# Ibanez EHB series - headless multiscale basses!



## laxu (Jan 6, 2020)

Ibanez in a surprise move is releasing a series of headless basses for this year.

https://www.ibanez.com/eu/products/model/ehb/























The black is as boring as they come but I dig the seafoam green one. A bit on the fence for the burl top model finishes, I wish they had done the "beach" finish they have on some of their guitars instead of that somewhat odd purple and green/blue.

The main differences for these models are burl top, panga pange neck/fretboard, Nordstrand pickups vs basswood body, roasted maple neck/fretboard and Bartolini pickups on the solid colors. 33-35" multiscale.

I love that they have gone with the shorter 33" for the high string, it's perfect. I really like the BTB-ish body as well.

Pricing at Thomann is 1199€ for solid colors and 1599€ for burl tops, 1699€ for the 6-string. Available in 3-4 weeks.


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## stevexc (Jan 6, 2020)

These are ugly and disgusting and I want one. So badly.


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## ImNotAhab (Jan 6, 2020)

Those are so hot. Hate to be the typical sevenstring.org guy but god damn it i wish they had done a Dingwall type scale length.


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## laxu (Jan 6, 2020)

ImNotAhab said:


> Those are so hot. Hate to be the typical sevenstring.org guy but god damn it i wish they had done a Dingwall type scale length.



For me the shorter 33-35" is perfect. I already play a 33" BTB33 modded for a low B and my only complaint is that the low B could be tighter feeling and snappier sounding.


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## Masoo2 (Jan 6, 2020)

laxu said:


> For me the shorter 33-35" is perfect. I already play a 33" BTB33 modded for a low B and my only complaint is that the low B could be tighter feeling and snappier sounding.


I really dig the 33 inch high end and have always wanted to try a BTB33, but man I think this would be perfect with a 33-36 fan

36 seems to never come up with these more common fanned basses, wonder why?


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## Lemonbaby (Jan 6, 2020)

Masoo2 said:


> I really dig the 33 inch high end and have always wanted to try a BTB33, but man I think this would be perfect with a 33-36 fan
> 
> 36 seems to never come up with these more common fanned basses, wonder why?


10 companies increase scale length by 1 inch
20 random SSO guy asks for one inch more
30 GOTO 10

35" already is the "one inch more" for 5 string basses...


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## laxu (Jan 6, 2020)

Masoo2 said:


> I really dig the 33 inch high end and have always wanted to try a BTB33, but man I think this would be perfect with a 33-36 fan
> 
> 36 seems to never come up with these more common fanned basses, wonder why?



I'd say for fanned frets you don't want a huge gap between the scale lengths as that will make it harder to play on the low strings. Most seem to stick to 1.5-2" scale difference. Dingwall is probably one of the few manufacturers who go further.


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## olejason (Jan 6, 2020)

I'm interested in the 6 but want to try it out before I buy. Hopefully GC will carry them. A lot of my gigs are sight reading so I want to be sure I can do that comfortably on a multiscale without getting goofed up.


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## Masoo2 (Jan 6, 2020)

laxu said:


> I'd say for fanned frets you don't want a huge gap between the scale lengths as that will make it harder to play on the low strings. Most seem to stick to 1.5-2" scale difference. Dingwall is probably one of the few manufacturers who go further.


yeah that's what I was wondering, Dingwall and a handful popularized the 34-37 which transition down to the LTD, Brice, and few other production models.

I *think* Schecter had a 34-36?


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## Winspear (Jan 6, 2020)

A lot of people have been calling the fan pointless, but lets not forget a fan is always a nice upgrade for tonal balance and tension balance on traditional string sets. Playability too. 
For standard range tunings, this shortening of the treble side is real nice! Definitely missing a lot of the downtuning target market of course, but a nice option for the more traditional crowd to pick up something very modern. 
That fret access is amazing - I wish more companies would design for a clear last fret


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## spudmunkey (Jan 6, 2020)

It doesn't matter what scale they were to release: release 33-35", and people complain it's not 37", or a 31-33".


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## ixlramp (Jan 6, 2020)

Masoo2 said:


> 36 seems to never come up with these more common fanned basses, wonder why?


I was wondering this too in my post about the chosen scale lengths https://www.sevenstring.org/posts/5085888/ , 36" seems optimum.
Anyway, these are still excellent and it is so good to see some significant advancement by a big manufacturer and some shift in the market (finally, 40 years after Steinberger's innovation).


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## GenghisCoyne (Jan 6, 2020)

im good with the scale options. 36 is unrealistically niche for any production instrument. i will go ahead and bitch about not having a maple 6 string. never heard of dookie dookie, definitely not buying a bass with it without trying it first.


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## Masoo2 (Jan 6, 2020)

Surprised that my comment garnered such a seemingly negative response, especially from the crowd who fawns over Kalium's 39/40 inch basses, pushing guitars to 28+, and other inherently niche concepts.

I think 35 is fine but it was simply a question as to why it's not done more often, spending some more time looking into it almost every production fanned fret is 34-37 or the Ibanez approach. Schecter and Ormsby (albeit only on the 4 string) seem to be the two offering 36 inch low ends.



I remember seeing this bass a few months back and wondering if it was some small Japanese luthier who put it out cause the prototype they sent Ichika didn't have an Ibanez logo. It's probably the furthest from Ibanez design I've seen in a while; even the AZ's didn't steer too too far away from what Ibanez is known for.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 6, 2020)

GenghisCoyne said:


> im good with the scale options. 36 is unrealistically niche for any production instrument. i will go ahead and bitch about not having a maple 6 string. never heard of dookie dookie, definitely not buying a bass with it without trying it first.



It's just wenge grown in a different region. It's considered 1:1 interchangeable.


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## c7spheres (Jan 6, 2020)

Uh oh, The EHB1005 and EHB1005ms have me seriously in trouble. Those just threw a wrench in my plans. I must resists and stay the course but Everything about those is checking boxes. not much of a fan of headless guitars but with these two basses it don't seem to matter. Even the price is right for those.


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## AxeHappy (Jan 7, 2020)

If the 6 was available in that Seafoam Green I'd be fucked. 

I may well end up with the 5 string.


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## LordHar (Jan 12, 2020)

I want the 6 and the seafoam 5... badly.


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## Lemonbaby (Jan 12, 2020)

+1 for Seafoam. I'll have to do a PU upgrade immediately though.


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## iamaom (Jan 12, 2020)

Look neat but sweetwater is already listing them for $1300, at that point I'd rather have a kiesel. Hopefully they'll be cheaper used, but BTB's on reverb are still crazy high.


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## olejason (Jan 12, 2020)

Panga panga and wenge are closely related but they're distinct species. http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/_discussion_wenge_panga_panga.htm


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## Lemonbaby (Jan 12, 2020)

iamaom said:


> Look neat but sweetwater is already listing them for $1300, at that point I'd rather have a kiesel. Hopefully they'll be cheaper used, but BTB's on reverb are still crazy high.


The list price of the high end EHBs isn't bad for what you get IMHO: chambered body, reinforced neck (with really hard woods to begin with), fanned stainless frets, custom headless hardware with adjustable string spacing, strap locks, detachable thumb rest and Nordstrand PUs. Of course, there's a certain niche product adder, but 1599 Euros for the 5string model sounds OK to me. And street prices will be a little lower at some point...


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## iamaom (Jan 13, 2020)

I'm not saying the price is bad per se, but rather I could get an american instrument with the exact specs I want for a little more money. If anything there are too many features, I wish I could go into a GC and pick between a bunch of $500 headless instruments in the same way I can choose between a dozen RGs or strats, but then again I seem to be in a minority of a minority so it'll never happen.


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## GenghisCoyne (Jan 13, 2020)

all of the new ibanez prices are looking a little overly ambitious


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## olejason (Jan 13, 2020)

I think the price is okay if the fretwork is up to snuff. I'd also want to buy from somewhere that will go ahead and take care of whatever fret sprout is present.


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## jephjacques (Jan 16, 2020)

I want a 6


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## GenghisCoyne (Jan 24, 2020)

revisiting this after watching some NAMM videos. Spraying the little nubby headstock black is such a killer move. i cant believe im using that as justification to pay 1300 dollars for this bullshit


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## ixlramp (Jan 25, 2020)

This Ibanez is far better designed than the Strandberg Boden bass, as that re-uses a guitar body design and therefore has a short horn, the strap button lines up with the 15th fret. This will neutralise some of the balance advantage gained by being headless, in fact i expect the Boden bass is still a little neck-heavy. The nut will also be shifted away from the player. A disappointing design from a company that claims to prioritise ergonomics.


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## laxu (Jan 26, 2020)

ixlramp said:


> This Ibanez is far better designed than the Strandberg Boden bass, as that re-uses a guitar body design and therefore has a short horn, the strap button lines up with the 15th fret. This will neutralise some of the balance advantage gained by being headless, in fact i expect the Boden bass is still a little neck-heavy. The nut will also be shifted away from the player. A disappointing design from a company that claims to prioritise ergonomics.



Strandberg's design is mostly marketing to me. Their bridge design is awful for height adjustment, their bolt-on heel sticks really far up the neck too and the Endurneck is pretty divisive. Nicest idea on that design is the contour that allows you to put it on your left leg to play more in a classical position.

Availability for the Ibanez basses has gone from 3-4 weeks to 7-8 at Thomann.


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## ixlramp (Jan 27, 2020)

The Strandberg lower rear cutout is unsuitable for classical position, it results in a near-horizontal guitar. Classical position requires the right leg in the tuner cutout ... oops! ... leg contact with tuners and lead. Not a great design, not as ergonomic as they claim.
The Strandberg cutout seems to be to avoid right leg contant when strapped on and sitting.


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## ixlramp (Jan 31, 2020)

I am realising how good this design of string clamp is.

Typical headless string clamps are only attached with screws onto the top of the 'headstock'.
The Ibanez design is a cylinder that passes through the whole 'headstock', like a standard tuner post, so is more rigidly anchored.

Typical headless string clamps use a set screw clamping down against the string, so the clamping surface rotates as it clamps, not ideal and can damage a string.
The Ibanez design has, according to a video i saw made by an Ibanez representative, a 'brass dowel' inside the cylinder. This clamps the string from below. The set screw below tightens against the dowel, so the clamping surface probably does not rotate against the string as it clamps.

The overall design is actually very similar to a standard 'locking tuner', which is a cylinder (tuner post) passing through the headstock, mounted from below, and clamping the string from below.
The result is a very clean-looking, low profile (above and below) string clamp, with the screw and dowel contained within the cylinder.


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## ixlramp (Jan 31, 2020)

It is like the tuner post of a standard locking tuner, but non-rotating =)

Source of 'brass dowel' info, at 2:00 in this video:


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## Matt08642 (Feb 2, 2020)

ixlramp said:


> It is like the tuner post of a standard locking tuner, but non-rotating =)
> 
> Source of 'brass dowel' info, at 2:00 in this video:




240P? COME ON, Ibanez


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## laxu (Feb 3, 2020)

ixlramp said:


> I am realising how good this design of string clamp is.
> 
> Typical headless string clamps are only attached with screws onto the top of the 'headstock'.
> The Ibanez design is a cylinder that passes through the whole 'headstock', like a standard tuner post, so is more rigidly anchored.
> ...



I feel a lot of Ibanez hardware is overengineered. While I don't mind that, I am not convinced that it gives the kind of benefits they claim.


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## ixlramp (Feb 5, 2020)

The string clamps are not overengineered, it is a simple and logical design that is not obvious before you see it. The type of innovative design that makes you have the "Of course! This seems so obvious now i see it but before i saw it i would never have thought of it" reaction. Part of the innovation is thinking "does the clamp have to clamp from above? how about from below?" and related to that, approaching it from thinking about the design of a conventional locking tuner.

Compared to a standard string clamp, the only additional complexities are the brass dowel and the need to drill a hole through the headstock, both of which are low cost and trivial.
Now most other string clamp designs seem (and are) fairly crude in comparison.


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## bostjan (Feb 5, 2020)

Not a bad look, but I'd rather take all the scale length I can get on the low B. 35" is not bad at all, but now I'm spoiled with two 37" basses.


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## Radau (Feb 16, 2020)

Tried out the 1005MS, actually pleasantly surprised! The necks feel great and they sound awesome. Definitely will try to get my hands on the 6


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## delaa (Feb 23, 2020)

What about fretwork? it is acceptable? Fret ends quality? Fretboard edge is clear and straight? could you post a picture (close up)?


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## Radau (Feb 24, 2020)

delaa said:


> What about fretwork? it is acceptable? Fret ends quality? Fretboard edge is clear and straight? could you post a picture (close up)?


It all felt great, can't post a close up because I don't own it. I can post more when my workplace gets more in


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## Adieu (Feb 24, 2020)

Ughh

Hells to the no


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## Omerandr (Feb 24, 2020)

Just got mine today. It's my first bass so I don't have anything to compare to, but in terms of build quailty it's amazing.
(And this is after I almost swore to keep away from Indonesian ibys after my bad experience with some low quality 7 string iron labels)


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## Fun With Dirt (Feb 25, 2020)

Omerandr said:


> Just got mine today. It's my first bass so I don't have anything to compare to, but in terms of build quailty it's amazing.
> (And this is after I almost swore to keep away from Indonesian ibys after my bad experience with some low quality 7 string iron labels)


You got one of these for your first bass?! Holy cow. My first bass was a cheap headless Steinberger knockoff (think 1980's) bass by Hohner. The best I can say about it is "it functioned". lol. Just a year later I would pick up an Ibanez SR800 fretless four string I got on a very good deal as it was a repo of sorts and they were just looking to get what they were out. Killer way to start bass ownership!


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## olejason (Apr 7, 2020)

I put in an order for the 6 string. Looks like general release for the rest of the series has slipped to June/July.


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## ixlramp (Apr 8, 2020)

Fun With Dirt, those Hohner Steinberger copies, and the Jack Bass, were actually very good bass guitars, not 'cheap' at all. My first 2 bass guitars were Hohner B2V and B2AV.


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## Radau (Apr 9, 2020)

We were supposed to be supporting Testament, Black Dahlia Murder and Municipal Waste in April/May. Seeing as that's not happening I figured I'd do some playthroughs. 
This is just the stock 1005MS BKF and a Line 6 Helix


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## I play music (Sep 4, 2020)

New colour!


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## MaxOfMetal (Sep 4, 2020)

I play music said:


> New colour!


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## MFB (Sep 4, 2020)

You will not tempt me Max, I can't neglect my other basses more than I already do!


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## gunch (Sep 4, 2020)

I hope whatever headless guitar ibanez has cooking has a little hint of the iceman scoop too


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## Bloody_Inferno (Sep 5, 2020)

They still don't have a non burl solid colour six string, so I'll wait...


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## cardinal (Sep 5, 2020)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> They still don't have a non burl solid colour six string, so I'll wait...



this is a good thing so I'm not tempted to actually buy one.


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## Quiet Coil (Sep 7, 2020)

Very glad to see this! I’m holding out for the lower teirs to include the Nords instead of Barts, and while this isn’t that, it shows that the line is still potentially growing!


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## shpence (Oct 15, 2020)

Snagged one of these (sea foam green 5 string) a few days ago. Paint chipped off immediately when I took the back plate off to clean out wood chips that were bouncing around. Imports usually have paint issues in that area but the whole area is pretty bad. The battery cover isn't flush at all and pokes me in the belly haha. These things are on the back luckily but not fantastic for a $1300 bass brand new. 

I haven't gotten it to sound better than my LTD and Yamaha basses that are ~$600. Kind of a bummer as I've wanted the EHB1005MS for a while but I'll keep at it before returning. Kinda suspected this would occur with the initial runs. Figured I'd share to warn or provide some pause maybe. It does look awesome though haha!


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 15, 2020)

Yeah, you're pretty much playing roulette when it comes to first (and sometimes second and on occasion third) year Ibanez.


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Oct 17, 2020)

I sure hope they bring the headless to the guitar side too. I loved my EHB1005MS in Seafoam. It was great and probably the first bass I ever liked. I sold it though


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## Quiet Coil (Dec 17, 2020)

Not that anyone’s asking, but I’d say my sole GAS wishlist item for 2021 is a 5-string EHB/MS with a single Nordstrand pickup.

Haven’t had a bass for a few years (or time to play for that matter), but the EHB series definitely caught my attention. Only thing holding me back (aside from good sense) is that I don’t love Bartolini’s but am not going to shell out an extra $450 for a finish I don’t really like anyway. Sounds like I could order the custom size Nordy’s direct but then I couldn’t use “0% interest” as justification to purchase.


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## InfinityCollision (Jan 11, 2021)

Snagged an EHB1005MS a few days ago and immediately fell in love with it. Runs circles around my other bass, and way more comfortable to play.


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## Quiet Coil (Jan 11, 2021)

InfinityCollision said:


> Snagged an EHB1005MS a few days ago and immediately fell in love with it. Runs circles around my other bass, and way more comfortable to play.


Not helping my ongoing GAS. How do you like the pickups with that preamp?


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## InfinityCollision (Jan 12, 2021)

Haven't put it into a full mix or group setting yet, so can't fully answer that. I like what I've heard well enough, gets the sounds I want. Definitely doesn't sound like a Nord though, so if that's your kind of tone I don't know how you'd feel about it.


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## Quiet Coil (Jun 30, 2021)

So I snagged a 1505MS a few months ago and dig it quite a bit. I also preordered a 1005SMS (short scale) that arrived last week.

The idea was to keep my favorite of the two, and choosing is going to be harder than I thought.

While the 35-33 is a bit clearer and louder acoustically, the 32-30 handles the low B just fine when amped (more so than I honestly expected it would).

Decisions, decisions…


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