NBD - Ibanez TMB35 Short Scale 5 String

[SamIAm]

29 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

Cort use Hipshot Ultralites on the GB4/5/94/95 as they're light and cheaper than the Gotohs - https://www.btnmusic.co.uk/product/hipshot-hb6-ultralite-bass-machine-heads/ is a 4-string set but £34.40 for 3/8" Y-key in chrome - around half the price of the Gotoh.

 

I may have made a mistake - for some reason I thought it was for a set of 4, looks like it's for individual ones.

They do appear to be the US made ones (which are lighter than the licensed ones) ... according to the Hipshot site they are 42g each https://docs.hipshotproducts.com/20650_ULTRALITE_3-8_Y_KEY.pdf

 

... I agree, it looks like they are £34.40 per tuner, so £172 vs Gotoh £100 ish

 

S'manth x

[Count Bassy]

4 hours ago, 3below said:

Rather than converting to headless have you considered lightweight tuners - Hipshots have dramatically improved two of my basses

 

or simply hang a brick off the bridge end.😁

Edited December 22, 2022 by Count Bassy

[Count Bassy]

On a more serious note, if you were to go with untralites, there is a lot of excess wood on that machine head, the removal of which might also make a big difference.

I real like the head shape on the Ibanez SR series: Just enough wood to take the 5 tuners, but leaving enough to make it aesthetically pleasing.

 

[jrixn1]

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

And licenced Ultralites are £16 apiece but weight 95g,

 

They are 1.78oz (51g) - 2.01oz (57g).

 

 

 

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, jrixn1 said:

 

They are 1.78oz (51g) - 2.01oz (57g).

 

 

 

 

Ah, I was quoting from the AxesRUs website: "The following are the weights (in grams) for the Hipshot ULTRALITE Tuners. These weights include the tuner, barrel nut, mounting washer and mounting screw: Licensed Ultralite Y Key with 9mm String post: 95 grams". So either they're using Bass Direct's primitive to metric converter or they included the bit of headstock that the tuner mounts in.

[Ralf1e]

11 hours ago, Cato said:

Re: neckdive

 

Before you do anything drastic it night be worth trying a really grippy strap that'll resist the pull of the neck.

 

Something like this maybe. (This is the first wide neoprene strap I found on a google, there are very similat products available for less money).

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ernie-Ball-Neoprene-Polylock-Comfort/dp/B07N8S47HL?th=1

Indeed there is the Lekato one is very good and less money

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0885SSQ56/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_266?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pd_rd_plhdr=t

[Ralf1e]

I think you're very brave.  I have been contemplating converting something to headless but I really cant bring myself to do it to any of my basses let alone something I love.

Anyway enough sentimentality. May the wind be at your back with the project. Looking forward to seeing the results 😊

[SamIAm]

Well fiddle!!!

 

The distance between the B string saddle "witness point" and the bottom edge of the body is abt 65mm.

 

I have been unable to find any headless tuners that are short enough to fit in this space, the ones I've researched have the following distance between the saddle and the end of the tuning knob:

• Nova 78mm
• ABM 70-80mm (ish)
• Hipshot 69-76mm

Thus, their tuning knobs would extend beyond the edge of the body and so I do not feel headless is a viable approach.

 

 

S'manth x

[tauzero]

The tuners on my handmade (not by me) 6-string headless extend beyond the end of the body - it's not the end of the world.

 

[Ralf1e]

2 hours ago, Smanth said:

Well fiddle!!!

 

The distance between the B string saddle "witness point" and the bottom edge of the body is abt 65mm.

 

I have been unable to find any headless tuners that are short enough to fit in this space, the ones I've researched have the following distance between the saddle and the end of the tuning knob:

• Nova 78mm
• ABM 70-80mm (ish)
• Hipshot 69-76mm

Thus, their tuning knobs would extend beyond the edge of the body and so I do not feel headless is a viable approach.

 

 

S'manth x

They have to extend beyond the end of the body unless you recess it or you won't easily be able to get your fingers round them to tune them.

[3below]

Use some spacers both sides of the tuners, thinking about something like this as an idea..  since you only need 15mm or so you could use them as spacers  under the strap buttons thus sorting two issues at once.  If you were inclined you could have something conical turned flaring out from the strap button width to something near the body width.   As @tauzero says it is not the end of the world, using a guitar stand is a good thing

 

[SamIAm]

9 hours ago, tauzero said:

The tuners on my handmade (not by me) 6-string headless extend beyond the end of the body - it's not the end of the world.

 

That is deeply cool ... bespoke tuners it looks like?

 

S'manth x

[SamIAm]

7 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

They have to extend beyond the end of the body unless you recess it or you won't easily be able to get your fingers round them to tune them.

Yes, my intent was to route a recess under the tuning turny bits to allow for access, I just wanted to ensire they did not extend outside the body where they might get knocked.

 

S'manth x

[tauzero]

9 minutes ago, Smanth said:

That is deeply cool ... bespoke tuners it looks like?

 

S'manth x

 

ABM, I believe.

[Woodinblack]

I reckon it is doable

 

[SamIAm]

34 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I reckon it is doable

 

Ooohhhh …. Which system it that, it does look like it’ll fit!

 

S’manth x

[Ralf1e]

1 hour ago, Smanth said:

That is deeply cool ... bespoke tuners it looks like?

 

S'manth x

It reminds me of the Warwick Dolfin

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Smanth said:

Ooohhhh …. Which system it that, it does look like it’ll fit!

 

The public peace one - ETS I think.

 

[3below]

Making sawdust Xmas day then S'manth? 

[tauzero]

6 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

The public peace one - ETS I think.

 

 

I'd like to change my previous answer from ABM to ETS.

[lemmywinks]

19 hours ago, tauzero said:

The tuners on my handmade (not by me) 6-string headless extend beyond the end of the body - it's not the end of the world.

 

 

Was that the eBay bargain from a bit ago?

[tauzero]

3 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

 

Was that the eBay bargain from a bit ago?

 

It certainly was. There's a pair of Aguilar pickups and an OBP-2 preamp to go in it soon - I retire on Friday so there's no excuse for not doing it after that.

[SamIAm]

Patty is going back.

 

In terms of short scale five stringness, she is fairly good ... but her overall weight is on the high side (She will no doubt sulk about this judgement!) and the neck dive troubles me (ymmv).

 

My initial hope was to do  a headless conversion, which would have addressed both of these;  taking into account the cost (of the headless gear), the effort (my intent was to do all the work myself) in getting a nice end result, the benefits (which I feel are major) and challenges (getting the look/layout I want with the space available on her body) I've decided this is not a route for me to take.

 

As others have done, I considered replacing the tuning machines with lighter ones, which would have gone some way (perhaps all the way) to addressing the neck dive, but would not have resolved the overall weight.

 

On top of this, the cost and effort of the path to improving the electronics and the constraints on string choice all started to mount up and, well, reasons not to go forward.  I've decided to go down a different path to get the bass I desire.

 

So back to GAK she will go this week.

 

S'manth x

 

 

[Woodinblack]

Fair enough - seem to makes sense, shame to not see your headless conversion, but if you find the weight too much it probably won't get too much better, and the fancy dark labella strings are pretty expensive where you can find them.

 

Been interesting though, I don't have a problem with the electronics or the overall weight, but the headstock heaviness is a bit of an issue and it got me thinking that I should do something about it, as it is a fun bass to gig.

[PaulThePlug]

@Smanth makes sense after a good look... now ya know what they are all about,

Howz about the Ibby SR Mikro... slightly different scale...

Keep em peeled on Gumtree or the 'bay.