Nice action, good bottom end, great value.
Written: Sep 19 '05 (Updated Sep 19 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good action, tone, fast neck, light weight.
Cons: None that come to mind.
The Bottom Line: A fine instrument that will grow with you. It is proof that you don't always have to pay huge $$$ for quality.
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| joeklein's Full Review: Ibanez Srx300mw 4-String Bass |
I needed a bass guitar for my music studio. I wanted an inexpensive instrument, but one that will sound good on recordings. I am primarily a guitar player, and know exactly
what to look for when purchasing six stringers, but when it comes to basses I am a relative novice.
So off to the shop I went searching for an instrument to fit my needs.
I have a predisposition toward Fenders, so a Mexican Jazz Bass and a Squier P-Bass were on the short list. I eliminated the Mexican as soon as I saw the price tag - $900 Australian dollars (about US$675). The Squier was reasonably priced, but it had the flimsiest bridge I have ever seen, so I left it on the rack.
I asked the salesman for some advice. He showed me an OLP MM4, which is a cheap version of the Musicman Stingray, a Yamaha RBX-270 and a silver, Korean made, Ibanez SRX300. I fell in love with the latter as soon as I placed it in my lap. The OLP and Yamaha were OK, but the Ibanez had the edge in every way. It provided just the right feel and the action was low but didn't buzz at all. I plugged into the shop's Peavey "Bassic" amp and fiddled with the chrome rotary knobs on this -soon to be mine - bass guitar: Treble, bass, pickup and volume with a centre notch on the first three controls. The active electronics are silent, barely producing a hiss even when the volume on the amp was turned almost to full. The tone controls produced useable sounds at all settings - no hint of muddiness even
with the bass turned fully clockwise. I found that with some
active circuits the amp is overdriven at full volume, but not with this baby - the tone was clear as a whistle all the way to max.
The neck is narrow and very fast. It has 24 frets and the cutaways make reaching the higher frets easy. The rosewood fingerboard is smooth and the frets nicely fitted and rounded. All hardware is chromed. The machines are nice and linear and keep the instrument in perfect tune. The intonation was spot-on straight out of the box. The bridge looks solid and has fine tuners and can also be adjusted for hight.
I played a few rock riffs and then came the mandatory slap and pop test. The tones came through bright and clear. The dual humbucking pickups have nice little cutaways which are useful as thumb rests.
I had the instrument for 2 months now and it was definitely worth the Australian $550 I paid for it. I pick it up at every opportunity, hence my playing improved quite a bit.
Many guitarists regard the bass as a step down from the guitar. This is not the case at all. The bass requires quite a different skill set and is a lot of fun to play - especially with a quality instrument, such as my Ibanez SRX300.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
joeklein
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Member: Joe Klein
Location: Sydney, Australia
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. ~ Aldous Huxley
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