TL;DR - Adam is an awesome guy, got a good deal, bass sounds incredible, several manufacturing issues.
5 second history... I studied with Adam when I was a wee-young bassist, right before college and before he moved to Nashville. I actually can't believe it's been so long. But anyway, huge influence on my playing, nicest guy in the world, his improv chops are insane and I'm lucky to have ever even met him. If you are lucky enough to get an opportunity to see him play or meet him or get a lesson... take it. Five seconds with Adam and you'll be a better player.
I always wanted one of his Warrior 6-string basses, but I was never able to find one used and didn't want to pony up the $5400 for a new one. When he switched to Ibanez his ANB1006 sounded incredible (and it's very, very close to the specs of his Warrior), but $7000 was more than I wanted to spend. When the ANB306 came out I knew I would eventually get one... I think the paint is awesome, and the wood combo and electronics are right up my alley.
Long story long, a factory second (brand new) popped up on eBay for a couple hundred bucks below retail; the imperfection was a speck of finish that was literally too small to photograph... I couldn't even find it without asking the dealer exactly where it was. I didn't "need" a bass at that moment so I lowballed on the price... like extreme "there's absolutely no way he'll take this" lowball. But then apparently I'd bought a new bass.
For those unfamiliar with the Ibanez lines, the top of the line are the American-built ones (endorsers), then you have the Japanese models (JCustom, Prestige line), then Indonesia (Premium line), then China and the cheap stuff. I own a Prestige RG550 guitar, and I've played JCustoms, but other than that I have no experience with Ibanez, and never with the Premium line. The ANB306 is a Premium line instrument.
So first thing's first... looks amazing. Paint is amazing, I'm in love with the finish. Overall craftsmanship is great.
Unfortunately there was shipping damage (or so I assume) to the bottom strap button (no fault to Ibanez). The paint is nicely chipped, which is super awesome. Fedex paid $250 on the claim, which made my already-low price even lower. This is just a drop-fill fix, and since it's on the bottom I'm not terribly concerned about the finish not matching. But to make it worse, the button was screwed in crooked from the factory, which means when I fix the paint I'll have to also fill the screwhole and re-drill a new button. I'll just do flush-mount straplocks, though.
I noticed right away that the battery compartment was bulging. Luckily it wasn't an exploded battery, but upon closer inspection it appears the compartment wasn't fully routed out from the factory. Looks like they started it, but just forgot to finish, so the batteries sit up a couple mm too high. This is annoying, but takes about 5 minutes to fix. Probably most people wouldn't care about this.
Setup out of the box was awful. Way too much relief, string height at the bridge was a mile high. We expect these things, of course, and a quick setup is always in order anyway. I noticed several very sharp fret edges, unfortunately, so that'll require a fret dressing. No big deal. But then I started noticing some serious buzzing on a few select frets, and I confirmed with a fret rocker that several frets are high... not uniformly high across the entire fret, but high in spots. For instance, 12th fret on the G is a buzz nightmare... you can even hear it in the clip below. I've been doing my own fretwork for years, so fixing these isn't a huge deal, but most people wouldn't be willing to do it. Buzzy frets that are this bad make it an unplayable instrument, effectively.
The bridge is a Hipshot A-style, standard for Adam, and a really great bridge. 18mm spacing, which is comfortable for me... same spacing as my Ken Smith 6-string. I never liked the look of the Ibanez monorail bridges, so I'm happy Adam chose the Hipshot.
But the sound... my God the sound is fantastic. The neck is great, feels great, access to the 24th fret is fantastic (they designed it with easy access just for him... it's awesome). The body shape is comfortable, pretty lightweight. I'm familiar with the pickups and electronics... I have another instrument with the Bart NTMB 5.4 preamp and M-series pickups, but Adam has custom electronics here... the NTMB+F with an internal trim pot. I mean, it really sounds killer with everything flat, and there's a nice, even range of sound when adjusting electronics. Disregard the buzzy frets here; I haven't done the fretwork yet!
Anyway, it's a great instrument overall. The manufacturing issues are a real drag, but they are easily fixable for me (fretwork will cost me $0, paint repair is a few bucks). However, I would imagine most people aren't as willing to fix them, especially on a *new* instrument. There should not be uneven frets on an instrument in this price range, there shouldn't be a bulging battery cover, and there shouldn't be a crooked screw hole for the strap button. It should've never left the factory like this, in my opinion, but the price was too good, even with the issues. Yes, it's a Factory Second, but the declared imperfection from Ibanez was only the paint issue mentioned above (tiny, tiny speck on the rear); none of the fret issues, etc. were the reasons for it being a second. Had I paid full retail and had these issues, I would've returned it. I've read a couple reviews of people returning Premium line instruments due to QC issues, so perhaps just be careful with the Premium line. Ibanez will fix you up if you have an issue, they are great folks. For me, it's easier to fix these myself rather than deal with shipping it off, etc.
But seriously... the sound is just fantastic. Go buy one. And if the 5-string model gets released, buy that one too!
5 second history... I studied with Adam when I was a wee-young bassist, right before college and before he moved to Nashville. I actually can't believe it's been so long. But anyway, huge influence on my playing, nicest guy in the world, his improv chops are insane and I'm lucky to have ever even met him. If you are lucky enough to get an opportunity to see him play or meet him or get a lesson... take it. Five seconds with Adam and you'll be a better player.
I always wanted one of his Warrior 6-string basses, but I was never able to find one used and didn't want to pony up the $5400 for a new one. When he switched to Ibanez his ANB1006 sounded incredible (and it's very, very close to the specs of his Warrior), but $7000 was more than I wanted to spend. When the ANB306 came out I knew I would eventually get one... I think the paint is awesome, and the wood combo and electronics are right up my alley.
Long story long, a factory second (brand new) popped up on eBay for a couple hundred bucks below retail; the imperfection was a speck of finish that was literally too small to photograph... I couldn't even find it without asking the dealer exactly where it was. I didn't "need" a bass at that moment so I lowballed on the price... like extreme "there's absolutely no way he'll take this" lowball. But then apparently I'd bought a new bass.
For those unfamiliar with the Ibanez lines, the top of the line are the American-built ones (endorsers), then you have the Japanese models (JCustom, Prestige line), then Indonesia (Premium line), then China and the cheap stuff. I own a Prestige RG550 guitar, and I've played JCustoms, but other than that I have no experience with Ibanez, and never with the Premium line. The ANB306 is a Premium line instrument.
So first thing's first... looks amazing. Paint is amazing, I'm in love with the finish. Overall craftsmanship is great.
Unfortunately there was shipping damage (or so I assume) to the bottom strap button (no fault to Ibanez). The paint is nicely chipped, which is super awesome. Fedex paid $250 on the claim, which made my already-low price even lower. This is just a drop-fill fix, and since it's on the bottom I'm not terribly concerned about the finish not matching. But to make it worse, the button was screwed in crooked from the factory, which means when I fix the paint I'll have to also fill the screwhole and re-drill a new button. I'll just do flush-mount straplocks, though.
I noticed right away that the battery compartment was bulging. Luckily it wasn't an exploded battery, but upon closer inspection it appears the compartment wasn't fully routed out from the factory. Looks like they started it, but just forgot to finish, so the batteries sit up a couple mm too high. This is annoying, but takes about 5 minutes to fix. Probably most people wouldn't care about this.
Setup out of the box was awful. Way too much relief, string height at the bridge was a mile high. We expect these things, of course, and a quick setup is always in order anyway. I noticed several very sharp fret edges, unfortunately, so that'll require a fret dressing. No big deal. But then I started noticing some serious buzzing on a few select frets, and I confirmed with a fret rocker that several frets are high... not uniformly high across the entire fret, but high in spots. For instance, 12th fret on the G is a buzz nightmare... you can even hear it in the clip below. I've been doing my own fretwork for years, so fixing these isn't a huge deal, but most people wouldn't be willing to do it. Buzzy frets that are this bad make it an unplayable instrument, effectively.
The bridge is a Hipshot A-style, standard for Adam, and a really great bridge. 18mm spacing, which is comfortable for me... same spacing as my Ken Smith 6-string. I never liked the look of the Ibanez monorail bridges, so I'm happy Adam chose the Hipshot.
But the sound... my God the sound is fantastic. The neck is great, feels great, access to the 24th fret is fantastic (they designed it with easy access just for him... it's awesome). The body shape is comfortable, pretty lightweight. I'm familiar with the pickups and electronics... I have another instrument with the Bart NTMB 5.4 preamp and M-series pickups, but Adam has custom electronics here... the NTMB+F with an internal trim pot. I mean, it really sounds killer with everything flat, and there's a nice, even range of sound when adjusting electronics. Disregard the buzzy frets here; I haven't done the fretwork yet!
Anyway, it's a great instrument overall. The manufacturing issues are a real drag, but they are easily fixable for me (fretwork will cost me $0, paint repair is a few bucks). However, I would imagine most people aren't as willing to fix them, especially on a *new* instrument. There should not be uneven frets on an instrument in this price range, there shouldn't be a bulging battery cover, and there shouldn't be a crooked screw hole for the strap button. It should've never left the factory like this, in my opinion, but the price was too good, even with the issues. Yes, it's a Factory Second, but the declared imperfection from Ibanez was only the paint issue mentioned above (tiny, tiny speck on the rear); none of the fret issues, etc. were the reasons for it being a second. Had I paid full retail and had these issues, I would've returned it. I've read a couple reviews of people returning Premium line instruments due to QC issues, so perhaps just be careful with the Premium line. Ibanez will fix you up if you have an issue, they are great folks. For me, it's easier to fix these myself rather than deal with shipping it off, etc.
But seriously... the sound is just fantastic. Go buy one. And if the 5-string model gets released, buy that one too!
