NBD - Ibanez Talman TMB100 - honest, impartial first impressions :)

[Dradder]

They do have a great product here that has great potential to tap into quite a large and varied market of bass players.

True that. I'm looking at the Ibanez Mikro I bought a couple years ago, and while it's a good little bass and I like it a lot, especially after I upgraded the pickups and bridge, it doesn't compare specs-wise with what I'm seeing on that TMB100 for only $20 more. Maybe Ibanez did something to their low-end production process that allows them to put a lot more added value into a new product, and they're just ironing out the kinks that showed up at the start. Still impressive, and as I said, going on to my to-be-thought-about list.

 

[ERIC31]

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Exactly....I've already got something like this in mind being that the TMB100 was slighted in terms of the block inlays available only on the TMB300. Would probably compliment the Ivory color of the bass nicely.
Also, yes, the black TMB100 actually looks pretty good!

View attachment 598659

Where can I get those decals for the neck? That would look awesome on the Ivory one which is the one I'm getting soon!

 

[Maxdusty]

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Where can I get those decals for the neck? That would look awesome on the Ivory one which is the one I'm getting soon!

You can order it through Amazon- free 2 day shipping if you have Prime. Used to be you had to order it on ebay or the seller's own site from Japan (which you still can). Amazon now has a lot of them available. I've linked it here, but check out the other fret markers available by seeing what other items the seller has. Something like 10 pages of fret decals.

Amazon.com: Fretboard Markers Inlay Sticker Decals for Guitar & Bass - Deluxe#1: Musical Instruments

Hmm..actually this one looks nice too!

 

[xrockstrongox]

@nerkoids here is a more accurate representation of the soda blue. Doesn't quite match the pictures, but I love it

 

[Maxdusty]

@nerkoids here is a more accurate representation of the soda blue. Doesn't quite match the pictures, but I love it

Nice! I think it looks much better than the stock photo which looked good to begin with.
Do you have a picture of your bass (the body front on) that I could use to post the actual colors of the TMB300 basses in real light conditions? I have photos of the other color options but not the soda blue as it was a GC/MF exclusive. Can't find one anywhere online.

 

[atomicdog]

Wow! I'm a big Ibby fan and that's a beauty. I love the neck profiles on these babies.

 

[xrockstrongox]

Here is how it compares to LPB. It's differenter than I thought but I dig em both. Also I am colorblind so when they're not directly next to each other they are the same to me.

 

[Maxdusty]

...and here's the actual colors of the TMB300. Thanks xrockstrongox for the picture of your Soda Blue bass. Really like that color! My choice for the TMB300. Also the inlay blocks do add a lot to the look.

And the TMB100 current colors (Soda Blue, White, Candy Apple will be the new colors not shown)

 

[ERIC31]

All right. All right, all right......got the ok from the wife and just pulled the trigger on the Ivory TMB100 plus a Gator gig bag! Stoked and should have it within a week. MF is usually quick with the shipping in my experience. I plan to immediately swap out the stock strings for some DRs and the stock bridge with a Gotoh 201. A pair of Dunlop straploks will be added just like every other bass I've owned. The pickguard will be dealt with later.

 

[Maxdusty]

All right. All right, all right......got the ok from the wife and just pulled the trigger on the Ivory TMB100 plus a Gator gig bag! Stoked and should have it within a week. MF is usually quick with the shipping in my experience. I plan to immediately swap out the stock strings for some DRs and the stock bridge with a Gotoh 201. A pair of Dunlop straploks will be added just like every other bass I've owned. The pickguard will be dealt with later.

Make sure you do check the bass before you change out the strings and upgrade the bridge. There have been those that did not get adequate time at QC but I believe most should be good. I haven't changed my strings yet, but DRs should sound great on them.
I was also looking at the fret stickers as per our last discussion to make sure the color is what it looks like in the picture, it's listed as White Pearl, so I'm not sure if it's quite the color I think it is. Going to do a bit more research on that one.
Anyway, Congrats! Hope you enjoy it.

 

[ERIC31]

Anyone else picked up or ordered one of these basses yet?

Can't wait til FRIDAY!! =)

 

[Maxdusty]

Anyone else picked up or ordered one of these basses yet?

Can't wait til FRIDAY!! =)

I think they're starting to show up in the brick and mortar stores so perhaps more people will be able to try them out. My local music store got another two in and I have to say this new batch seem to work and play really well so perhaps the quality issues were isolated to some of the early stock. I tested the tuners too to see if they rattled as that was the problem with mine, they all worked well.
I've already put another one of my little used basses up for sale in the hopes of putting that towards a TMB300.

 

[ERIC31]

UPS guy showed up today with my TMB-100!! After checking it out and playing it for about an hour I am impressed!! How they are selling these for only 200 bones is beyond me. Right out of the box it was actually in tune and setup pretty well ready to play. No sharp fret ends, smooth turning tuners and control knobs. No scratchy pots. Everything does what it is supposed to do. Even the factory strings were decent. Wide variety of tones is on order with this bass too, I think the PJ setup is optimal for that. This bass can work for a lot of different styles. It balances well on a strap, no neck dive and is not heavy. It came with a cable and allen wrenches to adjust the bridge and truss rod. I'm still not crazy about the pickguard, I hope they will make a few other colors/styles available to customize the look to taste. Looking forward to changing the strings out for my preferred set and adding my Gotoh 201 bridge and the strap locks.

I fully recommend this bass to anyone who is thinking of picking one up for only $200. Get it before they realize they could charge more!! =)

 

[Maxdusty]

UPS guy showed up today with my TMB-100!! After checking it out and playing it for about an hour I am impressed!! How they are selling these for only 200 bones is beyond me. Right out of the box it was actually in tune and setup pretty well ready to play. No sharp fret ends, smooth turning tuners and control knobs. No scratchy pots. Everything does what it is supposed to do. Even the factory strings were decent. Wide variety of tones is on order with this bass too, I think the PJ setup is optimal for that. This bass can work for a lot of different styles. It balances well on a strap, no neck dive and is not heavy. It came with a cable and allen wrenches to adjust the bridge and truss rod. I'm still not crazy about the pickguard, I hope they will make a few other colors/styles available to customize the look to taste. Looking forward to changing the strings out for my preferred set and adding my Gotoh 201 bridge and the strap locks.

I fully recommend this bass to anyone who is thinking of picking one up for only $200. Get it before they realize they could charge more!! =)

Awesome! You got a good one. I agree, for a $200 bass, it's surprisingly good- and found it a better bass overall than other basses in that price range including the Squier Jag which I had for a while and enjoyed.
I imagine in time, if the model is still around, there will be 3rd party pickguards made for it.
Hope to add the TMB300 soon.
Congrats!

 

[.BumeStik.]

Okay. Read this whole thread last night. Went to my local music store today and Boom. They had all the colors of the 100's but the Sonic Blue hanging on the wall. No 300's. I picked up and played every one they had. Now, this a a GREAT, Competitively priced local shop that does Quality repair and set up work. Whether, or not, that played a part in every one of them feeling Rock Solid and not having a single blemish, I have no idea. But, they were ALL very well put together. I even checked the Tuners on every single one. I ended up going back and forth between the Tri Burst and the Transparent Red. It may just be me and my OCD, but each one did seem to have its own unique feel. The Transparent Red felt AMAZING in my hands, so it came home with me. I didn't even plug it in, I just bought it cause it felt Awesome to play.

Got it home and immediately plugged into my Carvin rig. Holy MOLY. I couldn't believe the Sounds this thing Produces. The Low and High Boost/Cut can take you from a Pounding P-Bass sound, to a Growling Snarly Music Man tone, or a nice, tinny sit in the mix Jazz tone. Sonically, this has to be the most Versatile P/J I have ever touched. Might not be saying a lot though, as I am a tried and true P-Bass guy. My Experience with a P/J is fairly limited, I will say. Nonetheless, I am VERY Impressed with not just the playability of this bass, but also the Sounds it is capable of producing for such an Inexpensive bass.

My ONLY gripe is that it does Buzz a bit when you up the Treble boost, but my sweet spot is only about 1/4 on anyway. Nothing that isn't fixable, especially at the Price Point.

None of the interweb photos I am seeing of these basses do them much justice. The colors are much deeper and richer in person, to my eye. I Hated the Transparent Red in photos, but in hand, it was my Favorite. These photos don't do it much justice, either. My Cell phone is the only camera I have right now. The actual color is a bit more Maroon with A LOT more grain showing in the body. Tried to give you sun shots and one inside shot to see the difference. Only thing I can see is that my photos suck and it looks better in person.

 

[Maxdusty]

Okay. Read this whole thread last night. Went to my local music store today and Boom. They had all the colors of the 100's but the Sonic Blue hanging on the wall. No 300's. I picked up and played every one they had. Now, this a a GREAT, Competitively priced local shop that does Quality repair and set up work. Whether, or not, that played a part in every one of them feeling Rock Solid and not having a single blemish, I have no idea. But, they were ALL very well put together. I even checked the Tuners on every single one. I ended up going back and forth between the Tri Burst and the Transparent Red. It may just be me and my OCD, but each one did seem to have its own unique feel. The Transparent Red felt AMAZING in my hands, so it came home with me. I didn't even plug it in, I just bought it cause it felt Awesome to play.

Got it home and immediately plugged into my Carvin rig. Holy MOLY. I couldn't believe the Sounds this thing Produces. The Low and High Boost/Cut can take you from a Pounding P-Bass sound, to a Growling Snarly Music Man tone, or a nice, tinny sit in the mix Jazz tone. Sonically, this has to be the most Versatile P/J I have ever touched. Might not be saying a lot though, as I am a tried and true P-Bass guy. My Experience with a P/J is fairly limited, I will say. Nonetheless, I am VERY Impressed with not just the playability of this bass, but also the Sounds it is capable of producing for such an Inexpensive bass.

My ONLY gripe is that it does Buzz a bit when you up the Treble boost, but my sweet spot is only about 1/4 on anyway. Nothing that isn't fixable, especially at the Price Point.

None of the interweb photos I am seeing of these basses do them much justice. The colors are much deeper and richer in person, to my eye. I Hated the Transparent Red in photos, but in hand, it was my Favorite. These photos don't do it much justice, either. My Cell phone is the only camera I have right now. The actual color is a bit more Maroon with A LOT more grain showing in the body. Tried to give you sun shots and one inside shot to see the difference. Only thing I can see is that my photos suck and it looks better in person.

Wow! The Transparent red looks better than I realized. My local store had two TMB100s, an Ivory and the Mint Green. The red tort of the pickguard really matches well with the red color of the body. They did have a TMB300 at my store and I have to say the inlay blocks look great on it. Of course, nothing that a $10 purchase on Amazon will fix as you can pick up block fret decals for the TMB100 if you really want to go for that look.
You're absolutely right about the feel of the neck- not SR in slimness but actually very comfortable- I can play this bass for extended periods of time and my hand wouldn't feel quite as fatigued as when I'm playing my SR700- might have something to do with the angle of my wrist when I'm grasping a super slim neck-I'll have to look more into that when I'm playing the SR.

As you can see below, I'm a member of the PJ club- a lot of basses I've had are of this pickup configuration- everything from a Squier Jaguar to a MIA Fender JP90. I don't remember having played anything with quite this range on an already versatile pickup configuration. The most astonishing thing is that this versatility is in a $200 bass. I had other Ibanez PJ active basses, I don't know what's new in these TMB basses, but they seem quite a bit more versatile and a lot of umph.
It's also reassuring to know all the TMB100s at your local store are all in great working condition with no quality issues- I guess Ibanez has addressed the quality issues some of the early batches had- likely due to a harried production schedule.
Congrats on a great looking and playing bass!

 

[Dradder]

None of the interweb photos I am seeing of these basses do them much justice.

Ibanez should hire you to do their photography, instead of whatever colorblind doofus they've got doing it now. Those are some of the more attractive pics of these TMB's that I've seen.

 

[Maxdusty]

Ibanez should hire you to do their photography, instead of whatever colorblind doofus they've got doing it now. Those are some of the more attractive pics of these TMB's that I've seen.

lol! Sometimes I wonder if the stock pictures are even pictures -they're perhaps artist renditions. Colors are indeed completely different from the "photos" ibanez has released. The Ivory TMB100 and the Sherwood Green TMB300 looking the most different.

 

[.BumeStik.]

lol! Sometimes I wonder if the stock pictures are even pictures -they're perhaps artist renditions. Colors are indeed completely different from the "photos" ibanez has released. The Ivory TMB100 and the Sherwood Green TMB300 looking the most different.[/QUOTE

I do have to agree on that one. The Ivory, in person, IMO, looks very Pink Fleshy. Something I would NOT call Ivory, at all. I thought the Mint TMB100 looked quite different in person, too. Those two colors were the biggest differences, in my mind anyway.

 

[.BumeStik.]

Ibanez should hire you to do their photography, instead of whatever colorblind doofus they've got doing it now. Those are some of the more attractive pics of these TMB's that I've seen.

Thanks for the Compliment, OR, the Stocks are even worse than I thought! These pics are with my Samsung Galaxy S5 (my Wife took all the real cameras to a wedding this week), albeit, it is a decent cell phone cam. I am NO photographer, though.