Ibanez SR506 revisited

[Lee Gendvilas]

I am having a great time with this instrument! It's my first 6 string bass and it has opened up a whole new way of playing for me.

Just recently, I was setting up to play a church gig and noticed I had considerably less bass volume coming from my amp. I shut everything down and powered up and the problem went away. Then, at another gig it did the same thing. Rather than shutting down, I moved the instrument cable to see if it was damaged and nothing changed. So I started rotating the volume knobs then the tone knobs. When I rotated the bass tone knob the volume returned instantly.

So am I thinking properly - is it possible that this pot (which has a center detent) has dead spot and the pot needs to be replaced? (the bass is about 6 years old and I have no clue who owned it before or how it was taken care of) If I need to replace the pot, I was thinking of replacing all three tone pots with ones that don't have a center detent, since I adjust tone by listening not by looking. The pots are B50K ohms. Any suggestions on this situation?

Looking forward to your replys.

[Russell Vance]

Lee,

I'm reticent to progress this as it seems you are getting all manner of advice,  but there is some confusion creeping into this advice: 

The bass/boost B50k pot is not a blend pot (according to the offical Ibanez schematic), it's simply a single B (Linear)50K pot probably wired as a potentiometer (as opposed to a rheostat) and they are available through most guitar electronic supply houses.  The balance pot is indeed a blend pot (two separate "ganged" pots) but this is <not> what you were initially talking about. 

If you determine that the pot in question is faulty, you need to make sure that any replacement pot you order has the correct shaft configuration to fit your knobs (send a image/photo of the pot from front and back angles, including the writing on the pot, to the supply house with your order- that'll fix your first problem of getting the right replacement).   Don't buy from your local radio Shack/Tandy unless you are desperate - their quality and advice is light and variable.

Similarly, the output jack (from memory) is just a axial stereo jack and we generally use Switchcraft to replace these if they fit (you can clip off the extended earth tag which gets in the way if you wish) -  but the Asian source replacements are notoriously unreliable and some of the more up market basses have gone to Neutric locking output jacks to fix the problem of dodgy outputs.

Good luck and I hope this advice is accurate and useful.

Rusty. 

[tadej bratkovic]

The SDGR series has at least four blend pots - hi, mid, low and pickup blend. Any blend pot can be used as a conventional pot with an addition of "zero" dent, that's all. Any blend pot is just a regular pot but with additional prongs for connection. It can either blend or not - it just depends on how it is wired.

A regular 'barrel' Ibanez jack cannot be replaced with an ordinary Switchcraft ones. These are made by Neutrik and GEWA. The prongs inside are very weak and wear out especially if you like to make a loop through your guitar strap to secure the cable. Because these sockets are positioned horizontally they break easily with cable being under tension.

A QUALITY electronics stores carry Klotz, Neutrik, GEWA, CTS etc. But you would probably hesistate to buy a CTS pot 4 times cheaper than Fender or Gibson sells them as original parts? Maybe it's a bit different in USA and southern hemisphere, we don't have special guitar electronics related stores, but we have quality distributors from all major companies, so it has never been a problem for me and I live in a country smaller than a regular American backyard.

[Russell Vance]

Tad,

The schematic for the Ibanez SR506 series is clear, you can check it out yourself at the Ibanez support pages at their website.  Unless  I'm wrong, the bass boost/cut is a  single pot - I know what you are talking about but it's not applicable to this particular Bass.

A blend pot is actually a double (stacked) pot with two identical sets of connections (generally) and a common shaft between the two (which is used in the SR for  pickup balance).  Blend pots sometimes looks like a single unit but inside it has two sets of identical tracks and wipers and contacts stacked on top of each other.  It is not just a regular pot with additional contacts.

And, FYI Tad, Switchcraft make quality <barrel> jacks that are a drop in replacement for the standard Asian junk barrel jacks that comes with most cheap Basses. Switchcraft also make another couple of hundred variations of switches and jacks - their website will help your knowledge base out.

You are correct in assuming we have dedicated guitar electronics suppliers which makes our lives much easier in sourcing and ordering guitar specific parts -  Allparts.com is the Kmart of guitar parts and their electronics inventory is second to none.  Worth a look I should think and there is probably an Allparts distributor in Europe who may be useful.  Nothing beats having the exact component available to replace stuff.   

The problem of contact side-loading on barrel jacks is largely alleviated by using a right angle jack and running the cable up through and behind the strap (as is normal while on stage) or to the radio unit on the strap. 

Finally and respectfully;  All of us here get it wrong or incomplete from time to time - we all have to listen carefully to what is said, think about it and look up the facts available before refuting information provided - otherwise our fellow forum members have to endure the dissent or uncertainty caused by hasty and insufficiently researched submissions - which makes everyone uncomfortable and less inclined to persevere on an issue.

Regards,

Rusty.    

[Len Biglin]

Lee , how did you go with this job?

[Lee Gendvilas]

Hi Len! I've checked connections and loosened and tightened nuts. I been treating tone controls as boost/cut and that solved the problem 2 Sundays ago. This last Sunday is a wash as I played a gig outside for 6 hours (4-10 p.m.) and it took it's toll on my body-stuffed up ears-so I really couldn't tell other than the drummer said it sounded fine to him. I'll keep messin' with it. I'm running the instrument thru a Walter Woods dual channel 350 watt per so I know there's plenty of volume.

Thanks very much fer asking. -Lee