NBD: unpointy pointy bass

[Greg Edwards69]

Well, not today exactly, it arrived Saturday, but close enough.

 

It's a new to me Ibanez EHB1005SMS. Short/medium scale (30-32") fan fretted 5-string bass. Found in the B-stock section at Andertons for a decent price (£699 inc official gigbag and shipping)

 

I've been thinking about one of these for several months now. It's not my usual thing at all, but I've been curious about fan frets, and this one ticks a lot of other boxes as well. I'm a 4 string player at heart. I played a 5-string exclusively for many years (and had a 6-string for a little while), but I realised I played it as a 4-string with a few extra low notes on an extended thumb rest. However, my band's repertoire has been edging into genres that need lower tunings. I've been making do with the pitch-shift on my Helix that works rather well, but I can't be bothered to set it up at home to practice (and I've been through somewhat of a journey finding a small practice device that handles pitch-shifting - so far settled on the Katana:Go).

 

I've been curious about fanned frets for some time now, but being vertically challenged, and with a limited budget, I didn't fancy going up to 35" of the regular Ibanez EHB series, or 37" of the Dingwalls (although I'd love to try one). I've been having so much fun with my diminutive Jackson Minion that I thought I'd give this 30-32" model a go. This should also prove useful in tight spaces so I don't end up clumping Dave, one of my guitarists, around the head!

 

I'm also very conscious about weight and balance. This is a little under 8 lbs (I haven't actually weighed it myself, but it feels very light). And I could tell immediately when I first saw this design that would balance very well and give easy access to each end of the neck. I quite like that the back of the upper bout is slanted, so it brings the bottom of the bass forwards a little - like a built-in beer gut.

 

All in all, the entire design appears to be well thought out - function over form.

 

Thoughts so far.

• Handles and feels great. Feels perfect on a strap and doesn't change position when seated (and still balances when seated).
• The fan frets are easier to adapt to than I thought. The extra string however... Needless to say I haven't played a 5 string in a while! Still, I guess it's easier than the mental gymnastics of switching to BEAD tuning on the Helix.
• The strings are dead. I know it's B-stock (meaning it could be a customer return), but I think it still has the original strings on. New set delivered to work today to install later this week (if I can work out how!)
• The preamp appears quite powerful (although difficult to tell with dead strings). I'm not a big fan of active basses (I can't be doing with swapping batteries - and I've broken a couple of battery clips on past basses and pedals), but at least this one has a full passive mode, where the treble pot becomes a passive tone. I've yet to determine if the passive mode works without a battery. If it does, I'll be very happy. Still, once I've changed strings, I'm hoping this will be able to achieve "that" modern 5 string tone.
• It didn't come with the straplocks that the bass originally ships with, only the strap buttons. Not a problem for me as I don't use straplocks anymore - I have a strap permanently attached to each bass with rubber washers. However, these straplock buttons don;t work as well with rubber washers, so I've ordered a new set of larger buttons
• Those who know me will know I don't like skinny or thin necks. This was a gamble, but it appears to have paid off. It's comfortable wide and doesn't feel like it's going to snap.
• Fret markers. This is my main, and only gripe TBH. The roasted maple neck and fretboard is lovely and all, as are the abalone markers, but I just can't see them. The side dots are luminlay (or something similar), but again they disappear into the wood colour under normal light, and charging them up with a UV lamp only lasts a few minutes. I've spoken (emailed) fretlook.com from whom I bought block inlay decals for my G&L. They've said they should be able to design a set of similar block inlay decals to fit this fretboard. That should make things much easier.

 

Obligatory "fresh out the wrapper" pic below.

 

Edited August 5 by Greg Edwards69

[fretmeister]

Webcam privacy stickers make great fret markers and will not damage the bass.

 

 

[Hellzero]

The Luminlays can charge in day light, just put your bass near a window during daytime.

 

Or you can use the only led light really working for these luminescent dots: https://meisterworks.myshopify.com/collections/luminlay-products/products/luminlay-ll-1

 

I have Luminlays and luminescent dots on several basses and I have tried a lot of UV lights that only charge them for a few minutes when the official one gives you around one hour of visibility.

 

Edited August 5 by Hellzero
Link added

[Hellzero]

3 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

New set delivered to work today to install later this week (if I can work out how!)

 

[RichT]

Lovely stuff! I've recently found myself musing on whether I should have bought this model rather than my 1505def. I'm mostly playing short scale these days, and I also think I'm just not particularly fussed on the Nordstrand Big Splits in the 1505 (at least not in active mode, they're better passive). I've got Bart BH2's in my Ibanez SR500e and they always sounded great to me there, would like to try them in an EHB. At the moment the 1505 weighing in at 7lbs is keeping me from looking elsewhere. 

 

You can buy packs of multi sized fret dot marker stickers cheaply off Ebay. I bought a set for mine, cost about £3 I think. A good simple upgrade you may want to consider at some point is switching out the plastic toothpaste caps! I used the black metal knobs from John East, they fit perfectly and look great: 

 

https://www.east-uk.com/product/single-knobs/

 

https://www.east-uk.com/product/knobs-dual/

 

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, RichT said:

Lovely stuff! I've recently found myself musing on whether I should have bought this model rather than my 1505def. I'm mostly playing short scale these days, and I also think I'm just not particularly fussed on the Nordstrand Big Splits in the 1505 (at least not in active mode, they're better passive). I've got Bart BH2's in my Ibanez SR500e and they always sounded great to me there, would like to try them in an EHB. At the moment the 1505 weighing in at 7lbs is keeping me from looking elsewhere. 

 

Just try an EHB1005, they've got the Bart BH2s in. 

[Greg Edwards69]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

The Luminlays can charge in day light, just put your bass near a window during daytime.

 

Or you can use the only led light really working for these luminescent dots: https://meisterworks.myshopify.com/collections/luminlay-products/products/luminlay-ll-1

 

I have Luminlays and luminescent dots on several basses and I have tried a lot of UV lights that only charge them for a few minutes when the official one gives you around one hour of visibility.

 

It would appear that Ibanez have used an alternate material and not actual Luminlay. There's several review floating around the interweb stating the glow doesn't last long. I have a little UV torch I bought when I tried UV nail varnish in the past as a side dot solution. The torch works fine, it's just the material that's crap.

[Greg Edwards69]

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Webcam privacy stickers make great fret markers and will not damage the bass.

 

1 hour ago, RichT said:

You can buy packs of multi sized fret dot marker stickers cheaply off Ebay. I bought a set for mine, cost about £3 I think. A good simple upgrade you may want to consider at some point is switching out the plastic toothpaste caps! I used the black metal knobs from John East, they fit perfectly and look great: 

 

https://www.east-uk.com/product/single-knobs/

 

https://www.east-uk.com/product/knobs-dual/

 

Thanks both. I think I have a sheet of blackout stickers somewhere I bought a couple of years ago to cover up a couple of annoying LEDs in the bedroom. I'll try and find them and give it a go.

 

The knobs aren't bothering me at the moment, but I'll bare that in mind.

Edited August 5 by Greg Edwards69

[Greg Edwards69]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

 

Thank for this. Most helpful. Ibanez' website - not so much.

[RichT]

3 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

Just try an EHB1005, they've got the Bart BH2s in. 

Yes, as does the short scale version above. If I was ever going to swap, it would be to go short scale too.

 

Although the weights of the various 1005 versions all seem to come in a fair bit heavier than the 1505's, and weight is a massive factor for me. Luckily it's my token 5 string bass, it's fine for the rare occasions I need those extra 5 notes 😉 

[RichT]

3 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

Thank for this. Most helpful. Ibanez' website - not so much.

That video is essential! A couple of other little tips on string changes - when you're tightening up the clamp at the 'headstock' end, use the Allen key the wrong way round, i.e. long end into the socket and hold the short end. Going this way round gives you less torque and should prevent accidentally chopping straight through your strings due to over enthusiastic tightening. 

 

Also, slot something like a credit card between the strings and the headstock before you trim them off. If you don't then it's way too easy to scratch up the headstock when you cut the strings. 

[Bigwan]

How's the B string on this? Been interested in one of these myself but if the B string sounds like a damp fart I'd be a tad annoyed...

[visog]

22 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

 

All in all, the entire design appears to be well thought out - function over form.

 

 

'Form ever follows function'! These are great, handy basses whose tone belies their compact size and weight. I have the 6-er and it's great.

 

The multi-scale helps even the tone and tension of the strings but I have to say, other than around the 5-8 frets, I find it disorientating, particularly in the upper registers when the multi-scale gets extreme.

 

This negative effect can be greatly reduced with good practise in not looking at the fretboard when playing. That said, I'm not entirely sure I'd have a bass with it again unless they did a less extreme multi-scale, say, like their 'Q' series guitars.

[Greg Edwards69]

2 hours ago, Bigwan said:

How's the B string on this? Been interested in one of these myself but if the B string sounds like a damp fart I'd be a tad annoyed...

It sounds okay to me so far. That said, I've only tried it through my little Blackstar practice amp and I need to change the strings and adjust the set-up.  I'll have a better idea when I try it through my gigging gear at the weekend.

 

It won't sound like a Dingwall B string, if that's what you're after, as it's only 32", but it will more than suffice for my meagre needs.

[Lfalex v1.1]

On 05/08/2024 at 19:13, Hellzero said:

 

 

Now do this on a darkened stage when you've broken a string... 

 

No thanks!

[crazycloud]

5 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Now do this on a darkened stage when you've broken a string... 

I've never broken a string on stage, so not an issue for me. 

[Greg Edwards69]

On 10/08/2024 at 03:58, Lfalex v1.1 said:

 

Now do this on a darkened stage when you've broken a string... 

 

No thanks!

 

I've never broken a string on stage either. But even if I did, this is why most of us bring a spare bass to gigs.

 

FWIW, the string change was dead easy. I'd even go as far as to say it was quicker and easier than a traditional bass.

Edited August 12 by Greg Edwards69

[tauzero]

12 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

 

I've never broken a string on stage either. But even if I did, this is why most of us bring a spare bass to gigs.

 

FWIW, the string change was dead easy. I'd even go as far as to say it was quicker and easier than a traditional bass.

 

If you don't mind a length of string sticking out, you don't even need string clippers if you're doing it at a gig.

 

Personally, I've also never broken a string and I have a spare bass with me.

[Greg Edwards69]

On 05/08/2024 at 22:47, RichT said:

That video is essential! A couple of other little tips on string changes - when you're tightening up the clamp at the 'headstock' end, use the Allen key the wrong way round, i.e. long end into the socket and hold the short end. Going this way round gives you less torque and should prevent accidentally chopping straight through your strings due to over enthusiastic tightening. 

 

Also, slot something like a credit card between the strings and the headstock before you trim them off. If you don't then it's way too easy to scratch up the headstock when you cut the strings. 

I've been meaning to reply. I took your tips on board and use the Allen key the 'wrong' way round and it worked great. Holds the strings in place perfectly and hasn't chopped through them. Luckily, my Planet Waves string winder has a built in clipper with a rubber cover to prevent scratching, so no need for extra protection.

[Greg Edwards69]

I found my sheet of LED blackout stickers at the weekend and covered the front and side dots. Much easier to see now and I didn't have any trouble finding my way around at band rehearsal. Let's hope they don't fall off if things get a bit sweaty. I'll consider setting them with clearcoat or clear nail varnish if they do.

 

Having changed the strings, it's definitely clearer sounding, but still not as bright as my other basses. However, I've found several threads about swapping a plug on the preamp board that alters the voicing. I'll give this a go later this week and see how that sounds.

 

All in all, very happy with it so far. As as said before, it's my first 5 string for around 15 years. Even though I've only had it 10 days, the old muscle memory is starting to come back. So much so, after playing it all the way through band rehearsal, when I picked up my 4-string JB2, it felt alien and confusing. I need to keep on top of that and regularly practice 4 and 5 strings!  And weirdly, I can switch between my regular 34" bass and my diminutive 28.6"Jackson Minion without issue. Switching from the short/medium scale EHB to my regular 34" somehow felt more jarring. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe because it's close in size but subtly different, whereas the Minion is a lot smaller so I expect the change.