Ibanez AEB5-E Reviews 4

This is a review for Ibanez's budget 4 string acoustic bass the AEB5e. Every bass player has those nights where they want to practice, but it's 4am and they can't turn an amp on. Maybe you want to jam with an acoustic guitarist but don't want to lug an amp, acoustic bass all the way for these situations.

These run $199. I picked one up in my local music store while a friend was trying out a high end Martin guitar and I could not put the Ibanez down. It was very fun to play.

I attribute it's 'fun to play' by the 32' scale of this bass. Specifically the Dean acoustic bass is GIANT. Fretting an F stretches the arm. This bass is a much smaller body with a shorter scale.

It was built cheap. I can see sloppy gluing, rough laminate finish in some spots and it needed a good setup to get the frets and action nice.

I touched on that above. It is a cheap bass. It will be cool for jamming and maybe the occasional live show. The electronics are not a quality that I'd use to record with. With some EQ'ing and Compressing you can get it to sound decent. Just don't expect much and you won't be let down!

Bottom line, a cool cheap bass. I did not have an acoustic bass and this fills the void. It builds my hand strength to play electric easier and it is just a great bass to have around to noodle on while watching TV.

Billy rated this unit 4 on 2010-12-07.

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