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Tell Me About Ibanez

TeeSee

TeeSee

Dec 7, 2018
1,566
3,524
UK
#1
Do you know, I absolutely hate it when people come on here demanding 'tell me about strings' or this and that. I find it entitled and arrogant. But here's me now becoming the poacher tuned gamekeeper. I really can't think of anything so blunt and crass in an opening question as this title above but I really could do with learning a lot more about Ibanez.
It's been a long time since the 80's and my basses were Westones and Vox's all Japanese made, our guitarist back then had the sweetest Tokai tele, and he also had an Ibanez strat. He loved them so much we used to joke he'd end up marrying one of them, back in those days 7ender and Gibson would be unattainable at the price. I've always rated Ibanez as a maker yet never owned one. I know they are well made wherever they originate but personally I know nothing about them.
There are so many models and descriptions that when ever I look I just give up as I just get word blind to all the codes and variants of those codes, then just [ut everything in the 'too difficult box'.
What I'd really like is someone to recommend a short/medium scale Ibanez, I've been looking at the Talman TMB30 but have heard mixed reviews about it, I also hear the GIO isn't all bad but I think it's 34" scale, I have full scales but am drifting away from them.
I'm not particulary fussed if it's made in Japan now or not as a lot of Chinese and Indonesian stuff seems just as good, I'm thinking of the cheaper Yamahas made in Indonesia but carrying the parent companys dedication to quality.
I've a budget of £500 at a push what are people's thoughts on the talmans or any other shorties/medium scales that Ibanez offer?
 
#21
For 2 pickups, sure Ibanez Mezzo PJ . or, EHB 1005SMS .

Both discontinue actually, but maybe there are some still hidden in some music store and you can deal with low price.
 
#24
songwriter21 said:
Love Ibanez, except that the new Prestige line doesn't have the exclusive custom Bart pickups anymore. Hard to justify the money, when they use the same pickups as cheaper Indonesian models. That, and the exotic woods are gone.
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Excuse me if I disagree. I've been playing an Ibanez SR Prestige for a few weeks now, and it's significantly better than my SR Premium. The new Sonitec preamp is an absolute milestone and brings out the advantages of the Nordstrand Big Single pickups much better. In addition, the Japanese basses have a higher degree of handcraftsmanship and use higher-quality tonewoods. I love basses from Indonesia; there are some fantastic instruments among them. However, the Prestige basses are in a different league. As for exotic woods, I think the SR 55xx with its ovangkol top covers that category well.
Regarding Ibanez in general: a courageous company that never rests on its laurels but always tries to bring new things to the market. Basses like the Ashula aren't essential, but it's great to see a large company launching such a niche product. Playability is always top-notch, quality control is usually good and doesn't need to hide from, for example, Fender.
 
#26
I too was on the road throughout the 80's and couldn't afford the P-bass of my dreams. I ended up with an Ibanez Roadstar (in my avatar). It wasn't the best looking bass on the block but man it was solid as a rock and a real workhorse. I wasn't a stand in the corner player. I was all over, jumping on cabinets or tables and the bass took way more than one hard knock and never once let me down. And we were doing a hundred dates a year too. The old bass still resides under my bed. I could pull it out today and I bet it would still be ready to go to work.
 
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#27
Thank you all, this has given me plenty of food for thought. I can see that many different people have many different opinions - and that's a huge plus - and I can critically appraise rather than being spoon fed - "yeah they're great".
I'm particularly interested in the one that are available to buy new, I was looking at the SRMD200 / mezzo but they look like they're discontinued now, at least this side of the pond anyway.
I'm intrigued with the Mikro I've heard lots of good thing about it in the past but I don't know whether I could adapt to the extra short scale - I guess I could - but what strings would you use, just short scales? or something even smaller and the availabilty of said strings?.
I love the look of the AFB's and AGB's the semi's but quite a lot of reviews seem bordering on negative or at least neutral.
The Talmans don't seem too bad, at first they look quite ugly but after a while they grow on you or me at least, but I'm down to one shorty the TMB30 unless I want a 5 string which I don't.
The Talman seems to be an obvious choice but I'm put off with youtube videos showing the stacked pots breaking.
I'm going to ask all of you what your experience with the Mikro is, and how easy it is to get strings, I know it's only 1" shorter than a 30" scale but does that have an effect if you use standard 30" scale strings?
 
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#28
SC Bassboy said:
I bought my wife a GSRM20 Mikro a few years ago and am impressed with it's build quality and playability. It's not a tone monster, but the pickups sound surprisingly good. If I took the time to shield the cavities and swap the pickups it would be a mean bastard.
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I'm not stranger to shielding it's one of the first things I do with a new guitar and quite often I may add better pots and wiring if I don't think they're up to standard - that and new strings of course. Only then will I have a look at pickups.
I'm starting to edge toward the Mikro so if I snag one I'll be on here asking about pickups for it. ;):thumbsup:
 
#29
H13 said:
I just recently bounced off an Ibanez Soundgear.

While it was the easiest playing bass I've ever used, IMHO it was a bass guitar for guitarists.

As in...it sounded more like a guitar dropped 1 octave and less like a bass.

Mind you: Personal context is required. The next bass I bought was a P-Bass and I went: "OH THAT SOUNDS LIKE A BASS" So...
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I've heard good things about soundgear Gregor on Bass The World was gushing about them (but he gushes about everthing most of the time) but his was a high end £2000+ piece of kit. Yeah there's nothing in the world that sounds like a P tho' but I don't really want a Bass VI either.👍
 
#31
TeeSee said:
I've heard good things about soundgear Gregor on Bass The World was gushing about them (but he gushes about everthing most of the time) but his was a high end £2000+ piece of kit. Yeah there's nothing in the world that sounds like a P tho' but I don't really want a Bass VI either.👍
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YMMV.

I couldn't possibly say a bad thing about how it played. It also sounded REALLY NICE.

But it just didn't bass right for me.

However: I have discovered that I can't get anything with soapbar or Ray style pickups to bass right for me. So, take this with a big 'ole grain of "Possible Defective Bass Player" salt.
 
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#33
I actually have 2 Ibanez instruments. An SR300 and a Mikro. I play the SR300 and I use the Mikro to lend to young or shorter students (I'm 6 ft 3), and guitar players that aren't used to a long scale bass. The 28 inch scale Mikro is a much easier transition for them. The Mikro is stock and a couple of my students did use it to play church gigs. Through an amplification system, it sounds no different than any other bass.
 
#35
Just grabbed an AGB-140 a few weeks ago, loving it 🤟 34" neck PXL_20260306_195921407~2.jpg
 

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