artisan Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 (edited) i'm thinking of ordering one of these from Guitar Guitar but it will be a blind purchase,i.e. i've not even seen it in the flesh let alone played one,or any other BTB bass. are they as good as they look ? [url="http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=09102213000429"]http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars...=09102213000429[/url] it has the MK2 Bartolini soapbars & MK2 e.q. + a piezo bridge,so i'm thinking it will have a pretty impressive tonal range,but wil it be a good funk bass? i'm thinking it will but would much appreciate your thoughts,especially of you own a BTB of some kind. cheers art' Edited December 30, 2009 by artisan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PURPOLARIS Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 [quote name='artisan' post='696125' date='Dec 30 2009, 09:56 AM']i'm thinking of ordering one of these from Guitar Guitar but it will be a blind purchase,i.e. i've not even seen it in the flesh let alone played one,or any other BTB bass. are they as good as they look ? [url="http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=09102213000429"]http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars...=09102213000429[/url] it has the MK2 Bartolini soapbars & MK2 e.q. + a piezo bridge,so i'm thinking it will have a pretty impressive tonal range,but wil it be a good funk bass? i'm thinking it will but would much appreciate your thoughts,especially of you own a BTB of some kind. cheers art'[/quote] It's a lot of money for a blind buy but it does look like a gorgeous Bass. Good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 I used to have a BTB775PB: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=58591"]behold me trading it here[/url]. For me, the downsides were: [list] [*]Size [*]Weight [*]Tonally a touch "polite" for my tastes [*]35" scale ([i]just[/i] too much for my hands down the bottom end) [*]19mm string spacing at the bridge was too much for me on a 5-string (although it doesn't bother me on a 4...) [/list]But the upsides were: [list] [*]Enormous flexibility from the EQ -- roughly ±15 dB in each of three bands makes for many, many tones! [*]Neck -- a bit wide side-to-side, but extremely slender front-to-back [*]Aesthetics -- yes, I'm a bit shallow, but it looked superb [*]Monorail bridge units -- [i]really[/i] easy to chop and change between string sets [*]Price -- I got mine before the Great Ibanez Price Increase of 2009, so it was £400-odd rather than the £600ish it goes for now [/list] All in all, it was a cracking bass (with the loudest output I've ever come across) that ended up surplus to requirements. Seeing as you're looking at a 4-string, chances are it'll be that little bit lighter than my 5, although I think the body will be the same size. If you're short like me, you might look a bit silly with it strapped on. I certainly did. When I say it was tonally "polite"... it was a little too "dark" for me. Although the EQ helped a lot, I never managed to get it to sound quite right for me, with rounds or flats on it. Now, given that this BTB780 (which I've never seen before, BTW -- it's not even on the Ibanez website!) also has a piezo bridge, if you can mix that in it might help give you back some of that bite and zing. So it could be an absolute winner. It really depends on the funk tone you're going for. I've just got hold of a passive P/J for funk purposes, and I'm not sure my BTB could ever [i]really[/i] have aped those tones. Like Purpolaris says, it's a lot of money for a blind buy and if you don't like it, it's not like it's a popular model that'll be really easy to shift, especially at the 2009 prices. If I were you, I'd see if you can find a BTB to try (even if it's not this particular model), just to see if you like the ergonomics. It's a big, big body and a long neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artisan Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 cheers for the response guys i must admit the thing that draws me to it is it's so perty looking to be honest i don't really need another bass as i use my 'ray for the funk thingy any way,it's just a GAS attack. plus you are correct,i really must try one before i rush in so thanks for the wise words,much appreciated. it's a good excuse to trawl around a few music shops & last time i did that i bought my Stingray--not that i'm impulsive or anything thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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