Ibanez BTB1006E

Japanese Made, I believe 2002.

Read my review of the BTB455QM.

The difference is the pups, a Sixth String, this onw has had a luthier conversion to fretless, and Bubinga stringers as opposed to the Walnut used in the 400 adn 450 series BTB's.

Love these thin necks!

Book Matched Curly Maple Tope on Headstock too!

Abaloni Inlays (Permium feature)

Body Core is Mahogany with a Maple Back but it is not as ornate as the Front.

This is so much prettier than the current 500 Series Face Tops!

It is head and shoulders such a better presentation than the BTB1200's or 500's. THe 500 is its replacement since they are bolt ons.

Please see my BTB455QM Review for the breakdown on other equipment.

This is an incomaparble piece in relationship to the other BTB's because it is fretless.

The Mahogany construction of the Body is really deep in its penetration, akin to my solid Mahogany 82 MockingBird with Full actives.

Do notlet thos wimpy Strat and Non-Paul players tell you the wood makes no difference.

Using the Genz Benz NeoX400, the BP-8 on F42 setting, brought the auditioner around the table drooling over the tone of the bass.

It is Japanese construction.

Nothing else needs to be said in my book.

It is an Ibanez.

It is gigable, but irreplacable as Japanese Production of this quality from Ibanez seems to be history.

Never dealt with them never needed to.

See my review of the 455QM to see what I wish this Bass Had and all of the Basses I have played.

If you find one of these under $1K Get it. For some reason, and probably greatly designed reasons, the BTB's are just magic to me.

Wish I could afford to send mine to M.V. Pedulla for the Neck Treament on the Fingerboard. I would have them shim the neck 1=2mm and lower the action to under 1mm to start.

The point of the Bubinga Stringers and Made in Japan qualify this series and the pinicle of the BTB Era.

After owning this one, I cannot even think of wasting time with the repulsive 1200's or 500's.

I paid dearly for mine coming in from Canada. I do not regret it.

I suppose the Conclusion in all of my BTB Reviews is a summation that if you are spending over 600 dollars, someone better be selling you some 1000 year old virgin wood or something like that.

This instrument was a splurge, nobody is getting $1200 from me for a Bass again. Even if it is a Neck Through Mocking Bird...not happening.

The Les Paul is to Guitars what the BTB1000 Series is to Basses.

TEh culmination of the evolution of the instrument within a reasonable price.

6-String with Mono-Rail bridge, which isolates each string independently. 2 Bartolini soapbars w/18V Bartolini preamp.

18V battery compartment is a little cramped, and you need to remove screws to get access, which is inconvenient.

Very punchy sound out of the neck PU which surprised me. I play fingerstyle funk with a little slapping, and it provides a really beefy foundation. No "twang" out of the bridge PU, which I miss.

The active EQ gives a lot of flexibility. The switch could stand to have 4 or 5 frequencies instead of 3, but the provided frequencies are well chosen.

The action was good on all but the C string, which I had to bring up considerably to avoid any buzz. The pickups were at a good height, and only needed a 1/4 turn on the truss rod to get the neck straight (after a trip from FLA to MA).

The finish is great, with only a little roughness on the squared off indents on the side of the neck joint. No flaws, and the wood is well matched.

Just got this, so will have to give it some time. The Matte finish looks like it will hold up, and the hardware, including the switch, is solid.

Haven't had to deal with Ibanez, even though this is my 3rd bass from them.

A great bass ifor the money. It was down to this or a Carvin LB76. The Carvin would have had nicer woods, but the Bartolini's sold me on this.

I will always have a backup, but that's just me. I would likely relpace this with the same instrument. The neck is reasonable for a life-long 4-stringer, and the extra accessibility up around the 24th is killer for soloing & high chords.

- Hand made in 2002 in Japan by the Ibanez Prestige Team.
- 24 Frets on the C, G and D strings, 23 on A, E and B
- Laminated body: Flamed maple top, maple back, mahogany center. Oil finish.
- Controls: Volume, Pickup pan (click in center), equalizer with Low, selectable Mid and High, and a toggle for the mid frequency (1000 Hz, 500 Hz, 250 Hz)
- two passive Bartolini Soapbar pickups wired to an 18V Bartolini active preamp/ equalizer
- Ibanez Monorail bridge(s) - 1 seperate bridge per string
- Gotoh Tuners
- Neutrik Locking jack
- 35" superwide neck, rosewood fingerboard, jumbo frets
- Elixir strigs

Excellent features for any bass guitar. My only minor complaint is the mid frequecy selector, which is a toggle switch and not sweepable. At first I thought it was flimsy, but I have been proven wrong in this regard ;). No straplocks, but the buttons are large and secure - never had it drop on me.

- I play everything from funk, jazz, metal, prog, industrial, hiphop, sometimes in the same song. I can always dial in exaclty the sound I want, fast. It is extremely versatile.
- At present I am borrowing an SWR Bass 350 for practice/ small gigs, and some ampeg beast through an 8x10 for larger venues. I use a BOSS RV-3 for delay tapping, and ODB-3 and OC-2 for playing unison with rhythm guitar. The BTB1006E works very well with both.
- The bartolini pickups are excellent and noise-free in my experience, and the powerful EQ means you have a colossal range of tones available. You can always find something to perfectly suit what you?re doing - fast picking (if thats your thing), incredibly dynamic slap/pop/strumming (esp. with the SWR B350), tapping, soloing way up the neck, or even traditional walking supportive bass playing.
- the preamp does an excellent job of keeping the tone in line, without muddying the sound. The higher tension on the B-string means you get excellent tight notes without flopping all over the place.
- the sustain is amazing, and seems to go on for minutes before fading out. Even scale studies are fun on this thing!

I have no suggestions for improvement on the sound quality whatsoever, aside from the mid frequency selector (800 Hz, damn it!), however the neck pickup is *slightly* louder than the bridge.

The action and intonation were flawless when delivered. However, the pots for the EQ were not screwed in tighly enough for my liking - they didn?t drop off on their own but I could pull them off. Took 15 seconds to fix. The entire instrument has a nice oil finish which is holding up nicely, though it has already become somewhat soiled at the back of the neck. Maybe I?m just a filthy animal.

The neck is very wide, and can take some getting used to. If you have small hands, consider getting a 5 or 4 string, or swallowing your pride and shortening your strap!

Make no mistake here, this bass is built to last. It is a heavy instrument, weighing in at more than eleven pounds, and it took a while to get accustomed to carrying it around on a strap for more than two hours during practice. I have never heard the slightest glitch from this instrument, not a click or pop or dropout. Jack in, bang, the preamp clicks on. The body and neck are wide and well-fitted, bolted mercilessly in place by five screws.

If you do hear anything, change your batteries. I change mine twice a year, just for kicks. Other than that, I think this bass will outlive me.

I have never had no deal with Ibanez, and doubt I ever shall.

Props to www.samash.com and TNT, though. They shipped my bass on a Friday, and it was delivered on my doorstep Wednesday morning. And I live in Norway. And it set me back less than half of what it would have cost over here.

This will be my bass for the foreseeable future. There is nothing I need from a fretted bass guitar which this baby doesn?t provide. If it were stolen, I would break the perpetrators neck.

And it?s an imposing beast - people?s first reaction is "Wow! That is a *big* bass guitar...!"