Ibanez RD300

I was impressed with the look of this bass when I wanted to upgrade from my Squier Jazz. It is very solidly made. 24 frets with an enormous cutaway which is great for playing New Order-style high notes. All the hardware is very secure and belies its price of a one hundred and seventy pounds.

The pickups give a good output and sounds very nice but I have a few problems with the sound. First of all the low E string seems considerably lounder than the others (I now always use a compressor pedal with it) and if the balancer is not in the left or middle position gives an unpleasant fuzz tone. I would have preferred two volumes than a balancer. The spec boasted "a massive sustain". I found it quite weak and this is probably due to the agathis body. My cheap Encore P-bass sustains twice as long as this.

It was very well finished with a very low action and no fret buzz.

I have used it a couple of times live but the lack of sustain did not inspire me to use it all the time. On a positive side it feels very comfortable on the body as if it's not there. I survived four hour rehearsals without an aching shoulder!

No idea

I do like this bass particularly with the accessibility to the high notes. I used to use it at band practice as this feature allowed me to be very creative (even with Stu Hamm type bass solos) though I used a different one live (Hamer XT series). It is very solid in construction and well finished. I should not complain as I have seen them sold new at a beginners prices and they are a good choice. It looks good too.

Got the bass about 2yrs ago to start playing bass. It came with frets initially but as I got better, I wanted a fretless. I'll get back to that. Agathis body (cheap mahogany). maple neck (mine is nice, I did a sanding job on it). rosewood fretboard (did a nice sanding job on it too). Passive bass (mediocre wiring). Black finish. Could use some better tuners, pots, and pickups (but its 200$ so who cares). I'll give it an 8 for doing what it was meant to do.

sounds dark (probably the body wood). It is pretty quiet unless youre near a tv. I use flatwounds on it, pretty thumpy bass. I made it a fretless after I bought a Marcus Miller 4-string. I yanked out the frets and filled the gaps with some veneer carefully shaved to the fretboard then sanded it smooth. Sounds amazing now.

Bass wasn set up like it had been run over by a train. I took out the jazz pickup and put a spring under it to raise it more than the foam was doing. really took care of the weak signal specified in a previous review. other than that it was decent at best.

the neck isn't that stable. the strap buttons dont do their job. and the jack has shorted twice (I had to resolder the connections). If you have any common sense, then it is a decent bass for 200$.

NOPE, dont need them.

I own a marcus miller 4 and an ashdown mag300. the Ibanez holds no candle to the MM but i dont expect it too. good beginner bass.

I think this was made in Japan but i'm not sure, 4 string, 24 fret. It has one tone one volume and one pick up balance, passive electronics. I only had one problem with the knobs for the volume etc. they come loose quite easily and you have to remove them regularly to tighten up the nut again, mine also had a dodgy pickup balancer i don't know whether it was a fault with the pickup or the electronics but it was really frustrating as it cut out several times while playing live. Good sturdy bridge and it stays in tune really well, its kind of music man shape but without a pickguard.

I play live with my church, but use it for anything from contemporary to metal. I just practice through my guitar amp at home but at church i use a Eden cab and amp. It doesnt make noise at all i've never heard any noise off it. It's got quite a dark sound, sounds really powerful through a good amp, it's not too bright but that might have just been the strings i used. Using the humbucker it's really nice when your playing live it just sounds so powerful, the single coil is a little weak and seems to lack tone. I've never been in a studio so i wouldnt know how it copes in that situation but on the stage as long as you dont get dodgy pickups like i had it copes just fine.

To say this bass is easy to play is an understatement, you can just run around the fretboard!... The pickups weren't set up too nicely i must say. The bass had no major flaws i just found that the neck wood was really easy to damage even if you put it on the stand wrong it starts to dent, but that might have just been my guitar.

This bass will withstand live playing but i'd recommend you get it properly checked out at a music store first if your playing a serious gig because mine did cut out a few times and it's really frustrating not to mention embarresing. The hardware is sturdy and will definately last. The finish is nice, doesnt look like it'll be coming off anytime soon. The strap buttons are solid, although straplocks are always the safest precaution no matter what guitar you play. I would use it on a gig without a backup as long as i knew it had no faults with it.

I've never had to deal with them as i had no serious problems.

I've been playing for around 2 years now, I own an Ibanez BTB. I wish i'd played it a bit more in the shop before buying but i still think i'd have bought it. If it were stolen or lost at the time of buying i'd have definately bought a new one, but as i've improved now and experienced better bass guitars i wouldnt at this time, but it's still a very good guitar for the money. I loved the sound and price at the time, compared to other bass's in this price range it's the best i came across.

ok, this bass is amazing!
it have a very music man type feels and vibe to it.
1 j pick up in the neck position and a music man type humbucker in the bridge. it has passive electronics. volume, pan, and tone knobs. the one i bought is black and has a great finish. everything is very high quality on this bass.
i could not find a bass usnger $800 that played as weel and sounded as well as this bass, i was blown away!

the main thing that stands out on this bass is the tone and the feel.
it feels like you are playing a very expensive bass. and almost feels too easy to play.
the tone is unreal, one of the best sounding bass tomes i have ever heard

can't say enough about this bass. it plays like a dream. very clean fit and finish, it is also a very beautiful bass.

very high quality parts, seems very military issue. built to rock!

never used them, but ibanez is a huge company.

2 words "must have"!