Ibanez TMB30 Review

This is a Game changer, Im stunned

Every now and then you get more (lots more) than you pay for. This is it. Wanted a fun knock around bass, instead of my main Stingray. Need: Lite, fast neck, short scale, smooth frets. Perfect frets, Was setup out of the box. Little buzzy, but raising the saddle a turn will get rid of extra rattle. I love the split P-B pickup growl. Its very Ric-Like with punchy middle like a full… read more Pbass. The only defect was the neck pickup wire came loose, was a 5 minute fix, and I added a .047mf orange drop cap, and it got the mids back.. Pots were noisy, needing a spray of De-ox-it, and now its prefect. Unfinished neck is an irk, (satin or clear would be nice) oh well. I compared to my '87 Young Chang E7 Squire bullet Pbass (main backup) and its a bit brighter & has a much better bridge tone, and my Squier sounds magnificent.. The Ibz is heavenly. Mods are really unnecessary, its hard to improve this little bass. This is a best kept secret. Squier Mustang feels like a toy in comparison to Ibanez, and its high quality yet inexpensive. Except for the minor Q.C. issues (Sweetwater should just pay attention), its a 10/10.

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Great bass

Amazing bass. If you have a back problem this might be a solution. The only thing you need to get used on this is the size of the bass because the shorter neck functions different than classic neck. For example, tone c on the g strings sounds warmer with better sustain than tone c on the d string. It doesn't need a low action setup to be softer to play. It is really soft to play… read more it almost feels like you put DGCF tuning. if the slapping or heavy music is your thing this bass might not be for you because the attack of the bass aint like on standard bass but with the proper adjustment of the preamp ( in my case bass battalion) this problem is solved so even before mentioned metalheads and slappers might find this bass interesting. the only downside of this bass at least in my case, when i turn on both pickups some phase cancellation happens, the sound is lower and low attack, but i prefer a p bass sound so it doesn't matter to me... the neck is a bit wider than jazz neck but very comfortable. there is no neck diving. due to the playability shortscale functions a bit different than the standard bass so you might need a few gigs and rehersals to train your muscle memory

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Can't Beat It!

Love this guitar. We shopped around for an easy to play bass. I like it because it has 2 pickups to give you a variety of sounds. It's an Ibanez so the workmanship is fine. The short neck makes it good for a beginner or a guitar player that wants to learn bass. The tailpiece pickup has a slight hum, but that is to be expected. It's not a humbucker. I would recommend this to anyone… read more looking for an inexpensive bass. You can't beat it.

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Excellent Bass For A Great Price

I've been playing guitar for over a year and finally decided to cave in and buy a bass. I got this thing in the mail today and I am totally impressed by it, especially for the price. It came perfectly set up out of the box (props to Ibanez and Sweetwater for that) and I can't seem to find one con about it... no blemishes, good tuners, no sharp frets, no loose output pack, etc. The… read more tone is spectacular, and I love the pickups. Huge props also to Sweetwater for a great setup and excellent packaging. I ordered it on a Thursday night and it was here Saturday morning.

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I'm stunned

When I pulled the trigger and bought this bass I figured it would be you know ok I wasn't expecting a whole lot but I was dead wrong. When mine showed up the intonation was perfect the strings contoured to the neck also perfect it wasn't even that far off in tuning. The finish looks great the neck and fretboard are nice and smooth, plays fast. I had a tiny buzz if I was aggressive… read more with the E string I literally made one full turn of each screw on the saddle of the low e string and the buzz was gone VOILA! literally this bass is by far the best bang for your buck purchase I have ever made. The pickups are dynamic and smooth the volume and tone knobs make a noticeable difference even with small adjustments I am blown away. Well done Ibanez well done. The only thing that I really noticed that could maybe down the road use an upgrade is the tuners. They tune perfectly fine the metal just feels a little thin but so does every other bass tuner with a clover shape so with that said at under $200 don't even think about it just buy this thing already. It may be short scale but that's the only thing it's short on.

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