New Ibanez Headless basses

[Al Krow]

55 minutes ago, therealting said:

@bnt Sounds nice and growly. Hoping this is everything the Strandberg turned out not to be. 

You're gonna have to spill the beans! What is it about Strandberg basses that don't cut it?

[4000]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

No fretless model. A headpiece designed à la Laurus. Not so ergonomical to my eyes. The locking jack is a real pain in the *ss : put one on your amp too, so you can come in front of the stage with your complete rig 😂. It's a bass not a tow truck !

Making headless basses 35 years late is a bit strange. The Strandberg's are more ergonomical (Klein design inspired). And what's this sissies strings spacing, we are not all small guys with cigarette fingers. Never understood Ibanez policy regarding basses. They never make the right bass at the right time. The original AFR was superbly designed, by the late Rolf Spuler, and totally ergonomical, but didn't appeal the bassists at the time.

You want an ergonomical headless bass, try this :

He's making headless basses since the first days and knows a lot about ergonomics, being an architect before a luthier, every detail is thought for sound and ergonomy.

I’ve always been a fan of headless basses. I like how they look and in many ways they’re more practical.

I also prefer narrow string spacing. In fact I would hope for 16.5mm rather than 18mm. I wish more people would make 16.5mm 4 strings, to be honest. 

That Leduc is doubtless a great bass, but I have to say I’m indifferent to the aesthetic.

[CameronJ]

Am I the only one who isn’t a fan of the body shape on these basses? They look a bit like someone carved a nice shape out of wax and then decided to slowly melt it on one side!

Have to say though, Ibanez are continuing to rule the roost IMO in terms of stunning finishes at an affordable price point. The woods and colour stains on the new Premium BTBs look insane.

[therealting]

14 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

You're gonna have to spill the beans! What is it about Strandberg basses that don't cut it?

I’ve not had the chance to try one yet, but almost all the reviews have been somewhat disappointing.

And it’s VERY expensive. 

Edited January 1, 2020 by therealting

[BassApprentice]

34 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

You're gonna have to spill the beans! What is it about Strandberg basses that don't cut it?

I tried one in GuitarGuitar and it just felt bland. 

You know those basses where lightweight feels cheap and not designed in? That was my first impression. Secondly there was sharp edges on the headstock clamp which I found whe playing down the lower end on the D and G strings. Just didn't feel like a £2k bass. 

Edited January 1, 2020 by BassApprentice

[therealting]

1 minute ago, BassApprentice said:

I tried one in GuitarGuitar and it just felt bland. 

You know those basses where lightweight feels cheap and not designed in? That was my first impression. Secondly there was sharp edges on the headstock clamp which I found whe playing down the lower end on the D and G strings. Just didn't feel like a £2k bass. 

Except they’re more like £3k

[Doctor J]

2 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

Are they bold or bonkers? Anyone who complains that makers only churn out Fender clones can stop now. But is the world ready for headless again, Status had to bring in heads because they didn’t sell enough headless and whoever sees a Steinberg? God on them for trying but I Seriously don’t think they’ll catch on generally.

 

Bold, because that's the way they always operate. The turgid regurgitation we have become accustomed to has never been the philosophy of most Japanese manufacturers, thankfully. Go through the catalogues of the likes of Ibanez, Yamaha or ESP over the years and you'll see they continually refine their offerings. They build a spec for a few years, at most, and move on. This year's SRs are very different to the ones of 10 years ago which, in turn, were very different to 10 years before that. Some companies embrace change, some just used to. I love that a manufacturer as big as Ibanez are always prepared to move on and offer customers something genuinely different for the brand. The other side to that, of course, is that if you liked something they made in the past, chances are your only chance is to trawl through the second-hand market.

The Affirma is the first bass I can think of them re-issuing but, even so, the time might still not be right for that design.

[Linus27]

Not my cup of tea in the slightest, in fact ugly and ponsy to my taste but that's because I just like old looking Fender's. However, my god Ibanez are making incredible basses and this looks stunning. Good on them for making these basses and doing something different rather than a Fender clone. Great basses and such a great brand. Top Mark's Ibanez.

Edited January 1, 2020 by Linus27

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

Are they bold or bonkers? Anyone who complains that makers only churn out Fender clones can stop now. But is the world ready for headless again, Status had to bring in heads because they didn’t sell enough headless and whoever sees a Steinberg? God on them for trying but I Seriously don’t think they’ll catch on generally.

Bold. There will always be a group of people who believe a bass is a p bass and nothing can top it, but that is not their market, that is fenders market so there is no point trying to appeal to them, they can't put a fender logo on it so those people won't look.

but for the rest of us, how great it is to see something like this, or in fact anything that wasn't designed in our grandparents age.

[Al Krow]

Ibanez have gotta be in the top 3 design innovators of basses in the past decade. It no longer surprises me that they are coming up something new and fresh each year. Or that they outnumber any of the other brands in my herd currently!

Btw I have no idea who would take the other 2 top slots for design innovation - Schecter plus another maybe? 

[Krysbass]

I’ve never liked the aesthetic of headless basses - no matter what the benefits may be, so even though I’ve had an Ibanez SR600 since 2010, an Ibanez acoustic bass and have frequent bouts of GAS for their BTB basses; that’s unlikely to be enough to lure me towards checking out this new headless range - even though the finishes and features admittedly look so good.🤔

[Woodinblack]

Don't know if this is necessarily accurate but on thomman, all the basic 1000 series and the non fanned 1500s are 1-2 weeks, the 1500 deep blue is 5-6 weeks and the other blue and 6 strings are 'on request'

[pete.young]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

No fretless model. A headpiece designed à la Laurus. Not so ergonomical to my eyes. The locking jack is a real pain in the *ss : put one on your amp too, so you can come in front of the stage with your complete rig 😂. It's a bass not a tow truck !

Making headless basses 35 years late is a bit strange. The Strandberg's are more ergonomical (Klein design inspired). And what's this sissies strings spacing, we are not all small guys with cigarette fingers. Never understood Ibanez policy regarding basses. They never make the right bass at the right time. The original AFR was superbly designed, by the late Rolf Spuler, and totally ergonomical, but didn't appeal the bassists at the time.

You want an ergonomical headless bass, try this :

He's making headless basses since the first days and knows a lot about ergonomics, being an architect before a luthier, every detail is thought for sound and ergonomy.

From what I can tell, prices start from 3,900 Euros for a basic 4-string model. We're not exactly comparing like from like here, which was partly the OP's point.

[CamdenRob]

I’d never buy a headless bass as I think they look ridiculous, but I love what Ibanez are doing with their top end stuff these days. Some of the specs and finishes are incredible. Not just for the price point but genuinely something special.

The narrow string spacing on the majority of their six string offerings is the issue for me... its the only thing that’s kept me from buying one of a fair number Ive loved the look of over the last few years.

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

You want an ergonomical headless bass, try this :

He's making headless basses since the first days and knows a lot about ergonomics, being an architect before a luthier, every detail is thought for sound and ergonomy.

It is a bass that is hard to love isn't it!

And I would say no, the guy might have his ideas on ergonomics, but that doesn't mean his ideas are everyone elses.

Are you trying to tell me that those controls are ergonomic? As you are saying that you want to use it with sausage fingers, how are you going to use those controls, they are way too close together. So I guess they are their for aesthetics (beauty being in the eye and all). Then there is that tailpiece - so is that ergonomics (seems it would move if it isn't fixed as that is where I put my hand) or is that sound (how do you adjust the intonation on it?). Seems also aesthetics.

Ergonomically speaking, how do you stand that bass on the floor?

And on aesthetics, what the hell is going on with that front pickup? Why is it rammed into the neck like an afterthought?

I am sure it is nice if you like that kind of thing, and maybe it sounds nice, but I would take the ibanez every day over that, even if I wasn't paying.

I do however agree about the locking jack, but luckily as it isn't 25 years ago I will be using wireless.

 

[Woodinblack]

9 minutes ago, CamdenRob said:

The narrow string spacing on the majority of their six string offerings is the issue for me... its the only thing that’s kept me from buying one of a fair number Ive loved the look of over the last few years.

Isn't the spacing bigger on the BTBs? Hmm.. I see they are only 17 as well, so not much different. I know they did a few specials but always tricky to find.

[AndyTravis]

They look a bit like a leFay?

Not a bad thing.

Not Enough to sway me to spend £1500

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, AndyTravis said:

Not Enough to sway me to spend £1500

Fair enough.

But would you consider £899 for this one? I suspect will come down in price over the course of the year and maybe one or two used ones might start finding their way into the FS by then also.

[AndyTravis]

12 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Fair enough.

But would you consider £899 for this one? I suspect will come down in price over the course of the year and maybe one or two used ones might start finding their way into the FS by then also.

Just seen that “head”

no. £899 isn’t tempting enough 

[fretmeister]

I like them a lot. The 5 string really appeals.

Alas I'm saving like a demon to help the kids build a university fund so the chances of me getting a new instrument within the next 5 years are virtually nil.

 

[Hellzero]

17 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

It is a bass that is hard to love isn't it! (...)

Don't want to derail the thread any more, so if you want the answers to your questions, just PM me. But you're on the wrong path with this bass since the beginning.

So back to these headless Ibanez(es).

[bnt]

 re string spacing, remember that it's adjustable, about 1.5mm each way. On the 5-string (18mm default), this will mean that if we leave the 3rd string centred, move 2 & 4 out by 0.75, and 1 & 5 out by 1.5mm, then you've increased the 1-5 spacing by 3mm and each string's spacing by 0.75mm. In other words, the string spacing is variable from 17.25 - 18.75mm.

[bnt]

And here's a video of the EHB1505, standard scale with Nords and a ramp:

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by bnt

[Al Krow]

51 minutes ago, bnt said:

 re string spacing, remember that it's adjustable, about 1.5mm each way. On the 5-string (18mm default), this will mean that if we leave the 3rd string centred, move 2 & 4 out by 0.75, and 1 & 5 out by 1.5mm, then you've increased the 1-5 spacing by 3mm and each string's spacing by 0.75mm. In other words, the string spacing is variable from 17.25 - 18.75mm.

He's a seriously capable youngster!

But I think has re-confirmed to me that it's going to have to be Nords rather than the Barts.

[BassApprentice]

Have to agree, Nords sound better on these videos anyway.

 

Looking forward to seeing these out and about!