What's with Ibby?

[Lesfunk]

I do appreciate ibanez willing to try different concepts and put them into production

 

[StatesideRambler]

On the band break I once heard a guy snidely ask the bassist why he played Japanese crap. The reply was, “I’m on stage in a good and popular band and you’re down here nursing one budget beer. Remember to tip your bartender.” He didn't make a friend but that wasn’t gonna happen no matter how he answered.

 

[Ian Lewis]

- This is a kinda generic topic (no trolls plz) - but
I am a beginner/intermediate player (4 years of bass studies, long time ago) and I have begun playing the bass again during quarantine.

I've just exchanged a very good lookin and sounding fender jazz mex (2008) with an Ibanez sr1300.

I don't want to disappoint all the Fender adherents here but these are instruments at different levels.
Even though the Jazz sounds great, it is just that, and that's it. Ok, long life to simplicity but once I came across this Ibanez (fine wooded, NS pickupped, multidimensionally equalised, agile and good looking). I thougth: 'how it is possible that people do not even take into consideration this bass, if not for live performance, at least for studio recs or experimentation?'.

'Ibanez sounds poopie' is the most common thing I hear from people in general who probably are not used to different and more articulated sounds. - Have u ever played a high-end ibanez?

I can partly say the same thing for Yamaha,
Is it because they r Japanese and not American?
Has it something to do with tradition and visual customs? Powerful branding and marketing?
Is it because most of bass playing and sounding has been very standard since the beginning of rock-blues and the bass is still forced within these limits?

Ok, these questions are provocative but what are your thoughts about Ibanez' ostracising?

I was very happy for years, with my SDGR 5, then my wife bought me a Bubinga Warwick Corvette and the Ibanez hasn't left the house since. Maybe I should explain. The Ibanez feels great, but it sounds a little thin. You can hear the difference when you pluck a string without amplification. The Warwicks have more 'body'.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I once heard a guy snidely ask the bassist why he played Japanese crap.

Japanese craftsmanship is almost always better than the U.S., & it's sad that people can't realize that.
Luckily the local luthier understands, he owns MIJ Ibanez.

I owned two Korean Ibanez that were very well-built, as well.

The stringed-instrument repair-person I used to take things to would actually ask me why I wasted my time buying imports.
He's no longer in business!

Ibby has the widest range of tone

This is true, mine has the upper-mids growl that I like, but it can also be dialed back to sound 'traditional'.

I think to a lot of people Ibanez = soundgear. Which is silly. I have a soundgear and a BTB. Vastly different.

Not to mention, they also think about those cheapest GSR200 that GC carries, & base all their opinions on that one model.
The same happened with B.C. Rich when all GC carried was The Cheapest Kerry King signature LTD. They're awful!

The only ones around my area are the lower end basses.

Thank You for confirming my point directly above.

looking forward to a read about that brand whose bases I don't know much about.

What do you want to know?
I'm not The Expert or anything, but I have a fair bit of experience with Ibanez instruments, including guitars.

it's been the neck - people either don't like the more narrow string spacing, think the neck is too thin, or both.

That's basically one or two series of Ibanez however. The BTB or Talman series have necks like Fenders.

I don’t like the way they look, (a bit too boring and thin bodied, or too pointy) or active pickups,

90% of the Ibanez out there have passive pickups:

myth busting - just because your bass has a battery, doesn't mean the pickups are active

 

[Relayer71]

I disagree with the notion that one should play an "authentic-looking" instrument in order to be an "authentic" player in certain musical genres. Appearances are superficial, and as long as you like how an instrument feels and plays, the aesthetic aspects are purely superficial.

I suppose the only exceptions would be if your instrument's pickups could not produce the desired tones, or if you are playing in a tribute band that tries to mimic the exact look of the original musicians you're imitating. Otherwise, it is strictly surface cosmetics.

Taken to an extreme, this same attitude could lead someone to say that only Black musicians can play Blues or Jazz authentically, and only White musicians should play Country or Classical music — which would be absurd, unnecessarily restrictive, boring, and even insulting to anyone who did not match such criteria.

Totally agree. Plus, the Brits have done as much for Rock music as Americans, if not more (Beatles, Led Zeppellin, The Who, and many others).

 

[doran.dragic]

Carol Kaye is lying when she says she played on classic Jamerson tracks. She played a P with flats for most of those tracks, too.

I know this is off topic, but I just wanted to say that Carol Kaye might honestly believe that it's her playing on those records. It was not uncommon for Motown producers to re-record the same songs with other musicians. I've read a Bob Babbit column in BP magazine years ago where he told the story about how James Jamersonthought that he (Jamerson) played on a song Babbit also recorded and was given credit for (I hope I'm not mistaken, I don't have the said magazine in front of me).

I'm not trying to say that she did play on those records, but saying that she's lying about it sounds a bit harsh to me.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Ibbys are pretty good, but your opinion is just that, your opinion. I'm not saying you're wrong, for you you are right, but different people have different preferences. For me, it is either G&L or Fender. I own one Ibby, but I only use it when I need a fiver.

 

[Manuel Bass]

 

[Manuel Bass]

View attachment 3937842

 

[Manuel Bass]

I’m absolutely in love with this bass my first Ibanez

 

[markymac]

My two cents. I have 3 Ibanez 5 strings. An 1805, 1405, and a 375 BlackBerry burst. They all sound astonishingly good. Sitting in a mix perfectly with punch and clarity, and they are beautiful to look at. My tone is always praised by musicians and non musicians alike. I had a 79 P bass from new. 3rd worst bass I've owned. Horrible feel, bad design and awful sound IMHO. The 2 that were worse, both Squiers. The only basses I still own and wont get rid of that beat the Ibbys are a Warwick Fortress Masterman 5 and an Alligator bass (number 2 of only 5 handmade). In the end though, most people listening aren't musicians and don't hear a difference anyway. So, use the weapon of choice that is most comfortable to play and enjoy!

 

[LKTraz]

As far as it goes with Ibbys vs other basses.........I've had people ask me why I bother playing my Ibby when I have a Ric. My answer is: I can't get the Ric to produce certain tones and the Ric's tone just doesn't fit with all songs but I can get the Ibby to fit in where the Ric won't.

I don't own basses because of who made them. I own basses that have the tones I need to fit into the mix. If a $50 First Act bass is the one that produces what I need and is playable then so be it. Conversely if a $2900 custom Carvin/Keisel doesn't give me the tones I want even if it's the smoothest playing bass on the planet, then why own it?

There's a reason I have 3 gigging basses........tonal qualities. Ric for certain songs, Epi for others and Ibby for where those two don't fit.

 

[Steadfast]

This was not supposed to be an anti-fender post. I am just asking if it is possible that in some cases Ibanez makes basses that are at the same level or even better than Fender. And that even peers - musicians are skeptical about this.

*in my case I exchanged a jazz mex 2008 with an ibanez sr1300

I have played a fender 24v for years. I love that bass. However, my ibby 2600 is better in build, tone , weight and feel. The fender is a back up now.

 

[Texican]

Nu-metal is solid stuff. I love me some Mudvayne, Slipknot, Sevendust... When my dad passed away, Slipknot's music is what kept my head right in the days following his passing. In particular their "Grey Chapters" album. Oh, and the first Korn album was pivotal in helping me survive high school. Metal elitists can scoff at Korn all they want, but they all effin' LOVED that first Korn album. Don't front!

As for Ibanez... I recall saying else where that Fender has little appeal to me. I find Fender and Fender-clone basses stodgy and old-fashioned in design and too ubiquitous. I'm a filthy hipster who prefers something different. However, I could easily say that Soundgears have been just as ubiquitous as Fenders in my own experience gigging, going to shows, etc. Yet, I would more likely check out a Soundgear over a Fender. I prefer the sleeker, racier, aesthetics of those basses. I'd be most curious to try out the Adam Nitti 5-string bass or the SR2405W, since they have the 45mm nut width I like, but with 18mm string spacing at the bridge.

Your post is very surprising to me as someone who knows, and has known, plenty of hipsters.
They typically:
•only play Fenders or obscure vintage style instruments like Silvertones
•hate nu-metal
•would never actually admit to being a hipster, no matter how obvious that they spent 3 hours assembling their hipster uniform to look “different”.

In fact, a guy in his mid 30’s that still likes nu-metal and plays soungears is the stereotypical Dad band/ Dad rocker now lol. Trust me, I’m 37 and we all have kids!!! I embrace it, but it is what it is.

 

[Texican]

I'm in my mid 30s. Today's 20yo millennials are broke unemployed cry babies who aren't buying much.

Today’s 20 year olds ARENT MILLENNIALS. Actually people in thei mid 30’s (like you and I) are millennials. See below:


“Jonathan Rauch, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote for The Economist in 2018 that "generations are squishy concepts", but the 1981 to 1996 birth cohort is a "widely accepted" definition for millennials.[1] Reuters also states that millennials are "widely accepted as having been born between 1981 and 1996."[34]

The Pew Research Center defines millennials as born from 1981 to 1996, choosing these dates for "key political, economic and social factors", including the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Great Recession, and the Internet explosion.[35] According to this definition, as of 2020 the oldest millennial is 39 years old, and the youngest will turn 24 this year.”

 

[Dincrest]

In terms of semantics, I was using the term "hipster" to describe the mentality I sometimes have of being contrarian simply for the sake of being contrarian. Or within the TalkBass community where the dominant love is "P-bass with flats and tort" my tastes run counter to that. Ergo, using the catch-all term "hipster" as a "dare-to-be-different" TalkBass contrarian.

I'm 42. Too young to be Gen-X, too old to be a Millennial. I'm generation-fluid, yeah!

To bring things back to the Ibanez subject... I wouldn't mind putting my hands around an Ibanez BTB. Something a little different from the Soundgear norm. I have no GAS or anything (my modded LTD and modded SB5000 are everything I need/want), but I might dig a BTB.

 

[Texican]

In terms of semantics, I was using the term "hipster" to describe the mentality I sometimes have of being contrarian simply for the sake of being contrarian. Or within the TalkBass community where the dominant love is "P-bass with flats and tort" my tastes run counter to that. Ergo, using the catch-all term "hipster" as a "dare-to-be-different" TalkBass contrarian.

My two instruments are a modded LTD F-Series artist signature model and a modded Carvin SB5000. No GAS, but I wouldn't mind putting my hands around an Ibanez BTB. Something a little different from the Soundgear norm.

I'm 42. Too young to be Gen-X, too old to be a Millennial. I'm generation-fluid, yeah!

I can be contrarian for the sake of it as well... unfortunately my family has chosen a different (profane) adjective rather than “hipster” to describe my behavior

“Generation-fluid”... I like it!

 

[4stringfarley]

I've owned a few, and played many more ibanez over the years. They're one of those brands that I know make some top quality gear (at least the more expensive line) yet I don't like anything about them. I don't like the sound or feel of them. The older 80s stuff I would buy and play again, but they're one of those brands that I always walk past without second thought.

 

[robmclucky]

I disagree with the notion that one should play an "authentic-looking" instrument in order to be an "authentic" player in certain musical genres. Appearances are superficial, and as long as you like how an instrument feels and plays, the aesthetic aspects are purely superficial.

I suppose the only exceptions would be if your instrument's pickups could not produce the desired tones, or if you are playing in a tribute band that tries to mimic the exact look of the original musicians you're imitating. Otherwise, it is strictly surface cosmetics.

Taken to an extreme, this same attitude could lead someone to say that only Black musicians can play Blues or Jazz authentically, and only White musicians should play Country or Classical music — which would be absurd, unnecessarily restrictive, boring, and even insulting to anyone who did not match such criteria.

I agree Click Clack. You make very good points. But I still think a lot of people feel this way whether it makes sense or not.

 

[Manuel Bass]

I agree Click Clack. You make very good points. But I still think a lot of people feel this way whether it makes sense or not.

Cosmetic it’s a visual experience and we are talking about music so every body, use your ears