colleya Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 (edited) Well not really NBD as I've had this for a bit, but it too a while to get it the way I wanted. I originally brought this from here to try out all of the unusual in one bass (short scale, headless, fan fret). The silver wasn't really to my taste, so off came the neck and it went into the spray booth at my good friends at Northroad cycles for a surf/seafoam green refin. Hell, if you're going to play in an 80s cover band then why not go the whole hog? Here it is before: And after: The good: It weighs bu**er all and balances nicely. Fit and finish is very good. Nice neck profile. Comfy contours. It sits really nicely in the mix with the band. Adjusting to scale (for the most part) and fan frets isn't a problem for me. The not so good - compared to my Sandberg Cali TM5: I can't get the action quite as low. Playing solo, the pickups are a bit woolier, however it does sit very nicely in the band mix. It's a little harder to play up at the dusty end, although that's probably a combination of my sausage fingers, poor technique, and time needed to adjust to the scale. The control knobs are also hard to intuit. A couple have a physical centre indent, which I like. However others don't so it's hard to tell where you are on the dial. The locking jack socket is a right pain. That's probably going to get changed. I've had it at a couple of rehearsals, no gigs yet due to world cup related cancellations. Looking forward to trying it out. Edited December 23, 2022 by colleya 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visog Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 (edited) Erm so you went to the trouble of doing a great job of respraying but to one of Ibby's other EHB production colours!? Why not buy this?: Edited December 23, 2022 by visog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colleya Posted December 23, 2022 Author Share Posted December 23, 2022 (edited) 25 minutes ago, visog said: Erm so you went to the trouble of doing a great job of respraying but to one of Ibby's other EHB production colours!? Why not buy this?: Two reasons: 1 - buying a used one and respraying was cheaper (it helps when you know a bloke with a spray booth). 2 - that colour wasn't available for the short scale, only the regular AFAIK. The shorty comes in 'Emerald green' which wasn't quite right for me. I went back and forth between HD yellow, shell pink and this colour, but I love seafoam/surf green. Merry Christmas. Edited December 23, 2022 by colleya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visog Posted December 24, 2022 Share Posted December 24, 2022 Fair play... I'm sticking with the silver finish - see below. I'd personally prefer to have a natural finish or god forbid a sunburst but there we go. The form factor on these basses is amazing though! A good Christmas to you too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamPlaysBass Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 Slight thread resurrection… Tried one of these out in PMT recently and was genuinely blown away. I’ve been working alongside another bassist who’s got the full size version (WHB1005MS-PLF I think, or that could be a washing machine. Who knows 🤷🏼♂️) tuned to drop A and the low A was so tight and well defined. I was really intrigued as I’ve always found Ibbies well made but a bit bland - and that comes and as a former Ibanez owner myself. Trying out the short scale one, I didn’t realise at first that it was actually short scale. The 32” B doesn’t feel dissimilar to a 34” and the tension was great. The low B sounded awesome - better than my Fender Professional Jazz V. It was like a little hot hatch to play; ridiculously comfortable and such a fast neck that it defied belief. So much fun to play, which I hadn’t felt for a long time in the serious world of bass playing. That said, it had obviously had a knock or something as the EQ knobs spun as though the pot wasn’t properly attached to the body anymore and a few had been pressed in, making them difficult to turn. The hard life of a bass dangling 10 feet in the air in a shop. Love the refin on yours. It really makes the neck wood ‘pop’ and stand out. 6 months on, how are you finding it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colleya Posted June 30, 2023 Author Share Posted June 30, 2023 (edited) @SamPlaysBass It's still my main gigging bass, and that means keeping a delightful Sandberg VM5 out of my hands. Loving the low weight and the compact & headless design is a godsend on small pub stages. I've got a hankering for a stingray after watching glasto, but there's no way I can afford one! I've read that some people find the pups a bit muddy. I can see that in isolation, but it seems to blend really nicely with the band mix. Here are a couple of live mobile footage vids so you can judge for yourself. Video 1 Video 2 Video 3 Edited June 30, 2023 by colleya 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted July 1, 2023 Share Posted July 1, 2023 Don't know about settings etc but saw a guy using one at the back end of last year and it sounded awesome! A really rich sound, and it's an Ibanez so you already know it's an excellent bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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