Ibanez Talman TMB30 Bass Guitar - Black Reviews

Zowie! I like it a lot. Maybe I got lucky, but this thing was ready to go right out of the box. Just a nano intonation adjustment on the low E. This bass is more fun than tight underwear filled with jello! And it looks good ,too. Got the black W/ white pickguard and it looks so stylish. whether you are wearing a ratty old sweatshirt and jeans or a tuxedo with pink fuzzy chaps, you will get noticed. I recommend!
Crazy Larry

I had a Beatles bass copy but I wanted something more versatile. This bass is not as well-known as the Fender and Squier short scales, but it gets good reviews when it comes up. I have been using it on backing tracks I create for other people to play on. The Precision style pickup is deep and full. The Jazz style pickup is tight and has a bit of growl. Blending them gets a lot of different sounds. I lowered the action a bit (easy to do with the supplied hex wrenches) and it plays beautifully. I am very pleased. One of my friends who plays on my tracks said, "That bass sounds way better than it has a right to. It is intriguing and inviting. It's irresistible."

Wanted a short scale to add to my collection.Wanted bare bones no active just passive.love this body shape.Changed capacitors from stock to axgrinder oil paper capacitor put on dedario strings no it's ready.Short scale easyer to learn on in my experience overall good quality bass,I call it the butter knife do to the head.!Sweetwater is always good to work with as is Dominic!

Been playing bass for 42 yrs and have bought dozens of basses. Never have I found such high quality for such a low price. I got this for a project that I need a retro/groove sound, put black tapewound strings on and it works beautifully! Far exceeding my expectations. Great tone control, solid Ibanez feel, and looks kinda cool. Highly recommended.

awesome bass
at first it had fret buzz, probably because of shipping to very different atmosferic conditions, but it was fast and easy to set up. Plays very good and also has a good slap tone.
One thing I really liked was the jack. In most basses it is either on the side or on the front in a 90° angle. This makes it easy to break the cable. In this bass, it has something similar to what the stratocaster guitars have, so it makes it more comfortable and now i can also play in the sofa XD.
I think its better than the squier basses.
I also think shortscale is really nice and it isnt as heavy as the other basses ive played.
I really recomend this :D

Absolutely blown away with the value to dollar ratio on this product! So happy with this purchase! Full neck, short scale, nice materials with good craftsmanship, variety of sound options, pretty descently balanced, I think the black is very sexy (Henry Ford Style), AND it is under 200 dollars! Thank again everybody at SWEETWATER! Another home run!!!!!

I've been playing bass for over 30 years and have been through many full scale basses. This bass guitar makes you wonder, why aren't short scale basses more common on the market? After a tiny setup (action/intonation), and a new set of thicker strings for my taste, this thing sings. The TMB30 has become my go-to bass for those long 3 set gigs. Why on Earth would I want to play a 34" neck and make things more difficult for myself? This 30" neck is easy to play. I'll likely add one or two more of these things to my arsenal.

Good bass for a cheap price, I would definitely recommend for beginners.

I have both Ibanez short scale basses. This and the Mikro. They both have great qualitys. This bass is a tad heavier, bigger headstock, and slightly thicker neck. But it has quite a bit more thump too. It's really fun to play and the quality and finish is outstanding. I'd easily pay $100 more for it. Ibanez makes the best bass for the $$ out there...easily.

I've been looking for a good short scale bass because I have arthritis and it's becoming too painful to play my 34" scale basses. So after doing some research on the web, I decided to pull the trigger on the TMB30. I was a little apprehensive for 2 reasons, 1. None of the music stores in Cleveland had a TMB30 so I was not able to try one out but I was able to try a TMB100 and it played great and the build quality was excellent. 2. The price, I picked up a used 4 string Ibanez Mikro bass a few months ago (same price new as the TMB30). After a proper setup and a new set of black tapes, the Mikro plays beautifully and sounds amazing the only thing I did was install new pots and an orange drop capacitor with that being said the Micro is built like a $178 bass, really little rough around the edges to say the least. If I dropped it, it would probably break so It stays at home and I use it for recording. I got the TMB30 today and all I can say is WOW. It's really nice. The build quality, fit & finish are excellent and it's built like a tank. It blows the Micro out of the water in terms of build quality and sound. The neck is in between a P & J neck the fretwork is excellent no sharp edges and controls are good. The strings were almost resting on the pickups so I had to lower them other than that minor issue the setup, for the most part, is good, it's very playable but it could be better I'm going to take in for a setup next week. If you are thinking about getting this bass or a Mikro just get the TMB30 this bass could sell for a LOT more it's an incredible value you definitely get a lot more than you pay for. Just but it

I've been playing bass for over 30 years, but I only started my journey toward short scale a year ago when I picked up a Squire Bronco at a local shop. Loved the ease and playability, but far from satisfied with the depth and tone. Decided to give the TMB30 a try couple of months ago after reading some reviews. I was gonna go with the short scale Jaguar, but I couldn't get the financing I needed (being that I'm dirt poor and all). Anyway, Sweetwater made me a sweet deal on the Ibanez (my first Ibanez, by the way), and I finally got it about a month later due to it being out of stock when I ordered. To be honest, I was a little iffy about it at first — mainly because of some seriously annoying fret buzz, particularly when you pluck or pick up close to the neck. But hearing a lot of potential, I forked out the cash to have a professional set it up right and put some high end strings on it. Now it's my favorite little monster. Good tone. Deep, thick lows. Sweet, singing highs. Lots of personality in the mid-range. And just about the loudest sound output I've ever heard from a passive bass. Crank up both the Ps and the J, and it will definitely cut through a mix. Harmonics ring like a bell. The best thing about this bass is the variety of sounds you can get just by fingering, plucking, picking, tapping, or bending the strings in different ways — things I've never been able to get a full scale bass to do. This bass is a must-have for adventurous bassists who like to push the envelope of what an instrument can do. And it's real cheap to boot, so you don't feel bad beating the h*** out of it.

I have a thing for short basses. I'm a bad guitar player, maybe a passable bassist, and don't have the hands or skills for a full-length one.

Most obvious thing: I'm not hot on the looks. Personally not a fan of pickguards on a bass, the offset body is retro, and the headstock is dated. That's subjective, though, and a few steps down the list of important things. I don't really mind it after getting used to it. It's not as weird in person, especially in black.

I do care about how it plays. Finding a good short-scale bass is hard, and this one works for me just dandy. Thumbs up. I want to say the pickups are good for the price, but I'm in an apartment and it's rare I can use an amp that will really let anything shine so take that as you will.

Will probably be better with new strings. The ones it come with are far from the worst I've used, but stock strings on anything never seem to be the best.

Make note when you replace the strings, YOU NEED THE RIGHT ONES. Take your pick on brand and style, but they MUST be for short scale.

After a couple weeks, I haven't found a high or low fret, and the ends are smooth. They're just not polished up. Mostly a cosmetic issue.

It can buzz a little (for me) but I play with a pick. Not nearly as much if I play with my fingers. It's not really audible through an amp, either.

Intonation on mine (post setup) was spot-on without touching it. No need to adjust the neck. Good work there.

The neck is smooth and comfortable. A little thicker than other modern Ibanez models but nowhere near what I would call 'chunky'. Pro or minor con depending on taste and hand size. I wear medium gloves, and for me it's very playable.

The tuners are nice. Weirdly huge for someone used to the modern styles, but solid and smooth.

The con: the nut. It works, the material isn't as bad as you might think (I think it's PVC), and all the strings are even. But Nut Guy was not up to the same expertise as Fret Guy. The slots were rough and are plenty big enough to wiggle the strings in. I can easily fit my thumbnail in alongside them. More than wide enough for heavier strings if you want to use them. I have a feeling it was just molded like that, then glued in and only evened out.

And the nut was HIGH. Like, first fret bent the string so much it went up TWO semitones high.
The nut should be the same, or just a hair higher, than a fret. Rule of thumb is you should be able to fret at the 3rd and slip a business card under the string at 4 and 1.

Fret 1 could comfortably fit a CREDIT CARD.
Super high.

But I have appropriate nut files. Filed the nut slots to proper height. Do NOT do this with hardware store triangle files.
This also brought the action down a bit. Then I lowered the bridge just a little. Now it's super smooth. So easy to play. With that taken care of, the only thing holding my playing back is that I'm not a great bassist.

Eventually I'll make a new bone nut. Not too concerning for the music I play, but the material of this one might possibly be working against the tone and sustain. The slots being 20% wider than they should definitely is.

TL,DR:
Pros: Solid body, decent hardware, good tuners, and the frets and neck are much better than expected. The jack placement is nice. Overall great hardware and craftsmanship for the price.

Con: Looks (subjective). The nut--and therefore the strings--are way high initially.

If you must have a short bass, drop it off at a trusted local shop for a week to have it set up and the nut adjusted or replaced, and enjoy it.

I bought this bass purely out of a need because I had to learn songs by ear and be ready to play them in 2 weeks. I didn't have time to transport the songs to my 5 or 6 string bass. I am pleasantly surprised by how thick the tone of this short scale bass is. I out in C standard and it sounds amazing. The magnets on the J style pick up are a little uneven and the P pick ups are uneven as well but this doesn't effect the tone. It sound SO MUCH better then I expect a bass in this price range to sound. It's def not the last bass your gonna need, but it's alot better then it should be for the price. I thought I'd be loosing thickness on a 30" but def not......

Cheap price, good build quality. Holds tune, has good tone (replacement pickups would give an improvement if you choose correctly)