The main concern on a bass such as this is the B string. Not covered at all on video. In fact, you should've played more nearer the nut and not up the neck.
Sorry about that, Billy. I was very early in my bass journey and didn’t understand how different the low B can react to your playing technique used on higher strings. I am now touring with this as my main bass and can say the B string can be a little “floppy” if plucked too hard or too near the neck when fretting lower frets. Play it lightly and near the bridge and it’ll respond well (to me) with good volume. I use the low D note on a few songs nightly and it sounds just fine. Also, I play near the nut pretty often and feel like you don’t have to “baby” the thing to keep the rest of the strings from sounding floppy if played open or near the nut. Perhaps it’s because I’m used to it vs playing a p-bass or something (I rarely do), but I find this bass really easy to play and make it sound good, especially for its price point. I did have some fun setting the intonation on this bass. My screws were bottoming out in the saddles, so I had to cut down the screws (could have also simply bought shorter screws at the local hardware store) for several saddles to come back far enough. Now it’s dead-on on all 5 strings.
I recently purchased one of these off eBay for £130 (nearly new condition). I got this for easy traveling & practice bass, but I have found you can definitely gig with this bass, I couldn't believe the sound quality! I could tell it hadn't been handled much prior to me buying it, the setup had not been done & the strings not stretched in. Once I had setup the bass & altered the truss rod, all was NICE! The B string isn't as floppy as my full sized 5 string which really surprised me. A fantastic bass for easy travel, practice, gigging & affordability, even at full price. I couldn't be more happy with mine, just wished there were more bass short scale 5 string sets to choose from out there, 4 strings short scale sets are easy to buy, but 5s not so much. I changed the chrome knobs for black Les Paul style knobs, looks so much better, I don't like too much chrome on black. Thanks for your review, it is great. Bless
I love mine. Had it for over a year and play out with it all the time. The only real issue I had is with intonation. I had to remove the springs for the B and E strings to be able to move saddle back far enough. The are all the way back but it correct now. This bass stays in tune very well even playing outdoor gigs with temperature changes. I actually get a lot of compliments on how it sounds.
Love this bass!! Had this for about a year and a half. Sounds great it's had no fret buzz and stays in tune well. Gotta say it's incredibly light. I'm 5ft and can easily play a 3 hour practice session without getting sore. I also have a four string mikro but feel the five string is all round just a bit better. The five string sits well and doesn't move about or neck dive where I felt the four string i would fight with it a bit.
If you think you will want to upgrade the pickups in the future, do NOT buy this instrument. I own one, it plays fine, does the job, etc. BUT... I wanted to upgrade the pickups. I took in to my local guitar shop and found out that the slots are too narrow for after market pickups AND the screw holes don't line up. Ibanez made this thing so proprietary that you can't do anything to it. I was pissed off when I discovered this. Anyhow, just a small word of caution. If you're going to stay w/ the stock pickups, then have fun.
you can always mod the bass, I used to have an Ibanez Mezzo and had the same problem, what I did was cut the "ears" from another pickup cover and put it in the new ones so routing that part wasn't necessary, no need for such hate xD
@@jaytc3218 you're welcome! sorry my bad english... but that's the thing, I had that problem and my luthier suggested that solution... so what you'll need if you want to change pickups probably is another cover pickup to cut the ears and transplant them to the others so you won't have to rout those holes. Cheers!
As per the Ibanez site, of 2022, the GSRM25 has standard J pickups (neck and bridge, accordingly). I wonder how the pole pieces line up with a standard 4 J under a 5 string... but I'll find out once the one I ordered comes in.
Bartolini do a set that will fit the old smaller pickups, the set is 59J1 S/SB 5-String Jazz Bass Pickup. I ordered this but somehow I was shipped the 4-string set, which did fit (a very small amount if sanding on the ears needed) but I found out they were a 4-string set when I went to play the A string and almost no sound came out! Apart from that, they sounded great, but I reverted to the original pickups (which aren't too bad) and fitted a John East UNIPRE preamp in it, and now it's very...very...loud... :)
I'd like to ask you something, which string gauge and type of strings are on this bass, do I need to buy special strings for it because of the short scale length? Thank you in advance!
I purchased a spare set of “Ibanez IEBS 5 Coated Nickel Wound Mikro Bass Guitar Strings (IEBS5CMK)” strings off Amazon. These seem to be direct replacements for what comes stock on the bass.
I own one of these things. So the short answer is yes, you need to buy special short-scale strings. I started off by removing the round wounds and putting on LaBella short-scale flats. The B string was so floppy it barely made a noise. So I replaced it back with the round wound, which really looked weird. Then I found Dunlops. Dunlop makes a set of five, and the B string works perfectly. I believe they even offer several gauges, including light and medium. And they are smooth as silk and so easy to play. From now on, Dunlops will be my go to short-scale flats. And the business part is thirty two inches to the silk, which is perfect.
So everyone looking at this video is interested in how the low B sounds but you only hit the low B one time at the end of the licks you were playing on the EADG strings, bummer. Don’t mean to be rude, it’s just frustrating that every demo of 5 string bass’s almost never include the low B being played, which is a big reason people watch 5 string bass demos.
I've fallen in love with short scales, had to have a 5-string shorty so after about 3 years of hunting in Europe found one (they're now much much easier to get after COVID!). I knew I'd mod the daylight out of it, so it's had Schaller strap locks (so good, worth every penny), black Wilkinson tuners, Graphtech nut, John East UNIPRE preamp, Hipshot A-style bridge, Hipshot string-thru ferules and a battery box for the active preamp. This is all complete overkill, as it sounds good out of the box, but I can recommend the Graphtech nut (for £10 and a bit of sanding, a no-brainer for a bit more sustain and nice string setup), a high-mass bridge or better bridge will intonate better (again, better sustain and clearer tone) and I fitted D'Addario short scale round wounds which just play better than the Ibanez strings (shame D'Addario don't do a low B for that short scale set, I did ask and they don't/won't make one). What I did find is that this is such a comfy, easy-to-play bass, great tones, a great platform for modding, and all-round fantastic bass to own, and I get fed up of them being pitched as for children or those of shorter stature/smaller hand size, they're great full-stop for anyone (I'm 180cm/6ft), especially at the price! :) And the one thing not many mention, short scale basses cut through differently in band settings, my shorties have been the only ones the drummer can hear clearly when we play!
Agree! Shame on D'Addario for not making a short-scale, round or flatwound low B. Their regular short-scale flat chromes are the brightest flatwounds I have tried, and I have tried them all. I did find a set of LaBella 5-string, short-scale flats. The low B was very floppy and made basically no noise, so I ended up putting a round wound on the low B. I also saw the purported short- scale flat DRs, but the DRs have a 33.5 in length to silk, and that is way too long for a miKro. So now I got my hands on a set of Dunlop 5 short scale flats with a 32 inch length to silk ( which is what it needs to be). The low B goes on today, and the other four flats go on my brand new Ibanez miKro weathered black. 4:32
The B comes through great, I play on it quite a bit for an extra low note here and there. I have the action up a bit on the B and have to pluck it carefully to keep fret buzz from happening, but this bass overall wants you to use a careful touch when playing it since it’s short scale. What I tend to do with this bass is turn my amp up louder and play softer to get the smoothest notes. I prefer that as it’s much easier on the hands, too.
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@@KodyHarrell yep, you are right, I think one should tend to play softer in the hands, louder on the Amp. In this way, you have lots of room to play harder if one note is not so loud as other (for instance if that B string doesn't impact enough, and is not noticeable compared to other strings, if you have dynamics can hit harder that B string, then all strings can be balanced by your playing).
Yes that is my concern i dont wanna get it n then finds out its a piece of useless crap! Especially B line. My take is the D note which i use alot cauz i dont like using that higher D note on the open D line.
It's a real prospect of a bass. So cool to have those extra notes to the B on tap. I'm getting older, and the short scale Marcus Miller U5 bass (got it just over two years ago - and no, it doesn't have five strings! Just the four...) has been a gamechanger for me in my ability to play for any amount of hours on stage or otherwise, on fast and busy basslines for e.g. a punk-ska outfit I'm currently playing with. Shortscales are the future!
@@EannaButler Yeah man, having the low B does come in handy at times for me. Lots of folks on here have been concerned about the “floppiness” of it and it’s not as tight as a full scale bass, but you quickly understand how to play it without any flop sound. I’ve now toured worldwide with this bass and currently on tour, playing it tonight. It’s really been great and other musicians on the road compliment it and almost always say they didn’t believe it’d sound like it does when they saw me put it on. Also, it’s all stock except for the setup I did on it - even the strings are what it shipped with. Short scales are great! I have other 25yr road veteran musician friends who are diving into the short scale game!
@@KodyHarrell Wow - amazing! So glad it worked out for you! You know what you're doing with those after-factory adjustments! Thanks very much for your video! You have the knacks! I have to get one to try one... For me, best way to play a bass I was told, was where you can basically see no strings oscillating after you plunk them. You should be able to tickle the strings and make them sing... A Compressor pedal is always a good idea when playing into an amplifier on bass. A character pedal that you vibe with is a big part of the bass experience. Mic the cab, don't be afraid! A short-scale five-banger, I'm so happy to see Ibanez deliver!
@@EannaButler I only run through my tuner to the amp, but the Ampeg I play has a compressor knob. From there I just use the gain and EQs to get my tone. What I play is North MS Hill Country Blues so the bass tone I set to my ear is more rough around the edges but these Mikros are really versatile with tone and EQ adjustments! These are cheap enough that they’re worth the buy and experimentation!
Is this recommended for a serious playing? I'm starting a band with my good buddies, and we agreed to take things seriously. The bassist is a guitarist-turn-to-bassist who struggled to reach the frets of a bass.. Will this be good & okay for gigging (or even professional use) after component upgrades?
I actually played two shows with it this past weekend. If you check out my most recently uploaded videos you can see it in use in a professional setting.
What a splendid review. You go into those details that I am most interested in. Keeping the tone demo short is another great plus, as far as I'm concerned. I wish you could review all the basses I'm interested in ;)
First of all, I own three of these things, including the five string. I read some place on the Internet the other day that somebody made their miKro into a piccolo and absolutely loves it. Just be sure that if you buy strings, that you get strings that have at no more than thirty two inches to the silk. Fret Nation is very good about publishing on their site the length of the strings. I'm sure the other string sites can be called and asked that question.
Well, i played piano from about 30 years, and in February 2021 I bought my first bass, a 4 string one. Curiously, and without seeing first UA-cam videos about playing techinic, i found myself playing like you... One finger on each string... Obviously, some musics requires pizzicatto techinic, and in those cases I play the classic 2 fingers pizzicatto. But in all the other musics, I play like you, and I do not think it is poor bass technic... And what the weight? Did you weight it? Best of all for you! PS: I've never play guitar in my life
Good job doing close-ups on a bass you've had out for a week and you've never even cared to wipe off beforehand. Setting up a new instrument that just shipped from a warehouse is standard and should be done by everyone always.
Had one of these and it was absolutely great, also had the 4 string too. Had to part with it though after 20 minutes playing it my carpal tendon would scream at me. There was just something about the neck shape that didn't jive but I still recommend the mikro bass to others.
Thanks! It’s still my main bass and I have a full size p-bass as a second. I am happy with the Ibanez but it does play different than a full scale. I have the action a little higher and play with more “finesse” to keep the string buzz down, but once I got used to it it was no problem.
Thanks so much for your quick reply man! Very good to know about your positive long term experience. I am really fascinated by this bass and considering getting one. Too bad the price has gone up over the last year si ce this video, they are now $249 everywhere unless you buy them used. Still a fair price I guess. I already have a full scale 4 string ESP LTD-F104 bass with active pickups, but i really like the idea of a 5 string short scale bass with passive pickups. At least the many differences with my other bass justify me buying another bass. I only like to buy new instruments if they really bring something new to my collection. And I really would love to have that extra low B string for my recordings. I am mostly a metal guitar player, and i sometimes downtune my bass to record certain songs that require that. But it is better to have just that extra low string and keep the tension and tuning of everything the proper way. Much better for the neck as well. Very cool man, glad i found your video. Rock on 🤘😎👍
String buzz ooh thats not good but i was hoping if replacing the nut or increase bridge height can fix it. I hope this thing can withstand long term use.
Hey Matt, great question! I have not found any sharp fret ends on my bass and have practiced/gigged it for probably 30 hours so far. I believe one string did have a bit of an intonation issue, but it’s ‘barely’ sharp. The rest intonated perfectly. As far as buzz, I only get the usual playing fret buzz, even on the Low B. A big reason (and probably normal for bass players) for not have a ton of buzz is my technique. With this bass I did have to train myself to pluck the strings vertically instead of at an angle to where when the string vibrates it doesn’t flex to and away-from the guitar, but rather parallel/up-and-down. I play bass sometimes for a bass player (bassist on the newest Black Keys album) who fronts his own band on guitar, and he’s commented how good this bass sounds and I asked him his thoughts on the buzz. He said it has the normal amount of playing buzz. So hopefully that’s validating?
@@KodyHarrell hey thanks for the reply. I ended up buying one of these and even managed to cram an EMG preamp in the control cavity. As for intonation I had to cut the screw on the low B and I used old ball ends from strings as spacers on the high two strings so I could crank the saddles back far enough. Otherwise I really love this thing. I notice it’s trained me to play super light so whenever I go back to my usual bass I’m playing wicked fast and easy
@@punman5392 Same here on the light playing. I have a P bass that I started on and was used to typical heavy playing without much worry of buzzing. With this Ibanez, I had to learn to pluck lighter, but I certainly don’t see it as a bad thing because it’s much easier on my hands. I’m able to play lengthy shows without wearing out, and like you said can play faster.
Long time bass player wanting to experiment with 5 strings, and I don't like the washed out sound of the B on most I've heard. What little I heard here sounded fairly clear.
I just purchased one and put flatwounds on it. Still working with the amp and the bass settings to get the best tone. But I do like it. Quite a good deal and well made for the money.
the -25 model, vs the -20 is an active bass. you made no mention of nor did even see a battery compartment. Maybe they put the battery in with the pots under one plate now, I have no idea.
The GSRM25, sadly, is not an active bass. All passive, despite what descriptions online may say. Only 2 pickups, 2 volume pots, 1 tone pot, and a jack for the electronics.
@@KodyHarrell My bad, I do apologize. It seems all the Mikro's are passive. I must have looked at other Ibanez guitars, the Talman, GSR200, whatever and got cornfuzed as to which are passive and which are active. . I edited my stupid comment to which you just replied. Thanks for the vid. My Mikro I ordered will be in my hands in days. I bought sight unseen, never held one. Just hope I like it. Cheers!
@@user-mt4vo4ey5n No problem! I went back and reviewed the description for the GSRM25 on a few sites today and saw they do reference that it has PHAT II, but that’s actually not true (at least for my 5-string). I checked out the control cavity again to confirm. It’s too bad with budget instruments like this that their descriptions can be false, but hopefully this helps!
@@KodyHarrell I wanted passive, so that's what I ordered, a gsrm20. It will be in my hands in a few days. We just want our fellow bass players to be aware, if they want an active bass, then be sure to know what to look at. The Talman TBM100 and GSR200's are active. And others, but those two are very close to the same prices as the gsrm Mikro's. (for your readers pondering a purchase).
Nice simple review on the quality and playability. Tone and volume equality across the scale not mentioned though. I have one of these too and am reasonably happy. I enjoy the short scale (being a guitar player too) but have to admit my 34" scale Cort just sounds better period. I don't find the tone that great through my Fender Rumble 40 BUT through my Bassman 400 it improves quite a bit. Should try to find a good tone match up with a particular amp. I have to mention I'm mostly looking for a nice fat 60 and 70 ish sound with deep lows and just a touch of string twang on top so you know it's actually a guitar. Looked into string replacement and you better know that pretty well the only strings that are going to fit are the Ibanez strings for this bass. The issue is this is actually a 28.5" scale!! The closest that I tried were the Labella Beatle bass strings but they did not work properly when winding them up on the pegs. Labella HAD a set that would fit this bass but this year stopped production. So you're stuck with the Ibanez strings. I had to order mine as there was NO stock in Canada. Took nearly 6 weeks to get here. I found the factory setup was intonated properly and string height although low is exactly where I like it. I don't hammer on mine and setup is always personal and style dependent. I tend to play lightly and let the amp do the talking. Took years to learn to play that way instead of choking the neck and hammering the strings! For those who want to know about the B string, it does thunder but with such low tension on the short neck, I also find you can't ride the B string and I have to keep it partially palm muted to get really good definition out of the note. But considering that, it's quite good, and I'm a heavy B string user. I have had my Cort 6 string for 20 years now and just wanted a smaller bass and narrower neck than the Cort to hack around on. One top of that the 6 string weighs a ton and wears me out and this little 5 string weighs less that my Les Paul and so I find it very comfortable to play.
On my short scale bass, I take regular strings and clip them to fit. Then, so it will fit in the pegs, use pliers and unwind the very top, just enough for it to fit. What problem are you having with it?
The main concern on a bass such as this is the B string. Not covered at all on video. In fact, you should've played more nearer the nut and not up the neck.
Sorry about that, Billy. I was very early in my bass journey and didn’t understand how different the low B can react to your playing technique used on higher strings. I am now touring with this as my main bass and can say the B string can be a little “floppy” if plucked too hard or too near the neck when fretting lower frets. Play it lightly and near the bridge and it’ll respond well (to me) with good volume. I use the low D note on a few songs nightly and it sounds just fine.
Also, I play near the nut pretty often and feel like you don’t have to “baby” the thing to keep the rest of the strings from sounding floppy if played open or near the nut. Perhaps it’s because I’m used to it vs playing a p-bass or something (I rarely do), but I find this bass really easy to play and make it sound good, especially for its price point.
I did have some fun setting the intonation on this bass. My screws were bottoming out in the saddles, so I had to cut down the screws (could have also simply bought shorter screws at the local hardware store) for several saddles to come back far enough. Now it’s dead-on on all 5 strings.
@KodyHarrell thank you my friend, great response 👍 👏 😀
I recently purchased one of these off eBay for £130 (nearly new condition). I got this for easy traveling & practice bass, but I have found you can definitely gig with this bass, I couldn't believe the sound quality! I could tell it hadn't been handled much prior to me buying it, the setup had not been done & the strings not stretched in. Once I had setup the bass & altered the truss rod, all was NICE! The B string isn't as floppy as my full sized 5 string which really surprised me. A fantastic bass for easy travel, practice, gigging & affordability, even at full price. I couldn't be more happy with mine, just wished there were more bass short scale 5 string sets to choose from out there, 4 strings short scale sets are easy to buy, but 5s not so much.
I changed the chrome knobs for black Les Paul style knobs, looks so much better, I don't like too much chrome on black.
Thanks for your review, it is great.
Bless
I love mine. Had it for over a year and play out with it all the time. The only real issue I had is with intonation. I had to remove the springs for the B and E strings to be able to move saddle back far enough. The are all the way back but it correct now. This bass stays in tune very well even playing outdoor gigs with temperature changes. I actually get a lot of compliments on how it sounds.
I have the 4 string and I was amazed at the quality and weight of it. I’m interested in selling my full size and buying this.
Thanks for doing this. I have one of the 4-string versions and like it a lot. I’m going to pick one of these up too.
Love this bass!! Had this for about a year and a half. Sounds great it's had no fret buzz and stays in tune well. Gotta say it's incredibly light. I'm 5ft and can easily play a 3 hour practice session without getting sore. I also have a four string mikro but feel the five string is all round just a bit better. The five string sits well and doesn't move about or neck dive where I felt the four string i would fight with it a bit.
Excellent review. You touched on everything I wanted to know thanks.
Hi Kody! Nice review, I was wondering if this bass can be set up with a high C. Thanks...
Thanks Kody, that was helpful. 🙂
Hello. Are the pickups single coil? Any 60 cycle hum?
If you think you will want to upgrade the pickups in the future, do NOT buy this instrument. I own one, it plays fine, does the job, etc. BUT... I wanted to upgrade the pickups. I took in to my local guitar shop and found out that the slots are too narrow for after market pickups AND the screw holes don't line up. Ibanez made this thing so proprietary that you can't do anything to it. I was pissed off when I discovered this. Anyhow, just a small word of caution. If you're going to stay w/ the stock pickups, then have fun.
you can always mod the bass, I used to have an Ibanez Mezzo and had the same problem, what I did was cut the "ears" from another pickup cover and put it in the new ones so routing that part wasn't necessary, no need for such hate xD
@@ignaciomeyerp thanks for the tips; good to know.
@@jaytc3218 you're welcome! sorry my bad english... but that's the thing, I had that problem and my luthier suggested that solution... so what you'll need if you want to change pickups probably is another cover pickup to cut the ears and transplant them to the others so you won't have to rout those holes. Cheers!
As per the Ibanez site, of 2022, the GSRM25 has standard J pickups (neck and bridge, accordingly). I wonder how the pole pieces line up with a standard 4 J under a 5 string... but I'll find out once the one I ordered comes in.
Bartolini do a set that will fit the old smaller pickups, the set is 59J1 S/SB 5-String Jazz Bass Pickup. I ordered this but somehow I was shipped the 4-string set, which did fit (a very small amount if sanding on the ears needed) but I found out they were a 4-string set when I went to play the A string and almost no sound came out! Apart from that, they sounded great, but I reverted to the original pickups (which aren't too bad) and fitted a John East UNIPRE preamp in it, and now it's very...very...loud... :)
I'd like to ask you something, which string gauge and type of strings are on this bass, do I need to buy special strings for it because of the short scale length? Thank you in advance!
I purchased a spare set of “Ibanez IEBS 5 Coated Nickel Wound Mikro Bass Guitar Strings (IEBS5CMK)” strings off Amazon. These seem to be direct replacements for what comes stock on the bass.
I own one of these things. So the short answer is yes, you need to buy special short-scale strings. I started off by removing the round wounds and putting on LaBella short-scale flats. The B string was so floppy it barely made a noise. So I replaced it back with the round wound, which really looked weird. Then I found Dunlops. Dunlop makes a set of five, and the B string works perfectly. I believe they even offer several gauges, including light and medium. And they are smooth as silk and so easy to play. From now on, Dunlops will be my go to short-scale flats. And the business part is thirty two inches to the silk, which is perfect.
So everyone looking at this video is interested in how the low B sounds but you only hit the low B one time at the end of the licks you were playing on the EADG strings, bummer.
Don’t mean to be rude, it’s just frustrating that every demo of 5 string bass’s almost never include the low B being played, which is a big reason people watch 5 string bass demos.
I understand where you’re coming from
I've fallen in love with short scales, had to have a 5-string shorty so after about 3 years of hunting in Europe found one (they're now much much easier to get after COVID!). I knew I'd mod the daylight out of it, so it's had Schaller strap locks (so good, worth every penny), black Wilkinson tuners, Graphtech nut, John East UNIPRE preamp, Hipshot A-style bridge, Hipshot string-thru ferules and a battery box for the active preamp.
This is all complete overkill, as it sounds good out of the box, but I can recommend the Graphtech nut (for £10 and a bit of sanding, a no-brainer for a bit more sustain and nice string setup), a high-mass bridge or better bridge will intonate better (again, better sustain and clearer tone) and I fitted D'Addario short scale round wounds which just play better than the Ibanez strings (shame D'Addario don't do a low B for that short scale set, I did ask and they don't/won't make one).
What I did find is that this is such a comfy, easy-to-play bass, great tones, a great platform for modding, and all-round fantastic bass to own, and I get fed up of them being pitched as for children or those of shorter stature/smaller hand size, they're great full-stop for anyone (I'm 180cm/6ft), especially at the price! :) And the one thing not many mention, short scale basses cut through differently in band settings, my shorties have been the only ones the drummer can hear clearly when we play!
Agree! Shame on D'Addario for not making a short-scale, round or flatwound low B. Their regular short-scale flat chromes are the brightest flatwounds I have tried, and I have tried them all. I did find a set of LaBella 5-string, short-scale flats. The low B was very floppy and made basically no noise, so I ended up putting a round wound on the low B. I also saw the purported short- scale flat DRs, but the DRs have a 33.5 in length to silk, and that is way too long for a miKro. So now I got my hands on a set of Dunlop 5 short scale flats with a 32 inch length to silk ( which is what it needs to be). The low B goes on today, and the other four flats go on my brand new Ibanez miKro weathered black. 4:32
I honestly didn't know that they made a 5-string model. I'm gonna have to get my hands on one!
Another good one (at least it has served me well these few years) is a Fernandes Tremor 5. It is 300-400 roughly.
Do so. It BOOMS!
Yep luckily i know it now so i will be lookin at this thing c if its better then the 4 string.
You have done a great job covering all parts of this bass it was very informative. Thank you.
I've always been curious on how well the low b comes through on it
The B comes through great, I play on it quite a bit for an extra low note here and there. I have the action up a bit on the B and have to pluck it carefully to keep fret buzz from happening, but this bass overall wants you to use a careful touch when playing it since it’s short scale.
What I tend to do with this bass is turn my amp up louder and play softer to get the smoothest notes. I prefer that as it’s much easier on the hands, too.
@@KodyHarrell yep, you are right, I think one should tend to play softer in the hands, louder on the Amp.
In this way, you have lots of room to play harder if one note is not so loud as other (for instance if that B string doesn't impact enough, and is not noticeable compared to other strings, if you have dynamics can hit harder that B string, then all strings can be balanced by your playing).
Yes that is my concern i dont wanna get it n then finds out its a piece of useless crap! Especially B line. My take is the D note which i use alot cauz i dont like using that higher D note on the open D line.
It's a real prospect of a bass. So cool to have those extra notes to the B on tap.
I'm getting older, and the short scale Marcus Miller U5 bass (got it just over two years ago - and no, it doesn't have five strings! Just the four...) has been a gamechanger for me in my ability to play for any amount of hours on stage or otherwise, on fast and busy basslines for e.g. a punk-ska outfit I'm currently playing with. Shortscales are the future!
@@EannaButler Yeah man, having the low B does come in handy at times for me. Lots of folks on here have been concerned about the “floppiness” of it and it’s not as tight as a full scale bass, but you quickly understand how to play it without any flop sound.
I’ve now toured worldwide with this bass and currently on tour, playing it tonight. It’s really been great and other musicians on the road compliment it and almost always say they didn’t believe it’d sound like it does when they saw me put it on. Also, it’s all stock except for the setup I did on it - even the strings are what it shipped with.
Short scales are great! I have other 25yr road veteran musician friends who are diving into the short scale game!
@@KodyHarrell Wow - amazing! So glad it worked out for you! You know what you're doing with those after-factory adjustments!
Thanks very much for your video! You have the knacks! I have to get one to try one...
For me, best way to play a bass I was told, was where you can basically see no strings oscillating after you plunk them. You should be able to tickle the strings and make them sing...
A Compressor pedal is always a good idea when playing into an amplifier on bass. A character pedal that you vibe with is a big part of the bass experience. Mic the cab, don't be afraid!
A short-scale five-banger, I'm so happy to see Ibanez deliver!
@@EannaButler I only run through my tuner to the amp, but the Ampeg I play has a compressor knob. From there I just use the gain and EQs to get my tone. What I play is North MS Hill Country Blues so the bass tone I set to my ear is more rough around the edges but these Mikros are really versatile with tone and EQ adjustments! These are cheap enough that they’re worth the buy and experimentation!
@@KodyHarrell Thanks Kody 👍
Is this recommended for a serious playing? I'm starting a band with my good buddies, and we agreed to take things seriously. The bassist is a guitarist-turn-to-bassist who struggled to reach the frets of a bass.. Will this be good & okay for gigging (or even professional use) after component upgrades?
I actually played two shows with it this past weekend. If you check out my most recently uploaded videos you can see it in use in a professional setting.
Id love a 5 string version for the lower string. Cant find the 5 string version anywhere.
Go to sweetwater
Nice!
One major concern I have that was not addressed was the B string. Is it sloppy? Is balanced in volume with the other 4 strings?
What a splendid review. You go into those details that I am most interested in. Keeping the tone demo short is another great plus, as far as I'm concerned. I wish you could review all the basses I'm interested in ;)
Demo using the B string more would be good.
Tried one of these at GC the other day. The Bstring was so bad. Almost unusable
Is it active or passive electronics?
Passive electronics
How does this bass balance? Does the neck dive?
Great for guitarists who try to play bass.
Hi everyone. I'm thinking to buy one and transform it into a piccolo. Is there anything against it?
Thanks.
First of all, I own three of these things, including the five string. I read some place on the Internet the other day that somebody made their miKro into a piccolo and absolutely loves it. Just be sure that if you buy strings, that you get strings that have at no more than thirty two inches to the silk. Fret Nation is very good about publishing on their site the length of the strings. I'm sure the other string sites can be called and asked that question.
Well, i played piano from about 30 years, and in February 2021 I bought my first bass, a 4 string one.
Curiously, and without seeing first UA-cam videos about playing techinic, i found myself playing like you... One finger on each string...
Obviously, some musics requires pizzicatto techinic, and in those cases I play the classic 2 fingers pizzicatto.
But in all the other musics, I play like you, and I do not think it is poor bass technic...
And what the weight? Did you weight it?
Best of all for you!
PS: I've never play guitar in my life
Good job doing close-ups on a bass you've had out for a week and you've never even cared to wipe off beforehand. Setting up a new instrument that just shipped from a warehouse is standard and should be done by everyone always.
Does it dive?
Had one of these and it was absolutely great, also had the 4 string too. Had to part with it though after 20 minutes playing it my carpal tendon would scream at me. There was just something about the neck shape that didn't jive but I still recommend the mikro bass to others.
Great review video, thank you for sharing! Cool little bass! How is your experience with it now you might have used it for an extended time?
Thanks! It’s still my main bass and I have a full size p-bass as a second. I am happy with the Ibanez but it does play different than a full scale. I have the action a little higher and play with more “finesse” to keep the string buzz down, but once I got used to it it was no problem.
Thanks so much for your quick reply man! Very good to know about your positive long term experience. I am really fascinated by this bass and considering getting one. Too bad the price has gone up over the last year si ce this video, they are now $249 everywhere unless you buy them used. Still a fair price I guess. I already have a full scale 4 string ESP LTD-F104 bass with active pickups, but i really like the idea of a 5 string short scale bass with passive pickups. At least the many differences with my other bass justify me buying another bass. I only like to buy new instruments if they really bring something new to my collection. And I really would love to have that extra low B string for my recordings. I am mostly a metal guitar player, and i sometimes downtune my bass to record certain songs that require that. But it is better to have just that extra low string and keep the tension and tuning of everything the proper way. Much better for the neck as well. Very cool man, glad i found your video. Rock on 🤘😎👍
String buzz ooh thats not good but i was hoping if replacing the nut or increase bridge height can fix it. I hope this thing can withstand long term use.
The tone is great, but how’s the setup? Is there much buzz? Sharp Fret Ends? Intonation? I’ve heard that these can have intonation problems
Hey Matt, great question! I have not found any sharp fret ends on my bass and have practiced/gigged it for probably 30 hours so far. I believe one string did have a bit of an intonation issue, but it’s ‘barely’ sharp. The rest intonated perfectly.
As far as buzz, I only get the usual playing fret buzz, even on the Low B. A big reason (and probably normal for bass players) for not have a ton of buzz is my technique. With this bass I did have to train myself to pluck the strings vertically instead of at an angle to where when the string vibrates it doesn’t flex to and away-from the guitar, but rather parallel/up-and-down.
I play bass sometimes for a bass player (bassist on the newest Black Keys album) who fronts his own band on guitar, and he’s commented how good this bass sounds and I asked him his thoughts on the buzz. He said it has the normal amount of playing buzz. So hopefully that’s validating?
@@KodyHarrell hey thanks for the reply. I ended up buying one of these and even managed to cram an EMG preamp in the control cavity. As for intonation I had to cut the screw on the low B and I used old ball ends from strings as spacers on the high two strings so I could crank the saddles back far enough. Otherwise I really love this thing. I notice it’s trained me to play super light so whenever I go back to my usual bass I’m playing wicked fast and easy
@@punman5392 Same here on the light playing. I have a P bass that I started on and was used to typical heavy playing without much worry of buzzing. With this Ibanez, I had to learn to pluck lighter, but I certainly don’t see it as a bad thing because it’s much easier on my hands. I’m able to play lengthy shows without wearing out, and like you said can play faster.
Long time bass player wanting to experiment with 5 strings, and I don't like the washed out sound of the B on most I've heard. What little I heard here sounded fairly clear.
I've used the 4 string version for years cheap and good for limited applications, just ordering a 5 string version
I have the 4 string in the root beer color and love it. I’m buying the 5 string next.
Love the review BTW, really informative and the most thorough one out there on GSRM25's!
great demo. I’m a bass player just was curious about the sound of a low b on short scale basses.seems to come out ok
Thank you
Thanks, really good video, straight to the point.
Want to hear more or demo a little metal
PERO TOCA ALGO LOCOOOOOO
Nice one
I just purchased one and put flatwounds on it. Still working with the amp and the bass settings to get the best tone. But I do like it. Quite a good deal and well made for the money.
What flatwounds did you put on it? Folks have voiced difficulty finding strings that fit this bass, and I’d like to put flats on mine
@@RockerProf this one posted, so maybe the issue is resolved now
the -25 model, vs the -20 is an active bass. you made no mention of nor did even see a battery compartment. Maybe they put the battery in with the pots under one plate now, I have no idea.
The GSRM25, sadly, is not an active bass. All passive, despite what descriptions online may say. Only 2 pickups, 2 volume pots, 1 tone pot, and a jack for the electronics.
@@KodyHarrell My bad, I do apologize. It seems all the Mikro's are passive. I must have looked at other Ibanez guitars, the Talman, GSR200, whatever and got cornfuzed as to which are passive and which are active. . I edited my stupid comment to which you just replied. Thanks for the vid. My Mikro I ordered will be in my hands in days. I bought sight unseen, never held one. Just hope I like it. Cheers!
@@user-mt4vo4ey5n No problem! I went back and reviewed the description for the GSRM25 on a few sites today and saw they do reference that it has PHAT II, but that’s actually not true (at least for my 5-string). I checked out the control cavity again to confirm. It’s too bad with budget instruments like this that their descriptions can be false, but hopefully this helps!
@@KodyHarrell I wanted passive, so that's what I ordered, a gsrm20. It will be in my hands in a few days. We just want our fellow bass players to be aware, if they want an active bass, then be sure to know what to look at. The Talman TBM100 and GSR200's are active. And others, but those two are very close to the same prices as the gsrm Mikro's. (for your readers pondering a purchase).
how much price
199
Nice simple review on the quality and playability. Tone and volume equality across the scale not mentioned though. I have one of these too and am reasonably happy. I enjoy the short scale (being a guitar player too) but have to admit my 34" scale Cort just sounds better period. I don't find the tone that great through my Fender Rumble 40 BUT through my Bassman 400 it improves quite a bit. Should try to find a good tone match up with a particular amp. I have to mention I'm mostly looking for a nice fat 60 and 70 ish sound with deep lows and just a touch of string twang on top so you know it's actually a guitar.
Looked into string replacement and you better know that pretty well the only strings that are going to fit are the Ibanez strings for this bass. The issue is this is actually a 28.5" scale!! The closest that I tried were the Labella Beatle bass strings but they did not work properly when winding them up on the pegs. Labella HAD a set that would fit this bass but this year stopped production. So you're stuck with the Ibanez strings.
I had to order mine as there was NO stock in Canada. Took nearly 6 weeks to get here.
I found the factory setup was intonated properly and string height although low is exactly where I like it. I don't hammer on mine and setup is always personal and style dependent. I tend to play lightly and let the amp do the talking. Took years to learn to play that way instead of choking the neck and hammering the strings!
For those who want to know about the B string, it does thunder but with such low tension on the short neck, I also find you can't ride the B string and I have to keep it partially palm muted to get really good definition out of the note. But considering that, it's quite good, and I'm a heavy B string user. I have had my Cort 6 string for 20 years now and just wanted a smaller bass and narrower neck than the Cort to hack around on. One top of that the 6 string weighs a ton and wears me out and this little 5 string weighs less that my Les Paul and so I find it very comfortable to play.
On my short scale bass, I take regular strings and clip them to fit. Then, so it will fit in the pegs, use pliers and unwind the very top, just enough for it to fit. What problem are you having with it?
Hey man, thanks for the video, are the pick ups like soap bar pick ups or they have a magnetic pole for every string?