I wouldn’t mind the Ibanez jack if they did something to protect the wood around it, maybe a fitting like Strats have.
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So the jack on the Ibanez is actually how i prefer them? Primarily because i mostly sit sit on a straight back chair to play- it’s also nice on account it doesn’t create a massive loop in the cord when looping through the strap. I didn’t like that the finish isn’t protected there, so i thought about one of the 6" extender cables, but the Jack is the on/off switch for the battery. So it isn’t like you could just leave it-i mean unless you’re always wanting it on and have an endless supply of fresh 9v batteries on hand… This leads to the cheap a.f. battery arrangement… I love that bass. I mean, i really love that thing - but COME ON Ibanez! Such a great product for such a nice price point and you cheap out on the battery connector?
All that said, it’s still am amazingly good product for the money. Plays sweet, beautiful tone, great balance-seriously, the headstock never dips.
For the money, it’s a great grab.
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Yeah, that would be my real issue.
I had a €140 Harley-Benton… which had the best battery connector solution I’ve seen. So it can be done on a budget. Marginally better even than the arrangement on the TRBX.
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The only quip I have about the jack design is the exposed finish. If they were to put a rubber or plastic grommet around the opening I would be fine.
The way they have it now lends to distressing quickly, especially on some of their thin finishes.
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I have the Ibanez SR300, and I fully agree with you on the cable jack - it sucks, especially during those times when I like to practice using my wireless transmitter, which rubs up against the edge of the guitar. There’s already a couple of tiny nicks where it made contact with the body. The other thing I hate is, to avoid running down the 9v battery, you have to unplug the cable from the guitar. Yep, that’s the switch. Dumb. Other than that, I really like it so far.
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Afaik, this is the way it works on the vast majority of active guitars & basses. So, that’s not Ibanez’s fault.
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It’s the way it works for most music gear in general. Pedals are often the same way. The bypass is usually not a power switch 
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I’ve seen people use an adapter to get round this problem.
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I had to go check my Yamaha AES, i thought it had some kind of trim but it doesn’t, they just gave the edge of the hole a nice little fillet and a thick poly clear that could probably stop a bullet 
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Hah, cool. Bulletproof lacquer.
I like the metal one on Strats.
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It was! Or at least partly. I had flats on before but changed to some round wounds last week (time to finally try the dreaded slap module again…). With headphones I can clearly hear the difference, through the amp I can hear some difference now.
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Any recommendations for articles / videos about different categories of bass and their uses? Over the 18 months of playing I feel I’ve learned a lot about technique / music theory but know next to nothing about the instrument itself.
I’m aware there are P and J basses but not what the differences are and why one would choose one over the other (or both). My Ibanez is apparently a ‘do-it-all (master of none?)’ bass but I don’t know what that means.
There are lots of expensive basses out there that aren’t a Fender Precision or Jazz so presumably there is more to bass life than just trying to emulate the sound of one of those 2?
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Oh man… don’t get me started! 
For all practical purposes, your Ibanez is just as excellent as my Yamaha. And yes, they are both different from a P and a J.
Which, in fact, I consider a Good Thing™.
I have to bring over approx. 100 pounds of bass amp/cab to the rehearsal address, but I’ll be back later!
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Your Ibanez (like mine) is the best at being what it is, an Ibanez. I love my SR300 and am saving up to get one of their really high end Premium or Prestige models. As I get better, I will try to reward myself with a dream bass. A really high end Ibby would scratch that itch very well I imagine.
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The vast majority of recordings going back decades were made on a P or a J bass. So it’s kind of a defacto reference point when discussing tone.
Doesn’t mean they’re any better than anyone else.
P basses have that thump. Think Motown or punk, a P is predominant in those genres.
Js are more versatile, they have two pickups. You get the low end out of the neck, and a growl out of the bridge. My Generation by The Who and Zeppelin’s Dazed and Confused are classic J recordings, as is Rush or Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Bass like many things has no ceiling on what you can spend. There’s many good intermediate instruments which I think give you the best bang for your buck.
Question is what is the tone you want? You can spend a lot of money chasing tone.
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@pete_s
The Fender Precision Bass (P) and Fender Jazz Bass (J) are a bit like the Strat and Les Paul of the guitar world. Iconic instruments that have been around for well over half a century, and they’re regularly mentioned as some sort of Gold Standard. There are many other manufacturers that have mimicked the principle and the configuration. To add to the confusion, there’s also the PJ type, which has the neck pickup configuration of the P and the bridge pickup configuration of the J. In Josh’s March video, your Ibanez and my Yamaha were evaluated with their ability to emulate the J sound as a criterium… which is why it seems as if the Yamaha… kinda “won”.
There is a school of thought that says that, with the help of electronics (equalisation on the amp or in a separate equaliser), you can get close enough to the P or J sound, and you can forget about the pixie dust gimmick switch (which is a patently bad idea anyway). There is also a school of thought that says "in a hockey rink, nobody’s gonna hear the difference (Frank Zappa). I think the same holds true for a noisy pub and a mildly inebriated audience.
But there’s more, much more than tone.
Next: playability.
I have a jazz bass type bass, from Gregg Bennett, made by Samick. A comparatively cheap bass, but surprisingly good. It has the same neck as a jazz bass – a classic C profile I think it’s called. I don’t like that.
Both your Iby and my Yammie have a much thinner neck. I’m not entirely sure about the Ibanez, but the Yamaha neck is very stable (it’s a 5 piece construction rather than one solid piece of wood). Having a typically thin neck is nice, especially when you have somewhat smaller hands.
The Ibanez and the Yamaha also weigh a lot less than either a P or a J, which can be a factor… and another thing is, both Fenders have a tendency for “neck dive” (when not supported, the headstock wants to point down to the floor).
Playability is 95% personal preference and 50% setup. I like the Yamaha much better than the J, because of the neck profile and the weight. Your Ibanez is even lighter.
In a dim past (we’re talking 40 years ago now), I had a fretless Ibanez Musician. I have owned a Fender Precision, a Rickenbacker, and now I have the Samick jazz bass, a Cort Action PJ, and the Yamaha TRBX304.
The Ibanez Musician is the best bass I ever had, and I think I was utterly stupid to get rid of it. Of my current crop, I like the Yamaha best, but I also have a weak spot for the Cort Action, as super light instrument with a very slender neck as well, because I saved it from being a writeoff used for parts (and it only cost me 20 euros).
But the jazz bass is staying as well. I like the growl it produces, especially after I jazzed up the bridge pickup (which was way too low) and had it properly set up. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with a bass configuration named after @Jazzbass19 , so it’s not going anywhere.
The worst bass (for me!) was the Fender Precision. I never got on with it. The Precision neck is so wide, you can drive an F150 between the E and the A string. I called it “the ironing board”, and @autumnsdad1990 calls it “the 2 by 4”. Got small hands or short fingers? Forget it.
Again, your Ibanez is a great instrument. Yes, the build quality of the Yamaha may be better, but most people think the Ibanez is prettier, and it sounds a bit bitier than the Yamaha.
If you’re not focused on emulating a P or a J, life suddenly is a lot easier. 
PS: to add insult to injury: I paid 200 euro (total) for these three bass guitars.
(from left to right: Cort Action PJ, Gregg Bennet jazz bass, Yamaha TRBX304)
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I would disagree respectfully that when it comes to necks YMMV
My hands are not large
I play my Charvel mostly these day, and it has a super thin neck. When I go from it to my Jazz, the Jazz feels hefty. It’s not. It’s just muscle memory. But a Jazz neck is a speed neck, an the curve is quite comfy to me.
My streams are somewhere between the Charvel and Jazz in thickness, ESP calls it a thin U
Then there’s my Harley Benton P, with a boat oar for the neck. I haven’t mastered it yet, but it feels just fine. Solid, like I could sit in the pocket for days. I need to adjust my thumb technique on the neck, but with the playing I’ve done I can see it won’t be an issue
Nut size doesn’t bother me. I prefer a 40mm, like my stream, but can move between a 38mm (jazz/Charvel/Yamaha/Ibby and a 42mm without adjustment.
Approach it with an open mind, find what’s comfortable for you. Anything can be overcome by technique and practice
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I’d just ignore it all and find a bass that feels good to you and you like the sound and looks of. I personally think double humbuckers sound a whole lot better than J/J in all circumstances and are situationally better than a P pickup. YMMV and you won’t know until trying.
I’ve owned all the major pickup configurations at this point besides single-MM and single-P. I’ve ended up with a double-humbucker and a P/J, and actual negative desire to own or emulate a Fender J or P-bass. As in, I am glad neither of my basses do. I admit to being tempted sometimes by a P, but then I just dial my P/J to full P and am happy.
I do a lot of recording and in a way am much more interested in recording than I am in bass playing. And let me assure you, other basses besides Fenders sound just fine in the mix. And solo 
Again, YMMV.
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This may be true, but apparently they’re not small like mine. Bring on the small hand jokes.
I’ll be the first to say that neck preference is largely a personal thing.
But if your middle finger is as long as Josh’s pinky, it’s no longer a personal thing, trust me.
Getting to the E-string on the 16th fret even on the Jazz is physically impossible for me. I can look at the E-string, but before I get to it on the 16th fret or above, I run out of finger. My muscles can remember everything they want, but there’s just nothing for them to do. I can open my mind as far as the next guy, but it’s not gonna make my fingers any longer. So, short of putting the bass on a table, there’s nothing my open mind and muscle memory is going to accomplish.
A thinner neck is what. And no, small hands and short fingers cannot be overcome with practice. I struggled with the Fender P for a long time until someone said “you should try this”, and handed me a Rick. Oh man… a new realm of bass goodness opened up, and two days later I was at the guitar shop to spend my savings on one of those.
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I watch an inordinate number of Japanese bands play, and there’s a lot of Undertall bass who do just fine Tomo Ogawa is about 5’2" and plays a P. She puts her thumb on the bottom of the neck when she’s working the upper frets.
Boh from Babymetal plays a monster 6 string does the same thing. if their thumbs were wrapped behind the neck they couldn’t do it either. So they use another technique.
I’m just saying keep an open mind and watch how others do it. I do because I’ve got small hands too
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