Ibanez Musician Bass Info?

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twonky

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Hi there!

I have a Late 1970's (guessing) Ibanez Musician bass. Its real ace! It is active/passive, neck-thru, fancy tuners, big and heavy I love it....theoretically.

My main problem is the active electronics, they freak me out, I dont think they sound all that good, at least on this particular bass. I am used to passives, my other bass is a Fender Precision Plus w/ passive pick ups.

Anyway! I would like to find out if there are any manufacturers that make replacement pickups or even preamps for these basses?

Does anyone have experience w/ this bass or have any info on it. If you do you should tell me, so my feelings won't get hurt.

thanks
Twonky
 
Twonky,

I have heard some good comments about those '70's Ibanez neck-throughs and the optional switching from passive to active is a nice feature.

First of all I have never heard of a specifically designed replacement pup for or preamp for these. There is a plethora of replacement pickups that should fit however few of these pups will switch from active to passive.

Most of the modern active pickups are designed with to be very quiet (noise wise) and they use lower magnetically powered pups than your active ones and get most of the power from the electronics. It seems that getting the best active sound and the best passive sound out of pickups typically require mutually exclusive design principles.

That would leave you with what I believe would be your best option if you are determined to upgrade or modify your sound by trying a different preamp...this would still leave you with a good basic passive sound but it is anybodys guess how each preamp will sound with your pups.

You might contact EMG, Seymore Duncan (Bass Lines) and Bartoloni to see if they have any recomendations or experience with those Ibanez basses.

One other is Augilar check the Bass Player magazine website for a link. He started his business doing preamps and modifications for pro's in NYC and I have been told he is very helpfull. I would bet he has some experience modifying a few of those and you should also be able to find a link at the Bass Player web site in the classified section for Aguilar.
 
Thanks Scooter B

Thanks for the ideas, I will do just that! Its a nice bass, I just want to make it nicer!

Twonk
 
Great Twonk,

Keep me posted on this thread about your results!
 
Actually.....

I checked out the Bartolini site yesterday and they make a direct replacement for these pick ups. I havn't had any experience w/ that brand, I have always seen them on those weird like 7 string techie basses. So i am sure they sound pretty cool.

So I am still, thinking about what I am going to do. I dont know much about the 'onboard pre-amp and pup' relationship yet.

I'll keep yopu posted.

Twonk
 
It's good to research all your options first but I am glad there are some direct replacement options out there.

It seems most of the players that I really admire tone wise, have had Bartolini's but my tastes run in the jazz vein...very clean... ie (No Distortion) with tight punchy bottom and rich midrange.

I would like to make one correction to my first response. While Aguilar does make on board preamps the information I mentioned about his history was actually Roger Sadowski (had a wire crossed in my brain). Roger Sadowski started doing set up and repair work, modifications etc for the pro's in New York...Marus Miller, Will Lee etc

He modified Marcus Millers fameous Fender Jazz bass and markets his own pre-amps and designs his own basses now but I have heard he is very helpful also works with other manufacturers equipment. If it were me I would want to talk to someone who would hopefully be unbiased toward only one brand and someone who had good experience with the modifications you are interested in.

I built a fretless from a neck-through with an ebony figerboard from Carvin. The bass itself came out very nice but I still have not found the tone I want. I first put in some nice EMG's with an EMG preamp (BEQ) that I had heard good things about but it was not quite the sound I was after...the EMG pups and preamp cost me around $200 then I replaced the PUP with a Seymore Duncan/ Bass Lines Music Man replacement pup ($180) wich was closer to what I wanted but still not there. Now I have replaced the EMG preamp with the Bass lines Music Man replacement pre-amp another $120. I only had time to plug it in last week to make sure it worked and was wired correctly. I was not too sure about the sound but I have not had time to experiment and work with it yet.

Suffice it to say I would recomend making lots of phone calls etc before you buy so you don't have to buy twice. If I still can't get the sound I want I am taking my bass to a local Luthere for recomendations and more $$ for his work. I am no slouch when it comes to set up but I expected alot more from the quality of parts I used, the time I spent doing my reserach and the extordinay time and care I spent in building it.
 
Guys, Di Marzio are quality pickups, I can't speak for their bass pickups but if they are as good as the guitar ones they will be real quality, I've wasted heaps of money over the years on all sorts, including EMG's and Seymours but have always gone back to DiMarzio.
Clive
 
I think I will clean it up and get the scratchy pots fixed first and see how the original p-ups do for me. If I decide form there that they are crap, I will replace them. The problem is that I want to get a different tone than my Fender, but dont yet know what I want. Oh well.

Thanks agin for your ideas.

Twonky
 
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