Ibanez ATK300

Ibanez ATK, I don't know the exact year, Probably 1998 or 1999. Ash bodied long-scale four string,huge maple neck and fingerboard w/jumbo frets & black dot inlay. One volume, 3 band Eq, plus weird tone switch. One super cool 3 coil pickup. Huge metal bridge surrounds the pickup, like a telecaster, plus you can string through the body OR through the bridge. Oh yeah, It has a black pickguard, if you care

I want to take a moment to compliment Ibanez on their excellent necks, I own two Ibanez basses and both have this super smooth neck, wish i knew how they were finished.

I play rock and a little bit of Jazz, with a little eq tweaking this baby sounds great, I actually prefer it to my Ricky. The pickup is always humcancelling, no matter what setting it is on. The Eq is boost/cut, that alone lets you pull a host of tones, but then you get this three position "Character" switch. Ibanez calls the settings something like "bright," "Dark," and "Traditional." With the help of a tuning fork, I call the settings "one coil(all the way up),"Two coils(middle)," "Three coils(all the way back)."

I bought this bass used, so I can't talk about the factory setup, but when I bought it the action and setup was pretty good. The finish was chewed up, but thats exactly how I like it.

Built like a rock. This is the Chevy of basses. My only complaint is that the electronics are all directly wired onto the circuit board, hope they don't break on me.

Haven't a clue, they probably shouldn't waste their money on tech support, their basses are indestructable.

I've been playing For nearly a year now and own a passive soundgear and a Ricky 4001 in addition to this bass. I run all these through a downright shitty 15 watt Ibanez amp. I probably should sell one of these basses so I could have a decent amp, but...

Anyway this is my favorite bass. If It were stolen I would dig up another

This is a brand new (99-00) ibanez atk300, and since it's been discontinued, i guess it's one of the last of it's breed. I'm primarily a rock/punk guitar player but i'm playing bass for a jazz band, and this has provided a really painless transition. It's a HUGE bass, but it plays like a dream. It's got a huge triple-coil pickup (active), a on-board three band EQ, volume and a three way selector, an awesome maple neck and fingerboard, an swamp ash body, huge vintage style tuners and the atk special dual mount bridge so you can mount the strings through the body or on top.

well as i mentioned before i play all rock (jazz, punk, classic) and so far it hasn't failed me yet! i'm running it straight through a tiny 30 watt gorilla bass amp, and it sounds great. Extremely versatile as far as sound (you can thank the three band EQ for that!)

everything is great! it looks, sounds and plays great!

this bass will beat the crowd and still be able to play a MARATHON! first time i've bought a guitar and NOT had to replace the strap buttons

no need for customer support

i've been playing guitar for about five years now, and bass for about three, this is my first bass and if all goes well, my last! being a guitar player i prefer small scale necks (who wouldn't go for a nice vintage mustang bass?) but i love this one and would raise holy hell if anything ever happened to it!

See Below for a list of features. I would just like to add that there isn't really anything you could add to this bass.

This seems to be a really aggressive bass. I'm primarily a guitar player, so keep that in mind, but it seems to be that this bass is best left to hard hitting styles of music. When I play bass, it's primarily punk, and it is perfect for this. I also enjoy playing some country, and I'm not pleased when using it in this style. It's great for rock. Also, you can get a nice variety of tones in this bass. Does it have every sound you need? That depends. For me, a guy who writes and records his own music, it's perfect. Would it please everybody? Of course not. I've yet to see any instrument that does that. If you take it for what it is, this a the best value around, hands down.

The bass was set up very poorly. The action is kind of high, but I really like playing this bass. Once you get used to the action, it's a dream to play. The finish was top notch and everything else was perfect. Ibanez, spend a little time on setup please.

It's a rock. Wear it and hit some notes. Feel how the whole bass vibrates? That's a good bass.

N/A

I've been playing guitar for 12 years and bought a bass to beef up my recordings. I checked out a lot of basses, and this one was the best value. Of course, I really wanted a G&L ASAT bass, but this being my first bass I thought that would be overkill. This bass beats all in it's price range easily and some of the more expensive ones. If your looking for value, look no further.

This bass was made in Korea. I think it's a 98. It has 22 frets. Solid top. It has active pickups with a 3 band equalizer and a master volume control. It has a 3-way selector switch. The pickup is an ibanez atk pickup. It is a triple single coil which can be made to have many different sounds, via the selector switch and equalizer. The neck is a 3-piece maple, the headstock is basswood, and the body is ash. The finish is white. The body is the standard fender p-bass shape. The bridge is an ibanez atk bridge. You can either string it through the body for more low-end and sustain, or through the bridge for more high end. The tuners are vintage-style schaller licensed. The frets are jumbo. It's kind of heavy, but that's not really much of a problem.

This bass is probably the best sounding bass I've ever heard or played. I researched many basses before I decided to get this model. I originally though of it as a cheaper way to get the ernie ball music man sting ray sound, but when I played it out in the store, I was totally blown away. It actually sounded BETTER than the Music man. I have total control over the sound with the active pickup and equalizer. I can get just about any sound I want. This bass is so versatile any bassist from any style could use this bass and be happy with the sound. It can get everything from smooth jazz tones to bright tones for punk. I play bass and sing in a punk band. I play it through an epiphone practice amp and through an ampeg svt classic. It sounds great no matter what I put it into though.

It has some buzz around the 6th or 7th fret. The action on it is perfect. It was in the music store for a year or two before I bought it, so they may have tweaked it a bit. The only flaw was the fret buzz. This bass is perfect.

It stands up to live playing pretty well. I do all the punk kicks and stuff it never even budges. I can depend on this bass like I would depend on Bill Gates to give money to charity for tax write-offs. The strap buttons are solid and the finish is layered on heavily. It will never rub off. The hardware is also very solid.

I've never had to deal with Ibanez. It didn't have a warranty card on it when I bought it. I'm probably just gonna take it back to the music store where I bought it if anything ever happens to it. The keyword there was EVER.

This is the best bass i've ever heard, seen, played, or owned. The only other bass I own is a hohner p-bass. It's ok, but the ibanez is much better. The bass is HUGE. It is about twice the size of the ibanez soundgears. I love the size though. I love everything about this bass. The thing I like the most is the active pick-up and equalizer. It's a pretty unqued pick-up and it makes the bass' sound very very versatile. I compared it to the sound of the music man and an epiphone thunderbird and les paul basses. The ibanez totaly blew them out of the water in every category. Price, features, sound, playability, versatility. This bass is on top in everything. I chose it because of how great it was. If it was stolen or lost, i'd buy another. My advice to any bassist is to buy this bass. You get the sound of just about any model of bass with any kind of pickups with a little tweaking of the knobs. It's not that expensive either. You can pick one up for about 300-500 dollars at any music store. Well worth the price!

Standard factory set-up with active electronics. This bass has a 3-band EQ, 3-way pickup selector switch and the unique soapbar pickup. This bass can be strung through the bridge or body depending on personal preference. With the options of how you want to string the bass and the 3 different "voices" of the pickup make this an extremely versitile bass, especially for the price (I paid $625 and that included a hardshell case)

I really am pleased with the sound of the ATK. I use the bass rock/alternative setting with a Hartke 1415 Combo amp (140 watts) and it gives me all the tone I need. The previously mentioned selector switch allows for three seperate tones without any adjustment what-so-ever. When strung through the body, the bass has excellent sustain. With the selector switch in the bridge position, you can achieve the metallic, "treble-y" sound that seems to be popular now. The other two are a bit softer and offer a nice, fat sound. I use flat-wound strings strung through the bridge and I generally have the switch in the neck position. This allows a warm, fat sound even when playing with a pick (although, I generally use my fingers). I use a Boss ODB-3 Overdrive pedal in some situations and the sound is mediocre, although the flats are the main reason the distortion isn't that great. All in all, I feel the sound is acceptable and the variety gives the rating a little boost.

This bass, as mentioned in a previous submission, is set-up terribly at the factory. Being a relative beginner (I've been playing only 1 1/2 years), setting up the bass was a difficult process. However, anyone with expierence shouldn't have much of a problem lowering the action, etc. The bass seems to be sturdily built (it's very, very heavy!) and is quite a pretty bass to look at. Overall, I have yet to expierence any problems other than the set-up. This rating is the least applicable in my opinion seeing how action, fit, and finish are mainly personal preference but the 6 rating is purely because the action is rather high (which could probably be corrected by a professional)

I purchased this bass about 5 months ago (August 99) and it is still in perfect condition. I am not currently in a band, so I cannot say how this bass would stand up to live playing, but I can't think of a single reason why it wouldn't. I'll give this bass a reliability rating of 10 because, as mentioned, it is still in mint condition and has not given me any indications that it won't still be in playing condition twenty years down the road. However, keep in mind that I have not really tested it in a gig situation.

N/A; I have not had a problem and i do not foresee having any with this bass.

As I mentioned, I am basically a beginner. My previous (first) bass was a Squier P-bass, so the ATK is an obvious step up for me. However, I have tried out several other basses, and there is nothing better in its price range. Someday, I hope to purchase the only bass I've played that I liked better than the ATK, that would be a MusicMan Stingray.

The particular instrument I bought is an ATK-300 from 97. It has a unique cream finish with triple ply (w/b/w) black pickguard. Even though the instrument was built in Korea (probably by underpayed underfed teenagers-damn the system), its quality of construction (and sound) is AMAZING. Solid top (no binding, furling, etc. on neck or boy) Ash body, 3 piece maple neck. It's HUGE (this ain't your daddy's soundgear) The active electronics include 3 seperate pots for bass, mid, treble. The unique thing about the ATK is a "Tone Shaping" circuitry that can push your tune anywhere from Les Claypool picking to Bootsy Collins slap to Jaco smooth. The bridge is a huge hunk of metal that spans over 5x3 inches. In the center of it is a massive triple coil pickup (it can be set humbucker, single, dual) The bridge is string-thu-body for that funky deep tone. Maple neck, 22 jumbo frets on a maple neck, butterfly open tuners, etc. Beautiful looking, really.

God, what's not to love? The ash body gives the ATK great bassy resonance, and the triple coil pickup has as much tonal range and quality of sound as a $900 bartolini. I play through 1) a Crate bx-100 2) Ampeg Vt-22 tube head w/ 2-15 cab-- and whatever i'm jamming on (i've even played it thru a crate 20 watt guitar amp)My FX include a guitar wah (which sounds fine on bass) and an FX prosessor with dist, chorus, flange, etc. The amp could be the most god-aweful piece of excrement and this instrument sounds good. There's even an option to string on the bridge without going through the body for a higher tone. Ibanez really went wild on this one. Part of the great sound is the god-damn sie of this sucker. It's like holding 2 Soundgears, and sounds about the same.

I had to ajust the action (not a problem) after i got it. It had been sitting on a rack in the music store where i bought it for at least a year, I guess nobody had thought to pick it up. The pickup, pots, chips, toggle, wires, even battery were all fine, full, and running. I looked under the hood and all the circuits are ok, not even any corrosion, dust, or sign of usage. I replaced the old battery as it was 2 years old (if it was still at full charge, that's gotta say something). No un-superficial flaws, a couple of marker smudges from the poorly-labeled pricetag, and a price sticker from 97 (i stuck it on the back to show how much the bass actually cost- it runs 750.00 and i payed 275.00. This baby's rigged for silent running. I could imaging this instrument running until 2099.The cream finish is flawless still, and I've never heard of or seen another ATK with the same finish. Apparently, it was only supposed to be available in various sunbursts, black, and red.

This guitar could withstand Green Day trying to make a reference to a crappy, hard hitting band. The battery has a low-drain system that warns you when the power's low (but the battery runs longer on the ATK';s electronics than the Soundgear's runs). The chrome hrdware is durable as well, and will stand up for much longer than I'll be alive. Like your typical Ibanez, the finish is multi-layered, and would take some sort of Sevie Ray Vaughn from hell to rub it all off. I would and do use this bass without a backup (because my backup is a single split-coil Yamaha Attitude bass named "Pinky". The batt is easy to get into unilke most other Ibanez instruments (the only easier batt access is on a Fernandez. All around, a very dependable guitar.

2 years ago, I bought an rg 570 and the Ibanez folks were real nice about it. I never had to talk to them, though, and if the bass ever breaks (ever is the bold word there) I'll just take it to one of the city's shops. '

I'm not really what you call a professional bassist. I started out 14 years ago on piano, then took up drums 6 years ago. I started getting into electronics in 8th grade and bought my first guitar, then my second and started a repair company. I guess now my prime instrument is drums, followed by piano/synth/orgen, then guitar and bass. I bought the ATK sort of spuratically as i walked into Luchetti music. My friend lily and I noticed the ATK hanging there and I had to do a double take when i noticed the price had dropped like this- $750-$699-$570-$420-$275. I bought it right there. I really couldn't ask for a better bass. I play (try to play) jazz, reggae, funk, rock, everything on it, and it's so damn versatile!
Right now i own a Danelectro 59-dc, a strat, a Fender acoustic, and the ATK, not to mention the instruments i borrow, and the old ones i fix up (and all the pianos, amps, drums, etc). I've played on everything from a Conklin, Spector, Tobias, Mike Lull, Zon, Modulus, etc. to your basic Soundgear, Jazz Bass, and Washburn. This ATK beats them all for the price, sound, craftsmenship, features, and strength. I'd compare it to the basic SR400 Soundgear, the Fender Mexican Active Jazz, the Yamaha Active (even though i DESPISE yamaha "ooh, our basses are as good as our lawnmowers! Buy a jetski and a microwave and get a free Pacifica 12 string!")etc. I'd buy it again, for much more than the 275 dollars i payed.