EBS_freak Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 OK, so I popped into my local neghbourhood music emporium to see what was new and had a good look at the Ibanez BTB series of basses. Immediately, my eyes were drawn to the bridge. Those of you not overly familiar with these basses, these are the models with the seperate bridge component for each string. Well, my eyes were telling me that two of the strings were on the piss. A one off? Maybe... but then I look at a solid colour model... and they were on the piss... but not the same on the piss as the first one I had looked at. WTF? Is it beyond people's expectations to have a bass with the bridges fitted on straight?! So... I thought I would check the website... [url="http://www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-BTB776PB"]http://www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-BTB776PB[/url] yup... even those are on the piss! Pah. These aren't even cheap basses! Does anybody have one? And more importantly, are their bridge pieces on straight? Or on the piss? (Sorry if they are and you hadn't noticed...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I have a beaten-up old BTB 6-string. I've never noticed any pissedness in the bridge, but I'll check it when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Wee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='Rich' post='479825' date='May 5 2009, 12:49 PM']I have a beaten-up old BTB 6-string. I've never noticed any pissedness in the bridge, but I'll check it when I get home.[/quote] Gosh... so beaten up that it doesn't make the signature? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorick Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Do they use the buzz feiten system? That may explain it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) [quote name='yorick' post='479884' date='May 5 2009, 01:36 PM']Do they use the buzz feiten system? That may explain it....[/quote] The Buzz Feiten system wouldn't influence the angle at which a bridge is mounted... the nut certainly looked standard (e.g. no tapering) and I couldn't tell you whether or not it was just BF tuned by the saddle spacing... Just looked at the specs on the website and BF not mentioned so I'm guessing it's not that.... Edited May 5, 2009 by EBS_freak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 They all look in-line with the strings to me, as I'd expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 EBS_Freak is quite right, look at the B/E string saddle - they aren't parallel to the through-neck. I can't see any advantage to this.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Yes, I can see it on the larger picture. Don't know... how do they attach? I'd have imagined that they'd swivel freely, but perhaps not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) I've got the BTB775: On this picture, they look just about right -- the outer bridges seem to angle out [i]slightly[/i], following the line of the strings. Maybe a little squiffy on the B. I'll have to check on the real thing when I get home tonight. I've never noticed anything on mine, so I'm pretty sure the bridges will be straight. But now I'm all paranoid. That 776 looks [b]so[/b] wrong. Friday afternoon for sure. Edited May 5, 2009 by BottomEndian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 They still look a bit out in that picture... but not as bad as the ones that I saw in the flesh. Then again, they are unlikely to put duff pics out on the internet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Incidentally, if anyone's still interested in the BTBs after this exposé, guitarguitar.co.uk have the BTB775PB for £425. Others have it around the £600 mark, so it could be worth a punt before they get wise and stick the price up! (I took the punt a couple of months back and got a beauty -- sounds kind of like a massive Jazz with everything on flat, but the EQ's not shy at all. Lots of tone-shaping available. Down-side: it's big and heavy.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Dont they have to be on the piss in comparison to the thru neck? For the string spacing to be wider at the bridge than at the nut, the strings naturally splay out towards the bridge. With a conventional bridge, you hardly notice but on a five string, the B and the G are not at exactly ninety degrees to the saddle. However, the relative size of the string verses the saddle and the short'ish length of string after the saddle, mask the effect. With the single bridge pieces, Ibanez have probably aligned the bridge to the string hence the outer ones looking slightly off in relation to the edge of the through neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='JPJ' post='479981' date='May 5 2009, 03:21 PM']Dont they have to be on the piss in comparison to the thru neck? For the string spacing to be wider at the bridge than at the nut, the strings naturally splay out towards the bridge. With a conventional bridge, you hardly notice but on a five string, the B and the G are not at exactly ninety degrees to the saddle. However, the relative size of the string verses the saddle and the short'ish length of string after the saddle, mask the effect. With the single bridge pieces, Ibanez have probably aligned the bridge to the string hence the outer ones looking slightly off in relation to the edge of the through neck.[/quote] Hmmm, just had a look at the picture of the six stringer and these just look generally on the piss. Could it be an access thing, when you have to fit six of them side by side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='JPJ' post='479986' date='May 5 2009, 03:26 PM']Hmmm, just had a look at the picture of the six stringer and these just look generally on the piss. Could it be an access thing, when you have to fit six of them side by side?[/quote] Well, the BTB576 on the Ibanez website looks OK: (Having said that, the A and D look a bit squashed together compared to the others.) The 776 in the OP was just a colossal duffer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='JPJ' post='479981' date='May 5 2009, 03:21 PM']Dont they have to be on the piss in comparison to the thru neck? For the string spacing to be wider at the bridge than at the nut, the strings naturally splay out towards the bridge. With a conventional bridge, you hardly notice but on a five string, the B and the G are not at exactly ninety degrees to the saddle. However, the relative size of the string verses the saddle and the short'ish length of string after the saddle, mask the effect. With the single bridge pieces, Ibanez have probably aligned the bridge to the string hence the outer ones looking slightly off in relation to the edge of the through neck.[/quote] BTW, absolutely agree with this. It's kind of what I was driving at a few posts back, but you've expressed it way more clearly and concisely than I could ever manage. ^_^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='JPJ' post='479986' date='May 5 2009, 03:26 PM']Hmmm, just had a look at the picture of the six stringer and these just look generally on the piss. Could it be an access thing, when you have to fit six of them side by side?[/quote] I don't know... all I know is that they were all on the piss to different amounts on all the seperate basses. The spacing between each unit seemed to be highly changeable also... I've only had one bass with a bridge set up similar to this. Again, through neck - but that seemed to be OK. That was a Yamaha BB-NE2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='JPJ' post='479981' date='May 5 2009, 03:21 PM']Dont they have to be on the piss in comparison to the thru neck? For the string spacing to be wider at the bridge than at the nut, the strings naturally splay out towards the bridge. With a conventional bridge, you hardly notice but on a five string, the B and the G are not at exactly ninety degrees to the saddle. However, the relative size of the string verses the saddle and the short'ish length of string after the saddle, mask the effect. With the single bridge pieces, Ibanez have probably aligned the bridge to the string hence the outer ones looking slightly off in relation to the edge of the through neck.[/quote] Maybe... but in this case, the line of the string isn't in line with the bridge piece. You would expect there to be no angle made between the string and the bridge piece if that is what they have done... but there clearly is. If there is ever a reason to go with an all in one bridge unit on an Ibanez...... It genuinely surprises me that this seems to be something that Ibanez don't appear to get right... I am presuming that all these are CNC routed with the holes for the hardware precut. Is it there CNC machines on the piss?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneless Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) Anyway, I wouldn't except all of this to have any perceivable influence on the basses' tone. If the first photo is on the Ibanez's website, it's probably intended to be like that... these basses are all CNC-made, so I wouldn't expect any difference between basses of the same model. EBS_Freak, were the "different amounts of piss" between a bunch of 4-stringers or between different models? Edited May 5, 2009 by Boneless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='Boneless' post='480049' date='May 5 2009, 04:23 PM']Anyway, I wouldn't except all of this to have any perceivable influence on the basses' tone. If the first photo is on the Ibanez's website, it's probably intended to be like that... these basses are all CNC-made, so I wouldn't expect any difference between basses of the same model. EBS_Freak, were the "different amounts of piss" between a bunch of 4-stringers or between different models?[/quote] You would have thought that if they were CNCed they'd be all the same... They were all different models. There were two 5ers and two 4ers... and they were all pissed up in one way... and individually, they were all on the piss in a unique manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kongo Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) Do you mean off as in angle or off as in the Low-B is set back further than the High-C? I have a BTB556mp (6-string natural) and BTB405QM (Trans Red) and have never had tuning problems. I LOVE the basses...but the tone doesn't do well in my current band. Oh and they are NOT for sale. I will use them come time I find something better. Edited May 5, 2009 by Kongo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkypenguin Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 just a thought, but the string spacing at the bridge is greater than the spacing at the nut, so the strings will naturally fan out as they reach the bridge end. this might explain why the outer units are cocked slightly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kongo Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='funkypenguin' post='480474' date='May 5 2009, 10:42 PM']just a thought, but the string spacing at the bridge is greater than the spacing at the nut, so the strings will naturally fan out as they reach the bridge end. this might explain why the outer units are cocked slightly[/quote] Yeah and the nut is very wide too! They have a very generous spacing and I think, by feel, that the 5-string has the same spacing as a 4-string. ONly problem is it uses the same pickups as the 6-string and if you anchor on the pickup it can confuse you into thinking your strings are MILES appart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='funkypenguin' post='480474' date='May 5 2009, 10:42 PM']just a thought, but the string spacing at the bridge is greater than the spacing at the nut, so the strings will naturally fan out as they reach the bridge end. this might explain why the outer units are cocked slightly[/quote] ...but that still doesn't make sense; the string is meets the bridge component at an angle... - you would have thought they would be perfectly in line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 [quote name='Kongo' post='480449' date='May 5 2009, 10:21 PM']Do you mean off as in angle or off as in the Low-B is set back further than the High-C? I have a BTB556mp (6-string natural) and BTB405QM (Trans Red) and have never had tuning problems. I LOVE the basses...but the tone doesn't do well in my current band. Oh and they are NOT for sale. I will use them come time I find something better. [/quote] Off as in angle. Its quite normal to see staggered individual bridges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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