Hello all,
My first NBD in 12-month, and it is an Ibby ATK800E.
Before I say anything about the bass, here are some pics.
First, the bass and everything else that came out of the box.
BTW, the gig bag is really thick, high quality.
And the close-up of the body.
(The actual color is not as yellow as it is on the pic)
And lastly, the close-up of the case candy including a handy Swiss army knife-like setup tool and a tag with 5 separate stamps/signature for inspection and setup.
Now, the mini-review.
1. Fit & finish:
One of the best, if not the best, I've seen.
2-piece, center-joint Ash body.
Neck pocket fit is just perfect. No flaw that I could find in finish. The frets are excellently crowned and dresses that enables really low action with no buzzing. Routing for the Pups are done cleanly with no chipped edge. The ONLY fault I found was that the nut slots were cut little too high. But it took me all but 10 minutes to fix it.
They obviously took time to make/assemble this bass. Another example for that is unlike many other basses I've bought before, not a spec of wood dust from sanding is found inside the control cavity of this ATK800. This little thing, to me, tells a volume about the care they had in putting this bass together.
2. Hardware quality:
The tuning machine is buttery smooth. As smooth as my 08 Fender American Standard P-bass with lightweight tuning machine. Bridge chrome plating is flawless with no sharp edge, and the saddle height screws are fit snug and tight that they won't be moving by itself due to string vibration.
The pickups and pre-amp are the same as their MIJ ATK1200 Prestige model sold for $1,700. Just excellent.
3. Tone:
The tone is very subjective, so I won't say whether it is good or bad.
One thing I should note though, is that to my ears, the overall tone is more on the modern-sound, not on the vintage-sound. But still, you really can get a wide range of different tones. Think G&L L2000. It's not quite that versatile, it is damn close. So you should be able to find the tone that you desire by trying different tonal options.
4. Playing comfort.
This is REALLY light-weight bass, which is a total contrast from ATK300 that I had a couple of years ago. I am certain that it weights not more than 9 lbs lbs max. It feels almost as light as Ibby SR series bass.
It might be because Ibanez used selected wood, but also because the body is thinner than, say, my Am Std P-bass.
Maybe not as thin as SR series, but close.
The light weight with thinner body makes playing while standing an absolute joy. And it is balanced so well that there's no neck-diving tendency at all.
But body is thin without heft that could provide down-weight, thus playing while sitting is little awkward because the bass is sliding around on my lap.
The neck width is basically a P-bass width, but with a Hugh front-back thickness with more of "U-shape" than "C-shape" profile. It is much thicker than my 08 Am Std P-bass.
But I do like a wide & thick neck. So it's not a issue for me.
But again, despite having a massive neck on a thin lightweight body, the balance is really good with no neck-dive whatsoever.
5. Misc. thoughts.
I kind of wish they put little more satin finish with some tint on the neck. It feel just raw, unfinished and--- cheap. But it is personal preference because I do like finished neck.
Also, the body has the stained finish with no clear coats. Meaning, it gets dinged and dented very easily. I already managed to put a dent on the body by "very slightly" bumping her edge against the leg of my desk chair, and I got this bass not even a 24-hour ago.
But at the same time, this finish will produce the warn-out, broken-in relic look just by simply playing normally if that's what you desire. No need for an artificial abuse.
And I assume that it will probably happen quicker than other basses with nitro finish. (it will not have the same look of an nitro-finished bass, though)
Overall, it is an excellent bass that is worth the price that I paid. (Normally $750, but I paid only $600 by using $150 off Valentine's Day couple at GC!
)
Even though I don't generally keep a bass for a long haul, I think that this bass, along with my 08 Am Std P-bass, will stay with me for a long time.
Thanks for reading this long-winded review!!!
My first NBD in 12-month, and it is an Ibby ATK800E.
Before I say anything about the bass, here are some pics.
First, the bass and everything else that came out of the box.
BTW, the gig bag is really thick, high quality.
And the close-up of the body.
(The actual color is not as yellow as it is on the pic)
And lastly, the close-up of the case candy including a handy Swiss army knife-like setup tool and a tag with 5 separate stamps/signature for inspection and setup.
Now, the mini-review.
1. Fit & finish:
One of the best, if not the best, I've seen.
2-piece, center-joint Ash body.
Neck pocket fit is just perfect. No flaw that I could find in finish. The frets are excellently crowned and dresses that enables really low action with no buzzing. Routing for the Pups are done cleanly with no chipped edge. The ONLY fault I found was that the nut slots were cut little too high. But it took me all but 10 minutes to fix it.
They obviously took time to make/assemble this bass. Another example for that is unlike many other basses I've bought before, not a spec of wood dust from sanding is found inside the control cavity of this ATK800. This little thing, to me, tells a volume about the care they had in putting this bass together.
2. Hardware quality:
The tuning machine is buttery smooth. As smooth as my 08 Fender American Standard P-bass with lightweight tuning machine. Bridge chrome plating is flawless with no sharp edge, and the saddle height screws are fit snug and tight that they won't be moving by itself due to string vibration.
The pickups and pre-amp are the same as their MIJ ATK1200 Prestige model sold for $1,700. Just excellent.
3. Tone:
The tone is very subjective, so I won't say whether it is good or bad.
One thing I should note though, is that to my ears, the overall tone is more on the modern-sound, not on the vintage-sound. But still, you really can get a wide range of different tones. Think G&L L2000. It's not quite that versatile, it is damn close. So you should be able to find the tone that you desire by trying different tonal options.
4. Playing comfort.
This is REALLY light-weight bass, which is a total contrast from ATK300 that I had a couple of years ago. I am certain that it weights not more than 9 lbs lbs max. It feels almost as light as Ibby SR series bass.
It might be because Ibanez used selected wood, but also because the body is thinner than, say, my Am Std P-bass.
Maybe not as thin as SR series, but close.
The light weight with thinner body makes playing while standing an absolute joy. And it is balanced so well that there's no neck-diving tendency at all.
But body is thin without heft that could provide down-weight, thus playing while sitting is little awkward because the bass is sliding around on my lap.
The neck width is basically a P-bass width, but with a Hugh front-back thickness with more of "U-shape" than "C-shape" profile. It is much thicker than my 08 Am Std P-bass.
But I do like a wide & thick neck. So it's not a issue for me.
But again, despite having a massive neck on a thin lightweight body, the balance is really good with no neck-dive whatsoever.
5. Misc. thoughts.
I kind of wish they put little more satin finish with some tint on the neck. It feel just raw, unfinished and--- cheap. But it is personal preference because I do like finished neck.
Also, the body has the stained finish with no clear coats. Meaning, it gets dinged and dented very easily. I already managed to put a dent on the body by "very slightly" bumping her edge against the leg of my desk chair, and I got this bass not even a 24-hour ago.
But at the same time, this finish will produce the warn-out, broken-in relic look just by simply playing normally if that's what you desire. No need for an artificial abuse.
And I assume that it will probably happen quicker than other basses with nitro finish. (it will not have the same look of an nitro-finished bass, though)
Overall, it is an excellent bass that is worth the price that I paid. (Normally $750, but I paid only $600 by using $150 off Valentine's Day couple at GC!
)Even though I don't generally keep a bass for a long haul, I think that this bass, along with my 08 Am Std P-bass, will stay with me for a long time.
Thanks for reading this long-winded review!!!
