NBD - Ibanez BTB 400QM

[Ondoval]

Needed a bass for a band that tune in drop G#.

It takes some tweaking to get a good tone out of it, but its absolutely possible.

The neck is very nice! Playability is just fantastic.

It also pulls off the drop G# surprisingly well. An additional inch really does matter!

 

[petch]

Nice! Congrats!

 

[bassist4dalord]

Congrats! BTB basses are very cool.

 

[bordinco90]

Beautiful Ibanez! I really want one of the 4 string Made in Korea BTBs. I have a MIK SR500 and it's one of the best basses I've ever played! The MIK Ibanez stuff is way better than the current Indo Ibbys IMO.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Congrats on your new bass, from one BTB owner to another.

Looks like it's in good shape.

Good luck with it.

Mike

 

[Ondoval]

Congrats on your new bass, from one BTB owner to another.

Looks like it's in good shape.

Good luck with it.

Mike

Thanks! It is in great shape! Frets are all good, stays in tune, electronics seem fine. All in all it seems to be very weel built,

Beautiful Ibanez! I really want one of the 4 string Made in Korea BTBs. I have a MIK SR500 and it's one of the best basses I've ever played! The MIK Ibanez stuff is way better than the current Indo Ibbys IMO.

Thanks! Yeah. I have a MIK LTD EC-400 guitar from the same era and its very well made as well. I think the guys in Korea back then really knew their stuff.

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

I used to have the 405 version. Great, versatile allround bass. Enjoy!

 

[UriNoir]

BTB's are amazing basses.

A bassplayer from another group my old band used to gig with had one of those early models, late '90's/early '00's.

Btw, my present band tunes down to F#, which is perfectly possible on a 4 string.

 

[Ondoval]

BTB's are amazing basses.

A bassplayer from another group my old band used to gig with had one of those early models, late '90's/early '00's.

Btw, my present band tunes down to F#, which is perfectly possible on a 4 string.

F#? Wow! That is low! What bass you use for that? Dingwall?

 

[UriNoir]

F#? Wow! That is low! What bass you use for that? Dingwall?

Dingwall? I can't afford that.
I just modified a cheap 2nd hand P-bass for that.

EMG Geezer pickups, and some drilling to the bridge an filing the nut, to fit the .175 string.

 

[Ondoval]

Dingwall? I can't afford that.
I just modified a cheap 2nd hand P-bass for that.

EMG Geezer pickups, and some drilling to the bridge an filing the nut, to fit the .175 string.

Looks sick! I really love the black and matching headstock thing!

 

[UriNoir]

Looks sick! I really love the black and matching headstock thing!

Thanks. It didn't work out to be completely even, so it's got a few "relic" spots where the wood comes through the black paint at the side and back of the bellycarve, but I like that.
Getting the headstock matching was difficult as well, took a few layers of paint and sanding, but I like the result.
A bit rough, but, well, we play rough & heavy music, so...

 

[nicolasch2]

Nice bass I got one. How much did it cost? I am trying to sell mine

 

[Ondoval]

Nice bass I got one. How much did it cost? I am trying to sell mine

I payed 390$ (not actually dollars ofc). I live in Norway and everything costs more here, so I generally expect things to sell for less in the US or somewhere else.

You can find some price statistics on reverb which suggest that 4-500 dollars is where this bass is at: https://reverb.com/p/ibanez-btb400qm-standard#price-guide

However. 390$ felt like a bargain. I did some research and someone in here said they listed for 700$ new back in 2001. That's about 1200$ in todays money. In my opinion, getting this quality bass for 400 dollars is insane value for the money.