Upgrades for an Ibanez Talman TMB100

[Blille]

First post, long time lurker. Lot of wisdom here.

I have a TMB100 (that I bought after reading about it here) and while I think it’s a great deal and really like the feel, I would like to consider upgrades.

Specifically, I’m thinking pickups and bridge.

For pickups, I use the P most of the time so that’s what I was thinking of upgrading. I would like to get something not too hot since I have the preamp and it would need to somehow balance with the J in the bridge.

And in terms of bridge, it would need to fit right in the current spot without extra drilling

I mostly play P&W and I’m obviously budget conscious since my bass was $200

So, what pickups and or bridge would you recommend? Is it worth it?

Thanks!

 

[Yahboy]

For less hot P pickup, i recommand SD SPB-1 , smooth and warm without aggressive.

About the bridge, the TMB100 stock bridge look like Fender MIM bridge. If you found the saddle easily get move and saddle cant sit and hold the level, i recommand Fender Vintage threadsaddle bridge which i put on my 3 squier CV bass.
Hopefully both bridge's screws hole is same position.

Off topic.
If i own a TMB 100, i will get a Fender Pure Vintage 63 pup and D'marzio Ultra Jazz DP148 (hum cancelling).

 

[Blille]

For less hot P pickup, i recommand SD SPB-1 , smooth and warm without aggressive.

About the bridge, the TMB100 stock bridge look like Fender MIM bridge. If you found the saddle easily get move and saddle cant sit and hold the level, i recommand Fender Vintage threadsaddle bridge which i put on my 3 squier CV bass.
Hopefully both bridge's screws hole is same position.

Off topic.
If i own a TMB 100, i will get a Fender Pure Vintage 63 pup and D'marzio Ultra Jazz DP148 (hum cancelling).

Thanks for the recommendation!

There’s nothing wrong with the bridge really, it’s more because people seem to love high mass bridges, so I wanted to hear if it was a good idea and if one would fit right in.

 

[twc1313]

Hey man, I have have two TMB100s and love them as well, they really are a great bass. I was thinking of modding one of mine as well just for fun.

IMHO high mass bridges are useless, they have no real effect on tone and often the ones I've tried make things worse tone and feel wise. If you must change the bridge, I support the comment about a vintage style bridge with the threaded barrels. In fact you could keep the existing bridge and just swap the barrels.

The TMB is a very hot bass, so I'd also agree that a slightly mellower P pickup would probably make it great. I'd say start with an SPB1 only and see how you're feeling after. I would never suggest a noiseless J because all the ones I've played lack the snap and bite of a regular single coil.

Just my .02

 

[Blille]

Ok, I think I’ll pass on the bridge. The SD spb-1 looks great. Any other alternatives in the same vibe from other manufacturers like DiMarzio, Fender, GFS? I’ll likely end up with the SD but I always like to shop around for a good deal

 

[BusyFingers]

You know what would look great with the blue and tort? A set of Dimarzio creme P/J pickups.

 

[BusyFingers]

Try a 1k ohm pot with them, though. It's supposed to really open those pickups up and give them us air.

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

Does your Talman have the battery draining problem? Some Talmans are wired incorrectly so the battery drains when the bass isn't plugged in. If yours doesn't have that problem don't worry about it.

Otherwise, you could shield it if it's not shielded well (mine was a bit noisy), swap out the pickups for some Seymour Duncans, and leave that bridge alone!

 

[Blille]

You know what would look great with the blue and tort? A set of Dimarzio creme P/J pickups.

Try a 1k ohm pot with them, though. It's supposed to really open those pickups up and give them us air.

You are absolutely right, they would look sweet but I won’t touch the electronics way too complicated. Open to some in if any are a good fit without mods.

Does your Talman have the battery draining problem? Some Talmans are wired incorrectly so the battery drains when the bass isn't plugged in. If yours doesn't have that problem don't worry about it.

Otherwise, you could shield it if it's not shielded well (mine was a bit noisy), swap out the pickups for some Seymour Duncans, and leave that bridge alone!

I don’t think so, I guess I would have noticed by now how long does yours last in use? I’m a bit paranoid and change the battery pretty often so I’ve never drained it. Having a reference would be great.

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

You are absolutely right, they would look sweet but I won’t touch the electronics way too complicated. Open to some in if any are a good fit without mods.




I don’t think so, I guess I would have noticed by now how long does yours last in use? I’m a bit paranoid and change the battery pretty often so I’ve never drained it. Having a reference would be great.

It would die in less than a month before I fixed it. Three weeks or so. There were two ground cables that needed to be swapped, and it was good to go after that! Are your tuners fine? Mine had wobbly tuners as well. Maybe I just got a lemon

 

[Blille]

It would die in less than a month before I fixed it. Three weeks or so. There were two ground cables that needed to be swapped, and it was good to go after that! Are your tuners fine? Mine had wobbly tuners as well. Maybe I just got a lemon

I don’t think you got a lemon, just bad luck on the EQ. My tuners are nothing to write home about. Not wobbly, hold tune fine but I can see how on a bad day of QC they could get wobbly. I’ve read other people swapping them. I use light strings, don’t know if that makes it easier on them.

My wife gave me the ok to get a second hand pickup so I think that’s just what I’ll do

 

[Blille]

I wanted to share what I ended up doing

I tried to buy a used SD SPB-1 per your recommendation but couldn’t find one. BUT! I found a used pickup from a Fender roadworn for $20! I looked into it and saw that they were well regarded and were not hot so I went for it. I also got a set of used flatwounds in great condition from a fellow forumite for $10. I’m really happy. Big change in the bass, I can’t believe it happened for $30!

 

[Robert Thompson]

I just bought the Ibanez TMB-100 Talman in mint green. After reading all the positive reviews and wanting a fretted bass, and the price, I took the chance. The tuners on mine are great. I changed the strings to flatwounds that I had from another string swap. The D string, .065, is too short, the D tuner on the Talman requires the longest string, so I’ve ordered one. It comes with roundwounds which I find too noisy. Raised the action until the little bit of fret buzz disappeared and played it for a few hours yesterday. I am very happy, I still can’t believe this is a $200 instrument. I might change the pick guard.
I’ll keep an eye on the battery life, I can solder without fear but if I need I might be asking for help on what to rewire.

 

[Orcatrino]

I just bought the Ibanez TMB-100 Talman in mint green. After reading all the positive reviews and wanting a fretted bass, and the price, I took the chance. The tuners on mine are great. I changed the strings to flatwounds that I had from another string swap. The D string, .065, is too short, the D tuner on the Talman requires the longest string, so I’ve ordered one. It comes with roundwounds which I find too noisy. Raised the action until the little bit of fret buzz disappeared and played it for a few hours yesterday. I am very happy, I still can’t believe this is a $200 instrument. I might change the pick guard.
I’ll keep an eye on the battery life, I can solder without fear but if I need I might be asking for help on what to rewire.

I just recently got the same instrument - mint green with tortoise shell pick guard... for... $180 shipped!
I can't believe this thing! I like the round-wounds. My only issues with it were a sticking bass/treble concentric knob set which I thought was caused by a bent shaft but it was just the knobs not mounted properly. Easy fix. It needed a truss rod adjustment and I lowered the action. This thing was supposed to have had a defect - a crack in the finish at the neck joint... but I can't find it. Love this thing.
As for swapping out the pots, this is an active instrument and they like 100k post as far as I know.

 

[Cix62]

Hi guys, I wanted to ask you if you have any other experiences of changing the neck PU. Thank you