Ibanez ASB140BS Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI purchased this guitar new at "The Bass Place" in Tempe, Az. for $350.00 March of 2004. I have been specifically looking for an archtop semi-hollow body since I wanted the look and sound of a traditional jazz instrument but knew it would also have to sound great for rock, latino, blues and possibly country western music since that covers all the various venues I planned on pursuing with a working club band in the Phoenix and surrounding area?!
Besides the great look and feel of this instrument,....oh my gosh...THE SOUND!!!! They advertised the one humbucker was more dynamic and powerful and the advertising didn't overstate this at all!!! I've played bass with numerous club bands over the course of 30 years and still can't get over the exception tone quality and feel of this instrument!!! I absolutely get RAVE reviews from listeners about her sound quality. "Deep and rich", true bass sound is the description I get from listeners both musicians and patrons alike. The only modification I made to the original setup was to put Dean Markley medium flat wound strings on her before I played her publically. My other bass is a Fender Jazz copy called an Essex (which I also pationately love) but Ibanez has two distinct "voices" depend on if you finger style just off the neck or off the pickup itself????
The fact that Ibanez makes a less than fantastic guitar case for her? I bought the only case they offer for her at roughly $100.00 and it's a little lumpy inside where the padding supports the back of the body. I've had several cases in this price range and never encountered quality lacking as there's is?? Strange, almost as if they simply didn't expect many to buy or love this guitar??
She has a maple/mahonany set 34 inch neck, brown sunburst finish, 22 medium frets, rosewood fingerboard, Gibralter III bass bridge, ACHB neck picup, pearl dot inlay and maple top/sides/ and back. It also has one single HUGE humbuck pickup and chome hardware plus easy change (no kidd'in) bridge. The finish is beautiful, and the white banding around the edges of the body and 2 "F" hole cutouts is gorgeous. Sealed machines (go to style) finish the setup.
It's a beautifully built and great sounding instrument the it seems (?) few musicians have yet become fully aware of yet??? Hopefully more people discover the awesome sound and handling of this beautiful yet affordable instrument. It took me 5 months of looking and playing numerous semi-hollowbody instruments to finally find and fall in love with this offering from Ibanez. Try it, you'll love it too.
bass4life rated this unit
on
2004-09-13.
