Ibanez Jetking

[BigBeefChief]

Just seen this and my pay check is burning a hole in my pocket:

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_jtkb200_bsb.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_jtkb200_bsb.htm[/url]


Not usually an Ibanez man, but this is causing a huge swelling in the ol' speedos.

Anyone played one? What are the necks like? Any views?

Cheers all.


BBC

[kevbass]

Presumably its the Ibanez version of the jag bass? It looks nice, but Im not too keen on that modern looking headstock on that traditional looking body.

[BigBeefChief]

I quite like the headstock - kind of a mini version on the body shape.

[bass_ferret]

This is a re-issue of an original Ibanez bass from way back. Its cheap enough and cheap Ibanez are usually nice to play. You need it in black though.

[Bassassin]

I've never played one but they look great imo.

They're not a straight re-issue - more loosely based on the likes of this, from 1960:



There's been a fair bit of attention paid to these over the last couple of months, but I don't think anyone's bit the bullet yet. So I say buy it - if only in the interest of being a guinea pig for the wider community...

Jon.

[clauster]

BBC - for that money you could get yourself a nice Warwick Rckbass

[Dubs]

[quote name='clauster' post='200943' date='May 17 2008, 11:07 AM']BBC - for that money you could get yourself a nice Warwick Rckbass [/quote]

[Bassassin]

[quote name='clauster' post='200943' date='May 17 2008, 11:07 AM']BBC - for that money you could get yourself a nice Warwick Rckbass [/quote]

Or two similar vintage JapCraps from the same era & probably factory:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GUYATONE-we-think-GOLDEN-OLDIE-BASS-GUITAR-60s-70s_W0QQitemZ120262650694"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GUYATONE-we-think-GO...emZ120262650694[/url]

If you can find another one...

J.

[BigBeefChief]

[quote name='clauster' post='200943' date='May 17 2008, 11:07 AM']BBC - for that money you could get yourself a nice Warwick Rckbass [/quote]


Tempting.

Just so I can destroy it before it gives someone else cancer.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='200997' date='May 17 2008, 12:49 PM']Or two similar vintage JapCraps from the same era & probably factory:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GUYATONE-we-think-GOLDEN-OLDIE-BASS-GUITAR-60s-70s_W0QQitemZ120262650694"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GUYATONE-we-think-GO...emZ120262650694[/url]

If you can find another one...

J.[/quote]


Unfortunately I'm unable to purchase or sell things on ebay.

[The Burpster]

Sean,

I like it..... One thing you can be sure of with an Ibanez is, that however inexpensive they are they will be capable of being set up to play well.

If you like it get, I'm sure it'll be nice to play. The electrics may be a bit odd as they tend to be on budget Jap basses but nothing we cant put right between us on here!

[LukeFRC]

when they brought out the guitar ones a few years back they were sold as copys of pawnshop style guitars, not exact reissues of anything.
I think it looks ace, though pefer the guitar ones for the look.

[Soulfinger]

I played one briefly - pretty bass, well made, with a groovy, round, warm vintage-y sound.

I´m not sure how it will balance on a strap though, and I didn´t like the neck profile. Similar to a Höfner Violin bass, somehow narrow yet bulky.

[BigBeefChief]

Its the neck profile that concerns me, and I know exactly what you mean by narrow yet bulky (Hofner-esque).

Where did you play it?

[Jase]

Mahogany body, nice bass! sunburst too

[Huge Hands]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='200910' date='May 17 2008, 10:19 AM']"Just seen this and my pay [b]check[/b]....."[/quote]

tBBC, are you an American in disguise?

[Soulfinger]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='202031' date='May 19 2008, 01:19 PM']Where did you play it?[/quote]
At Klangfarbe here in Vienna.

[LukeFRC]

soulfinger are you ready for a visit from the seminaked BBC?

[Ant]

i've got a shuker being built with the jet king body shape.

i love the kind of vintage pawn shop vibe it gives off,

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='Ant' post='203671' date='May 21 2008, 12:50 PM']i've got a shuker being built with the jet king body shape.

i love the kind of vintage pawn shop vibe it gives off,[/quote]
Good idea. I was thinking something like that myself - same as if you really wanted a non-reverse T-bird (which is kind of similar) and dont want an Epiphone.

[Ant]

yeah, im really looking forward to it, getting it done with dual darkstar pickups.

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='Ant' post='203720' date='May 21 2008, 01:50 PM']yeah, im really looking forward to it, getting it done with dual darkstar pickups.[/quote]
Ooh Darkstars Sounds like sex

[Mod_Machine]

I have one of these in sunburst.

I was actually playing a 3/4 epiphone EB0 which was, if anything TOO boomy. BUT im pretty short (5ft 7) and it didnt look too silly. However i wanted something a little better looking,i had recently dislodged the bridge of the sg at a gig(!) and was trying out the indie Riki (the rickenbacker copy). The jet king was in the store as well in sunburst so i thought i would give it a go, even though it looked like the neck was MUCH longer than the riki.

They played pretty much the same way, they sounded the same no matter which amp i tried them through, and i actually really liked how it balanced in comparison to the indie. The only thing missing early on was the metal bridge across the strings.
The first thing i noticed about it was the tonality is much more trebly and warm than i was expecting across all the strings.
Anyways i got that as it was about £200 cheaper than the indie and i was able to get a softcase and some leads thrown in (though i really had to haggle)
The next day we were in the studio recording a demo so i decided to use it and the engineer was really impressed with how even and warm it was across the whole fretboard when bypassing the amp. It took me a little while to get used to the size difference, and ive found that ive gone from using a thumb pick to predominantly finger picking because it a) feels better with that bass and it sounds so much better!!
The only things i have noticed that may go against it slightly are.....
1)when i first started playing it the frets felt a bit 'sharp' when running up the neck - this ceased being an issue within a couple of hours of playing properly
2)the rear of the neck is pretty mat and has a tendency to pick up quite a bit of crud, which again sometimes impedes my hand sliding to the high notes if i dont polish it before each and after each reheasal and gig
3)the rear of the neck is pretty soft wood and will scratch and dent really easy...i still havent grabbed a hard shell case for it, and if anyone knows of a good budget case which this odd shape will fit well please let me know.

Gotta say for the price tho i think its REALLY good value and i love the way it looks.

[allighatt0r]

Wow someone actually has one!

Nice review Mod_Machine, plenty of detail, iI have a couple of questions though.

How much did you pay for it (if you don't mind disclosing) How heavy is it? Is it "ow my shoulder is gonna fall off heavy" or "am i even holding a bass?" light or just somewhere in the middle? Did you need to do much setting up to it? what kinda range of different tones can you get from either pickup? and am i right in understanding you fitted a pickup cover/string bridge? how does that look? any chance of a picture?

Thanks.

[Mod_Machine]

Ok, you will have to excuse my niavity in some areas...i dont pretend to have played hundreds of different basis, and unfortunately retro looks are one of the first things i go for before trying out a bass..(shallow i know but im pretty much the same with everything)

I paid about £240 for it, and like i say i haggled my back teeth out and could only get a £10 off, a gig bag and some leads, thumb picks etc thrown in!

WEIGHT wise it feels well balanced (again taking into consideration the price and shape of it).
It sounds strange but the best comparison i can give is with my expectations for the epiphone EB0. its smaller and i was thus expecting it to be lighter, however its not - in anyway what so ever. That used to really dig into my shoulder, even when i changed my strap for a wider one.
Im still using the same 2 inch width guitar strap as i used with my EB0, and even after 4 hour reheasal sessions i dont have a mark on me and it doesnt feel lie the head is made of lead! However i had got used to playing the EB0 so everything feels pretty light! I move around ALOT when we play live and the weight of the bass doesnt stop that, so cant be all that bad.

SETTING UP:a real issue with me as i always do my own, and usually my mates guitars aswell (why dont guitarists bother to learn this???). I had a few probs with my old bass and have found a shop that spent alot of time getting it right and i trusted them...however i havent needed to touch this since i got it. Like i said the -next day before even playing it outside of the shop i went into the studio and it gave a really even sound across the whole range, because of the lack of height between the strings and the pickups i at first found it difficult to use a thumb pick (which most people think im mad for using anyway) as it kept bashing into the pickups. I would have liked a string bridge to allow me to lazily rest my hand in the right place for this not to happen, but what i found instead is that i have moved into finger picking all our new material and changed my playing style to suit. It also helps with the sound no end-this bass definately prefers the softer approach to playing. As such im still holding off from the string bridge. for now ( i still think it may lend to the retro, pawn shop look of the bass)

SOUND: rather than selecting between the pick ups using a toggle as i was used to, this bass uses a seperate volume knob for each pick up. meaning that you can turn up one, the other, both, and hundreds of digits inbetween. Because of this the range between warmth and trebly really can be adjusted and fine tuned 'at instrument' to suit each persons requirement-this is something im finding really useful when gigin as a minor twist of one pick up knob can give me a subtle, but much fuller sound for some songs, and visa versa.
When i tried it in store, i used the cheapest amp possible to begin with to really see what its like in comparison with the more expensive 'indie' bass. The guitarist in the band was even surprised and yelped out 'it sounds like a real bass' in shock. He definately thinks it was a great investment.
I unfortunately run through a Hartke Bass attack pedal into my amps so i find that i get the general sound using the shape button on there, and then spend a while using the pickup knobs to perfect the sound i want. Kilto Take are an indie band so what we want is much more trebly rather than overly booming.

This bass definately delivers , although another draw back is that although its great for getting some lovely warm, well rounded tones and vintage vibes it doesnt really lend itself to obtaining a more gutsy, cutting or viscious tone. Also it does 'appear' quite long and may look odd on shorter bass players. Also bear in mind it is still a budget bass, there are definately some things i would like to be more retro and built to last but overall everthing seems durable and it accpts the battering i give it without complaint. (gigging weekly in a soft gig bag, plus reheasals and spending the rest of the time hung on the wall)....unlike my amp.

hope this is of some help

[allighatt0r]

Thankyou for an great review. I saw a picture of the jetking a while ago and could never really justify getting one because i didn't know much about it at all, you've really helped me out.