Ibanez TMB105 Review

Great value Great tone

I was really happy with the quality of this bass. I have several high end basses, fender, Ibanez and Music man. While this bass doesn't match them across the board it does slay squire, Sterling and other basses that are hundreds of $$$ more. Out of the box all it needed was a quick adjustment on intonation. Action is great, neck is fast, fret edges are smooth. The range of tones… read more is amazing from thumping lows to punchy highs. I strongly recommend this bass to anyone.

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Way more than you would think is possible for the price! STUNNED

This bass really makes it hard to recommend another bass guitar when the pricing is in the beginners range and the quality is well beyond anything I've seen on a guitar from any pricepoint. The fret ends were beautifully rounded to perfection, almost as if a luthier had set up my bass from the factory?! The neck profile is uncanny in how well you can transition up and down the neck;… read more moreover, the finish is satiny, open grain and feels just as beautiful. The guitar has some agreeable weight to it; however, when you play it, you feel the entire body resonating and the sustain is for days! I originally thought that I would swap out the stock PJ pickups for an EMG set and that idea is not necessary. The stock pickups are punchy and clear; however, that P style pickup is really hot when you roll in the boost to detent on a clean amp. Since a solid review of a guitar isn't complete without the only negative thing I've noticed, it would be the nut. The nut slots (on mine) are not quite deep enough for the perfect setup. You can feel it (on mine) and maybe you wouldn't notice it if you don't set guitars up yourself. That said, it's the ONLY FAULT and it doesn't hinder the playability as much as it annoys you, but most won't recognize it. The guitar setup is roughed in pretty close from the factory, I'm impressed. This is the best gear acquisition purchase I have ever made and I've found some real gems in my time. Believe the hype, Ibanez made an intuitive bass guitar that feels like you've always played one your entire life... Just buy one and prove me wrong! Since Ibanez figured out how build a superior guitar by putting all of their money into the guitar itself and sparing no expense on it by leaving out a gig bag and unnecessary bits of junk you may already have... If you don't know how to set up your bass, you could get Sweetwater to do a full setup on it and save yourself some time. I'm by no means a virtuoso on bass, but this Talman 105 from Ibanez might fool some after a few days of playing! Out of the box, the bass can and will slap like a jackhammer on the traditional strings (E,A,D,G) quite easily; however, you may find yourself dialing in the action for the B string. My B string was extremely low with a generous rounding up to 5/64" from the factory which played fine for finger style, but you really have to slap with some restraint on such low tension as with any short scale... Or raise the action a smidge to compensate. (Thanks KURT, you always give me enough string to hang myself! LOL! I don't like being bothered by pesky sales techs, but Kurt is as knowledgeable a dude as he is courteous. He doesn't bother me at all and I really appreciate him when I need his advice. A solid dude!)

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Exceeded Expectations

This bass has a lot of bite. I went to guitar center to just test it out & EVERYBODY wanted to play it!! I had everything on the amp at 12 o clock. I began to turn up the bass and the treble and the walls would shake. If you want something with GREAT sound and works within your budget, this is your bass.

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Go Ibanez talman! great bass, excellent price!

Got this bass in less than 30 hours after ordering it form my pal, Nick Church. Some slight tweaks to the neck and bridge right out of the box and now the action is perfect for my needs. Plus it sounds excellent with the wide range of active electronics dialed in to my liking. Great treble/midrange crunch when you need it and very solid lows as needed. I play it in stereo using… read more a Hartke 350 head powering a Peavey bass cab with 4 10" speakers combined with a Fender Rumble 100 through a Zoom BN3 pedal. It don't get no better than that for my needs. The retro Talman body style and tortoise shell pick guard take me back to the 60's and I like that a whole bunch. It's a bit dive-bomb neck-heavy, but with a 3.5" Levi leather bass strap, that issue goes away. Why pay more? This is a great bass at a great price. It's probably going to outlive me and still be an excellent instrument 30 years down the road! I'm really liking the quality, value, and playability of the several other Indonesian-made Ibanez guitars I own--this one is no exception. Go Ibanez! If you're thinking about this 5-string bass, I would urge you get it before the price goes up!!!

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Beast

Out the the box it was set up nicely I didn't have to adjust anything on it it feels good and plays like it was made by God himself I recommend this bass to anyone looking for a great bass this bass deserves more than 5 stars in my opinion

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