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Ibanez Talman.


mikel
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Bought an Ibanez Talman short scale yesterday as I am sick of struggling with long scale basses. I am only a little guy, with small hands, and I found the bottom 3 frets a stretch on a standard bass. I thought I would go for a budget instrument to be sure I could get away with the smaller size. Well....its a revelation, not just the ease of playing but the instrument itself. How can such cheap basses be so good? I changed the rubbish original strings for D'Addario round wounds and the guitar just sings. To say I am happy with the purchase would be a huge understatement.

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Congrats on your new bass.

I think Ibanez basses are generally amazing value for money - brand new and even more so 2nd hand - as unfortunately they don't hold their value at all.

I love short scale bases too - more comfortable with having small mitts and T-rex arms!

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@mikel I've also got a short scale Talman and fully agree that they are superb instruments for the stupidly cheap they are. I bought mine from a mate who had installed some Kent Armstrong vintage pickups and a set of D'Addario rounds and given it a set it up. Since I've had it, I've swapped the bridge as I found the stock one on mine to be a bit flimsy, and had it rewired to include a blend pot instead of the stock individual volumes for each pup. It plays and sounds great, sits in the mix where I want it and is regularly gigged along side a couple of my basses that cost 10 times the price of the Talman shorty! My only gripe is that mine is pretty heavy, I'm not sure if they all are but I use a comfort strap so it doesn't bother me come the end of the night. 

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On 26/10/2018 at 12:23, mikel said:

Bought an Ibanez Talman short scale yesterday as I am sick of struggling with long scale basses. I am only a little guy, with small hands, and I found the bottom 3 frets a stretch on a standard bass. I thought I would go for a budget instrument to be sure I could get away with the smaller size. Well....its a revelation, not just the ease of playing but the instrument itself. How can such cheap basses be so good? I changed the rubbish original strings for D'Addario round wounds and the guitar just sings. To say I am happy with the purchase would be a huge understatement.

Ironic you've bought a Talman and you are a self confessed 'little guy'😁 I looked at the 34'' ones for a while but in the end got a Squier PJ

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1 hour ago, edstraker123 said:

I did buy it for the sparkle finish thinking I could upgrade the pickups later ,but having given it a couple of days play I don't think it's necessary.

Funny that. I had the same thought about replacing the pups, as being a cheap instrument I assumed they would be the weak link, I was wrong.

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First band practice with the Talman last night. When I took it out of the case and put it on the guitarist said "No bass tonight?" Yup, its a short scale I said. Its the first time any band member has noticed what I am playing, probably cos It looks more in keeping with my build rather than a long scale bass. I left the amp setting the same as my long scale Yamaha and the the keys and guitarist both mentioned how good it sounded. Not sure if they were impressed by the tones, or simply amazed that a "Small" bass could sound like a "Regular" instrument. I was well impressed with the sound, full and woody would be my take. I will be buying another in  sea green finish as a backup, no more long scale basses for me.

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+1 for the TMB30 love.  Had a black one, sold it - realised I should have kept it so just found and ordered another in my preferred Ivory finish.  I take my hat off to Ibanez for making a brilliant first-time-buyer bass that's good enough for experienced players to use.

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WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!! After a weekend of pink torpedo-ups over delivery (PMT left my house number off their paperwork but DPD still tried - and failed - to deliver it on Saturday AND Sunday!!) finally got my Ivory TMB30 today... and what a mess!  When I unpacked the apparently undamaged (Fender!!) outer carton, the inner Ibanez box was battered with sections clumsily cut out at the narrow end; then when I took the bass out I found  dirty scuff marks and an edge chipped on the rough-feeling head-stock (water damage??) plus light scratching on the neck nearby.    What's potentially even worse though is that the overall condition of the bass can only be described as shoddy.  The paint finish was worn away around the edges of one of the neck-screw holes, there was swarf around the nut slots, a strange stain on the fret-board, and the pick-up routing in the body had ragged edges.

http://IMG-5417.jpg IMG-5418.jpg IMG-5421.jpg IMG-5423.jpg IMG-5425.jpg IMG-5430.jpg IMG-5433.jpg IMG-5436.jpg IMG-5441.jpg

All of which makes me wonder whether I get a straight replacement or a refund to buy a Squier s-s Jag.

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2 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!! After a weekend of pink torpedo-ups over delivery (PMT left my house number off their paperwork but DPD still tried - and failed - to deliver it on Saturday AND Sunday!!) finally got my Ivory TMB30 today... and what a mess!  When I unpacked the apparently undamaged (Fender!!) outer carton, the inner Ibanez box was battered with sections clumsily cut out at the narrow end; then when I took the bass out I found  dirty scuff marks and an edge chipped on the rough-feeling head-stock (water damage??) plus light scratching on the neck nearby.    What's potentially even worse though is that the overall condition of the bass can only be described as shoddy.  The paint finish was worn away around the edges of one of the neck-screw holes, there was swarf around the nut slots, a strange stain on the fret-board, and the pick-up routing in the body had ragged edge.

All of which makes me wonder whether I get a straight replacement or a refund to buy a Squier s-s Jag.

Holy cow - that's atrocious!  That's how I expected my Thomann deko to look (but it didn't!).  That was sold as new?!?!

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12 hours ago, Pea Turgh said:

Holy cow - that's atrocious!  That's how I expected my Thomann deko to look (but it didn't!).  That was sold as new?!?!

Still can't believe it myself!  To be fair though, PMT were suitably ashamed of themselves and have agreed to replace it with a Squier Jag s-s for a similar discounted price with collection/replacement in one hit tomorrow.  That's good enough for me.

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@scrumpymike that looks as though it's possibly an ex-demo model that's been booted around the shop before being posted out to you. The one I bought used was in better condition! But hats of to PMT for sorting it out - even if they should never have sent it out in that condition in the first place. 

Let us know how you get on with the short scale Jaguar, they seem to be very well regarded and I'd like to know what you think of it as I'm thinking of possibly picking one up myself. 

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5 hours ago, Osiris said:

@scrumpymike that looks as though it's possibly an ex-demo model that's been booted around the shop before being posted out to you. The one I bought used was in better condition! But hats of to PMT for sorting it out - even if they should never have sent it out in that condition in the first place. 

Let us know how you get on with the short scale Jaguar, they seem to be very well regarded and I'd like to know what you think of it as I'm thinking of possibly picking one up myself. 

Will do.  Must say I like the look of it in black and, compared to the Talman, the Fender head-stock just looks 'right'.

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2 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Will do.  Must say I like the look of it in black and, compared to the Talman, the Fender head-stock just looks 'right'.

Thank you :)

Yes I know what you mean about the headstock, the one on the Talman is a bit of an acquired taste but I have so much fun playing it that I can forgive the design! 

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The offending TMB30 was removed today and replaced with a 'Squier Vintage Modified Jag Special Short Scale' to give it it's full official title!!  I'm pleased to report that all is as it should be with the Jag (as it was with the TMB30 I previously owned to be fair).  Can't fault the quality of the Jag and the set-up is spot-on as received (low action, perfect  intonation, nice deep nut slots).  The only budget-spec item that is unacceptable is the strings, so I'll be changing those soonest.  I can live with the 1/8-turn free play in the tuners before the machines engage, although a set of lightweight tuners would fix not only that but also the basses tendency to sit at 'quarter-past nine' rather than 'ten-past eight' on the strap.

So, just to keep this post vaguely on-topic 🙄, here's my comparative summary: both the TMB30 and the Jag are made in Indonesia (maybe in the same factory!?); in terms of overall spec/value for money/playability/sounds, I'd say they are equally good; the Ibby's poplar body would be my preference (the Jag's is agathis) but I do prefer the Jag's 'normal' Fender-style head-stock - although the extra weight does set it horizontally rather than diagonally on the strap; I also prefer the near-rosewood look of the fret-board material on the Jag compared with the lighter, strangely-figured/coloured TMB30 board (not sure what the wood is for either).

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