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High quality, easy to play Ibanez miKro Series GSRM20.
By MARK W.
I'm recently retired and a beginner with the base. The Ibanez miKro Series GSRM20 was just what I needed to get started. The short scale is better for stiff fingers, and I found it quite easy to play. The quality is very good for this lower priced guitar, and it came mostly set up, needing only a few tweeks. I recommend this product to others, especially older folks with arthritis.
Product SKU:
ibgsrm20bk
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Im a guitarist that just took up bass (easy to pickup, hard to master) i was having trouble with my full sized music man, so i bought one of these for 200$ amazing deal and easy/fun to play for that price. An absolute STEAL at 139
Ah yes, all short scale instruments are a grand conspiracy by the manufacturers to scam children (and sometimes adults of short stature) into buying instruments that they can actually play comfortably.
Sarcasm towards this person aside, this is a great bass especially for the price. I paid $180 3 years ago and have been happy with it ever since.
Never buy short scale instruments. It's a scam, always get the normal sizes.
Ah yes, all short scale instruments are a grand conspiracy by the manufacturers to scam children (and sometimes adults of short stature) into buying instruments that they can actually play comfortably.
Sarcasm towards this person aside, this is a great bass especially for the price. I paid $180 3 years ago and have been happy with it ever since.
Generally speaking Ibanez produces better quality, but these are very different. That Rogue link is 34" scale, long/standard scale for a bass. This is 28.9" which is non-standard extra short scale for a bass. Typical short scale bass is 30"
One thing to keep in mind with an extra short scale bass is the strings can be kind of floppy compared to longer scale. Heavier gauge strings can help.
Last edited by basecase August 25, 2022 at 11:18 AM.
The Mitchell MB100 short scale bass is on sale at Musician's Friend for $109.99 in various colors (the orange is wild!). Mitchell guitars are made by Cort, who also makes Ibanez.
And I love my GSRM20. I have the walnut. I call her "Lil Nutty".
Got mine today. Some fret buzz but I'm going to let it acclimate for awhile before I make any adjustments.
Quick thoughts: Sounds great, plays nice. No obvious defects or sharp frets. Makes me miss my old 90's soundgear bass. Like the versatility and sound from both pickups. Nothing like the jaguar bass I bought where the middle pickup was pretty good and the bridge was trash. With the right preamp I can definitely see this being used for recording without worrying about upgrading the pickups.
Got mine today. Some fret buzz but I'm going to let it acclimate for awhile before I make any adjustments.
Quick thoughts: Sounds great, plays nice. No obvious defects or sharp frets. Makes me miss my old 90's soundgear bass. Like the versatility and sound from both pickups. Nothing like the jaguar bass I bought where the middle pickup was pretty good and the bridge was trash. With the right preamp I can definitely see this being used for recording without worrying about upgrading the pickups.
pro tip flat wound strings are on sale for short scale bass right now on amazon mine arrive tomorrow... funny, strings cost 1/3 of the bass price
Mine arrived yesterday. From just eyeballing, the neck looks straight, but the action is extremely high and it has fret spurs.
I'm going to let it acclimate for one more day then I'll do a setup.
I also want to note that I've been playing for 5 mo, but I've become obsessed with learning everything there is to know about bass. One thing I've noticed, I'm beginning to play constantly on my full size Stingray 4HH Sub without staring at the fretboard. With the mikro I went back to staring at the fretboard, even when switching back to my full-size bas. So, I'm just letting you guys know that going back and forth between sizes may impede learning for a beginner.
Finally had time to play around with it more. Like penny saved, the action is very high but it manages to have fret buzz almost everywhere. Played with the truss rod a bit and it only helped about 20%. Saddles were already up near the top.
I don't have the time or patience to deal with this so next time I head to the local guitar shop I'll pay to have them set it up. That will bring the total cost of the bass up close to retail. Sucks but it's the same or cheaper than paying to ship it back to adorama.
Lesson learned- not going to buy one of these deals unless it is ships and sold by amazon since they'll pay for the return. Otherwise I'll stick to ordering from a place like sweetwater that actually does some kind of set up before hand.
This is definitely not just a kids guitar, and is a good deal at this price.
I have one that I customized with a EMG Geezer Butler pickup set and converted to stereo out (like a Rickenbacker). I run it through two tube preamps (with different settings) and get a great Chris Squire-esque sound of of it. In other words, it's a totally decent bass capable of a full-scale sound. At this price I want to get another one to customize even further.
The knobs are chromed plastic and a little cheap looking. The rest of the hardware is just fine.
Last edited by Trip-Toolong September 11, 2022 at 01:52 PM.
I've played bass since the 80's, and owned Fender PBass, Jazz Bass, a Rick, a BC Rich custom and a few Yamaha's and my Mikro is by far my favorite. The smaller size is great. I have smallish hands and can comfortably play all over this bass. The quality is there, but I changed the cheap looking volume /tone knobs to a set of acrylic ones and I put a set of D'Addario strings on it. The pick ups sound pretty good through my amp, so I kept them. I usually run active, but these are warm, but still get a bright slap sound. Love it, I feel like it was tailor made for me.
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Sarcasm towards this person aside, this is a great bass especially for the price. I paid $180 3 years ago and have been happy with it ever since.
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Sarcasm towards this person aside, this is a great bass especially for the price. I paid $180 3 years ago and have been happy with it ever since.
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/b...KSEALw_wcB [musiciansfriend.com]
One thing to keep in mind with an extra short scale bass is the strings can be kind of floppy compared to longer scale. Heavier gauge strings can help.
And I love my GSRM20. I have the walnut. I call her "Lil Nutty".
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Quick thoughts: Sounds great, plays nice. No obvious defects or sharp frets. Makes me miss my old 90's soundgear bass. Like the versatility and sound from both pickups. Nothing like the jaguar bass I bought where the middle pickup was pretty good and the bridge was trash. With the right preamp I can definitely see this being used for recording without worrying about upgrading the pickups.
Quick thoughts: Sounds great, plays nice. No obvious defects or sharp frets. Makes me miss my old 90's soundgear bass. Like the versatility and sound from both pickups. Nothing like the jaguar bass I bought where the middle pickup was pretty good and the bridge was trash. With the right preamp I can definitely see this being used for recording without worrying about upgrading the pickups.
I'm going to let it acclimate for one more day then I'll do a setup.
I also want to note that I've been playing for 5 mo, but I've become obsessed with learning everything there is to know about bass. One thing I've noticed, I'm beginning to play constantly on my full size Stingray 4HH Sub without staring at the fretboard. With the mikro I went back to staring at the fretboard, even when switching back to my full-size bas. So, I'm just letting you guys know that going back and forth between sizes may impede learning for a beginner.
I don't have the time or patience to deal with this so next time I head to the local guitar shop I'll pay to have them set it up. That will bring the total cost of the bass up close to retail. Sucks but it's the same or cheaper than paying to ship it back to adorama.
Lesson learned- not going to buy one of these deals unless it is ships and sold by amazon since they'll pay for the return. Otherwise I'll stick to ordering from a place like sweetwater that actually does some kind of set up before hand.
I have one that I customized with a EMG Geezer Butler pickup set and converted to stereo out (like a Rickenbacker). I run it through two tube preamps (with different settings) and get a great Chris Squire-esque sound of of it. In other words, it's a totally decent bass capable of a full-scale sound. At this price I want to get another one to customize even further.
The knobs are chromed plastic and a little cheap looking. The rest of the hardware is just fine.
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My son is 11yr old & started playing Bass recently and complains how heavy & long is a full bass
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