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What bass is this, and is it good?

W

WINIT

Sep 6, 2022
14
14
#1
Hi I'm new to this community and I've always loved bass and can't wait to get one. I have been playing classical instruments for about 7 years and want to try out bass.
I was hoping someone could tell me about this bass I'm considering buying there's limited information about it and from what I've seen most basses of this model cone with 5 or 6 strings this one has 4.

It's an Ilbanez (I think BTB505WNF) 1999
I've seen other posts about these basses and they're generally good things being said but since this is a 4 string rather than 5 I wanted to see if I'm missing something or if it's worth it.
Any info is greatly appreciated!

There's also a Schecter Raiden Special 4 2011, in consideration.
 

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#5
WINIT said:
Hi I'm new to this community and I've always loved bass and can't wait to get one. I have been playing classical instruments for about 7 years and want to try out bass.
I was hoping someone could tell me about this bass I'm considering buying there's limited information about it and from what I've seen most basses of this model cone with 5 or 6 strings this one has 4.

It's an Ilbanez (I think BTB505WNF) 1999
I've seen other posts about these basses and they're generally good things being said but since this is a 4 string rather than 5 I wanted to see if I'm missing something or if it's worth it.
Any info is greatly appreciated!

There's also a Schecter Raiden Special 4 2011, in consideration.
Click to expand...


Being a four-string, it would be a BTB500WNF, per Ibanez' 1999 catalog:

http://www.hoshinogakki.co.jp/pdf/ibanez/catalog/1999EG_USA.pdf




:)
 
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#11
WINIT said:
I'm going one thing at a time but I'm definitely open to suggestions, mostly been doing research.
Click to expand...

It really depends on your plans.
If you're gonna practice at home alone or in pretty mellow situations, you won't need more than like a 25-40 watt combo with an 8-inch speaker.
If you plan on being in a band situation, you may need to go bigger and louder.
Some people will recommend headphones as fine to start, but I prefer to hear the bass out loud.
 
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#12
ProbablyTooLoud said:
It really depends on your plans.
If you're gonna practice at home alone or in pretty mellow situations, you won't need more than like a 25-40 watt combo with an 8-inch speaker.
If you plan on being in a band situation, you may need to go bigger and louder.
Some people will recommend headphones as fine to start, but I prefer to hear the bass out loud.
Click to expand...
I guess potentially I might consider playing in a band, but for now I want to get familiar with it and become proficient with it so a 25-40watt combo is what I'll start looking out for. Thanks for the rec!
 
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#13
BTBs are great basses, so if it feels good in your hands and is a good price, grab it, you could do a lot worse. I have an Ibanez bias as I currently own 8 of them (1 BTB, 6 SR, 1 RB) and have had maybe 40 others and probably 200 basses altogether over the decades.

Also agree with PTL re the combo suggestions, but I'd look secondhand locally and make sure it has an aux in so you can play along to other music and YT and other tutorials and a headphone out for obvious reasons. You'll also need a cable, strap and a tuner, either an inexpensive clip on like a Snark (get the rechargeable) or a Korg GA40 or other similar model. If a Fender Rumble of >100W falls into your hands at a good price grab it as they can be used for small gigs and jams, both of which will help your playing improve.

If you don't think you'll be playing with others for a while, I can heartily recommend the Link Removed as a self practice tool. I have one and it's awesome.

Welcome to TB. There are a metric bleep-ton of resources here for you to learn, how to do set ups etc, but just avoid the GAS as much as possible. As some of us older dogs here know, a more expensive, or just another instrument won't improve your chops over the BTB, especially with good strings (a whole foruum on that) and setup (another forum as well).
 
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#14
Clean it up, oil the board, slap on some strings and you should be good to go! Make sure to ask about the truss rod functionality and check the neck for any twisting. It looks like it has been played a lot - and that's a very good thing IMHO!
 
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#16
Looks like a nice bass.

As a first instrument I usually recommend a passive bass as there are less controls to mess up the tone but with your musical experience I'm sure you will be fine with an active like this one.

Of course finding the right bass will also depend on what kind of music you're gonna play. That Ibanez, like every other bass, will have a tone that may work better for some musical genres than others (although Ibanez basses are generally quite versatile).
 
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#17
WINIT said:
Hi I'm new to this community and I've always loved bass and can't wait to get one. I have been playing classical instruments for about 7 years and want to try out bass.
I was hoping someone could tell me about this bass I'm considering buying there's limited information about it and from what I've seen most basses of this model cone with 5 or 6 strings this one has 4.

It's an Ilbanez (I think BTB505WNF) 1999
I've seen other posts about these basses and they're generally good things being said but since this is a 4 string rather than 5 I wanted to see if I'm missing something or if it's worth it.
Any info is greatly appreciated!

There's also a Schecter Raiden Special 4 2011, in consideration.
Click to expand...
What classical instruments? Addressing the 4 vs 5 question, what you are missing is low B, C, C#, D, and Eb and a thumb rest, and as long as what you want to play is above (or including) low E, you'll have no worries. Personally I can't live without that Low D... Most "bass lines" are actually Tenor/alto register, that's where human ears function best. A 4 string has the same notes as a double bass viol, but that acoustic instrument actually sounds lots of the fundamental of the note, so it has Heft in the low register. It takes quite a bit of amplification to sound the fundamental of a bass guitar. On a 4st your lowest B is 2nd fret on the A string, but since your amp sounds that octave up note note pretty well, it sounds Louder than a low B, and is more present or punchy. BTB's 4 strings neck is Nice.
 
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#19
You can hardly go wrong with an Ibanez bass. My 1st bass was an Ibby and I've owned a few since. As a rule the Ibby necks are usually rather narrow, like a Jazz bass, rather than wider, like a Precision bass. I grew used to narrow necks and preferred them. But then bought a super Japanese P-bass with the fatter neck and fretboard. And found, after a pretty short time, that the wide P-neck is no big deal. Good luck and welcome. Pic, my 2nd Ibanez.
ibby_baby-blue-pool2.jpg
 
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