# Ibanez 5 String Bass Mods... HELP!



## Konfyouzd (May 26, 2009)

Hey... I've posted about this a couple of times and been ignored consistently. But what do we do when we fall off the horse? 

We get back on. So, here I am posting another thread trying to get help with my Ibanez SR305. Perhaps I just wasn't asking my questions correctly.

I'm very much into the slap/pop thing. For some reason the saddles on the stock bridge will NOT stay still. I don't want any quick fixes for this. I've read on other forums about people using different kinds of glues/epoxies to hold the bridge in place. I'd rather just go all out and change the damn thing out altogether. I'd be really interested in a bass trem like the kahler 7415, but I'm completely open to fixed bridge suggestions as well. I'm just looking for something sturdy that I can get relatively low action with.

Also, the pickups that are in it now suck donkey balls (in my opinion anyway) and I'd like to switch them out. Does anyone have any experience with the Bartolini MK5 pickups? Also, what's the benefit of using an active preamp vs runninig them passively (or without the preamp, I suppose...?)?

Thanks for your help, guys!


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## Beta (May 26, 2009)

Here you go:

I had a bass with a Kahler 2410 series on it (4-string, NOT a "hybrid" model). You will want a graphite/GraphTech Black Tusq XL nut. The rollers are brass, and will develop indentations from roundwound strings over time. A poorly cut nut will make it certain that you do not return to tune. They are a pain in your ass to adjust string height/intonation on, maybe less so if you're used to doing intonation on guitar trems.

If you want a standard bridge, look at something by Gotoh (I think they're most likely to have a direct replacement) or Hipshot. While your particular bridge may be defective, the bridge on my GWB35 hasn't moved a bit from when I got it a year and a half ago, through restrings to flats and back to rounds. I think the string spacing is 16mm, but I haven't measured.

I replaced the stock pickup in my GWB35 with a BC5CBC bridge pickup. I like the sound. Chances are, you will be purchasing the MK5CBC model if you choose Bartolini (I say this because I don't think Bartolini makes the MK shape pickups in anything but the "Classic Bass" series, where as other shapes are available with different voicings). All of their Classic Bass series pickups are voiced the same. I found that my low end was fuller, and the treble did not sound sharp or brittle.

An active preamp gives you the benefits of gain and better frequency control. You need not turn your preamp gain up so far to net you the same output. An active preamp has either two or three bands of cut and boost usually. A two-band, like the Bart NTBT gives you cut and boost in bass and treble. The NTMB adds mid frequency control in both cut and boost, and a three-way selectable frequency center. Bartolini preamps have a gain trim pot on the module. I'm not sure about others. You should shop around if you choose to replace the preamp. Different manufacturers have different frequency centers for their controls, and some of them are probably more useful than others (for instance, Aguilar uses 40hz for the bass frequency center; Bartolini uses 30hz).

Passive basses have a tone control, just like guitars. It rolls off treble, and that's all it does. An active/passive switch allows you to bypass the frequency controls, and it bypasses them entirely. You will not have a tone control.


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## Konfyouzd (May 26, 2009)

What's a GWB? I keep thinking George Dubya Bush when I read that. 

Also, are there any other companies I should consider for pickups that make pickups in the same dimensions as the MK series? And if they're all voiced the same then what is the difference between the MK1 - 5?


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## Beta (May 26, 2009)

Konfyouzd said:


> What's a GWB? I keep thinking George Dubya Bush when I read that.
> 
> Also, are there any other companies I should consider for pickups that make pickups in the same dimensions as the MK series? And if they're all voiced the same then what is the difference between the MK1 - 5?



GWB is Gary Willis Bass.

tl;dr version: The MK I pickups in your SR will not have the same voicing as the MK5CBC (but all Bartolini "Classic Bass" series pickups were designed to have a particular voicing), and I don't know of any other company that has a standard design that will fit those dimensions.

Long version:

As far as Bartolini is concerned MK is a pickup shape, just like BC, P2, M3 (EMG 35), M4 (EMG 40), etc. Classic Bass is a series that spans across all the shapes Bartolini makes. All pickups in that series have the same voicing, and there are neck and bridge variants. Bartolini also makes a "deep tone" series, and made a "bright tone" series, though I don't see the bright ones for sale often. I was going to use a deep tone BC for my Willis sig, but the ones I saw for sale at a couple of shops were bought before I could get my hands on them.

The MK is a newer shape, the same one that the licensed Bartolini pickups in Ibanez (the guts of the MK I and MK II pickups Ibanez uses are different; they wanted a new voicing for their BTB basses) and Cort basses are made in. The MK I and II pickups are designed by Bartolini, but made in Korea, I think. Bartolini's MK shape is a USA made pickup.

Nordstrand makes some pickups in Bartolini and EMG shapes, but nothing with the dimensions of a MK. I don't know of any other company that makes something that is a direct replacement for the Bartolini MK shape. It doesn't seem that Delano or Basslines have one. Nice for Bartolini, eh?


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## Konfyouzd (May 26, 2009)

so the barolini MKs are like the 707 of the bass pickup world... (well i guess not anymore because of the blackouts... but you know what i mean)

oh! Gary Willis... wow... does that come w/ the same piece of shit bridge the SR305 comes with? i'm pretty sure the 305 is the bottom of the barrel SR model. and the Gary Willis i'd assume is much nicer. i almost wish i had gone with a slightly nicer bass like the SR505 or something like that initially but i had no idea i was going to like the bass as much as i do.


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