Ibanez BTB675 5-String Electric Bass

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Even loaded with the pro-features and style you want--Bartolini BH1 pickups, 35 in. scale, deep cutaways, etc--this Ibanez manages to still be affordable.

What's special about this item?

Feature: What it does:
Neck-through-body construction Longer sustain; strong midrange; smooth feel
Ash body Strong, snappy responsive tone
Bartolini Mk2-5 pickups Tight and aggressive; warm and thick tones
Bartolini preamp Increased control and output for more focused tone

The concepts behind boutique basses are often the justification for making them extremely expensive. With the advent of the BTB however, Ibanez decided that these same concepts of well-selected body materials, 35-inch neck scale, and deep cutaways could be applied to an instrument that anyone could afford. All the BTBs feature neck-thru construction and deeper cutaways for enhanced playability and balance.

Features
- Small shop precision, materials and sound, priced for the working player

- 35-inch neck scale provides superior articulation - perfect for low tunings and 5- and 6-string basses

- Exclusively designed Bartolini(R) BH1 Pickups

- Thru-neck construction on most models

- Deep cutaways allow effortless upper fret access

- Neck type: BTB5 5pc Maple/Bubinga neck-thru
- Body: Walnut top/Ash wing body
- Fretboard: Rosewood fretboard w/Abalone dot inlay
- Frets: 24 Medium frets
- Bridge: Mono-rail II bridge
- Neck: Bartolini BH1, Passive
- Bridge: Bartolini BH1, Passive
- Electronics: EQB-IIIS 3-band eq w/Mid frequency switch
- Nut: Black Nut XL nut
- Hardware color: Cosmo black
- Scale: 35"
- Width at Nut: 47mm
- Width at Last Fret: 76mm
- Thickness at 1st: 20mm
- Thickness at 12th: 22mm
- Radius: 400mmR

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 800-669-8262
Web: https://www.ibanez.com/usa/support/

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. (9 ratings)
Submitted May 8, 2012 by Adam Z

"Excellent bass"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
.

Sound
I am a live sound and studio engineer, and have an ear for how instruments should sound in order to mix well and frequency content.To me, the sound is definetely in the boutique leage, and judging how good it sounds is beyond the quality debate and much more about taste.First of all, compared to most JB, which costs lots more, and actually most basses I hear, this bass is very rich sounding. I actually went through about 15 guitars in the strore and nothing compared, except a 3 times expensive JB, still the BTB was on top. All notes contains maj3,5th and octave harmonics, some to a very large extent. You can hear this when you open up and close the middle control. Most basses sounds dull compared to the BTB675.The EQ center frequnecies and bandwidths are very well designed- You can cut the mids (I think it's @ about 400Hz) and get a tight, refined tone that sits well in a recorded mix. Open it a bit more to cut through a busy live mix. I play with mids halfway cut to fully cut, depending if it's practice, recording, or rehearsal.For the way I like my sound, the bass center frequency could be tad higher (to be more punchy rather then bassy), but still it's used all the time.The treble control is fantastic and musical - having a wide bandwidth.The bass (and another BTB I tried, the 6 string version) has some peak at about 1.6-2kHz, whick can sound a bit honky but it mellows just to the spot after the strings break in for about 2 weeks, and read more funny enough, as you cut the mids, not the highs - which is what I do most of the time. This happens because the foundamental is actually in the 800Hz-1kHz range but it just doesn't sound right cutting there with a graphic EQ.The B string is super tight and I never avoid any note on it- in fact, I'll never go back to 4 string.

Features
Dual 9V batteries makes for a very strong output.The monorail bridge is beautiful.Dual truss rod- very important.Best designed stock EQ I came across.Neutrik locking jack is nice- and I connect my in ear headphone directly to the output jack and get a workable output for practice on both ears- usually this is not the case.

Ease of Use
The string spacing could be smaller at the nut and maybe at the bridge. This is the only drawback of this bass.For me, it balances better then most basses when standing and yet even better then sitting (without the strap).

Quality
The bass is so beautifully made, it's just stunning. Prepare for compliments.Could use a small fret job, but I play with a very low action and have high standards about it.

Value
Fantastic value.

Manufacturer Support
Didn't have to use it yet.

The Wow Factor
It's the best bass I owned by a large margin.

Musical Background:
Been playing for 12 years

Musical Style:
Alternative Rock, Jazz, Fusion, Funk
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