Ibanez Mezzo SRMD200 Review

A very OCD review.

I am going to give a very nit-picky review of this instrument for people who want a lot of details. My super critical review of fit and finish: - The action was playable out of the box, but not perfect. (It took me a couple of days of tweaking the truss rod and bridge saddles to get the neck dialed in.) - The 55 point inspection failed to catch a pickup selector knob that… read more was super loose. (I was able to tighten it with one of the Allen wrenches that came with the instrument.) Still, this SHOULD NOT have been missed on an inspection. - The fret work is okay (7.5 out of 10). The frets are medium size, fairly well polished, and don't have any super sharp ends. If you ran a nylon stocking over them (Phil McKnight test) , there would be some snags and small tears. - IMHO, the paint job and the pick guard look great. Note: there are paint flaws near where the neck is bolted onto the body. See pics. - There is a weird light spot on the wood of the fret board near the nut. It's on the bottom edge and it's almost impossible to see unless you are looking for it. It doesn't affect the feeling of the neck, but looks a little odd. I'm not sure if it's a flaw in the wood or some kind of paint stain. See pics. - The cover plate on the back of the guitar (and the electronics routing) are completely shielded with foil and shielding paint. The route for the cover plate is not perfect - it's about 1 mm deeper on one side, so the cover plate isn't perfectly flush to the body. This doesn't affect the play of feel, but if you have OCD, you will notice it. See pics. - I'd rate the tuners as a 6 out of 10. After detuning and retuning the bass at least a dozen times, I find that they are a little gritty and jumpy, but that they are completely functional. - Volume and tone knobs are smooth and function well. The Bass and Treble knobs allow the player a wide range of tones. Overall rating: Considering the very reasonable price, I give this bass an 8/10. It's quite light (7 pounds 2 ounces on the one I bought), the body shape is comfortable and very well balanced. Even with a cheap nylon strap, there was no neck dive. Most importantly, the sound of this bass is very good and surprisingly dynamic. I would definitely buy this again, and I would recommend this instrument to anyone looking for an inexpensive, functional bass.

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Holy Cow!

I have owned quite a few basses in my 30 years of playing. Lately age has caused me to have back problems, so I decided to look for something lightweight. I was initially looking at the Ibanez premium series but everything seems to be out of stock. I saw this and decided to give it a shot. I was initially worried about it being medium scale, but at 7.2 pounds I couldn't resist.… read more The medium scale felt just slightly shorter, and was extremely comfortable with so string flabbiness whatsoever. 32" feels very much like the sweet spot imho. Due to my back issues this has now become my number one bass for gigging. I own nicer basses, but none of them will get me through a 4 hour gig anymore with struggling with serious pain days after the gig. I strung her with 50-105 chromes and she thumps as good (if not better) than any of my full scale basses. Cons: Tuners seem cheap. They aren't horrible, but they WILL get replaced with some Hipshots. Pickups: PJ's are one of my favorite pickup configurations, but TBH I'm not thrilled that it's active. I leave the controls all at mid detent, and use the controls on my amp. Apologies to those of you who like active controls.........but a 9 or 18 volt system will NEVER have the overhead that my Markbass amp pre-amp has. I'll eventually replace the pickups with a set of passives. I'm still looking for a nice 7'ish pound Ibanez premium series 4 string bass. Most are in the 8-9 pound range so that may never happen. In the meantime this one will do nicely. So glad I took a chance on this bass.

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Great Bass, Great Price.

Don't let the low price fool you and make you think it is not a quality Bass. This Bass is sweet. The neck is straight and the frets are level. The tuners are smooth and hold spot on. The bridge is solid and adjust smoothly. The electronics are surprisingly awesome. It's well balanced and it looks great! Nice job Ibanez.

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Great Starter Bass for a Guitar Player

I am a guitar player who is becoming a multi-instrumentalist and doing some home recording. As a guitar player who is short with small hands, I thought I would try out the 32" scale. The price point of this bass is perfect for someone just starting out with the instrument. The build quality is surprising given the price point. It is really well crafted. The fret work was well done,… read more the neck finish was well done. The intonation can be successfully set, and it stays in tune. Everything you want out of a starter instrument. I have it paired with a 100 watt Fender Rumble. I can only evaluate the sound played finger style. I am not doing any funk right now, just 70s rock licks. The tone is surprisingly rich given the inexpensive build. It is mainly due to the onboard active EQ. It does take a 9V battery due to the active EQ and you need to unplug it when you stop playing in order to extend that battery life. The two different styles of pickup give you a variety of tones.

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The "MEZZO" IMAGE Ibanez Mezzo SRMD200 Bass Guitar - Candy Apple Matte

I love this bass. It is beautiful, and as advertised fun to play. (Ibanez got it right on this one) Super smooth and slick neck. This bass is solid and well made. It took a little while to get the settings right for the sound that I prefer but after that smooth sailing. For the price, can't beat it.

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Amazing bass

I've been playing bass for 10 years and have been on a quest to find the perfect short scale. Owned a couple dozen and thought that my Fender Mustang could not be beat for me. Never thought a 32" would work but took a chance and WOW! It's a tad lighter than the Stang, perfectly balanced, beautiful green, and an awesome sound with active turbocharged electronics. I can't come… read more up with one negative and it's my go to bass. Right on Ibanez you knocked it out of the park.

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55 point inspection

I purchased the Ibanez Mezzo Bass from Sweetwater because of their 55 point inspection and glad I did . The bass came boxed and protected better than anything I could imagine. Needless to say the instrument arrived perfect condition. As far as the bass I am very pleased with both the sound and playability.

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Fab!

A great base well made and reasonably priced. Small neck for my daughters small hands. Great sound and of a good weight. Well worth the price.

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Excellent bass

For the price, you couldn't ask for a better, quality bass. Love it!

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Great Bass

Super easy to play, fast easy neck. Was setup perfectly out of the box, good job Sweetwater. I did change the strings, I put on LaBella Hofner Beatle Bass flats fit perfectly had half inch after the nut before the silk start. Extremely Happy

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