Ibanez BTB406QM 6-String

I've had this for about 3 years now.
24 frets (on the G and C)
35" scale length: should keep the strings tight and add to the punch......we'll get to that..
Semi parametric EQ for the 2 big soap bars
Locking jack plug

I play most things; straight rock, blues, metal, ambient stype stuff and the bass sounds thin on it's own.
Baring in mind this is a review of the bass on delivery and used over 3 years (I've not had any changes made to it because I never got round to it).
For straight recording get a decent tube compressor and EQ to warm it up.
The EQ onboard is best set flat and let your amp/ outboard do the eqing.
I found the mid sweep only useful as a gimick hand powered wah effect, it seems only to accentuate the bad sound or make it too trumpetty to be useful, don't get me wrong the bass will cut through the mix, but in a bad way.

Used live it's not a good sound either, I've ran this through an AMpeg SVT into an 8x10, an Eden Nemesis combo and a Hartke 3500.
It still sounds thin!!
It hisses like hell.
The control cavity is a mess as far as shielding goes.
If you use a noise suppressor then you'll probably end up loosing a lot of sound on this and if you use overdrive or distortion, forget it.
Played at low levels though a small combo you can get a decent jazz growl but don't expect big clear meaty bass balls here.

But as pointed out in earlier reviews it is a "budget" 6 string so replacing the stocks with Bartolinis or EMGs would probably help alot

The bass feels good.
The necks flat and wide as you'd expect and it's a heavy beast too, but that's because it's massive.

No flaws on the finish, it looks amazing.

Jack plug is a cheap and cheerful "neutrik" connector. i.e. it locks you in so you don't pop out.
It also locks you in with no sound sometimes. :)

The tuners and hardware finish is corroded now (lovely speckled rust) but this is cheap parts to fit the budget and doesn't hold up to a 3 hour rock covers set in a sweaty hell hole :)

The neck hasn't moved since I got it and the action is still really sweet. I just wish it sounded better.

I wouldn't rely on it 100%, always keep a back up.

No tried them, read all the articles and accept it's a cheapy.

It's cheap, it looks good, it sounds like crap at loud volumes, the preamp eats batteries if you boost the eq (and it takes 2*9vs).
I still go back to my Yammy 5 String for gigs.

Buy it if you fancy upgrading the pickups and doing some work on it (nut fix would be a good idea).
Otherwise save more and buy a Yamaha 6.

Most fatures are already listed, so I won't labour these again.

If there were any features I'd have liked, EMG or similar fully active pickups and a less involved on-board EQ would have been top of the list, shortly followed by 24 complete frets and better access to use them!

Aside from weak pickups, it was a well specified bass for the money.

Here's the problem - I couldn't get the sound I wanted out of this bass.

Ok, so maybe I got the wrong instrument, but one fact makes me think otherwise; at the same time as I bought this bass, I also bought an Ibanez BTB405QM (exactly the same but with 5 strings) and it sounds like a totally different beast. Unless the difference in colour changes the tone, I'd say there was something not quite right with this one!

For reference, I play quite a few styles from accompanying an acoustic playing singer-songwriter friend of mine, through jamming cheesy 80s rock, right up to playing Children of Bodom style melodic metal with my band. This bass could cover all styles, but lacked any real character, but as I said before, its nearly-identical 5 string twin can do it all. Go figure!

In its favour, it came fairly well set up and had no obvious flaws in the finish. A couple of the higher frets were a bit rough on the underside of the neck, but not terrible.

Because of the sound, I never really took this bass out to play all that much. All I can say is that the 405QM has exactly the same hardware and presumably finish, and it's survived weekly carting round and playing for the last couple of years with no obvious signs of wear and tear. Ok, I look after my gear well, but if you don't, it doesn't return you the favour, does it?!

Only issue to note is that some cables, especially Planet Waves ones with the little springs, don't engage all that well with the jack socket. I mainly use Klotz cables, and they've never been a problem with this style of jack.

Never dealt with them.

As my comments in the past tense indicate, I don't own this bass any more. I got rid of it about 3 days ago, so just thought I'd fill in my experiences on here.

To answer the guide questions, I've been playing about 10 years and have owned and moved on a lot of gear. I object to paying too much for gear, because there comes a point at which the sound relies more on your ability to play than the quality of the instrument, so I always stay round the 400 to 600 quid (UK Pounds Sterling) mark. In this range, I currently own the Ibanez BTB405QM, a Warwick RockBass Vampyre-5 and a Yamaha BB405. If the 406 had sounded like any of these (especially the one that's nearly the same!) I'd have been fine with it, but it just sounded flat and disappointing.

I'm slowly headed towards another Warwick Vampyre - they're excellent instruments to play, and look the part too. I don't think there's a 6 string version of it, but I'd really urge you to have a look at any 6 stringers in the Warwick RockBass range before buying one of these.

Well mine is a 2003 model made in korea. It has all the features already known: the rosewood finger board with 24 frets wich I consider 23n half because de 24th fret isn't a complete fret, quilted maple top but the nice efects on the wood are just for show because the rest of the body is basswood.It has a 5 piece maple n wallnut neck, the mono rail II bridge ,2 passive soapbars made by ibanez and a vari mid III active eq. it also came equipped with elixir strings.

I play some good variety of styles that go from metal and hard rock to blues, jazz and some bossa nova and the sound of this bass is not suitable for all of them. the poor quality of the pick ups come up as soon as you plug this one, the noise is normal in passive PU's but that much noise is not normal at all, the lack of punch in the low frequencies is notable and the mid and high frequencies just sound weird, with all that variety of controls this bass should deliver a good range of sounds but in the end its not that wide.
Also the eq is a mess in theory looks great but in pratice it's really terrible, if you boost the bass the B and E strings will get to much muddy and some kind of distortion and not that deep warm sound that you'll find in a warwick or a similar, the other boosts only over power their respective frequencies making a horrible sound, the tone control it's useless you can turn it in every position possible but in the end there's only a muddy tone or a high metalic one

the factory set up was awfull,typical ibanez style.The controls came loose and the strings too, also the neck had been a bit twisted and the worst the pick ups seemed to be pushed against the body, but the guys at the store were i bought the bass did a wonderfull setup to my bass with that low action that i like and solved the problem.
I've inspected every millimeter of my bass and i didn't find any major flaw in the finish no rusted hardware or paint flaws , finally something good in so many bad things or maybe i just got lucky.
The bass body has a good size and for a 6 string bass and doens't weight too much but i just hate the fact that only the top is made of maple and the rest is crappy basswood. i like how the neck feels, i have small hands but i can play in it fairly fast because of the thin neck but like the woods for the body this bass would be better with some maple/bubinga neck than with that wallnut. My rating for this category is in great part for the awsome setup the guys from the shop made that's why its a 7.

This is in my opinion one of the most important categories to evaluate an instrument.the durability/reliability of this bass is very questionable...
i only have this bass for a year and a few months and it have a huge amount of scratches but this is not the worst the neutrik jack lock is just more crap from ibanez, it looks good but works bad, the cable simply slide out breaking the connection or making nasty noises, i tried some solutions but none of them worked the cable simply continued to slide out also the connection piece inside the jack oxidated too many times. other thing that bothers me is the fact that the controls are getting loose shortly after i tight em, the strap button near the bridge is also getting loose from time to time and i fear that some day it snaps and the bass will fall on the ground. the monorail bridge its another crappy feature from the ibanez crap'o'rama, the ideia of an individual bridge for each string is that the strings don't vibrate by sympathy and you'll not ear harmonics or noises from other strings when playing, so why the hell this feature doesn't work in this bass? I also had an EDA and the monorail system actually works good and in the TRB that my teacher have the mono rails work damn good so why in this bass it doesn't work?
I only had 1 gig with this bass but i used to play a lot with it in rehearsals and at practice and sincerely i would only use this as a backup for some other bass

And now the great dilema...in one hand i have the awsome support from the shop were i bought the bass, those guys answered every question and doubts I had about the bass , and the pro setup was a must also they are very nice people always ready to solve any problem i have with one of my basses even those that i bought somewhere else.
In the other hand i have the no support at all from ibanez those guys really like to please their costumers...Not
Before i bought the bass i send them an email with some questions and the answer i got was just the same information they have in their website.... wowwww thank you guys now i can continue with the same doubts i had... it's unbelieveble.
When the neutrik started to give me some headaches I send another email to Ibanez asking how i can get a new piece and if they can send me one or what the hell i had to do to get the problem fixed,even send them the warranty document an until now no answer at all. The guys at the shop also tried to contact them and nothing...
hellooo ibanez customer support... is someone there???
Once again my rating is for the shop support, keep the good work guys

The final sentence for this instrument...tantantantan
I've only been playing for 5 years but in this few years I had the chance to try many other basses from fenders to yamahas and warwicks.Just one point don't go off comparing Ibanez to Fenders or even worst Warwicks , MusicMan ,Gibson n Rickenbacker, those are in the senior league while Ibanez is only on the juniors league.
This model was a complete delusion to me, in the begining it seems a fairly nice bass with some good features for a low/mid priced instrument but with the time the problems and the low quality started to show .Even my first bass also from Ibanez an SR300dx sounds better and never gave me any problem.
I'm not saying this is the worst 6string ever,but if it had more atention to detail and quality from Ibanez part it would be a better bass. If it were stolen i would feel sorry for the morron who stole it like i feel a real morron for not buying another bass to get my first steps in the 6string world.

Jap make, 22-24 frets (depends on which string you're playing), 35 inch scale, trans-black finish, basswood body w/ maple cap, 2 passive soapbar-style pickups (ibanez), 18 volt Vari-Mid III preamp, Mono-Rail Bridge, GB7 tuners, standard Ibanez thin profile neck w/ rosewood board and (i think) bubinga reinforcement stringers

When evaluating the sound of this bass, you HAVE to keep in mind that this is a $600-$700 6 string bass. That means that it isn't going to sound like a high end Spector/Modulus/Warwick/etc. Take it for what it is, a relatively inexpensive entry into the 6 string category. If you can pony up the cash for a high end 6, then by all means do so. However, this bass is a great buy for the money, despite any of it's limitations

The pickups and preamp aren't bad, but they aren't great either. While testing this bass out I went through several amplifiers and noticed that while the amps were set is similar as possible, the sound of the bass changed greatly from amp to amp. (Tested through SWR LA10, Ampeg 350H & SVT610, GK 400RB, and SWR 350X & Goliath III) At this point I'm looking into replacing the preamp and pickups with a set of Basslines ASB6's and replacing the preamp with a Basslines STC-3. If anyone has experience with either or both of these, I'd like to hear your opinions of them as there aren't many postings here on HC. (rickter75@yahoo.com)

The bridge really affects the sound too though. One of the key features of this bass is the Mono-Rail II bridge which is supposed to isolate/reduce sympothetic string vibration. First of all, the pieces of this bridge seem to be very lightweight, thereby killing an resonance. A heavier metal in the bridge would have been nice, but again, this is not a high-end bass. The Mono-Rail II bridge is really my main complaint about this instrument as it is supposed to REDUCE or ISOLATE sympathetic string vibration. It doesn't seem to do this at all. In fact, it seems to make it worse. I will say that my technique probably isn't the best, so I'll leave room for some human error here. However, when I contrast the fact that I didn't have this problem on my cheap OLP Stingray replica, nor on the other basses I test drove (Ibanez SR506, Geddy Lee Jazz, Aerodyne Jazz or Spector ReBop) it really makes me question the bridge as to being the culprit. I've been looking into replacing the bridge with a hipshot A-style bridge. If anyone has experience with this, I'd like to hear your opinions on this as well. (rickter75@yahoo.com)

Set up was typical Ibanez. Low action, good overall setup. I didn't see any obvious finish flaws so quality control was apparently good. Hardware was in good shape, knobs were on tightly and remain so.

My only gripe was with the strings that came on the bass. I absolutely DISPISE Elixir strings. I have tried and highly reccomend the DR and Rotosound 6 string sets.

Has any one else noticed that Ibanez low-end instruments usually comes from the factory with a better setup than their high-end instruments??

I haven't tested this bass in a live scenario yet, but it seems like it would hold up well.

Use it on a gig without a backup?! I wouldn't do that no matter how good any instrument is. Things can go wrong, be prepared.

Never had to use Ibanez customer support. I've had 3 Ibanez guitars and now an Ibanez bass and I've never had any need whatsoever to contact them.

I've only been playing bass a short time (about a year) but I've played guitar for 17 years. I would definitely buy this bass again, considering that it is an entry-level/mid-level 6 string. Get used to playing on a 6, move up to something of higher quality. I would reccomend this instrument without a doubt to someone trying to learn how to play a 6 string bass. For the money it's hard to beat.

This is an update of my earlier review. I've re-evaluated the Ibanez
electronics.Mine developed a "crackling" sound in the preamp(?) which
I couldnt overlook. Didnt notice it until cranked at volume. Not the
"hiss" you'd expect with the treble up full, but more like bacon frying(?) Returned to the dealer and replacement no problem. So I
traded up to the 1206 Prestige with USA Bartolonis. Dead quiet.

Sounds good except for the noise. Also some high string overtones I
couldnt adjust out but that may be technique(?) If coming from
the MonoRail bridge, that would be surprising since it's supposed to
isolate the strings. Adjusted pickups too, didnt help much.

Again, problem developed in the elecs if that applies here(?)

Well mine either soon developed a problem or I didnt notice it (un-
likely) initially. But again, the Dealer was great about everything
and said Hoshino (Ibanez' parent Co.) was one of the best about cus-
tomer service/satisfaction. Still leaves a bad taste.

See above.

Seemed terrific at first but then a couple issues came up. Don't know
if this is characteristic as Dealer said few if any problems with this model. Still...I bit the bullet and traded up.

Mine is a 2004. I've had it for 9 months now. Bought it brand new.
At first glance it seems like this bass had everything. I was very pleased that this was a 35" scale bass. It's what I've played on for years now. The 5 piece neck was a plus, as well. The idea behind the individual bridge sadles seemed like it was going to be a nice feature. But what really got my attention was the tone controls. Low, Mid, High, and a shaping dial. "What sound can't you get out of this thing?" I thought. I only gave this a 7 because I would have prefered a neck-thru, but for the price you definately can't complain. That and I didn't like the finish they put on the hardware.

I'll give it a 5. Though I'm really thinking somewhere between a 3 and 4. My Mesa amp helps save the sound some. By itself... Horrible.
The mids are too over powering and if you try to adjust the tone controls to balance it out, it just gets deep and muddy or you lose your low-end completely. Want to record?? Forget it. This thing has one of the worst recorded sounds I've ever experienced. Unless you have over $5000 worth of rack effects and processors dedicated for recording you're going to have a dry, no character, empty, tingy, sound with NO low end. Try as I might, nothing could get this bass to stand out in the mix. It vanished behind the guitar and drums.

Straight out of the box it needed some work. I hate Elixer strings. They feel and sound plastic to me. Lots of fret buzz, which shouldn't have been happening considering how high the action was. After LOTS of adjusting everything finaly fell into place. Once you, or someone else, does a pro-setup on it it's really nice, which is why I gave it an 8. Since the initial setup was done I haven't had to mess with anything yet, neck/action/intonation wise.

I wasn't able to get the action set right with straight end strings. You have to get tapered strings for it. You just can't get the action low enough with straight ends.

And as I said before, I never liked the finish on the hardware. I saw nothing but bad things coming from it.

This is where my experience with this bass hits rock bottom.

Just as I thought. Within 4 months the finish on the hardware started wearing and looking REALLY ragged. Now?! The hardware looks 10 years old, and because it's a cheap, 4th rate finish job you can't polish or buff out the corrosion and wear. It's like it was done with bargain brand spray paint!

The control knobs constantly need to be tightened down, and the stacked knob is so loose I think it could fall off if shaken to hard.

The bridge is worthless. The claim behind the bridge on this thing is that by isolating each string you don't get string to string vibration. WRONG! If anything, there's more string to string noise, overtones, and vibration harmonics on this bass than any other I've ever played.

The idea behind the locking cable jack seemed handy at first.
Until it got to loose and the cable wouldn't make a solid connection.
I gave it the benifit of the doubt this time. Jacks go bad. Period. I'll just have it replaced and the problem will be solved. WRONG AGAIN! The second jack went out in just a month or two as well. Replaced it and IT WENT BAD TOO!!! I finaly just gave up on replacing it with the same jack type and got a normal one and threw it in. Which now makes it look bad because there's a big worn spot where that giant sqaure one used to be.

This thing quikly went from my main bass, to my backup, to "I'm ashamed to admit I even still have it" bass.

After the first time the jack went out they were helpful. SLOW, but helpful. It took three and a half weeks to get it straightened out.
When the Second one went bad.. They may as well have hung up on me. Their service was about as good as this bass is. I finaly gave up and just bought the second and THIRD! jack out of my own pocket.

I've been playing bass for 16 years. Professionaly playing for the last 10. I have to say that this thing is one of the worst bass experiences I've ever had the displeasure of owning. I own two Warwicks, an MTD U.S.A 535, American Fender Jazz, and a Zon fretless. I bought this because it was my first 6 string. It's now sitting in my closet awaiting the day when I get around to turning it into camp fire kindling. I bought a Schecter Stilleto Studio 6 and have to say it's 1000 times nicer than this Ibanez. But that's for a different review.

Bottom line... I wouldn't want my worst enemy to be cursed with playing this thing on a daily basis. Save your money and buy ANYTHING else. It's going to be better.

Ibanez' claim that's it's as good as a hand-made botique bass is as far from the truth as any lie I've ever heard.

Stay Away From This Bass!! I know that sometimes you just get a bad apple right? Well I've spoken to at least 6 other BTB owners and at least half of them have had pretty much the same experience with this thing. Just... Don't! Buy it!!

2005, Korean. 35" scale, 24 frets, 6 string Bass. Quilted maple top on a basswood body. Ibanez pups, 18v active EQ with Vari-MidIII (sweepable). Maple neck with dual trussrods, rosewood board. I've heard the body shape described as "scarab beatle", that's pretty good. Mono rail II bridge, Gotoh style tuners, Neutrik locking input jack. Comes with Elixir strings (a plus).

Here's where it really shines. I was working a trade at a local store and was able to compare several others of this style. Peavey
Cirrus 5...very dissapointed with fit/finish and sound for the price. Peavey gear is an old friend but..? Ibanez BTB Prestige 5...beautiful, well-made but honestly the USA Barts (or was it the EQ) just didnt sound much better than the BTB. Ibanez SR506...nice,
easy feeling neck but 34" scale and Korean Barts/EQ a little dull to my ears. I just kept going back to the BTB 6 and bought it.

A tiny bit of paint on the natural finish but better than the sloppy
work on the Cirrus (can't get over that). Serial decal (back of headstock) flaked off! Truss rod cover could be better. You can barely feel the seams on the two skunk stripes back of neck. One of the EQ knobs a little queaky (WD40 fixed).Overall a good looking bass, I'm very picky.

Don't know about the rigors of the road (hard to beat a Fender for
durability) but this bass will be just fine for studio/recording or
normal playing. Hardware lightweight (again, compared to Fender etc).
I think you have to rate this as more of a specialty bass than an
everyday player, but it's solidly made. Always have a backup.

Never used 'em, but the local store is an authorized dealer and they
are great. They are really high on Ibanez and they're also authorized
Fender, Yamaha, Peavey etc. Get your hands on the BIG Ibanez catalog.
They go into great detail on everything they make.

Been playing since I was a teen (I'm a geezer now). I've been through lots of gear over the years. I was mainly going for an active, Hi-Fi type sound for recording. Also looking for 35" scale
to tighten up that low B. I've got a passive Fender American JazzV , so went for the 6. These Ibanez necks are really slim and the elecs
sound really good too. It's Korean but the quality is apparent and
better than some that cost more. Good way to move up to a sixer and
not break the bank. Professional quality soundwise and pretty, but I
wouldnt subject it to alot of abuse. Should be a keeper.

Basswood body, quilted maple top perfectly laminated and blended in. 5 piece maple/walnut bolt on 24/23 fret neck. 6-string with Ibanez hardware in Cosmo White (a flat silver that matches the color of most strings). Mono-rail bridge system - individual bridges for each string keep them from affecting each other's vibrations. Passive pickups with 18VDC active electronics (Volume, Pickup Balance, Bass Boost/Cut, Treble Boost Cut, Sweepable Mid Boost/Cut) for more headroom. Thin Ibanez neck, deep cutaways and special shaped neck heel make it easy to play even in upper registers in spite of the neck being wide to accomodate 6 strings. Neutrix locking jack keeps instrument cable from being knocked loose during a performance. Boutique looks and features at a bargain price!

I play Gospel songs at church, so perhaps this bass is overkill, but I am drawn to boutique style basses and this gives me lots of options with a very comfortable feel. I also like the 6 strings because I do throw some things in on the songs that sound great in those expanded registers. But the fun happens at home when I like to get funky and explore on the bass. That's where this thing really shines and makes my day after working hard on the job! The sound on this thing can be bland, or it can be distinct, or it can be anything in between or outside the box. The basswood and maple give it a wide range to breathe out tone and the active electronics with sweepable mids make the tone range endless! And speaking of the sweepable mids, you can pan the frequency pot back and forth and get a great-sounding wah effect that keeps up with a Crybaby or Morley! I love playing around with the tone and pickup settings to imitate my favorite artists' tones. Who needs a Line 6 Variax? My BTB answers the call quite nicely.

This bass came setup very well, but I did have to tweek the neck and the bridge for the setup to be its best, but that's because I had switched out the strings. It comes with Elixers, which feel great but sound dead due to the coating. I put on a set of Marcus Miller DRs for 5 string and added a DR High Beam C string and the tone came alive with that Marcus Miller magic! I'm still going to experiment with some other sets because the DRs are abit too expensive, especially for feeding a 6-string bass. As for the finish, I have seen several BTB's and none have grabbed me quite like the one I chose. Mine has a beautiful quilt top in transparent black that looks so much like the old Paul Reed Smith Grey-Black finish that just grabs the stage lights and makes the bass take on majestic purples or beautiful blue hues - it's that gorgeous! The shape reminds me of a Modulus, but a little more exaggerated in the curves. The beautifully shaped headstock is matched in shape by the end of the fingerboard. Everything lines up well and plays even better. It's an eye-catcher as well as total ear candy! I'm picky about neck shape and this is my absolute favorite, even if it is a bit unconventional. A 6-string is a wide fingerboard, but Ibanez is famous for their thin neck thickness and it really works well in this 6-string situation!

Very well built, very solid, stays in tune all the time. I added Straplock buttons, but the Ibanez pins are nice and wide and solidly screwed into the body. I just won't trust anything short of Straplocks, besides, then I can use one strap with both of my basses (my other bass is a Dean Edge 4-string fretless). This is my trusty warhorse. Too beautiful to take to gigs, but too beautiful not to! I paly it at church and even though it is a heavier bass, it sits comfortably when strapped on and I don't notice any fatigue from it. I use it all the time without a backup, but I don't go wild playing old gospel songs. I am confident it would hold up to any gig though.

N/A

If this were lost or stolen I don't know wht I'd do because I have not seen another BTB406 that equals the beauty of mine. Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you may find one that hits the spot with you. The 6-string only comes in the one color, so it is the quality of the grain in the quilted maple top that makes the difference. On my lunch breaks, I often go to Guitar Center or Bass Place and play around on the various basses to kill time, but very few feel at home with me like my Ibanez BTB. When I get home, it is a dream to play on my prize. Nothing to hate, everything to love, but be warned, if you have small hands, any 6-string will be a challenge. They are fat and heavy, but that's how bass should be!

6 string model. Made in Korea, 35" scale neck, 24 frets, active mid EQ (18v), bass/treble, volume, pickup selector. Comes with Ibanez factory pickups. 3 piece neck i believe, features individual bridge saddles, locking tuners, neutrik locking jack. For the price i paid, this is good.

My routes are in metal, black/thrash/doom etc, but im also into fusion, drum and bass and such. This bass delivers such a huge sound range thanks to the sweepable midrange. suprisingly, the factory pickups are good enough, some people i know have shunned the idea of replacing these with bartollini's. As a preference, i cut the mids and put bass and treble on full, not cool when your in your own home- do that somewhere where you dont mind everything being destroyed. I run it through a Behringer BX600 at home, and this provides me with a MASSIVE amount of tonal control and variation.

I bought this bass second hand. A spring was missing from a bridge saddle; apparently the bass 'came like it', but putting 2 and 2 together, I can't really blame that on ibanez ;) Action was obviously set to the previous owners preference; easy to adjust. Very few flaws in the finish, metalwork was slightly tarnished, however I know that new models come with MATT FINISH anyway, so don't be fooled. Brasso metal polish dealt with that n/p. Pickup selector pot slightly loose. But considering the previous owner had good use out of it for 3 years, it was in excellent condition.

It will withstand being run over. The only problem is that the metalwork tarnishes fairly easily, but brasso once a month or something will deal with that. Strap buttons are solid, and will withstand kepur straps easily without coming loose. The truss rod was adjusted slightly for my liking, but as far as i know it had never been before.

N/A, although i know that my dealer gets parts from ibanez very quickly and efficiently.

This bass, especially for the money paid (brand new), or used (in good condition), is awesome. I also own a Dean Edge, which is cool, and was considering getting the Dean Edge 6 QM. Compared to the ibanez, it just didnt feel right. although im sure both basses are equally good (the Dean has EMG's :p). Mine came with a hardcase, worth at least #80. so the deal was excellent. Asthetically this bass is gorgeous, soundwise even better. \m/^-_-^\m/

2004,korean, as same as others below, just got it for a 30 days

before i purchase i read the reviews here and was disappointed, that the bass was not sounded good as some mention here. Maybe DR string might changed is tone, surprising is very quite but the low note are no good, not clear and muddy. that is the A, E, B

setup by factory was good, finishing not very good as might have defects in the 13 fret, some deep scratched, i have asked the dealer to exchange and they agree.

unable to tell but i think it should last for a some years
i must said for 700.00 canadian is the cheapest bass with the vari-pot, however if you have 4,5 string that are high end, stay away from this as i learn my lesson, go for better made. i should had bought a Roscoe or a Yamaha trbjp, but for budget i think should be ok for starter just like me this is my first 6 string,
i have a streamer Lx4,stringray5 and a peavey fretless 5, eden 2x10xlt and 1x10 with SWr 400sm head

no conment