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Ibanez EDB600 Bass Guitar

 

Review of the  Ibanez EDB600 Bass by The Man in the Jar

I'm not a noted fan of "modern" guitar designs, but this Ibanez is a remarkably sexy looking beast loaded with some of the best on-board passive eq I've ever heard. 

Features of the Ibanez EDB600

Tuners - Black sealed units with very elegant tuning knobs. These are splayed back slightly towards the player which looks good and also makes them easier to use.

Headstock - The headstock on the EDB600 looks very small in comparison to traditional types. This is made possible by the relatively compact size of the tuners.

Nut - A black plastic nut which is cut accurately. It's a narrow nut which gives this end of the neck a definite Jazz Bass feel.

Neck - A very slim D profile that sits in the hand very comfortably.

Fretboard - Rosewood with 24 frets. The lovely balance of the bass on the strap and the economy of its body shape make the scale length feel shorter than it is. Traditional dot markers sit nicely with the modern design.

Frets - Nice fat rounded frets make accurate fingering easy. The scale length affords plenty of finger space in the upper register.

Action - Quite high straight from the box but there's plenty of room to coax it down at the bridge. It's an adjustment you'll probably make to get the most out of those 24 frets. Given the quality of the onboard eq you might even treat yourself to some lighter gauge strings.

Body - This is made from Luthite. No.... I don't know either. Whatever it is it's been shaped into a very sexy variant on the Jazz Bass theme. It's very comfortable to play sitting or standing.

Bridge - Very chunky Ibanez toploader design. The bridge sits in its own recess in the smoothly contoured body and offers full height and intonation adjustment over four solid-looking saddles. Each saddle sits in its own "compartment" separated from its neighbour by a slim metal filet. This bridge looks like the last word in stability.

Pickups - Two Ibanez humbuckers. The housings extend well beyond the strings' field of resonance on both sides, I assume this is just for looks and that the pickups inside the housings are considerably smaller. In any event the design does look very handsome and compliments the body perfectly. 

Controls - The control knobs are those lovely knurled Tele-types in black. The bass arrives with a helpful (removable) plastic label that sits over the knobs and identifies them. The top two knobs are a standard volume control and a "Balancer". The balancer control replaces a pickup selector. When you feel the centre indent is engaged the two pickups are delivering equal signal. Turn the knob one way to blend in more neck and blend out the bridge, turn the other way for the opposite effect.
Below these are three smaller knobs, also centre-indented that control the eq for bass, middle and treble. The centre-indenting has a very positive "click" feeling to it so you won't get lost on a dimly lit stage. 

Strap-buttons - Medium large buttons in the traditional locations.

Output Jack - Situated in a curiously Strat-like angled plastic dish on the front of the body.

Finish - The Red Rock Sunburst (a kind of metallic burgundy) is a very attractive modern finish that really suits the general vibe of this bass.

 

Sound of the Ibanez EDB600 

I was immediately impressed by the power and punchiness delivered by the double humbucker combination. The Balancer control adds a huge sweep of variation to the already great voice of these pickups. But the Ace in the Hole is the EQ section. The scope of all three bands is excellent, I can't imagine there's a sound that can't be found if you're prepared to sit and search for it. 

 

Overall Impressions of the Ibanez EDB600

I'm a great fan of Ibanez guitars and this bass has the same quality vibe and great sound. The eq is really a huge bonus and quite frankly justifies the mid-£300 price tag without all the other great features of this instrument. The balancer knob is an excellent idea that I'd like to see used more widely, it's a really intelligent way to increase the tone options of any instrument equipped with two pickups.

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