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Played an Ibanez ATK today.

MyUsernameHere

MyUsernameHere

?????????????
Nov 3, 2007
1,159
14
Lexington KY
www.myspace.com
#1
I've read a lot of good things about these here, and have always wanted to try one out but have never come across one until now. I was really impressed with it. It was one of those black Guitar Center only models with a maple board. Amazingly, it was actually set up pretty well and the strings were newish...a first for this particular GC.

Anyway after playing it for a while, I can't believe this isn't Ibanez's best selling model. The neck felt pretty great (and I usually don't like Ibanez neck...at least all the BTB and SR necks I've played), wasn't too heavy, good balance, didn't sound as good as a MM but it sounded pretty good, looked cool, the "attack" switch was pretty useless though. Overall a very nice bass. Why anyone would spend more for a new MIM Fender over this is beyond me.

Never thought I'd be GASing for an Ibanez, but I might have to start looking for a used five string.
 
#5
TMacATK said:
You know, I could never hear the difference in the coil positions until I got good gear. Even with a clear amp they are very subtle, pretty useless...but audible, at least.
Click to expand...

You got to remember, I was at Guitar Center with a guy next to me doing the obligatory sloppy speed-freak routine...and rudely overshadowing my own sloppy speed-freak routine.:smug:

Seriously, for $450 I didn't expect nearly as much useful tonal variety as this bass had to offer, but that switch is just dumb.
 
#7
MyUsernameHere said:
You got to remember, I was at Guitar Center with a guy next to me doing the obligatory sloppy speed-freak routine...and rudely overshadowing my own sloppy speed-freak routine.:smug:

Seriously, for $450 I didn't expect nearly as much useful tonal variety as this bass had to offer, but that switch is just dumb.
Click to expand...

Personally, my experience has been that the switch produces an audible difference... it does work...agreed, however, it isn't dramatic, but useable...
 
#8
I really like the ATK for what it is. The pickup sat a little weak in the mix. Other than that I really loved it. Looks great, plays great, very nice build, just a little weak with the electronics. There is a German (?) company that makes a replacement pickup for it. I almost picked one up but I ended trading the bass in on a Bongo. Still I may pick up another one sometime.
 
#9
I actually find the switch pretty useful. True, it doesn't change the sound dramatically, but if your playing with a group and are having problems with your tone setting well against the rest of the mix, I think fiddling with the switch makes enough difference to get the sound right most of the time. Then again, my ATK is a fretless strung with flats and the switch might make more of a difference with it compared to the fretted tone.

Anyway, have fun with a great bass. :bassist:
 
#15
MyUsernameHere said:
You got to remember, I was at Guitar Center with a guy next to me doing the obligatory sloppy speed-freak routine...and rudely overshadowing my own sloppy speed-freak routine.:smug:

Seriously, for $450 I didn't expect nearly as much useful tonal variety as this bass had to offer, but that switch is just dumb.
Click to expand...

I suppose that if you didn't hear any difference between the 3 position of the switch, it is because you were at GC.
;)

So taking that into acount, you should not be so easy to say that switch is dumb...
;)

I own an ATK 305 and differences are quite evident.
They are just the differences between a MM humbucker in parallel mode and a single coil bridge pickup.

Now I'm admiting that the difference between the front coil and the rear coil is not big.

Cheers
 
#16
I can't believe all you guys can't hear the difference in the switch positions. The secret is you have to use it in conjunction with the eq. The neck position is single coil with a filter, the middle is the same with the filter off (and although it's subtle it's definitely audible) and the brige position is night and day - that's where the SR sound is!
Most people agree that
neck position with plenty of mids and a bit of treble gives you a P sort of sound
mid position with some bass and treble boost (no mid) will give a more J sound
bridge with some bass and treble and maybe mid down a bit gives you a SR
Play around with it, and you'll see - it's the most versatile eq system I've ever used
If you just turn up your amp and the eq and flick the switch around, you won't hear a massive difference, but give it a try and you'll see. I've got a P a J and a SR knock-off TBC here, and I can get the ATK to sound pretty close to all of them!
 
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#17
Hullaballoo said:
I can't believe all you guys can't hear the difference in the switch positions. The secret is you have to use it in conjunction with the eq. The neck position is single coil with a filter, the middle is the same with the filter off (and although it's subtle it's definitely audible) and the brige position is night and day - that's where the SR sound is!
Most people agree that
neck position with plenty of mids and a bit of treble gives you a P sort of sound
mid position with some bass and treble boost (no mid) will give a more J sound
bridge with some bass and treble and maybe mid down a bit gives you a SR
Play around with it, and you'll see - it's the most versatile eq system I've ever used
If you just turn up your amp and the eq and flick the switch around, you won't hear a massive difference, but give it a try and you'll see. I've got a P a J and a SR knock-off TBC here, and I can get the ATK to sound pretty close to all of them!
Click to expand...

+1 The SR is the most convincing!!
 

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