documentation on manufacturer's websites

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I'm sure many of you have also noticed how bad it is. Seems most sites don't post neck dimensions and/or the radius.
How in this age of the internet am I supposed to shop around for basses if I can't even see the neck measurements? Say what you might about Ibanez, but they post some of the most complete documentation on ALL of their basses.

You're lucky to get more than just a picture of the front of the bass.
It sure would be nice to see the back and get a good profile shot of the neck, to include the pocket area.


the pictures often are not at all representative of the real product, even ignoring perfectly even lighting for a good photo.
A lot of catalogue pics of basses are very different in color and they often exagerrate the visibility of grain or figuring. This general concept isn't unique to the bass world, but its no less terrible. The funny thing is, basses often look BETTER than their catalogue pics. Like my EDB550. I was not at all expecting the deep rich look that the actual bass has. Much darker and much more attractive than the catalogue pic.

Sometimes the actual bass looks worse though. I recently tried out a bass on one of the sites with a no questions asked garuntee. The finish was supposed to be a transparent color, with cool figuring and neckthrough lines contrasting underneath. The actual bass had such a dark finish that it mostly looked like a solid color in all but direct sunlight or flash from a camera.