# Ibanez SR505- not a bass for B standard?



## Ulvhedin (Feb 24, 2015)

As I've had this bass for maybe six months now, I've never gotten a good low B tone out of it.
the other four sounds the way a bass should sound, but the B is just nothing more than a metallic clonk with a hint of tonality behind it.

I have it set up with a spanking new 135 gauge on the B, which should be alright with a 34" scale?
I'm starting to think its the darker tone woods that makes it sound like it does, or that it's just my incompetence with bass and the like.

Been trying most solutions that doesn't require an actual amp,- OD in front, Amplitube, Guitar-Rig, TH2, POD HD (guitar), DI and cab sim, nothing seem to do it any good.

What's your take on it? I assume you'd want soundclips, which I can try to provide during the day. 
I've been on the thought to simply replace it with a different bass, since it has the same odd sound acoustically as well.

And here's the instrument for all the specs, which doesn't say me shit since I'm a guitarist  
Ibanez SR505-BM - Thomann UK


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## Dan (Feb 24, 2015)

I use a .140 on the low B and it works well in B standard but any lower and its a little mushy. Inotnation on the SR series is tricky to get perfect, but once you give it a good once over and make sure everything right for your string gauges it should feel and sound a lot better


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## FretSpider (Feb 24, 2015)

What kind of strings do you have on it? The brand and type can play more of a roll than many would think.


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## Ulvhedin (Feb 24, 2015)

FretSpider said:


> What kind of strings do you have on it? The brand and type can play more of a roll than many would think.



After looking it up, I have the 45-130 set from D'addario (D'Addario Strings : XL Nickel Round Wound : EXL170-5 Nickel Wound 5-String Bass, Light, 45-130, Long Scale)

Haven't found any heavier strings apart from Kalium, but I don't really feel like paying such hilarious prices to get it to Norway. 
I could of course be wrong on them being pricey for oversea, it was that way at some point.


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## RV350ALSCYTHE (Feb 24, 2015)

My .135 strings do the same on all basses 34-35", regardless of woods and pickups.
I'm not sure there is any way to fix this other than a longer scale length.
B sounds incredible at 37", but that fix involves buying a Dingwall or similar bass.

It seems that 34/35 is just barely on the edge of being usable for tuning down to ~B, just like many people believe standard scaled guitars are too short to produce a nice F#.

I still play my 35" basses tuned to B/A, they will never sound as clear and awesome as the Dingwall but they are still very playable and can sound excellent in certain contexts. I like the woofier/deeper tone the shorter scale produces when not playing tight quick music.

Adjusting your EQ a lot is the cheapest way to improve your sound, try removing a bit of bass.

It may simply come down to needing to increase action on that string. It may be touching the frets when strummed. The bigger strings need more area to vibrate back-and-forth, it may be clanking on the frets.

Stock stringsets like D'Addario always have a .130/.135 that sounds different than the rest of the package.
Give a single Kalium .130 a try (or an even larger gauge). Their thicker gauge strings are definitely an improvement over the big brands.


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## stevexc (Feb 24, 2015)

I've been playing an SR505 in B standard for 7 or 8 years with absolutely 0 issues. Depending on the amplifier, things could get a little muddy - my Fender amp was particularly bad - but with my Ampeg I had clear tone. This is using a 45-135 set. I definitely wouldn't tune far below B - A at lowest - on a 34", though.

This sounds like there might be a setup issue, to be honest.


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## hairychris (Feb 24, 2015)

.135 worked for me fine (I have an older Korean SR505).

Sounds like some adjustment/set-up is needed.


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## newamerikangospel (Feb 25, 2015)

How are you setting the eq on it? Is the action and neck relief set to keep the strings from slapping the frets?


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## Ulvhedin (Feb 26, 2015)

newamerikangospel said:


> How are you setting the eq on it? Is the action and neck relief set to keep the strings from slapping the frets?



The setup was originally relatively low, but I raised it a bit after some reading.
No slapping on the frets, and no buzz from anywhere. Had a tech looking over it and did a few minor tweaks, but it stays the same.


And it's not a matter of amps or preamps, since it has the clonky sound acoustically as well- no matter if I played it, or if any of the bassplayers at the shop played it.

Kinda ended up on replacing the whole thing tho, but I'm giving Kalium strings a shot first.


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## newamerikangospel (Mar 2, 2015)

The ibanez is the go to for the clank heavy metal tone (I bought an sr375 specifically for the bright attack). One of the statements I heard someone make is "if it doesn't sound good acoustically,then it's only going to be worse in the mix". It may just not be what you are wanting/what the music calls for. You can't expect to get wool when you buy a horse.


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## RevelGTR (Mar 8, 2015)

I've never had much luck getting a low B to sound good on a 34" scale, it always sounds dramatically different from the other strings.


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## ixlramp (Mar 8, 2015)

Buy a tapered D'Addario B string, i find them excellent, they should be standard in their sets. Non-tapered have a dull unclear sound. A .135 will be tension balanced with the .100 E. Otherwise try Kalium for something special.


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## pushpull7 (Mar 8, 2015)

My SR1405 sounds really nice B wise. Maybe because of the harder material used in it?


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## LordCashew (Mar 10, 2015)

ixlramp said:


> Buy a tapered D'Addario B string, i find them excellent, they should be standard in their sets. A .135 will be tension balanced with the .100 E.



This. 

Those .135s are my go-to B string for 34" scale basses. They consistently deliver a clean, piano like sound on the lowest notes of even the cheapest instruments, often sounding better and lasting longer than the E string.

I wish they wound them a little longer so I could use them on all my basses.


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## wat (Mar 10, 2015)

ixlramp said:


> Buy a tapered D'Addario B string, i find them excellent, they should be standard in their sets. Non-tapered have a dull unclear sound. A .135 will be tension balanced with the .100 E. Otherwise try Kalium for something special.





LordIronSpatula said:


> This.
> 
> Those .135s are my go-to B string for 34" scale basses. They consistently deliver a clean, piano like sound on the lowest notes of even the cheapest instruments, often sounding better and lasting longer than the E string.
> 
> I wish they wound them a little longer so I could use them on all my basses.





What exactly does the taper do for the sound that a regular string doesn't? The taper is behind the nut right?


<---- non bass player here, just curious.


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## LordCashew (Mar 11, 2015)

wat said:


> What exactly does the taper do for the sound that a regular string doesn't? The taper is behind the nut right?



On the ball end, actually. It makes it so the string is thinner where it contacts the saddle. This is supposed to improve the harmonicity of the string.







I've had good luck with some non-tapered B strings as well; the tapered D'addario .135s just happen to be my favorites for 34" scale basses. I'm guessing the taper has something to do with that, but I've never done an apples-to-apples comparison of tapered and non-tapered strings.


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## Dregg (Mar 16, 2015)

The lack of good tension on the B-string is what put me off from Ibanez SR-series. The 34" scale neck does not help... at all.

The 4-strings are solid if you like the sound and are really comfy to play. But I always recommend people to get a BTB if you want an Ibanez bass with extended range.


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## TheUnvanquished (Mar 16, 2015)

I am picking up an ibanez SR655 that I ordered from my favorite local guitar shop tomorrow. This thread has me worried though. I don't intend on going lower than B standard on it, but damn. I was getting a reasonably tight, punchy low B from the cheaper SR that the shop had on the wall a few weeks ago. 

What do you guys think makes the SR series a bad choice for extra range? Just curious.


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## stevexc (Mar 16, 2015)

It's not a "bad" choice, it's just not an optimal choice. It's easier to get a better sound (ie less mud) from a B or lower on a 35"+ scale bass, but if you're not planning on tuning down past B or A the SRs are completely capable of giving you a good sound.

Source: I've been playing 34" scale 5-strings for over a decade and making them sound more than good enough, and the last 6 years have been on an SR.


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## LordCashew (Mar 18, 2015)

TheUnvanquished said:


> What do you guys think makes the SR series a bad choice for extra range? Just curious.



It's not.


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## pushpull7 (Mar 19, 2015)

Having had a million basses and after trying a few more recently deciding to stick with my 1405 sr, I think too big a deal is made out of the "scale" length and your skills/setup are more important.


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## LordCashew (Mar 19, 2015)

pushpull7 said:


> ...I think too big a deal is made out of the "scale" length and your skills/setup are more important.



This. I've always been able to get a satisfactory low B with proper strings and setup, regardless of scale. Low A even, when I've tried. I think it's possible on any bass, barring some issue that precludes a proper setup. Unless of course the player wants their bass to play like a guitar - that's a different story. 

For what it's worth, I do generally prefer 35" instruments but I just haven't found 34" to be problematic.


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## TheUnvanquished (Mar 22, 2015)

Ok. So I got my sr655. Happy to report that I am having zero trouble with the scale length. The bass has a stock .130 low B string on it and with a bit of bridge tweaking I've got it sounding pretty ferocious in B flat standard. \m/

NGD thread coming soon


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## pushpull7 (Mar 23, 2015)

Awesome.


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## Ulvhedin (Mar 26, 2015)

Ordered a .145 tapered string now. Will report back with wether it's a miracle-cure or not


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## Chi (Mar 26, 2015)

Ulvhedin said:


> Ordered a .145 tapered string now. Will report back with wether it's a miracle-cure or not



I just put on a 145 tapered on my 6 string, goes down to G# without a problem. (35" scale)


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