Ibanez has come out with an affordable 24-fret P/J 4-string. Comes with Nordstrand pickups (yes, really!) and has a bubinga body and neck. It also has active electronics.
Watch the video below and you tell us – did Ibanez score with a winner here, or is it still lacking in some respects?
Sounds nice…
Nice! I’d like to hear the SR755 for a little B string.
I was searching for a P/J configuration bass. I bought this one online (actually the 755) and sent it back. Was not really able to the the “p” sound out of it. l do like Ibanez basses. I like the way it played and I wanted to love it. Great feel and excellent intonation. In the end it just sounded too much like my Ibanez 505 and not enough like a P/J bass. Also it was surprisingly heavy. A couple of pounds heavier than my 505. Ended up with a 2015 American Deluxe Precision, with the P/J configuration.
Not going to get a legit “P” sound out of this instrument. Wrong configuration of the split pick-up in the wrong place on the bass (relative top the bridge and the 12th fret.)
Cool idea for pick-up config but definitely not classic… opposite of classic actually 😉
It sounds in the neighborhood of classic – a lot like some upgraded P/J fenders with aftermarket preamps that I’ve heard. Some may argue, but I believe the “reverse” P is superior – making the high strings sound deeper and the low strings sound tighter. To me it sounds like a classic with a few positive enhancements… but there isn’t anything more subjective than “tone” in the bass world.
I just bought the SR655 with the ash body and it’s a great bass. Lightweight, super fast neck, no dead spots and I love the CND pickups. I own 2 BTB 33’s too and I’ve become a big ibanez fan. They are the only innovative large scale manufacturer out there and are making some groundbreaking basses.
If you think about it logically, the “reverse p-pickup” is the way it should have always been. Tonally, it makes much more sense that way.
As for the bass, I had the ash 5-string version of this bass, and it REALLY had a great sound. Better than any Ibanez I’ve ever heard, including their really high-end stuff. But, ultimately, I sold the bass because I am a Music Man player at heart and I always come back to Stingrays and Sterlings. But if I were to chose one Ibanez bass and that is all I could have, it would be either the SR650 or this SR750. Very versatile, plays great, and sounds killer.
so whats available for us lefties ./.??
I own several Ibanez basses, including an SR705, SR1405, and BTB1205. When this bass came out, I ordered one. The instrument was absolutely gorgeous, and played very well, but I ended up returning it because of the noise from the single coil bridge pickup. Unless I solo’ed the neck pickup (which has natural humbucking properties) I got a lot of hum and buzz from lights, amps, and anything else I stood near. I could turn down the treble to mask it, but that took away tone as well. It’s just the nature of single coil pickups, I guess. I had a similar but reverse issue with my SR1405 which has single coils — it sounded great with both pickups in use, but would buzz when one or the other was solo’ed — and I was able to solve that with a lot of copper tape shielding. I just didn’t dare do that with the 750, though, because it was a brand new instrument and if it didn’t work I would have voided the warranty and not been able to return it. So I quite reluctantly sent it back.
I owned a 650 with EMG a few years ago in ash. My friend owns a 1200 or 1500? They all seem the same after the 650. Different pickups, different woods but same shape. Neck is super fast but seems like pass fret twelve the spacing gets tight. Maybe I’m to accustom to the P or J type necks.
They all sound great and the best.. the angled input jack. I guess ..Bless those CNC machines !!