The Ibanez brand name carries a lot of water for its work in developing the high-performance electric guitar as we know it: super-versatile, playability off the charts, and available for all budgets. But maybe it is time we talked about Ibanez and the high-performance bass guitar, because it is doing similar work, albeit an octave down.
Models such as the “jack of all trades” Ibanez SR300 and the entry-level GIO Series GSR200 are making the art of bass playing more accessible than ever before.
Ibanez is presenting bass guitars with a playability that doesn’t frighten off guitar players more accustomed to a 25.5” scale length and a Wizard neck profile. The dimensions, not to mention the ergonomics, simply work for novice bassists, so that navigating a 34” scale and the heavier string gauges required for low-end pursuits is not an altogether intimidating proposition.
And it goes without saying that what works for novice players works for pros, too. There is a reason why a player such as Korn’s Fieldy worked with Ibanez on a signature model that was based on the SR.
The bass that could…
Ibanez designed the SR300 to be the bass for all occasions. The shape of it is modern. With no edges or straight lines on the body shape, it is as though it was moulded out of solid nyatoh rather than carved.
A five-piece sandwich of maple and walnut makes for one very stable neck, and it joins the body with an unobtrusive sculpted heel aiding access to all 24-frets on the jatoba fingerboard, which is exactly what you want – and might expect – from a state-of-the-art, high-performance bass.
And yet the tones split the difference between vintage and modern. “This instrument is designed to handle virtually any style of music you throw at it,” says Ibanez. “Capable of producing tones from vintage warmth to modern growl and everything in between.”
A pair of PowerSpan humbucker pickups in the neck and bridge positions can take a lot of credit for that. But it is the active control circuit that expands your options here. A three-band EQ offers boost and cut to both pickups.
The mix knob allows you to blend the signal between them while the three-way Power Tap switch allows you to run split the pickups for single-coil sounds, run them in series as regular humbuckers, or apply the Power Tap’s signature feature and split the signal from the pickups and apply a high-pass filter to get the best of both worlds.
With the Power Tap activated, notes above a certain frequency having a single-coil sound while those down the lower-end have the full-fat tonal width of the standard humbucker – this works especially well for jazz and fusion when you are using the full fretboard.
The hardware on these SR300s is typically no-nonsense, with the adjustable Accu-cast B120 bridge featuring extra-wide string slots for handling light to ultra-heavy gauges, and has a 19mm spacing between each string. It’s a neat piece of engineering on a bass that is all about leveraging design in pursuit of performance with a street price of $349.
The ultimate beginner bass?
If the GIO Series GSR200 is not the world’s ultimate beginner bass what is? It’s definitely in the conversation, translating that high-performance ethic of its more expensive sibling to present beginners and players looking for an affordable runaround at 41.2Hz with a playable four-string that is heck a lot of bass for the money.
The body is solid poplar. The GSR4 neck is bolted to the body and has one of the great crowdpleasing neck profiles in bass guitar. It is speedy. The whole instrument feels easy on the body, lightweight, and again we have that ergonomic double-cutaway format and the 19mm string spacing at the bridge that feels just right, giving your picking hand enough room without feeling like a stretch.
“It’s an ideal starting point for beginners, offering comfort and great sound out of the box,” says Ibanez. “As skills develop, its versatile electronics and quality construction allow for tonal exploration and the ability to tackle more demanding musical situations.”
And here we get to the ace in the hole. Beginner instruments need to play the percentages and give players access to all the tones they need, and the GSR200 does that with its P/J style pickup configuration.
You will find a Dynamix P split-coil at the neck position and a Dynamix J single-coil at the bridge, with the active Phat-II EQ bass boost for extra thunder when you need it. Not bad for a $229 instrument.
And the finish options are pretty sweet too, with Transparent Red and Walnut all muted and classy, and solid-color options like Baby Pink, Celeste Blue and Mint Green really clean and fresh.
