"BUY IT"

This reviewer purchased this item from Same Day Music.

Feature:
Well I am fairly new to bass so I'm not really sure about all the features bass players tend to look for. But as far as I know agathis is like the poor man's mahogany so it has to be better than basswood at the very least. I guess since I'm new to the bass pretty much any bass w/ strings has everything I need hehe...

Quality:
It's a sturdy instrument in my opinion. The finish is flawless. It shows up set up fairly well from the factory. The saddle for my high G string gives me a little buzz here and there but you can fix that by adjusting the height w/ the included hex keys. It's well worth the price. Excellent beginner instrument.

Value:
This bass is very much worth the price.

Desirability:
This thing is f***in gorgeous!!!

Sound:
The bass' sound isn't terrible by any means. It just leaves a bit to be desired. If I play around w/ the pickup blender and EQ knobs for a little while I can some up w/ a tone relatively close to what I'm looking for at the very least. I'm thinking of switching the pickups out to Bartolinis and see how that works out.

Ease of Use:
I like the string spacing on this thing a lot. Some bass players complain that the strings are too close together as I understand this bass has one of the smallest string spacings available. Since I'm transitioning from guitar this is actually really helpful for me.

Support:
I've never dealt w/ Ibanez for customer service for any of my instruments. I've owned 4 Ibanez RG Series guitars and now this bass. Ibanez just makes good axes. :-)

Overall:
I think that I will be satisfied with this bass for a while. To be honest I've only been playing bass for about 2 weeks. Prior to picking up the bass I have played guitar for the past 12 years. This bass has made the transition incredibly easy. I'm sure as I get better I'll find different things about the bass that I'd like to change but for learning there's no need to spend more money for an axe I won't fully appreciate. This bass is great for just starting out. My only real gripe about it is the lack of aftermarket mods for it. Most aftermarket bridges don't come in small enough string spacings and the pickup routing more or less limits you to Bartolini pickups (not necessarily bad either Bartolinis are SWEET!). I really just wish EMG made pickups that would fit this thing.

"Okay"

Quality:
I wouldn't use it on the road but i guess its okay.

Value:
I guess its worth the price. The product isnt great but its not that expensive.

Desirability:
This product looks pretty sweet. The color is cool and feels pretty good.

Sound:
The sound is okay. not the geatest. the sound is very rattly. you need to strum at the perfect strgnth to get a good sound.

Ease of Use:
Kinda easy to use but the sound isnt that good.

Overall:
I was happy with this product for about 2 years but then i got better and decided to move on to another bass.