Ibanez ATK300

maple neck and fretboard. ash body one triple coil pickup. active electronics

round fat bass tone. sounds great with a band

excellent fret work. very playable neck

built like a tank very good workmanship throughout

never had to deal with them

been playing for thirty years this is my favorite bass simple,playes great,and sounds fantastic

2007 Indonesion Reissue of the 90's Ibanez ATK300. From the Cort factory I believe. None the less this is a well built bass guitar, don't be fooled.
22 frets, 4 string, triple coil humbucking active pickup.
These reissues have light ash bodies, so they aren't as heavy as the originals. The neck is thicker at the nut as well compared to the originals, which suits me just fine.

The sound is very versatile thanks to the active triple coil pickup. I can get burly musicman growl, precision bass punch and jazz bass throat with ease - and everything in between. The best thing is it isn't any of the aforementioned basses - it has its own incredible vibe sound wise. I play all kinds of rock, which is what this bass is great for and then some. Its great to slap and pop, and decent for more mellow jazzy tones too. I play this bass through a BBE optical compressor, a sansamp BDDI to an SWR Bass 350 into an Ampeg 6x10 HLF. The sound I use is punchy with great growl... even when i play fingerstyle. There's no need to play with a pick to get that mid range growl anymore, which is fantastic.

Comes with Elixir coated strings which might be the reason it sounded so good in the store... a good move by Ibanez as you tend to try out guitars in a store only to find there strings are way past their shelf life - sucking the tone royally. Some minor fret buzz on the higher frets but reasonably well set up. I would get a good setup done though before I record or gigged heavily. Otherwise the neck plays like butter... i have never liked a bass as soon as I picked it up but this was a huge exception.

Bass is built solid. Replaced the strap buttons straight away with Jim Dunlop strap locks, but I automatically do that for all my guitars. I would bring a backup guitar. This is an active bass, so the battery might die or the electronics play up. You should always gig with a backup guitar, regardless. Trust me.

haven't had any troubles.

Been playing for 10 years. I have always gigged and recorded with a Fender P Bass loaded with a Duncan Quarter Pounder, but since owning this bass that has changed forever. The neck on this bass is pure bliss... my fingers glide across it with ease, each note as well defined as the last. And these basses are a steal at the price. I would replace this bass in a heartbeat if it were stolen or lost.

1996. Japan
Upgraded with 1 fender noiseless neck J-PU, with extra swich to put it on.
With that extra PU it sounds much bigger (with balls) and louder, you can even get J-bass sound if it's on and the otiginall swich is on single mode.

I play music from blues, reage, trash metal... and it sounds great for all types of music.

With ATK I have fender p-bass standard, 1 custom made fretless and vintage (1779.) yamaha SB500, and atk is my favorite.
If it were stolen or lost, I would buy it again, and upgrade that one too.

1997 made in Korea. 22 ft. 3 EQ 1 master knob. Kent Armstrong "Motherbucker" pick-up. Ibanez electronics.All maple bolt-in neck, Ash (electronics)/ maple (bridge) body.

I used to think it sounded awesome until I got fustrated at my bass sound a while ago and decided to change the original pick-ups and electronics: Now it sounds like a pro bass and, exploits the special bridge contruction and maple body sound. Word to the wise: Seymour Duncan Bass-Lines SMB-4D MusicMan replacement ceramic pick-ups ARE awesome with this bass...match made in heaven!

Cutaway sucks bigtime otherwise very well finished and plays like charm when ajusted properly. A bit heavy (ok very heavy): trade-off for sound I guess.

This bass will withstand decades of polar/tropical conditions before it cracks.

:) no kidding...my 3 kids can testify. It's resting on a 100$ stand that drops (as my heart does), once in a while, on the floor due to heavy trafic. This happened at least 5 times without even scratching it. No fragile bass for me 'till they're outa the house.

Hasn't broken down...will probably be burried with, so that's at least 50 years of half-life expectency...should be nicknamed "Chernobyl".

For the price I paid, few...what a value! I'm even looking to modify it a bit more. With the pick-up upgrade, you will put to shame ANY MusicMan owner (K almost... that bass still looks WAY nicer than the ATK does, espacialy in white)

I'm sorry for my english...
Japan made, ash top, mahogany body, 21 frets, 3 band EQ plus 3 way switch, BIG bridge (wich adds a lot of sustain), string thru body...Everything you may wwant in an old fashioned bass.

Now the best news: This bass it's just a bomb. It's one of the brightest basses I've tried, and has very warm and deep bass range. The midrange, however is its weak point: Don't wait to obtain a Sterling, JB or Neusser tone in this bass, even playing at the bridge position (I must say i'm a midrange obsessed)
Very clear, warm and full sound and yes, the bass has also a GREAT slap sound.

You can lower the action as you want, altough you may want to lower the nut too (i'ts difficult to play in that position) The bass responds very well to neck adjustments, so don't be afraid to doing it. The feel is very much like fenders or MM, very expresive , but you may be dissapointed for the polyester finished fingerboard. Cuestion of taste

Just a tank. Very well made.

This is the best one I have in terms of its price. I
also have a Fender JB, a MM/EB Sterling and a Warwick Corvette Pro, and this is the bass I use most on stage (I've prefer The MM for the studio, altough I'm planning using it in the future) and my FAVOURITE one. I play mostly funk, latin and flamenco and it WORKS, but you can use it also in other styles (the bass suits well to rock, pop, but maybe not as well for jazz because its lack of smoothness)The differences in quality with the MM don't costs the difference in price.
The BEST bass of its range of prices I've tried

Mid 90's made in korea. I got for 250 used.(a steal) I had just lsot and auction for one on ebay that went over 400$ and was feeling quite down. See im in a sorta funky punk band and my old bass jsut wasnt cutting it. First i was opting for a epiphone les pual bass, but i decided i wanted a different sound. Anyway i looked all over the internet and found a guy selling his atk for 250$ damn what a deal. I imediatly got on it and purchased the bass from him and was a happy teen once again. ok features well it has a 3-band eq a pickup sellector for the triple coil mm style pickup and a strong preamp

Amazing i love it Music man sound but with other sounds readily availiable through the coil selector.

Action was crap but it was used so. It looks beutiful with the big metal bridge and the nice sunburst finsh. Frets are a little rough.

Havnt had it long enough to tell

never needed it yet

One of the great steals in the world of basses. Sound looks all come together wih this bass. Its BASSicly a good BASS

Sorry for my english'speaking i'm french. So this is a 1999-japan model that i own. 22 frets, body in ash, maple for the neck and the fingerboard. The neck is big and the weight of this bass is very high! The bridge is interessant: we can link the string thru-body or no. The tuner are so heavy like a fender. It's an active electronic with volume, blend, lows-mid-high, and a three switch position. The pickup is a special ibanez triple-coil. So good feature like a musicman with low price.

especially untidy, perhaps a good sound for rock but not for jazz, fusion, world...I say that the pickup is not good so i changed it with a bart 9sl(jbass style) i had. Ok, it's strange but i like the atk 300 lutherie and the bart's sound so why not? It sounds good for me and i find again the unpluged sound. Without the bart's choice, to change the pickup is promising. Bassculture make custom pickup for atk..

R.A.S. good finish, good set up, no flaws(made in japan..)

This bass is a panzer so reliability is no soucy!
Since buying it, no surprise.

For the price it is a very good bass!! But it have to change the stock pickup, so find an other pickup and it's equal with musicman quality. Be careful : the younger atk(305..) are made in corea..

1985 Ibanez ATK 300 Korean made. 22 frets, 4 stringer, natrual finish,
One Humbucker and a dummy coil (for noiselessness) at the bridge. Active, soild maple neck (maybe two peice) Ash body (I belive). Cool body style, looks like a old school BTB. Bridge is either strung thru the bridge, OR thru body,,, HOW GREAT IS THAT!?!?!. 3 band eq, with a GOOD pre-amp, unlike other Ibanez basses. 3 way pick up switch for "humbucker", "Single coil", and "Single coil with treble boost" (at least according to ibanez).

Sound? god like tone, it can get nasal and nasty, big and nasty, big and deep, and sorta sounds like a souped up EB With more tone. I like midrange, so i use that alot, becasue it has buttloads of it, but it souds awesome scooped to. this thing cuts thru ANYTHING, It's not to nosey, only if you crank every treble knob you have. The bass leans more to the bright sounding catagory, but it still has a deep rich tone.

I got it used, and it was setup pretty good, the flaws were from the prevoius owner. The neck also plays liek a dream, HELLA FAST.

This thing is a tank, it can stand a world war, let alone a puny "live gig". The finish is great, even after many, many years. The strap buttons are solid, but i'm still gonna put some strap locks on them,,, just in case. It's very dependable, i would gig without back up. the neck is solid, unlike other namless ibanez necks... *cough* soundgears *cough*

Well, i got it used, so i don't need the ibanez support. The thing has never needed repair, it's great.

I own a p-bass, and the ibanz is ten times more soild sounding. If you find one, at least plug it in. If it were stolen, i would find the guy, and rob him of his manhood. my favorite thing abotu this bass is the TONE, And the option of either stringing method. i compared it to a new Stringray, and it didnt come close as far as tones i could get from it. Wish it had a J-Bass Pick up at the neck, but i think the newer ones do.

I believe this is a 1997 model from either Japan or Korea. It's a 22 fret 4-string with active 3-band EQ. There's one MM style 3 coil (2 coils, 1 dummy) with a 3-way selector swith; you've got 3 choices: single coil (still humbucking), series, and parallel. The pickup is a stock Ibanez. The body's ash with a sunburst finish. The body is kind of like a p-bass on steroids. The bridge gives the option to string through the bridge or the body. The tuners are big open gear, probably schaller. The maple neck is huge, but very playable, and has a maple fingerboard. It was sent in a crappy little gig bag with padding comperable to that of 2 sheets of paper, but it was extremely well packed, so no hard feelings.

I play every style, but I favor rock and funky stuff (love the Red Hot Chili Peppers). I can't play without a growl anymore, and this bass hangs with the best of 'em. I play through a GK 700RB and a Peavey 4x10 4ohm cab. The bass isn't noisy at all, with one exception: if the tweeter is on at a fair level and the treble is cranked, you'll get a nasty hiss, as well as a nasty sound from too much treble. I haven't used the tweeter hardly at all recently, but it sounds good either way. This this has a huge, full sound, and awesome sustain (it better, because it's damn heavy). Definitely has a warm, bright sound up front, but a dark sound can easily bet achieved. The bass sounds mostly like a MusicMan, but by switching the pickup selector, you can get 2 distinct other sounds. With a little work on the eq, you can get just about anything. Also, this thing growls like a champ. The harder you play, the more it does so, but a growl free, extremely warm sound can be achieved by playing softly. I love the sound of this bass in the studio, but the onstage sounds that I get are unreal. Unfortunately, it's pretty heavy (doesn't bother me one bit, but I'm just warning whoever reads this. In the end, it's not noticibly better on the stage than in the studio. I like the fact that the bass control doesn't make the sound muddy, and even if you cut the treble all the way, your tone doesn't disappear. No dislikes in the sound department

When I got the bass, it was well set up. After a bunch of shows in different atmospheres (rainy weather to dry heat), the next straitened a little bit, causing huge buzz on the D and G strings below the 7th fret. This was easily fixed by a 5 minute truss rod adjustment. The action is between medium and low. The finish was well done (until i dropped it), and nothing was loose or noisy. The controls and hardware were (and still are) in good shape; no rust. The neck is awesome, but because of that one time where I had to adjust it (easy fix), I'll give this category a 9

This bass definitely withstands live playing. It's a tank. I dropped it when the shitty strap I was using decided to break. It fell right on the body, bounced into the air, then landed on it's back and the headstock (I believe that this was the real cause of the whole neck adjustment thing, but I can't say for sure). I picked it up to find a quarter sized chunk of the finish missing next to the output jack with little cracks along the outside of the missing chunk. I've seen how thick the finish it, and it will never wear off. The hardware was completely unharmed. I thought that my strap button had fallen off, but I turned out to be wrong. They're definitely solid. It was in perfect working order for the whole show after being dropped, and I had no backup.

N/A

I own an Ibanez EDB 690 Ergodyne bass, and a standard P-Bass. I also own a small Peavey Basic 112 for practice between gigs, and a few effects pedals. If it were stolen or lost, I'd definitley get another one. I love the sound, and I don't really hate anything about it. My favorite feature is either the sound i get from it, or the neck. The neck is at the perfect width and the strings are perfectly spaced for slapping. I wish I could get the bass with a finish of my choice (I'd get some crazy big flake finish), but the one it has is just fine. I don't know why they discontinued this thing. If it was because of a lack of sales, that's a shame. The price that I got it for was a huge deal compared to it's actual value, especially for me being the first owner (I got lucky). All in all, this thing is a 10.

4 strings also available in 5. i prefer 4 strings anyday.
Neck Type: maple bolt on neck. 22 frets Three pieces.
Fingerboard: maple fretted
Body Type: Ash. heavy shit but nice. i love it.
Pickup: Active triple coil pickup located next to the bridge.
Controls: Three band active E.Q plus volume.

amazing! using this bass you can totally choose your sound, great for all styles, pick, walk, slap & pop, i tend to pretty much dislike pick playing, i hate the sound of it but thats just me.

i havnt yet used any effect with it, just clean so far. i have no dislikes about the sounds i can achieve, their is so much variety.

i bought it second hand.

this bass feels expenisive, im sure its durable, this is the first bass i ever picked up ITS HEAVY, every other bass i have picked up feels like a little toy, yet i have not roadtested fender or musicman basses, im a relatively new player. the strap button feel very solid, the finish is great. and i would gig with this bass without a backup, i will be very soon.

bought it secong hand!

great bass, feels, looks and sounds very expensive, a real steal for the price they are second hand. if you cant afford musicman or top range fender basses but want the same quality and similar sound get this bass!