbucker pickups, the body is chambered, so it is pretty close to a semi-acoustic. All of that is bound to give the tone a sort of 60s bias, i would have thought. It happens to suit me fine but when you switch from passive to active, the 3-band eq gives you a lot of tone shaping options, especially as the mid control has a frequency band adjustment. As an aside, the pickups are very long. It made me wonder if they use the same set in the 5 string, perhaps there is a six coming, they are long enough. The neck is a thing of beauty to behold. Lovely burled grain effect. The only problem there is that you can’t see the dot markers on the front or the side in normal light. They just seem to blend into the darker (but not as dark as rosewood) pigment of the fretboard. Apparently the side dots are luminous but I haven’t noticed that working. Profile wise, it is slightly wider and flatter than an Ibanez SR, or Jazz Bass. Compared to the Gretsch Junior Jet it is a couple of millimetres wider all the way up. The carve on the back seems to start as a C and flattens quickly to a D as you go up the neck. The overall impression is that it is chunkier than I expected but nothing unmanageable and comfortable for extended playing sessions even with my stubby fingers. That is pretty subjective of course. The rest of it is nicely appointed, except for the plastic control knobs, which look like the top of a toothpaste tube. I am not sure what made Ibanez put those on it. It really lets it down because the rest of the hardware is pretty good quality. The individual bridge units and tuners are good quality and offer string spacing adjustment. It comes with Schaller strap locks (not just the buttons), a detachable finger ramp and locking jack socket (a bit stiff to operate but it works). The gig bag is pretty good (I guess 10mm padding),with a fair number of pockets and a neck retaining strap on the inside. It is definitely a keeper as far as I am concerned but I will be replacing those horrible plastic knobs with some metal ones.