Howdy y'all! I've got a new toy that I'm really happy to talk about. It's the Ibanez PCBE12MH acoustic bass guitar. It's a new bass so there's very little information about it.
A little backstory: In an effort to make more money during the week, my brother and I recently put together an acoustic duo. I've been playing an Peavey Foundation as I didn't have an acoustic. My dream bass is a Warwick Alien 5 string, but it's just way out of my price range. I had been eyeing an Ibanez AEB5E that has been sitting at my local pawn shop for a long time now. I was content with the way it played, but really dislike solid black glossy finished on acoustic guitars. As soon as I saw this new Open Pore series, I immediately ordered one on Amazon.
Now for the actual review. Let me just say from the beginning, this is an incredible bass for the price of $250. It has far exceeded my expectations. The setup was great out of the box. It's got nice low action. It might be too low for heavy handed players, but Ibanez included an extra unsanded saddle. I only had one minor issue with the fit and finish. The bottom of the saddle wasn't smooth enough to get consistent volume across the strings. It only took a minute of sanding to fix that. The entire bass is visually perfect. Usually basses this cheap have tiny dents or scratches, but this one looks great. I was impressed to find these come with coated D'Addario strings. I'm not a big fan of roundwounds on acoustic basses, but these sound good. I've got a set of La Bella Copper White Tape Wound in the mail. As expected, the bass isn't very loud acoustically, but I bought it to be used plugged in. It's loud enough to be heard against an acoustic guitar in a quiet practice environment. While not expecting much, I'm pleased with how the bass sounds plugged in. The 2-band EQ is limited, but effective. I plan on EQing with the amp so it'll pretty always stay flat. One issue I do have with the preamp is that the tuner only works when the cable is plugged in. That's a bit short sighted on Ibanez's part.
I've recorded a quick demo to give some kind of idea of how the bass sounds. I recorded the bass direct and also through an MXL condenser placed about 4 inches from the sound hole. I recorded both at same time so you're hearing the exact same take. I played in 3 different styles: finger, palm-muted thumb, and pick.
Here's the mic track:
Here's the direct track:
Here's the same direct track run through the Ampeg simulation in Amplitube:
Here's a crappy phone picture:
Overall, I don't think you get a better acoustic bass for the price. I can confidently say this bass is miles ahead of the $400 Fender T-Bucket. It is by far the cheapest good electric acoustic bass you can get.
A little backstory: In an effort to make more money during the week, my brother and I recently put together an acoustic duo. I've been playing an Peavey Foundation as I didn't have an acoustic. My dream bass is a Warwick Alien 5 string, but it's just way out of my price range. I had been eyeing an Ibanez AEB5E that has been sitting at my local pawn shop for a long time now. I was content with the way it played, but really dislike solid black glossy finished on acoustic guitars. As soon as I saw this new Open Pore series, I immediately ordered one on Amazon.
Now for the actual review. Let me just say from the beginning, this is an incredible bass for the price of $250. It has far exceeded my expectations. The setup was great out of the box. It's got nice low action. It might be too low for heavy handed players, but Ibanez included an extra unsanded saddle. I only had one minor issue with the fit and finish. The bottom of the saddle wasn't smooth enough to get consistent volume across the strings. It only took a minute of sanding to fix that. The entire bass is visually perfect. Usually basses this cheap have tiny dents or scratches, but this one looks great. I was impressed to find these come with coated D'Addario strings. I'm not a big fan of roundwounds on acoustic basses, but these sound good. I've got a set of La Bella Copper White Tape Wound in the mail. As expected, the bass isn't very loud acoustically, but I bought it to be used plugged in. It's loud enough to be heard against an acoustic guitar in a quiet practice environment. While not expecting much, I'm pleased with how the bass sounds plugged in. The 2-band EQ is limited, but effective. I plan on EQing with the amp so it'll pretty always stay flat. One issue I do have with the preamp is that the tuner only works when the cable is plugged in. That's a bit short sighted on Ibanez's part.
I've recorded a quick demo to give some kind of idea of how the bass sounds. I recorded the bass direct and also through an MXL condenser placed about 4 inches from the sound hole. I recorded both at same time so you're hearing the exact same take. I played in 3 different styles: finger, palm-muted thumb, and pick.
Here's the mic track:
Here's the direct track:
Here's the same direct track run through the Ampeg simulation in Amplitube:
Here's a crappy phone picture:
Overall, I don't think you get a better acoustic bass for the price. I can confidently say this bass is miles ahead of the $400 Fender T-Bucket. It is by far the cheapest good electric acoustic bass you can get.
I picked up one of these last summer. I also love the size and feel. It's my go to practice/travel bass. I have since put D'adarrio Black Nylon Tapewounds on it; they look great, the tone is awesome and I have never noticed any kind of string volume issue...I'm curious to see what others have to say as there certainly isn't much chatter about these basses online...
