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Hey Everyone,
Check out what I bought off a friend of mine.....it's an Ibanez Soundgear 6-String bass guitar, the neck is in good condition, as are the frets and nut, all it needs are a new bridge, or set of 6 saddles to fit the existing bridge, and a set of new strings, the pickups look to be a set of actives cause there's a 9V battery holder-compartment on the back of the body, just wondering what model it is.
Here's a pic of it:
Attachment 41400
Six-string? Looks like a no-string to me. ;)
Hahahaha....*snort*......*snort*.......Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Nice! I've been playing a 6-string bass since '03. About a year ago, I changed tuning from B-C to E-E guitar tuning, as I really almost never used that low B string anymore, and the guitar tuning opens up the world of chord voicings not normally available to bass players.
I've not played any of their 6ers, but all of the 4- and 5-string Soundgear basses I've played were pretty nice. One of the best values in the bass world, too.
Anything on the back of the headstock? That's normally where the model number is, just above the serial number. It should read SR xxx.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Yep, here's a pic of the back of the headstock:
Attachment 41413
The serial number appears to be F511944.
It's a bit blurry, but it seems to say 'Made in Japan', which can only be a good thing, and the tuners are real Gotohs, not a cheaper copy. So almost certainly a high-end model and reasonably old, before they changed to the current serial number and model markings. Serial number indicates it was made in March 1995 at the FujiGen Gakki factory, Japan.
Anything written on that 24th fret marker?
I'd guess it's a SR1306 model, so pretty much top of the line at the time. Later versions got more fancy with a 3-band EQ. Catalogue list price was US$1899 in July 1995. The hardware should be black (the tuners and knobs are), so what remains of the bridge is probably a replacement. Maybe the original was taken off and used on another bass? In the UK they seem to sell for around half the original price now, but there aren't a lot of them about, so it's hard to say exactly. Can only see one of the prettier looking updated models. Not a huge market for 6 string bases I suspect. Get a good replacement bridge and it could be worth up to £800-£900/AU$1500-$1700 if you find the right buyer.
1995 catalogue page:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/stjzse.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Just near the 24th Fret there's a little white label that just says "Custom Made", from looking at the catalogue page you posted, it does look like what I have is a Soundgear model SR1306PM, hopefully I can find either a replacement bridge, or, a set of replacement string-saddles.
^^^ That's correct for the 1306.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
From what it says in that catalogue page, the body uses Mahogany and Paduk, so, I'm thinking that this 6-string bass is definitely well-worth restoring to a playable condition, I wonder what gauge of strings they had factory-fitted?, I'm assuming that they would have been round-wounds.
I'm more keen on getting it restored to a playable condition for my own use rather than for sale, that is, I intend to keep it.
I found this pic of a 1994 Ibanez SR1306 6-String Bass on the internet, and it looks virtually identical to the 6-String Bass I have, even the bridge looks identical, so, I'm thinking that the bridge on my SR1306PM is the original one just that the previous owner somehow lost all the original string-saddles, and for whatever reason, installed the bridgeplate back-to-front and put guitar strings on it, and put a block of wood (I kid you not) underneath the guitar strings.
Attachment 41416
I removed all the bridgeplate mounting-screws on my SR1306PM, and here's what I found, note the pattern of the holes, this confirms that the bridgeplate is the original one and was installed back-to-front by the original owner, I'm going to re-install it the correct way-around:
Attachment 41421
And yes, it does say "Made in Japan" underneath the serial number on the back of the headstock on my SR1306PM.
All the original Gotoh tuners seem to be in good condition with very little wear or backlash, the button retaining-screws just needed some tightening, so I won't need to buy a set of replacement tuners, thank goodness.
Just checked the fretboard-radius of my SR1306PM using my Stewmac radius gauges and it uses a 16 Inch fretboard-radius, that's good to know for when I get round to putting some new strings on it and doing some setup-work on it.
Is the bridge black or chrome? It looks like chrome in the top photo of yours, but it could just be light reflecting off it. The original would have been black.
I'd measure it and see if you can find anything similar, as it may be cheaper and easier to get a new Chinese-made bridge than try and track down saddles that fit the existing bridge base well. The string holes in the rear should give you the required string spacing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Yep, the bridge is black, what you saw was just light reflecting off it.
I already checked the Stewmac website to see if they had any 6-string bass bridges in stock, no-luck, they only had 4 and 5 string bridges, I might try looking on the Realtone Music website to see what they have in stock, and then if I have no luck, I'll give eBay a try.
Just tried Realtone Music, nope, they don't have any 6-string Bass bridges in stock at all, so, I'm going to give eBay a go.
Realtone Music do stock Bass string saddles that look like they may fit the existing bridgeplate, but they don't have any in a black finish.
A set of 6 of these might do the job, the holes for the intonation screws on the bridgeplate are all offset from the string-holes to one side.
https://www.realparts.com.au/bridge-...et-chrome.html
Just found this on eBay, the saddles might work fine with the original Bridgeplate:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/38393169...QAAOSwn4he5FRw
It's that string to string spacing that's the first check, as the saddles want to be no wider than the string spacing and ideally the same. Then its the saddle groove to saddle hole distance that needs to match the spacing of the holes on the end of the saddle base as you don't want your strings offset by 2mm to the top or bottom from the correct position.
For a replacemet bridge, I'd look at the Sung Il web site as they do a wide range of bridges. Fie one tere and then search for the part number on line to see if there's a supplier for it. http://www.sung-il.net/bbs/board.php?bo_table=b071_03
But you do need to know the string spacing, and pick one suitable for top loading, not just string-through. They don't have pictures of every finish option, so just make sure that BK is listed for that bridge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
I just happen to have a Digital vernier caliper that I can use to measure the string-spacing, so getting that info shouldn't be a problem.
Okay, string-spacing is about 16.84mm between each string, going by the string-holes on the existing Bridgeplate (measured from the centers of two adjacent string-holes).
I'd measure between the centre of two outer holes and divide by five, it will introduce less overall error.
With a new bridge you could go for a very slightly narrower spacing, I see they do one with 16.5mm centres, which would end up 1.7mm narrower at 82.5mm than the 84.2mm you measured (16.84mm x 5).
Another alternative is to fit six individual-style bass bridge saddles, though you may need to fill in some holes or even fit them on a plate. But you can position them the exact distance apart you require then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
I was hoping I could just buy a set of 6 saddles that would fit the existing Bridgeplate, which seems to be in good condition.
Unfortunately for you, most saddle sets are for designed for 4-string basses, which tend to have a wider string spacing. 5-and 6-strings tend to be narrower to keep the neck width down to a playable size. Standard Fender bass saddles have a slightly wider string spacing than you want, so six of them would have an overall 85.5mm string spacing. Too wide and unless you filed the ends of the barrels down, they'd splay out because they would push together.
Also, to get six saddles that had the slot on the left and intonation screw on the right, you'd have to buy 3 sets of saddles, as the standard Fender barrel design has two saddles the the slot on the left and two with the slot on the right. The Ibanez bridge needs all the saddles to have the slot on the left side. Which is why I said it's probably easier to get a new bridge!
Hipshot do their very nice A-style bass bridge in black with an 18.5mm string spacing, but it's far from cheap.
I'd start by emailing the Ibanez distributor in Australia. https://www.australismusic.com.au/brands/ibanez
They may well be able to source a bridge or saddles for you. Distributors are normally pretty helpful. Looks like they've been distributng Ibanez for 30 years, so your bass will probably have passed through their hands when new.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
I had another look at that 6-string bass bridge I found on eBay, and the string-to-string spacing on it is 16mm, which should work perfect with the original bridgeplate, so I'm going to buy one of these next week, and just use the saddles, intonation-screws, and springs from it:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/38393169...2Cchnl%3Dmkcid
Sourcing a set of new strings might be a pain though, cause I just checked Stewmac, and although they do sell a set of 6 DAddario XL 6-string bass strings, they are currently out of stock on it.
https://www.stewmac.com/strings-and-...g-bass-strings
Other retailers are available.
There's one other thing that needs attention on my 6-string bass, the stock 9V battery clip needs replacing because at some stage both of the wires broke and the previous owner soldered them back together, and put masking tape over the joins, I'm just going to cut-to-the-chase and replace the 9V battery clip altogether since my local Jaycar Electronics store stocks them, I need to go there anyway to get some replacement parts for my two Wah pedals, but that's on next weeks agenda.
Apparently, I'm also supposed to be doing my jury duty at the Darwin Supreme Court next week on the 10th of this month, at 3pm, I've got no idea what the court case is all about, but I have to make sure I do it otherwise I'll get fined, so that's my next couple of weeks booked solid...
Hmmmmm.Quote:
Originally Posted by DrNomis_44
I'm not 100% sure that will work. The intonation screws and string slots are the the other way round on the Ibanez saddles.
You'll have to rotate the saddles 180°, and probably remove the height adjustment grub screws and replace them the other way up, so the hex key hole is at the top, for a chance of them working.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Yeah, I did notice that, but it seems like it'll be an easy enough thing to remove the grub-screws and replace them the other way around, usually the threaded holes for those grub-screws go all the way through the saddles, since I worked as an apprentice fitter & machinist in my dad's workshop, it shouldn't be a problem.
On the original bridgeplate, the holes for the intonation screws are on the opposite side of the string holes, compared to where they are on that 6-string bridge I found on eBay, the distances between the two sets of holes are the same though, well to my eyes it looks the same, so those saddles on that bridge I found on eBay should be a drop-in fit, with some slight finegling.
I used one of my stainless steel Stewmac fretboard radius-gauges to measure the radius of the 6-string bass's fretboard, turns out it's appears to be a 16-incher, that'll be handy to know when it comes to doing a complete setup-job on the 6-string bass once the new strings are all on, I wonder what factory setup-specs Ibanez used for these SR series of bass guitars?
If I can find my digital camera, I'll see if I can take some better quality pics of the 6-string bass's stock bridgeplate later on.
Just finished installing a new 9V battery clip in my 6-string bass, so that's one less thing to fix, only a few more things to go till it's playable.
Update:
I managed to buy the 6-string bridge with the needed string-saddles, plus a set of DAddario Roundwound XL 6-string bass strings in .130 to .032 gauge for my 6-string bass, they should arrive in the post next fortnight since I decided to pay the extra money for Express Postage, it's going to be fun learning how to play a 6-string electric bass guitar, especially with that low B-string.
Update:
Checked the postage-tracking for the two items I bought on eBay, and apparently the 6-string bass bridge I bought might be delivered tomorrow, the strings might be delivered on the 20th of this month.
Update:
Just checked postal tracking and apparently the 6-string Bass bridge I bought on eBay is supposed to be due for delivery today.
Update:
Parcel just got delivered to my mailbox, got it in my hands right now.
Update:
I removed each of the 6 string-saddles, springs, and intonation adjustment screws one at a time from the bridge I bought on eBay, and installed them on the original bridge on my 6-string bass, practically zero modifications were needed to be made to the string-saddles to get them to fit on the original bridge, all I had to do was to rotate each string-saddle 180 degrees, here's a pic I took of all the string-saddles after I had finished installing them, looks like that neatly solves problem number one, all I need to do now is wait for the new strings to arrive in the post:
Attachment 41610
Update:
Going to be picking-up the parcel that contains the new bass strings for my 6-string bass at 4pm this afternoon.
Update:
Picked-up the new strings from the post office, and got to work putting them on my 6-string bass, gave it a good going-over with regards to set-up work and I think I've got it playing the best I can get it, had to set all 6 string-saddles to the correct height-adjustments, then tune each string to pitch, then tweak the intonation for each string, then tweak the truss-rod because there was miles too much neck-relief according to Ibanez setup specs, then I checked the string intonation again, and I think I've pretty much nailed it, the action at the 12th fret is pretty low for a 6-string bass, at about 2mm for all the string, I'm getting very little fret-buzz up and down the neck.
The low B-string sounds pretty fat, nice sustain on all the strings, the 6-string bass has active bass and treble controls, plus a sweepable mid cut/boost eq, well that's what it sounds like to my ears anyway, the other controls are a master volume, and neck/bridge pickup mix.
And here it is, all ready to rock:
I missed this as you updated an existing post rather than made a new one. I was just going to ask if you'd got the strings.
So, no issues with the replacement saddles and all the electronics work. You have a really nice bass there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Yep, had practically no issues with the replacement saddles, all I had to do was to rotate them 180 degrees and they were practically a drop-in fit, all the electronics work, all I had to do was to replace the original 9V battery clip, which was easy enough to do, the strings went straight on with no problems, the truss-rod needed some tweaking because there was too much forward-bow in the neck, a quick setup got it up and running.
I got the strings I had ordered on eBay, a set of 6 DAddario roundwound bass strings in .130 to .032 gauge, I didn't have to do any filing of the nut slots, the strings were practically a drop-in fit.
Controls are as follows.....
Master Volume (Single Gang Pot):
Self explanatory.
Pickup Blend (Single Gang Pot):
This control allows you to select the neck pickup, bridge pickup, or blend the outputs of both pickups.
Bass Control (Dual Gang Pot, Boost/Cut):
This controls how much bass is in the output of the guitar.
Treble Control (Dual Gang Pot, Boost/Cut):
This controls how much treble is in the output of the guitar.
Midrange Frequency Sweep (Dual Gang Pot):
This allows you to adjust the midrange frequency.
Midrange Boost/Cut (Dual Gang Pot):
This allows you to boost/cut the midrange frequency selected by the Midrange Frequency Sweep control.
So, the 6-string bass has a pretty comprehensive set of tone controls on it.
I have the 6 strings tuned as follows.....B, E, A, D, G, and C.
The neck is a wide and thin type, I'm guessing that the neck thickness is roughly about 25mm, but I was surprised at just how comfortable it felt despite the fact that there are 6 strings on it, fretboard radius turned out to be 16 inches, I was also surprised at how well the 6-string bass balanced, there is practically no tendency to neck-dive, strapped-on the 6-string bass feels pretty comfortable to play, and I like the bare wood finish on the body and neck.
I am very happy with my Ibanez Soundgear SR1306PM 6-string bass guitar, so it's definitely a keeper, it has a bright tone, the strings all have good sustain, I'm looking forward to playing it through my Fender Super Twin amp which I'm using as a bass amp head.
Update:
I bet some of you might be wondering just what a 6-string electric bass guitar, like my Ibanez Soundgear SR1306PM, sounds like?, here's a quick demo I managed to record and upload to my soundcloud account:
https://soundcloud.com/drnomis_44/6-string-bass-demo