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Ibanez BTB-455QM - Preliminary Review


ModmanQ6

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Well, yesterday the wife and I went to GC and I was looking at a new case for my Quantum and I ended up buying 2 cases and an Ibanez BTB-455QM in trans black. This is the first black bass I've ever had. :cool: It looks like this:

 

BTB456QMTK.png

 

I've wanted to learn to slap, but didn't have the bass for it so my wife convinced me to buy a new bass to get a better deal on the rest of the stuff.

This bass is a tone monster. Very well built and has dual bart soapbars and a vari-mid 18v preamp. It's knobs are vol, blend, bass treble and sweepable mid - all tones are cut/boost with center detentes. There is the slightest of hums when not playing (I picked this up when using headphones), but it's practically silent. The neck is non symmetrical and very comfortable, made of a 5 ply maple, walnut, m, w, m with a rosewood fingerboard. The neck pocket fits so well, there's not a hairs width between the neck and body.

The action was set really low when I brought it home, so I went to adjust the truss to add a little relief and discovered not one, but 2 truss rods. I gave each about an eighth of a turn. This morning it wasn't nearly so clanky. This bass is perfect for slapping - much wider string spacing and good clearance under the strings at the bottom of the neck to really dig in. I like the easy adjustability of the monorail bridges too. A screw at the back allows for easy intonation adjustment and the saddle height is accessed by hex screws on either side of the saddle.

Very solidly built and evenly balanced, fit and finish are excellent. I am a happy camper! I give it 2 :thu::thu:

 

Next stop a new amp, but my wife insists that I try before I buy, so I'm not sure when that'll happen...

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