Ibanez SR300E vs. Yamaha TRBX304 (Jack of All Basses / Master of None?)

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OK… it’s all coming together in my head… slowly.

This is entirely true – but only to a degree. Soeone mentioned the example of Scott Devine, who played someone else’s bass, only to find out that he still sounded like Scott Devine.
And even though both James Jamerson and Geezer Butler play a P-bass, you could’ve fooled me. :wink:

Will I still want this bass once I know what I want?
(aka “Will I still want you / Will I still need you / When I’m 64?”)
The other thing that puzzles me is: what is it with this fascination to make your bass sound like a P-bass or a J-bass? I don’t think this ever bothered Paul McCartney, or Chris Squire, or Geddy Lee, or Percy Jones. They just aimed at sounding like themselves rather than emulate someone…
But I get it. A beginning bassist will probably not have a clear picture of what suits him best, other than a bass player they may want to emulate. If that happens to be a P-bass player, or a J-bass player, chances are that getting a P or J to begin with (rather than a general purpose Iby or Yam) is probably a better idea anyway.

As our new player progresses through the process of becoming a more proficient bass player, they may well discover specific preferences that they had not initially factored in – not just specific to tone, but also to how it plays. Think neck scape.

Yes, but if you’re at the start of your journey, you haven’t found out about that yet.

If I don’t know what I want yet, what’s my safest bet?
For that specific reason, I would think it’s probably better to get a secondhand mainstream instrument (a P or a J type), rather than a do-it-all like your Ibanez or my TRBX. Along the way, you’ll find out more about what you like, and what instrument would suit you best, and there’s more than an outside chance that your first bass won’t remain your favourite. If that happens, you’ll find that selling a Squier J for about the money you paid for it is easier than selling your Iby or my Yammy for a price at least approaching the original price. Result: you’ve burnt less money while figuring this thing out.

TL;DR:
Don’t spend too much on your first instrument. Chances are you’ll replace it anyway.
A PJ gives you plenty of flexibility, especially when ‘tweaked’. Get a PJ from a reputed brand; a Squier PJ will resell easier than a Cort PJ (even though I’d prefer the Cort). Try to find a good secondhand; if you buy new, you’ll lose a three figure amount as soon as that bass crosses the doorstep.

Got an idol you might want to emulate? Find out what they use (Wikipedia knows), and research getting something that emulates that.

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I have no idea what they were smoking when they came up with that thing. The mere existence of gimmick switches in general justifies the existence of Dremel tools. Don’t take it off with a hammer; that might cause collateral damage.
I am tempted to glue it into the neutral position.
I use the EQ in my Zoom to get the tone I want, and create a few presets using that tone, which also allows me to compensate for changing output levels.

Yes, I see what you mean.
I hate the headstock, and I don’t like the weight, myself. It has all the subtlety of a slab of concrete. :wink:

I could have said that.
Having said that, both you and I are at a stage where we are a bit more certain of what we’re looking for in an instrument than someone who is at the start of their bass journey.

I think that, at some point, I started to want a bass that would make me sound like me as much as possible. The bass I initially got ended up being the instrument I liked the least.

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Ibanez wins for me. In the intro I preferred all the Ibanez examples and looks also matter imo. Not that I dislike the Yamaha style. The only thing I hate is the output jack from the Ibanez. Great review!

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They really are both excellent choices.

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Hmm…I’m beginning to wonder if we are having a miscommunication here, @peterhuppertz . My original post is very tongue-in-cheek. I’m not actually self-conscious about or questioning my choice of bass. Your response reads to me partly like you are thinking out loud and partly like you think I’m asking for or need advice (which I’m not and I don’t).

Bass is a relatively new instrument to me, but it’s not my first instrument and not my first stringed instrument. I played violin between the ages of 11-13, and used four different instruments as I progressed (two rentals and two I own). It took a little time with each instrument to figure out how to play it so it sounded acceptable; the concept of individual instruments’ tone is not new to me.

I did not do a ton of research before I started B2B because 1.) didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole, I just wanted to start, and 2.) I knew getting experience with the feel of the bass would be more valuable and instructive than watching a bunch of YT videos. This was actually the first topic of conversation I had with @Wombat-metal and @John_E when I joined the Forum and posted in the “Show Us Your Basses” thread. (Side note: does anyone else, in their head, pronounce Basses like it rhymes with…masses when they read that title? No? Just me?)

HOWEVER…literally two days after I received my lovely Pearl White Ibanez Gio GSR200, I watched Josh’s video rating this bass. It wasn’t great. I decided that it didn’t matter and my bass would sound as good as the effort I put into my lessons.

Sooooo, watching this new video was somewhat redeeming. The Yamaha is a safe choice for a beginner, but I don’t feel like I need a safe choice (ever play violin? You have to be comfortable sounding terrible for a loooong time; otherwise you will give up). @JoshFossgreen pointed out some things about the Ibanez that make it a good choice for my musical taste and the style I would like to develop. It didn’t matter that the Ibanez didn’t “win”; it was the better match for me, and I can leave any hard feelings about the first Ibanez review behind. :smiley:

Couple quick thoughts on what you wrote:
“And even though both James Jamerson and Geezer Butler play a P-bass, you could’ve fooled me.”
Not apples to apples though when you factor in the gear they played through, style of music, size of venue, production values, etc.

“Got an idol you might want to emulate? Find out what he uses”
How about an edit to “Find out what they use.” There are women bassists out there worth emulating, too - like Paz Lenchantin and Melissa Auf der Maur. :slightly_smiling_face:

Thanks for reading, and for caring enough to write such a lenghty response in the first place. See? You do still think I’m special. :joy:

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How about the battery connection?
The best solution (better even than the one in my TRBX) is the one I fond inside my €140 Harley-Benton.
Seriously, Ibanez, what the #^&@?

So was the start of mine. I didn’t really file for divorce, trust me. I think our differences are entirely reconcileable. :rofl:

I have been justly accused of this more often.

Not even remotely.

What I was wondering about is whether or not the content of the video would be good advice for someone who’s starting out and wondering what bass to get. The more I think of it, the more I think it’s not.

Only in angling (fishing) circles, I think.

Excellent point! I usually do that – to the point where, if I read it back now, it just doesn’t compute.
I would immediately think of Tai Wilkenfeld, who is responsible for me deciding to stop moaning about my small hands and accept the 34" scale as the One True Way.

There is also Kinga Glyk, a Polish bass player who is huge fun, as well as a very excellent player.
Kinga Głyk - Joy Joy - YouTube

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Wonderful! And agreed. Thank you for your responses; glad we talked this through. :joy:

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Basses rhymes with masses?

You can tune a bass, but you can’t tune a fish.

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Well that connection is a bit lame yeah, but I got guitars with the same issue. Doesn’t really bother me that much. Maybe I am a bit biased because my son just bought an Ibanez (GRG131DX) guitar :guitar:

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And the main point here, to me, is that you tweak it until YOU like the sound/tone.

I am surprised nobody has mentioned the amp used. A 12" speaker is going to give you a different sound over an 8" or even a 10" speaker IMHO.

Also not considered is the actual practice space a Bass is being played in.

I am a Yamaha fan and own both the TRBX304 and TRBX504 but that is just my preference. As @howard has said on many occasions the 504 is a lot more bang for your buck, with the improved electronics and pickups, over the 304.

Both the Yamaha and Ibanez Basses compared in the @JoshFossgreen video are both fine instruments. Beginners watching that video to help select a Bass should consider which one appeals to them the most. That is the one to buy IMHO

IMHO If beginners spent more time practicing instead of worrying about tonewoods, pedals, string types, etc. they would probably be further ahead in their Bass learning journey. YMMV

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Hmm interesting! I have the Ibanez and the Power Tap switch had me completely baffled because I can hardly hear any difference between modes. The difference in the video was quite clear though, so is my bass broken, or is it more likely that my cheapo amp isn’t good enough to make the difference clear?

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Probably! Plug in some headphones and find out. :slight_smile:

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I did get a good chuckle out of:

followed immediately by:

:rofl:

Excellent example of original bass tone being a very fungible thing.

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Yep, just you.

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A two band EQ wouldn’t be so bad if it was bass and mids but treble is pretty useless much of the time. On my GWB35 the treble is mostly just a noise knob :joy: and it has a fairly weak preamp so turning the bass and treble down for a mid boost isn’t great either.

My Sire has all the knobs/switches and my pbass had 2 so :laughing:

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Yeah - the preamp bands are wide enough on most if not all 2-bands that boosting/cutting both bass and treble has negligible effect on mids -the bands overlap. It’s more or less equivalent to a volume knob.

I would literally rather have a one-band preamp centered in the mids than a 2-band bass/treble. And in a lot of usage, the low-pass filter of a tone knob gets you what you would often realistically use a 2-band for.

3-band onboard preamps are where it’s at. Especially Darkglass-style bass, low-mid, and hi-mid knobs :rofl:

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I like the Jack on the ibanez, my Yamaha guitar has a similar jack and its really convenient to loop your cable around your guitar strap.

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I haven’t got a single bass with a three-band eq.
Do I miss it?
Noooo… I’d appreciate a midrange control, but I’ve got two equalisers in the signal chain already. Only on-instrument controls I use would be the volumes/balance of the bridge and neck pickups.

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Well yes, discussing the usefulness of different types of onboard EQ assumes that you use it :rofl:

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Hate might be a bit much, but I just have a strong preference for side or back.

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