I think the starter basses (SR300's) are quite good and perfectly adequate for basic stage use. If you get into their higher end models they have some very nice offerings.
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Ibanez really?
- Thread starter happychicken
- Start date
I beat the snot out of two Ibby ATK 5's every gig, and they always sound excellent, come out the other side unscathed, and keep begging for more.
The only other bass in my stable getting any play time is a Franken P I had to rebuild with Warmoth parts to get playable again.
Love Ibanez...they're the one mass producer consistently willing to adapt to market trend quickly, and not half-assedly while doing it, good quality, accessible offerings at every price point that don't skimp on general playability and looks, etc to get there.
The only other bass in my stable getting any play time is a Franken P I had to rebuild with Warmoth parts to get playable again.
Love Ibanez...they're the one mass producer consistently willing to adapt to market trend quickly, and not half-assedly while doing it, good quality, accessible offerings at every price point that don't skimp on general playability and looks, etc to get there.
Glad you enjoy your new bass. Looks like you were operating from some shakey presupositions.
1)Not sure why you thought all Ibanez stuff was junk. I'm not a fan of most of their designs, but they've always made good basses at a variety of price points. I've got an artcore that I've upgraded a bit, but it's a great player and has performed well for me onstage.
2)The bass you bought originally retailed for around 1k right? That's pretty far from an "inexpensive" bass. As for whether a cheap bass can sound like an expensive bass. Sometimes they can. I've heard some great sounding cheapies. However, I've found that:
-This is less common than some would have you believe.
-The sound might be there, but usually there are alot of other areas where the cheapie falls short. (construction, fretwork, appearance, weight, etc)
-By the time a cheapie is made to sound and function as well as a more expensive bass, enough $ and time has been invested to bring their overall costs much closer.
I have always heard the "my inexpensive bass plays like a boutique/high end bass" thing. Everytime I go try these inexpensive basses they feel, look and sound terrible. The squire VM 5 was the greatest example of this. I picked that thing up and threw up in my mouth a bit.
I mean the the bass I have was inexpensive used. I paid maybe 450 for it. I don't think a new bass in that price range could complete.
Ibanez really. Don't own one now but have in the past. Their high-end stuff is world class, no one makes better - just equivalent.
Of course, most of what they make is NOT high-end, therefore the reputation. If Fender didn't have the "Squier" brand to hide their cheap stuff behind they'd have the same perception.
Ibanez makes good basses. Enjoy yours, OP, that's a nice axe.
Of course, most of what they make is NOT high-end, therefore the reputation. If Fender didn't have the "Squier" brand to hide their cheap stuff behind they'd have the same perception.
Ibanez makes good basses. Enjoy yours, OP, that's a nice axe.
You may have overpaid for the Squire, unless you're across the pond, where Squire's are more expensive and in many cases cost more than other, better instruments.
I've found many basses that punch above their weight class, I just don't think it's quite as dramatic as some folks say. For example, my LTD 214 when stock was almost as good (the pickup was perhaps a smidge less nice) as a standard MIM Fender. Comparing retail prices, that's a savings of well over $200. This kind of thing happens all the time, especially when you're paying for a brand-name. However, the "My SX smokes my MIA Fender" sort of claims usually defy logic IMHO. I've owned 4 SX's and none could compete with even a MIM Fender in their stock form.
I think in many cases it's a situation where a cheapie sounds different or happens to fit a player better and so they gravitate towards it rather than a more expensive bass that just feels and sounds better to the individual player not measurably, objectively better.
Of course if you find the bass that works best for you, rock it no matter how little it costs.
Ibanez has great engineering and design coupled with massive purchasing power and automated manufacturing for consistent quality. They can provide super high-end quality at reasonable pricing, and they do so without price gouging. Their necks are the best in the business, I think, and the higher end models are simply gorgeous. Some of the ones exhibited at NAMM made me drool on the carpet.
Anyone who says that bottom pic bass cannot hang with the big dogs is lying to themselves. Neck feel is subjective and personal preference, quality is not subjective. That bass is absolutely sick, and top drawer for a mass-produced instrument. Ibanez really figured their methods out.
Not my bag aesthetics-wise, but that series practically plays itself the necks are so freaking good.
One of my best and most versatile basses is a modded Ibanez SRX3EX, discontinued now but a fantastic playing bass. It has the lowest action with the least fret buzz if any bass that I own. It's also the bass that sounds best with effects like chorus or my Digitech Bass Whammy RI for some reason. Even my EMG loaded 5'er doesn't do as well with those effects as it does. Best part is I bought it used!!
their higher tier models are amazing. prestige line SR from 98 onwards (or custom made, name depends on the year) are out of this world and sell for around 500$ used. that's easily 2000$ bass quality level for 1/4 of the price. wenge necks, mahogany bodies, amazing pickups (stock ibanez pickups from prestige line are imho better then latter bartolinies), great preamps (with variable mid sweep pot). those basses are straight out of this world. thing is , you have to know what is their higher end model from lower ends. wenge neck is the first sign. mahogany body with oil finish another. but you can come across maple neck prestiges that are just as amazing. heck, they experimented with SR lineup like crazy. there are so many different prestige tier models from 1990's to 2016 that you'd have a hard time just shuffling trough their catalogues let alone remembering them, and then there's also special limited lines that ibanez has almost every year. ibanez seems to be the company with busiest R&D/Design. also, thig is they mess up a bit with theri model names. SR300 model for example changed numerous times. so did SR500. from maple/alder to wenge/mahogony to jatoba/mahogany. and that's without counting pickups/electronics changes. all in all, ibanez is IMHO best mass producing guitar/bass company in the world and quality they do is insane. for the price. that's for midrange and low enrtry guns. for upper echelon they do serious custom shop-killers like prestige line that can go toe to toe with much much more expensive custom made instruments
I think the smaller string spacing and thin necks on some models turns people away. I love it.
from left to right IBANEZ ONLY; SR886 (1991) basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, ibanez active pickups, amazing sound! i guttted it out and just connected pickups to jack, pure joy!
SR705, i gutted the batrolini mk1 preamp, changed position of the pickups (mk1 bartolini), bridge to neck, neck to bridge, connected them straight to jack, no pots, no nothing! WOW! JUST WOW! punch, meat, growl!
SR1205, nordstrand big singles, gotoh hardware, real bomb!
sr1010 (1998), kinda prestige before they started naming them prestiges. just balls to the walls sound., all 4 of them have crazy low setup. no buzz, butter necks
check out more pics here;
Arsenal Bassokracije | Facebook
Great collection you have my friend
thnx, took me a long while to get it. i sold warwick today. seems like i'm just leaving ibanez SRs
The perfect fits are MK4CBC-B & MK4CBC-T. I cannot emphasize enough how much of an improvement this is. I don't even need to replace the pre-amp - the pickups were all it needed.
Fast neck, well-balanced. Everything about it works for me. I play with a rock cover band and they love its warm and solid tone. I use D'Addario EXL170 strings.
