I was mainly talking about their basses but yes, Fender does make some good-looking 6-strings. I just don’t like their oddly-shaped basses as much. They may look retro, but that’s never been my jam. Different strokes. 
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Honestly you’re not alone. I can appreciate Fenders but they have never been top picks for looks for me. And their best looking ones (the Aerodynes) don’t really appeal to me these days.
I’ve always been a Yamaha fanboy; their styles along with the Ibanez SR line and ESP’s many awesome styles are the kinds of designs that float my boat. I am all about basses pretty far from the Fender standard. I currently own a BB734A and a SBV-800MF, both classic Yamaha styles but the SBV especially is waaaaaay out of the mainstream Fender styling
Signature model of the bass player for my favorite band here, RIP Supercar.
I have owned Fenders that I really liked but they aren’t my top picks for looks.
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Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater
If you are Geddy, you can make anything sound good, and you will play like Geddy and people will recognize your technique. The tone may be different. So what do you mean by sound?
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This made me smile. You can trash talk Fender all day on here and nobody cares. I have a Fender P and Jazz bass. I love mine.
The only thing you can’t do is bad mouth The Eagles.
That’s it, everything else is fair game.
However if you genuinely think a Fender P Bass is uglier than this thing then maybe it’s time for a visit to the optician 
That bass has the looks that only a mother could love.
Isaiah 35:5
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened
And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
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Yep, that bass has been well and truly beaten with the ugly stick.
I’m also not a Fender fan boy. I’ve never liked the look of them, with the exception of certain telecasters. When I was (badly) playing a guitar 35 years ago, Fenders were not on my ‘I want’ list - back then I wanted a Steinberger headless, but couldn’t afford it! It’s also why I bought a Steinberger Spirit bass once I was a few lessons into B2B
While one should never say never, I can’t imagine buying (what I consider to be a ubiquitous) Fender P or J bass, there are just too many other cool looking instruments to consider.
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I felt this way for a long time. I eventually bought a Fender Precision because I found I combo of features I really liked.
It was a great bass, but I did eventually sell it to go back to Yamahas.
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I went through this same thing and Fender wasn’t even a consideration. One day I finally tried a Fender Jazz Bass and it felt like it was designed for me.
Don’t write anything off. Try everything you can get your hands on. You never know what might surprise you. 
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Back to the main topic, the Ibanez I’d like is an EHB1000S. I love it in pink!
There was one on Reverb recently for £525. I really should have bought it, but I’d just bought my Dingwall. The Reverb bass then turned up on Facebook Marketplace for £700…!
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I’ve for an EHB1005SMS,
Same bass as the EHB1000S. Same pickups, preamp, only difference is mine is a 5 string and multi fret.
This is the best bass I have. The build quality is out of this world. Stainless steel frets, Birdseye maple fingerboard, roasted maple neck. Fantastic neck profile. Light - it’s chambered. I love this bass.
EHB1000S has all these features
Took me a couple tries to dial in the sound, but the preamp is better then than the regular Ibanez preamp. It has a mid range sweep, which makes all the difference in the world.
Even though a 5 string, it’s my easiest bass to play. Almost gassing over the 4 string - in pink like you say.
The only thing I don’t like about it is the Nutrik lock for the input jack. It’s a pain at first to unlock and unplug the cable. But the more I play it and the more I get used to it, the less it bothers me. And I think it’s easier to remove too with use. But that’s the only thing I don’t like, it’s a great bass.
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Yes, I’ve looked at the 5 string, @Wombat-metal, as I particularly like the multi-scale side of things (I went for the Dingwall (4) on that basis), but I don’t think I’m ready to try a 5…
How do you find the angled PUs as a thumb rest? When I bought the Dingwall, I also looked at the Spector NS Dimension, but didn’t like the high corners of the PUs as it put my fingers too far away from the strings unless I slid back to the lower corner. The D has rounded PUs, meaning no high corners…
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I forgot to mention the neck profile is fantastic like you would expect out of Ibanez, it the easiest bass I have to play for all its fiver
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It comes with a finger ramp, and going through B2B my thumb spends a lot of time on the B. But it doesn’t bother me. I play with the thumb toward the rear of the pup cover, but that’s really for when I’m playing on the B. I do floating thumb, and I am moving the thumb as I play strings.
If you’re not ready for 5 string the B makes an excellent thumb rest until you are
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His sound…Geddy’s sound. When you hear it, you know it’s him. Is there a more technical term? LOL
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Hahaha! Very true. When I see that bass, I think of a whale. That’s what it looks like. Very Narwhal-looking.
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Yeah we call them whales here too
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By chance did you have the option of trying the SR5000 with Bartolini PUPs or the SR2600B with Aguilar PUPs? I’m trying to decide between those and the SR1350B you’ve chosen. Not much on YouTube on the sound differences between these, if any. As I can tell, the only differences are the manufacturer origin and the pickups. I tried the SR1350B at a store & thought it was great. I think you will enjoy it.
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I did not. The Guitar Center I went to had so very few Ibanez basses in stock in general. I would like to try the SR5000 Prestige that has Bartolini’s in it…if I could’ve afforded the extra $1k, I would’ve probably gone for it. But not sure how much of a difference it would’ve made so I went with the 1350B because the Nordstrands sound amazing.
I couldn’t find the SR2600B on their site? They have the 1600B, which has the Nord’s, and a straight up 2600 with Nord’s as well. I couldn’t find either with the Aguilar’s. The 1600D, has Aguilar’s, but I still didn’t get to try one. Like I said, a lot of stores don’t carry a lot of the Ibanez basses, which is a crying shame!
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Definitely one of my favorite basses : in my top five just for its looks.
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