Reviewed by:
unregistered, on july 01, 2008
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Machine Head
Features: Mine is a 2005 5-string made in Indonesia. 34" scale with a fast maple neck, 24 medium frets in a rosewood fingerboard, Basswood body with a B100 Ibanez bridge which is awesome for quick re-stringing, solid tuners, nice set of PFR-5 neck and bridge pick-ups with massive pole pieces, 2-band eq with volume and pick-up blend. I got a set of roto strings free also. The only extra features I would ask for would be a coil tap and mid control. // 8
Sound: I play mostly in church but also rock/blues/metal/funk and jazz bands and this bass can dial in any tone. With a massive output the jazz is a little bit difficult to find the right tone, but I can still get it. Playing clean most of the time but then using the Big Muff style fuzz can get the Muse tones easy. Playing through either my Laney RB2, Ashdown 180 or the Hartke 300-410 I can get a great sound, some very convincing Music Man sounds also, just watch out for the output it's a bit hard to dial in some really soft tones. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: Machine Head would never sell a guitar without first setting it up in store so I don't know about the factory set-up but knowing Ibanez they would do a good job. Other than a stupid bit of insulating tape coming loose in the cavity there's nothing really to complain about. Finish is great in a metallic grey colour. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I have done over 200 gigs with this bass since I got it in 2006 and othe than the insulating tape problem this bass is rock solid. It can withstand anything it's been kicked, dropped, bashed, knocked off its stand and constant headstock knocks but it's only got 2 tiny marks on it. // 10
Impression: I have been playing near on 6 years now and this is my second bass and it's coming up to my 2nd year of having it and I love it. Name any maker of amp and I have played this through it and No Doubt you can't really get a bad sound out of it. I compared this to Peavey, Fender, Rockbass, Washburn, Yamaha, Dean, Vintage and ESP the only one that came close in playability and sound were the Yamaha but it didn't quite have as much diversity as the Ibanez offered. // 9
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