Product: Ibanez BTB510E
Price Paid: US $300.00 used
Submitted
03/11/2004
at
04:17am
by
Phillip M. Carter II
Email: pcarter at cableone<dot>net
Features
:
10
I am actually unsure of what year this bass was made but I do know that it is no longer in production. This bass has a mahogany body with a really deep walnut finish. The finish is absolutely stunning. It has two Bartolini soapbar pickups and active 18volt electronics featuring volume, pickup selecter, low cut/boost, high cut/boost, and a parametric mid...it's got what appears to be a 3 peice neck, but could be 5. The grain is very very tight and makes it hard to tell. I fell in love with the Ibanez BTB body styling and prefer it much more than any other Ibanez bass. This bass isn't lacking for anything in the features department.
Sound
:
10
Okay, when I first got this and for a while I played it and it just sounded dead. I thought "damn, I just wasted my money." But then...well I finally had a moment of intelligence and changed the batteries and man....it was like a whole new bass. I was absolutely blown away. I'm currently playing it through a rack mounted Crate 350 watt bass head (tube pre, solid state power) and into a Peavey 4x10 bass cab with a horn. Absolutely is phenomenol. The active EQ allows you to get down and dirty bringing out bass tone from what seems like the bottomless pit of hell and also gets the midrangy/trebly pop and slap sound like it's nobody's business. Easily the most versatile bass I've ever played
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
hmm...like I said the finish is incredible, I absolutely love the darkwood color. Now when I got it the last user had already installed a brass nut on it and it definitely gives it more clarity and sustain. it does have a loose mid control that I need to tighten up but there's nothin major wrong with it. Everything functions perfectly.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
I have played out with this bass and have never even CONSIDERED carrying a backup. This thing is rock steady and I take impeccable care of it. I'm very anal retentive about my instruments and this one is no exception. I believe through the care I give it, it should last FOREVER. The original strap buttons were great, very large and held well but I did upgrade to dunlop strap locks only because I believe in them religiously.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
unfortunately, I have no experience with customer support at Ibanez....
Overall Rating
:
10
I've been playing bass about 4 and a half years. I bought this bass last year through ebay because I needed a bass to get back into playing. I'm a guitar player and a very critical one. Used to play bass in a few jazz bands and a marching band but got out of it when I lost my marching band scholarship when I told the band director where she could shove her bass. I've had lots of gear in the past but this is easily the best purchase I've ever made.
