> Musicpark Leipzig 2019: Ibanez

Between the 1st and the 3rd of November 2019, the first edition of the Musicpark exhibition was held in the Leipzig fairgrounds.

A very interesting exhibitor at the event was Ibanez, whose representative, Daniel Gäthke, is about to tell you a thing or two about the bass guitars made by the very popular guitar and bass producer…

Hi! I’m Daniel from Ibanez. We’re here at Musicpark and we have a couple of new bass guitars to show you. One of the new models and new lines for this year is the SR Mezzo. It’s a line of reduced scale guitars with a scale length of 32” instead of 33”. Those basses give you a bit more ease to play but still provide maximum growl and that kind of bass foundation that you expect from the SR range. Basically, you get more features with an improved playability. These bases come in vibrant colors, either with white pearl or black pick guards. We have a Dynamix PJ pickup configuration. Poplar body is matched with a very clean maple neck. Those guitars come in very cool finishes so it should be something for everyone.

Let’s go over to a fine example of our Artcore Vibrato range. This is the bass variation of the Artcore Vibrato guitar range. It’s the AGB 260 in beautiful sea foam color. It’s a hollow body bass with a Nyatoh neck and Sapele body, a bound laurel fretboard, Classic Elite pickups and the trusted Gibraltar 3 bridge. It’s a new model for 2019 and, in this vibrant color, it fits our jazz guitar line very well.

We have a couple of additions to the beloved SR line. For example, the SR 500 series. We have these as 4- or 5-string instruments. These are very clean basses that are the successors of the already existing models. We’ve added new finishes like this beautiful Dual Surreal Fade finish that you can see on camera right now. It’s a very clean bass made of Okoume wood. We have a Jatoba/Walnut 5-piece neck. Let me turn it around. It’s a very clean 5-piece neck. We have a Jatoba fretboard with typical SR elliptical inlays. These basses start at 680 euros and then you can go up, for example to the SR 2400 range.

We have two very nice examples. One is an SR 2400 with some very nice wood configurations. A 5-piece Panga Panga/Purpleheart neck. The special thing about this bass is Aquilar pickups, which currently are the hot stuff on the bass scene. There’s 3-band EQ and several options. We also have a premiere: the SR 2405W. It’s the first wide neck SR. SRs a known for being very easy to play but also for having a very narrow fretboard. We received a lot of questions: ’I love this bass but I would also love to have a bit more space to play on’ so for this year we came up with the SR 2405W with a wider neck. Apart from that, we have the same features that I’ve just described: Aguilar pickups, active electronics and beautiful finishes. Basically, the series offers something for everyone and highly recommend you check these out. Best sold basses in the world, I suppose. Certainly one of our bestsellers. Also, you have a bypass switch, so you can bypass the active electronics if you want to. It’s very versatile and ready for any kind of a studio situation. As a wide neck it’s a very nice addition to the line-up that we currently have. I recommend you check these out.”