Ibanez Review: EDA 905 Humbucker + Piezo

History:

Purchase: Daddys Junky Music, Albany NY US $429, mint used but for a touch of fretwear, no case. I already play an EDA 905 fretless and had been considering getting a fretted version as well. I had been messing around with one at Drome Sound nearby, but the setup was awful and it was brand new [cost more]. This used one played much better and of course it cost less.

What I Like About This Ibanez EDA 905 Humbucker + Piezo: I'm a big fan of combining magnetic pickups with piezos on the same ax, and Ibanez's EDA series does this very well. The tones that can be reliably dialed up run from stinging percusion [I play with no drummer] to fender-like to deep and nearly acoustic. I like the Luthite body in terms of weight, tone, and contour. I don't know how it works but Luthite can sound very similar to a chambered or semi-hollow body but without the typical neck-heavy balance, even with the extra-wide 5-string neck. Which is one more thing I really like: full 3/4" string spacing at the bridge. Also, mine is a sort of metalic rose color, and my fretless one is dark silver, and the semi-matte finish on EDAs prevents these colors from looking ridiculous. I really like these colors under this muted finish.

What I Do NOT Like About The Ibanez EDA 905 Humbucker + Piezo: A piezo + magnetic setup really deserves a pickup blend/fader knob instead of seperate gain knobs for each system. The EQ system, while very effective, is very unorthadox, with a learning curve to form new habits.

Ibanez EDA 905 Humbucker + Piezo Quality Rating: Mine is used, came with the fingerboard set VERY close to flat, and without adding any relief I dropped the saddles til action at the octave hit 2.5mm for low-B and barely 2mm for the D & G strings. With a 24 fret neck, that shows quality [or luck]. Neck wood is not visible [painted]. It's bolt- on with rosewood fingerboard and a pointy little headstock that seems overcrowded by the 5 gotoh-style tuners. Very easy neck to play, with good access to high end. This is a wide 5-string, full 3/4" string spacing at the saddles. The Luthite body shape is from bizzarro land, but is very comfortable, not heavy, and has a long enough horn to offer excellent balance on a strap, even with the wide neck. Pickups are Fishman monorail bridges with piezos plus a humbucker in the P-bass spot. Controls are weird. Rear set-and-forget pots [for mini-screwdriver] are for piezo- only: gain trim for each string plus bass boost for the whole piezo side. 4 knobs on the front are [in order] humbucker gain, piezo gain, humbucker EQ [or just "Q"?] and piezo treble boost. The humbucker EQ knob is not a "tone control" like on passive basses nor a boost-cut like on other active basses. Ibanez says it boosts [or cuts] BOTH bass and treble at the same time. In use, it reminds me somewhat of the "Aural Enhancer" on an SWR bass head. The "aural enhancer" and treble boost both have center detents [which makes no sense, given the way these controls work: minimal to full effect for each knob].

Review Summary: It's a tone monster, very flexible, very comfortable, excellent quality, and not too pricey. Trade-offs are that it looks weird and the controls are weird. Once you're playing, it all feels and sounds great. I recommend marking some settings on your control knobs with bright color paint, to allow hitting a few person style "pre-set" starting points. Another very workable option is just to max the "tone" knobs [and max the rear-side bass pot], and then use the two gain knobs to adjust all aspects of sound. BTW, maximum low end output [not limited to the B-string] is huge, and derives mostly from the piezo. Max low output is NOT reduced by cranking up the treble boost on the piezo. Big fun is to run this ax into an all-tube head.

Rating of this Ibanez product: 4

This Ibanez EDA 905 Humbucker + Piezo Bass Guitars Review Submitted By: golem

Review Date: 2004-11-24