Ibanez RKB900

Been said already........a whoppin' one-piece maple neck&maple fingerboard, badass II bridge, basslines PJ config pickups, hipshot lite tuners, two piece alder body. Mine is black with a black pickguard.

This thing is insane! It sounds amazing! The maple makes it sound very bright with the treble cranked all the way up (which I love). It could possibly be a bit too bright for some, but when you roll off the tone knob, you get a rich, full, bassy throb. I personally like to have both the precision and jazz pickups working together at the same time, it makes for a very bright and precussive sound--perfect for pick playing (or just cutting through the mix like a knife). Isolating the jazz pickup gives a much more growly sound. Setting it to the precision pickup gives it a very dubby tone, even with the treble all the way up. Basically, its tonal heaven. It could be used for almost any kind of music.

This bass is great in every way. When I bought it off the store rack, it was very shiny. The finish is insanely perfect! Nothing was out of place! I didn't have to adjust anything either! The frets were smooth, the pickguard was trimmed perfectly, and the nut didn't hang off the edge of the neck! The pickups were perfect in their stock positions.

This is an extremely well-built bass. However, the finish is a bit finicky. It chips and dents really easily if you're not careful with it. I wasn't planning on throwing it around anyway. Everything else is just hunkey-dorey on this beautiful piece of equipment.

Haven't had to deal with Ibanez yet.

This is an amazing bass. Everything is great about it. I love it's overall brightness and clarity. I also love the big thick maple neck, it's just really comfortable for me. If I lost this bass, I'd definately try to look for another one, but that would be difficult since it has been long since discontinued. I would probably look for something just as bright sounding. If you see this bass, buy it as soon as you can, because theyre freakin amazing!

Japanese "Prestige"-quality (Ibanez's term for their upper-end instruments). Two-piece alder body finished in "Vintage Fade" sunburst. Electronics consist of 2 passive Seymour Duncan quarter-pound Bassline P & J pickups with Volume, pickup blend, and tone control. One-piece satin finish maple neck with maple fretboard and black position dots, slightly thinner than the average Precision neck, but not your typical Ibanez "pencil neck". 34" scale, 21 frets.

The hardware consists of a Leo Quann "Badass II" bridge and Hipshot licensed ultra-light tuners.

Full-bodied passive pickups and electronics, which are a nice change of pace from my usual active tone. Played pickstyle with the pickups 50/50 and the tone full on, it's the sonic equivalent of being struck in the head with a sledgehammer. However, with the P-pickup isolated and the tone rolled off, a nice warm "dubby" sound can be achieved.

Arrived strung with Elixer coated strings, which I believe tame some of the natural highs of the instrument but feel very nice under your fingers and hold up surprisingly well against a pick.

Used with an SWR Mini Mo', it is a solidly build great bass for pickstyle and downtuned playing.

The action and pickups were set up and lasted through ground transportation in the winter with surprisingly little movement. Minor adjustments were needed. Excellent stain and finshing, as well as construction and "fit and finish". No flaws observed.

Extremely solid construction. It hasn't been used live as of yet, but I see no reason why there would be a problem. The hardware is professional quality. The strap buttons have been replaced by Strap-Loks, but I do that for all my instruments.

Unneeded warranty support as of yet. Grade given as a promotional subscription to "Rolling Stone" was given upon warranty regestration.

15 years experience playing bass. My main basses are a pair of fretted and custom fretless Yamaha RBX-775's, and other gear includes a Fender Jazz Plus V, Ibanez SR-1206, Ibanez SR-800 fretless, Digitech Bass Whammy, SWR Mini Mo' preamp with Mo' Control 2 pedalboard, QSC-PLX 1604 power amp, Avatar Speakers, and D'addario strings.

I had the urge for a more "back to basics" bass I could use for low-slung pickstyle and heavier, downtuned songs ala "A Perfect Circle". After a year of "rebuilding" my gear I had no "real" desire to purchase a new instrument for a while, but the discontinued price of $349.99 down from a list of $1199.99 was simply too good to be true. This has far more "bang for the buck" than a MIM or even MIA Fender. It's a shame that Ibanez could properly market it, and it disappeared within a year of release.

- Japanese made, excellent quality. Alder body is 2 piece, finished in "vintage" two color sunburst. The bass is also available in black body.
- 2 passive Seymour Duncan quarter-pound Bassline P & J pickups
- Volume, pickup blend, tone control
- 1 piece maple neck with black position dots. Neck is satin finished all around.
- Maple fretboard with medium-high tall frets
- Leo Quann "Badass II" bridge
- Hipshot licensed ultra-light tuners
- Essentially has all of the "hot rodding" equipment that is commonly installed as after-market, with the exception no strap-locks.

The Bassline pickups are powerful. I find I normally use the P-pickup at the neck position most often, occassionally blending in some of the J-pickup. The P-pickup provides, as one would expect, a great Precision tone. Plenty of punch and thickness to the tone, yet not muddy. I tend to roll off the treble a bit to suit my taste, but with tone wide open there remains plenty of brightness/clarity while retaining fullness. The output is well balanced across the stings.
I can't comment much on the J-pickup because I don't use it much.

The pickups are quiet with no hum that I have noticed. I have used only on stage so far, not studio, playing through a Gallien-Krueger 400RBIII amp and Avatar 15" w/horn cabinet.

The bass arrived with Elixur round wound strings. Those coated strings are easy on the fingers and sound deep, clear, and bright. As an experiment I replaced those with D'Addario flat wound strings. I can't recall which model strings as these were "slightly used" from another project. I focus primarily on Cajun/zydeco, blues, and folk vein music. The flat strings added a greater degree of "balls" and punch, which I am pleased with.

In summary, the sound is excellent and versatile.

The Ibanez Japanese factory did a truly wonderful job with the RKB900. The fit is clean and neat. The neck pocket is tight, no sharp fret ends, no dripping or sagging finish, etc. Very pro job on this bass.

The action out of the box was good, but I like it very low. The neck bow was set perfectly, so I didn't need to adjust the truss rod. I lowered the saddles a bit and all is great.

The neck is a bit on the thick side (measured front to back), which I happen to like. I'm not talking baseball bat, but not a typical Ibanez thin neck. The edges are rolled nicely, as if the bass had been played for years and worn in. For my taste, the neck feels very comfortable. The satin finish (seems some sort of polyurethene or ?, not tung oil, as far as I can tell) is smooth and fast.

The nut is 1-5/8", which is a tad less wide than a Precision. This suits me as I find the Precision string spacing to be just a bit wide for me. I find the string spacing to be a perfect fit for me, both at the neck and the bridge ends.

Summary - the bass appears to be well constructed, not slapped together.

I've owned my RKB900 only six weeks, and have used it on five gigs. It appears very solid so I did not bring a backup instrument.

One unexpected benefit is the bass is light. I'm used to my J-bass hanging on my shoulder, which does tend to wear this middle-aged body after a couple hours. I have not weighed the RKB900 so can't provide statistics, but it certainly is on the light end, and I can gig all night with no pain or problems. This is a beautiful thing!

Summary-time will ultimaely tell, but I believe this bass will endure decades of gigging.

No dealings with the factory. The instrument is new but I doubt customer support will be needed. All appears solid and tight, and, being passive, there are no intricate electronics to fail.

I've been playing bass for 15 years. I've owned many good quality basses from Fender, Lull, Peavey, MusicMan and more. I shy from the mega-high end as I try for the most bang for the buck, but I am not unfamiliar with high quality instruments.

I wasn't looking for a new bass when I stumbled upon this at clearance price. From the Internet I can see the bass listed for $1,200, yet the store was "blowing them out" at $349 including shipping costs. Given the features, supported by a couple of reviews I was able to find, I felt that the instrument would be a great buy and provide a bit of versatility for me (with the J-bass already owned). In fact, I find the craftsmanship, tone, comfort, and playability to be of high quality, so much that I have been inclined to use my new "toy" more than my old J-bass. I'm sure that fatuation will diminish some over time, but the RKB900 is a very nice bass. At $349 it is a spectacular bargain.

2003 MADE IN JAPAN
2 piece solid Alder body
2 passive Seymour Duncan quarter pound baseline P & J pickups
Volume, pickup blend, tone control
1 piece maple neck
Maple fretboard
Leo Quann "Badass II" bridge
Hipshot licensed ultra-light tuners

Punchy, rich, tight, clear, just awesome!

Superbly crafted by Ibanez luthiers in Japan. Neck feels nice and smooth with a broken in vintage feel. Top notch finish choices come in a "vintage fade" which looks like a cherry sunburst and black. I have both. The action was a bit high out of the box. I did a setup and it plays just great!

As with any Japan made Ibanez, it should last forever. This bass feels very solid but not overly heavy.

Haven't needed them.

The best bass in this price range. Much better than those GSR series basses produced nowadays.

Brand New in 2003 made in Japan. This is a classic Fender feeling bass made by Ibanez. It has a 21 fret, 34" scale, satin finished, one piece maple neck. It feels like a classic Fender Precision Bass with a slightly flattened radius. Very comfortable!!!
2 piece, almost Fender P bass, alder body finished in a glossy,2 color amber-cherry sunburst.
It has 2 Seymour Duncan Bassline 1/4 pounder pickups a P and a J. These are controlled by a master volume, pickup blend and a master tone. Simple, straitforward and usefull.
The bridge is a BadAss II and works great. The tuners are Hipshot licensed ultra-lites and perferct.
It comes from the factory with just a box, maintence and care info and a couple of allen wrenches. It more than makes up for extras in the sum of it's parts!!!!!

PUNCHY, JUICY, THROBBING, TASTY, I can come up with many other adjectives but the basics is it sounds really good. I play mostly vintage type basses with a couple of exceptions and this fits right in with them all.
In my current bands I play rock/alternative/pop covers and rock originals. I need to play a variety of styles and this bass works. The Duncan pickups along with the woods and hardware are a happy marrige.

This is a very well made bass. The fretwork and finish work are excellent. Right out of the box it was set up better than the last 5 Gibsons, 4 Fenders and 1 Taylor that I own. The only issue I have is a slight rough spot on the back of the neck, treble side,around the 9th fret. It's not too bad just slight. I'm sure it will wear itself down in time.

I'm sure I could beat someone to death with this bass and then play a gig all night. I feels super sturdy!

I have yet to use only this bass on a gig just becasue of my old school personal favorite 78 Jazz bass but I'm sure I would have no problems whatsoever!

I have yet to deal with them.

This is an AWESOME bass. Do not confuse this with the dime a dozen Ibanez basses out there. This is unique. I take this bass over any Ergodyne(CRAP), ATK, Sound Gear,Fieldy, BTB etc..... In my opinion, this is the best bass Ibanez makes possible exception being the Doug Wimbaush but for the price you CAN NOT BEAT IT!!!!!!!!