The Ibby Talman short scale appreciation society.

[stewblack]

I can't wait to gig with mine. I already have specific venues in mind for it. Notably the White Hart in Bicester. Always end up parking a goodly trudge from the venue, so I'm thinking small and light as possible. Two shorties, Talman and Club bass, BF Midget and Trace Elliot Elf, clip on tuner and I'm ready to roll. 

But even without the hike to the venue, once inside, the playing area is a postage stamp. Smaller than any drum riser I have seen. I play on the left, which basically means my bass sticks out into the audience, and people are constantly passing to and from the bar and the pub entrance. I always end up either playing like Bill Wyman or raising and lowering the neck to avoid hitting the punters. 

The Talman will be a great help being so compact while still delivering a full tone. 

 

[Mikey D]

On 15/06/2020 at 08:01, james_027 said:

Have you got it?

Thanks, hoping for more 5 string feedbacks

 

@james_027 I put his in another TMB35 thread...but I've very very impressed with the bass. Not perfect in finish, but I can't believe this was only £200. If you're even remotely thinking about it, buy one.

Review comments from other thread:

Good news: Great bass. Generally. And for the money. Love the feel of the scale length. Neck a bit thicker than I like for my own preference but very playable and nice unfinished feel. Although the B will be going in favour of high C plays very nice and not too flappy at all. I’ll try and do a recording before changing the strings. Had a quick play through practice amp and through Logic with just a basic preset and sounds nice. Not boutique bass nice but easily nice enough.

Neutral: setup is a bit high for my preference but playable and feels fairly effortless under the hands considering slightly lower tension  

Less good news: Looks like Aguilars won’t fit without some rerouting...so may look at other options first. Also nut isn’t placed exactly as per photo but is playable and easy to solve. Finish has some very minor surface scratches so not completely mirror finish but if you really were bothered sure you could buff them out in no time.

I can see myself being taken by the short scale for future basses  

Edited August 18, 2020 by Mikey D

[Marc S]

Hi @Maude - thanks for starting this thread, and thanks to everyone else who has contributed too

I've never picked up an Ibby Talman to give one a whirl - even though I've seen them hanging up in my local PMT shop, and found them to be nice looking basses.
I do have the 5 string version of the Ibanez Mikro (I took a punt on that, as I had played a 4 string version briefly and quite liked it)
Anyhow, I couldn't find a 5 string Mikro in a shop anywhere and PMT couldn't get me one... so I bought online, and am really happy with it - sounds immense, if the string spacing is a little tight...

Back to the Talman though - just wondering what the weight of the 4 string is guys?
As my age advances, I'm drawn to lighter weight basses - I'm OK ATM, but my shoulder is feeling it when I play for longer these days
I'm not planning on getting a Talman currently, but I might do in the future
I did own a Fender SS Jazz, but that wasn't much lighter than a full scale (The Mikro is certainly light - around 3kg I think)

Cheers folks  

[Osiris]

I don't know the exact weight of my Talman but it's not light. I also have a Mikro, the 4 string version (Shameless sales plug - it's currently up for sale in the classifieds!) and the Talman is noticeably weightier, but the body is surprisingly thick so there's a lot of timber in it. But it's not prohibitively heavy, IMO. On my wide strap, approx. 10cm wide, it's comfortable enough on a 2 hour gig. At a guess it's around the 4Kg mark. Ish. 

[6feet7]

I must say, looking at this thread, I am tempted. I've got two Ibanez AGB205's (the semi hollow F holed, short scaled ones) and play them more than my 2 Maruszczyk 34 inch scale Jake 5's. They are just more comfortable to play, and with different strings on each I can go from P thump to J growl. I could get two Talmans, sell the Maru's and have two great basses and have about £1500 in my bank account  

[Marc S]

40 minutes ago, Osiris said:

I don't know the exact weight of my Talman but it's not light. I also have a Mikro, the 4 string version ...... and the Talman is noticeably weightier, but the body is surprisingly thick so there's a lot of timber in it. 

Thanks for your thoughts @Osiris - yes, looking at them in the shop, I thought the body looked quite "chunky", so I suspected they may not be as light as my Mikro...
Cheers again  

[Osiris]

1 hour ago, Marc S said:

Thanks for your thoughts @Osiris - yes, looking at them in the shop, I thought the body looked quite "chunky", so I suspected they may not be as light as my Mikro...
Cheers again  

Yes, unfortunately they're not as light as feather as the Mikro is, as you say they are much more chunky. The neck too is very un-Ibanez like with a more Precision-esque profile. So there's a lot more wood overall which, obviously, adds to the weight. But I don't think of mine as being excessively or unplayably (is that a word?) heavy. See if you can get your hand on one, pick it up and try it on a strap to see if you think you could live with it.  

[Marc S]

@Osiris - I'm tempted just to try one, while they're current and in the shops.
I'm also tempted by the hollow bodied Ibanez basses I've seen around too.... but then I'm always tempted  

[Ed_S]

7 hours ago, Marc S said:

Back to the Talman though - just wondering what the weight of the 4 string is guys?

Mine’s 3.64kg - it’s a 2017 but maybe gives an idea of what to expect from a current one.

[Skinnyman]

I'm confused (or stupid. Stupid is the most likely if I'm honest).

The Ibanez website shows the Talman as 34" scale.

It isn't, is it?

[Stub Mandrel]

9 minutes ago, Skinnyman said:

I'm confused (or stupid. Stupid is the most likely if I'm honest).

The Ibanez website shows the Talman as 34" scale.

It isn't, is it?

There are long and SS versions

[Osiris]

2 hours ago, Skinnyman said:

I'm confused (or stupid. Stupid is the most likely if I'm honest).

The Ibanez website shows the Talman as 34" scale.

It isn't, is it?

 

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

There are long and SS versions

Yes, the shorty is the TMB30, everything else is a 34" scale, as far as I know. 

I love mine, it's one of my favourite basses ever even though it looks like a melted Mr Men character. 

 

[Mikey D]

Anyone in this group changed the hardware on their TMBs? 

I've got plans for more lightweight tuners but looking for a 5 string bridge that would be a good alternative, in black ideally to match the new tuner hardware.

Edited March 13, 2021 by Mikey D

[Woodinblack]

I have a TMB35 inbound. I will probably be looking to change some things, but I guess I will see how I will get on with it when it turns up. 

But black hardware would be good.

[Stub Mandrel]

I want one in surf green with twin humbuckers

[Osiris]

1 hour ago, Mikey D said:

Anyone in this group changed the hardware on their TMBs? 

I've got plans for more lightweight tuners but looking for a 5 string bridge that would be a good alternative, in black ideally to match the new tuner hardware.

Yes, mine has had a new bridge, pickups, pots, output jack and machine heads. All done on the cheap and probably no more than £80 in parts, most of which went on the monstrous Entwistle Neodymium pickups. I picked up a set of cheap and cheerful Wilkinson machine heads off here for about a tenner, they're the smaller style like these bit they fit perfectly into the existing ferrules so it was just a matter of screwing them in. They're light weight and feel solid, they've been on for a couple of years and are still smooth and I've never had one slip so I'm not sure what else you'd get if you went for something more expensive. I probably ought to fill in the old holes where the original Fender style machine heads are but 1, I like the scrappy look and 2, I'm a lazy bastard. 

Changing the bridge was also a doddle, any Fender fit bridge will drop straight in, I think mine is an eBay £10 high mass special, but like the cheap machine heads it does what it's supposed to do, no complaints from me. 

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Osiris said:

 I picked up a set of cheap and cheerful Wilkinson machine heads off here for about a tenner, they're the smaller style like these bit they fit perfectly into the existing ferrules so it was just a matter of screwing them in.

I like those wilkinson ones, I have them on a couple of basses.

What did it do to the balance?

[Osiris]

24 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I like those wilkinson ones, I have them on a couple of basses.

What did it do to the balance?

Hard to say really as I found the bass balanced pretty well before I fitted them. Plus I also use a wide suede backed strap which is good for keeping your bass in place without it neck diving if its that way inclined. So that doesn't really tell you anything, does it 

But as you say, they're great little units considering how inexpensive they are. 

[Japhet]

Just pulled the trigger on a TMB30 on Ebay. Have been circling a shorty for quite a while now a have a few gigs lined up so really looking forward to this little stubby turning up.

[Mikey D]

Virtually everywhere out of stock of these, but if you're in the market for one of these cracking inexpensive basses, here is a TMB35: https://reverb.com/uk/item/40699878-ibanez-tmb35-mgr-5-string-talman-bass-mint-green

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Mikey D said:

Virtually everywhere out of stock of these, but if you're in the market for one of these cracking inexpensive basses, here is a TMB35: https://reverb.com/uk/item/40699878-ibanez-tmb35-mgr-5-string-talman-bass-mint-green

Out of stock where? All the major suppliers have them in stock for £20 less than that for immediate delivery.

[Mikey D]

I'm not sure which major suppliers but I know in the past a few people said they were interested but couldn't find one.  I know GAK, PMT, Andertons and others were out...seems Andertons aren't now, so buy them there then.

 

[Woodinblack]

13 minutes ago, Mikey D said:

I'm not sure which major suppliers but I know in the past a few people said they were interested but couldn't find one.  I know GAK, PMT, Andertons and others were out...seems Andertons aren't now, so buy them there then.

I mean most of the major suppliers. Andertons have them, as do G4M and Thomman, Gak have quite a few of the models, PMT have a few of the models. What I mean is there is no obvious shortage of them, so I was puzzled why you said everywhere was out of stock!

[Matt P]

are you looking at the same bass? the 4 string versions are quite easy to get hold of, but the 5 string has fairly patchy availability, some places have stacks of them (G4M) but others have none (Thomman) 

 

Matt

[Woodinblack]

5 minutes ago, Matt P said:

are you looking at the same bass? the 4 string versions are quite easy to get hold of, but the 5 string has fairly patchy availability, some places have stacks of them (G4M) but others have none (Thomman) 

I was talking all of them in general, but for the 5 string, there have been issues in the past - I got mine from bax when they were the only people with one for £189. But at the moment of this post, there is no real issue with availability - as you say G4M are showing 20+, Andertons are showing 4, several other smaller shops have them in. There are a few other people who are awaiting stock, Thomman say a week, bax says 11 days and GAK/PMT undisclosed. 

My post was just reacting to the post with a link to reverb saying they were out of stock everywhere, when they aren't, and even if andertons didn't have it in stock for £30 less, the people who have that specific bass on reverb have it on their own website (guitar.co.uk) for almost £20 less.

Reverb is not a good place to buy new things from as people use it as a shopfront and bump the prices up to absorb the reverb fees. Its always worth checking who the advert is by and going to their own shop. The Bass Gallery put all their basses up there with a 10% extra for instance.