Ibanez basses do not appeal to me. Yes Ive own a few (2 sound gears, BTB1006) but in the end they are just decent. I owned a used 4 string sound gear back in 1995 and used that for a year. Lots of problems with the electronics and it was too expensive to fix. I used it anyway because I had no money to get a new bass. The wood was even rotting on the ears. No idea how that happened. Finally I junked that bass in 96 to Daddys (I couldnt believe they took it for $40 I thought they would say, throw it in the Dumpster in the back) and got another Ibanez Sound Gear in 5 string in all black. I only owned that thing for 2 months before I sold it to a kid. Lots of knobs that did nothing. Sounded like a tin can. I had a classic Ampeg SVT head at the time. And then this year me being dumb bought a BTB1006 because It looked good. Had that bass for only 3 weeks before I returned it to dumb GC. It looks awesome but tone for me just wasnt there for the money! Then I tried out a used Garry Willis model and was not impressed at all. The input didnt work half the time and the tone was limited (surprisingly) . Did not like that ramp. I dont know, maybe its because Ibanez is a giant manufacturer and they spit out so many instruments a month. I am into the smaller companies who spit out a few a month (thus able to probably do a better job). I dont know, maybe I am stupid and dont know what Im talkin about!!!!