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Ibanez ATK Bass

 

Review of the Ibanez ATK Bass by The Man in the Jar

I chose the luxury appointments of the ATK700 (large picture in the middle), but the electronics are shared by the less flamboyant ATK300 (smaller pictures) which is also available in a five string version for all you Clever Bassists.

Features of the Ibanez ATK 700 Bass

Tuners - Large format open-backed tuners with large clover knobs are about the only traditional thing that's been allowed near this bass.

Headstock - The cool scalpel-shaped headstock with offset tuners is faced with the same quilted maple as the body.

Nut - The sturdy black plastic nut abuts the fretboard and is well finished.

Neck - The big, chunky maple neck has two strips of walnut running through it like a double skunk stripe which gives the instrument a luxurious custom-shop appeal. In the words of the Ibanez website "Not everyone needs a sleek, narrow necked bass", the ATK is a traditional big, heavy bass. It's the Yorkie of the bass world. But the quality of the neck makes the size manageable and, after a while, positively pleasurable. The neck is perfectly in proportion with the large body and on the strap the whole thing gels together very nicely.

34" Scale A = width at nut 42.5mm B = width at last fret 63mm C = Thickness at first fret 21mm D = Thickness at last 12th fret 24mm Radius = 240mm = 9 and 1/2 inches = quite flat

 

Fretboard - The fretboard is a lovely curly-grained maple with ergonomically rounded edges. The impression of size is enhanced by the black double-dot fret markers that span the frets, increasing to a triple-dot at the twelfth.

Frets - The 22 Jumbo frets are well polished and finish off this substantial neck perfectly.

Action - Very good from the box. 

Body - The big Fender Presision-esque body is made from light ash and shares Fender-style comfort contouring. The body is faced with quilted maple which luxuriates under the Blue Moon finish, which incidentally is darker than the photo might have you believe.

Bridge - The combined bridge and tailpiece has an extended bridge-plate into which is mounted the pickup. Each string sits on a massive barrel saddle which has a grooved string guide and is fully and individually adjustable for string height and intonation. You can chose to string through the body for better resonance but you can also string through the integral stoptail for a more traditional snappy timbre.

Pickups - The ATK bass range carries a unique triple-coil, which in anybody's book has to be pushing the envelope.

Controls - This is the heart of this remarkable instrument, all placed discreetly away from the playing area. Closest to the bridge plate is the Master Volume control. Arrayed below this are the EQ controls that are powered by a battery inserted into the back of the instrument. There's Treble, Mid and Bass cut and boost, each with centre-idents for carefree flat running. The knobs are those cool knurled Telecaster types in chrome. Nestling behind these is a three-way microswitch. This is the pickup selector, or more accurately the coil selector, switch. Choose from Single Coil with high cut filter for a traditional vintage-style sound, unfiltered Single Coil for a modern bright sound and Humbucker (double coil) wired in parallel for aggressive rock and metal tones. 

Strap-buttons - Very large strap buttons are provided on the base of the body and on the upper horn.

Output Jack - On the lower edge of the body.

Finish - Excellent throughout.

 

Sound of the Ibanez ATK Bass

The EQ on this machine is phenomenal, cranking up the bass boost to maximum literally shakes your world. More subtle tweaking closer to the centre indents allows quite intricate tone sculpting. This on its own would be enough, but the ATK has another tonal trick up its sleeve with the two single-coil and the humbucker options available via the "character switch". There seems to be nothing you can't nail, from vintage Fender-style through to all out metal fury, it's all here somewhere.

 

Overall Impressions of the Ibanez ATK Bass

If Diana Dors were a musical instrument... 

As long as you can handle the physical dimensions of the body you are in for a lot of very satisfying physical fun. The ATK range are certainly not basses for wimps but the sheer quality of tone repays you for lugging around that much wood. There are many smaller and more agile basses with good onboard EQ. But in the world of real tone there no replacement for physical density, this is an outstanding instrument that deserves the attention of every able-bodied bass player. 

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