I just played one of these tonight for a bit. A friend's sister bought it a while back and is just learning to play and needed someone to tune it (my friends all pointed at me, as I'm the guitarist/bassist of the group
).
Here's the one she has:
http://www.ibanez.com/guitars/guitar...=y&color=0
My first impression was that it's really cool looking in person. The shorter scale neck was extremely comfortable. Relatively thin neck for a bass. The body was comfortable while playing sitting down (didn't have a strap at the time). Once I tuned it up I played around for a couple minutes. Very nice unamplified sound (couldn't find a plug that'd work with her amp
). The controls are simple, and even the switch is really easy to understand without having to plug the bass in and hear the difference in the sounds. When I found out the thing was very cheap and made in China, I was shocked, as this was one of the nicest basses I've held. For its price range, it's amazing, and makes a great bass for a beginner who's just learning to play.
All I have to say is this:
Ibanez,
please make more AX model basses with longer scale lengths, more options, and a 5-string model.
