Bensalem, PA (February 23, 2015) -- Ibanez released several new basses at the Winter NAMM show.
Black Eagle 2609B Reissue
It’s a rare instance when the bass builders at Ibanez re-visit the company’s history. But even for the very forward-thinking Ibanez design team, the 40th anniversary of the legendary Black Eagle bass was too important a milestone to ignore. Here’s a limited edition re-issue that opens the door to an alternate universe circa 1975.
The first head-turner is mahogany body with its sharp inward-turned cutaways, along with its gracefully shaped F-hole headstock, which sets the stage for this Black Eagle re-issue to brim with 70s-era cool. Its Maple fretboard boasts an intricate custom inlay, but the decorative pièce de résistance is most certainly the white-on-black Abolone eagle that lives near the lower horn.
LIST: $599.99
BTB33NTF
The mission of the Ibanez Bass Workshop is to pioneer new frontiers in bass development by pushing the boundaries of conventional designs. The impetus behind each one of these unique instruments comes from the desire of the Ibanez bass development group to satisfy the specific needs of a very particular player and to hopefully inspire new vistas of creativity.
Designed for players looking to explore the upper region of the fretboard, the BTB33NTF is a 5-string bass is factory tuned from E to C. Excellent for playing chords and soloing up into baritone territory, this 5-piece Maple/Bubinga neck helps to create the proper tension and tonal quality for the C string without compromising the deep tone of the E string. It also facilitates faster playing and easier chording.
Another innovative feature of the BTB33NTF is the inclusion of a height adjustable Rosewood Finger Ramp. The ramp prevents players from digging in too hard when plucking finger-style and encourages a lighter playing technique, which helps promote a broader dynamic range and better tone. It also acts as a thumb rest that provides access to a wider plucking area, allowing players to explore more tonal options by varying the distance of their hand from the bridge.
The BTB33NTF includes a Mahogany with an Ash top, the neck sports a Rosewood fingerboard with Abalone inlays and a Mono-Rail V bridge provides optimum adjustment for superior intonation. Electronics feature the excellent tone of Bartolini BH1-5 pickups through an Ibanez 3-band EQ with a mid frequency selector switch for advanced tone control.
List: $1377.76
SR1406TEVNF
The new Ibanez SR1406TEVNF is a stylish 6-string bass that boasts “neck-through” construction for the optimum in tone, sustain and stability. As part of the Ibanez Premium line, it delivers "Performance Beyond Expectation" at pricing friendly to the working musician.
The SR1406TEVNF begins with a beautiful figured Maple top/Mahogany body combination that produces a robust, full-balanced tone. The Vintage Natural Flat finish allows the body to resonate more freely and creates an understated look of elegance. The 5-piece Wenge/Bubinga Atlas-6 neck features “neck-through” construction, which runs from the top of the headstock down to the lower strap pin. This design increases sustain, improves tuning stability and allows unfettered access to the even highest frets. Thanks to the Premium Fret Edge Treatment, super-smooth, hand-crimped medium frets on a Rosewood fretboard with oval Abalone inlay, this handsome bass is as enjoyable to play, as it is to look at. String vibration and sustain are also optimized by the innovative Mono-Rail IV bridge for the most precise intonation.
For electronics, the SR1406TEVNF comes loaded with two Nordstrand “Big Single” passive pickups. Additional sound shaping is provided by an Ibanez 3-band Active EQ with EQ bypass switch and mid-frequency switch.
List: $2,066.65
SRFF805BKS and SRFF806BKS Ibanez is proud to introduce the first-ever production model fanned-fret basses: the five-string SRFF805BKS and the six-string SRFF806BKS. Introduced in 1989, the fanned fret system is a revolutionary concept designed to create a better sounding, better playing bass. Previously, fanned fret instruments were available only to those who could afford the high-priced boutique instruments from private luthiers. Now, as part of their Premium Instrument line, Ibanez makes this unique, high-quality instrument available to the working musician.
Built at the Ibanez Premium Production Facility, the SRFF805 and 806 each consists of an Ash body attached to a 5pc Jatoba/Bubinga SR neck with a Rosewood fretboard, Medium frets and Acrylic custom fanned inlays. The innovative Mono-Rail V Bridge system was decided as the perfect match for a fan-fret instrument, allowing for independent positioning of each string’s bridge piece to provide excellent intonation and superior vibration transference. Electronics include Bartolini BH1 pickups, for a thick, punchy, full-range of tone, and a 3-band EQ w/ Bypass switch and Mid-Frequency switch for complete sonic control.
The goal of the fanned-fret system is to even the tension of each string. Equalized tension helps to create a more “alive,” open tone. On the SRFF805/806, the scale length is 34” on the highest pitch string side, expanding to 35.5 at the low B. The slant of the fanned-frets ergonomically coordinate with the way a players hand angles as it moves up and down the neck, facilitating quick, comfortable playing action. The result is better tone, expanded harmonic complexity and improved playability across all five strings.
SRFF805BKS List: $1,333.32
SRFF806BKS List: $1,399.99
Reflecting a classic Ibanez body style, the Talman Bass Series sports a cool retro look with a sound that will inspire players of all ages.
The TMB300 delivers a one-two punch by combining a passive P/J pickup configuration with a retro Ibanez body design. Features include a Mahogany body, Maple neck, Standard bridge, bound Rosewood fretboard with Block inlays and a tortoise shell pickguard for a stylish, finished look. Electronics consist of a Custom 2-band Active EQ with an Ibanez DXP neck pickup and a DJ2 double J bridge pickup for extra punch. A Split Coil Switch provides a single coil option in the bridge position for heightened definition.
The TMB100 also combines a passive P/J pickup configuration with the Ibanez-retro Talman body style. Features include a Mahogany body, a Maple neck, Rosewood fretboard with dot inlay, a Standard bridge and a tortoise shell pickguard. Electronics consist of an Ibanez DXP neck pickup and a DXJ bridge pickup and a Custom 2-band active EQ for increased tonal options.
TMB300 List: $428.56
TMB100 List: $258.70
For more information:
Ibanez
![Rig Rundown: Umphrey’s McGee [2025]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/youtube.jpg?id=60219771&width=600&height=600&quality=85&coordinates=280%2C0%2C280%2C0)
Tom Bedell in the Relic Music acoustic room, holding a custom Seed to Song Parlor with a stunning ocean sinker redwood top and milagro Brazilian rosewood back and sides.
A born storyteller, Bedell doesn’t keep his passion to himself. On Friday, May 12, at New Jersey boutique guitar outpost Relic Music, Bedell shared some of the stories he’s collected during his life and travels as part of a three-city clinic trip. At Relic—and stops at Crossroads Guitar and Art in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, and Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center in Wheaton, Maryland—he discussed his guitars and what makes them so special, why sustainability is such an important cause, and how he’s putting it into practice.
Before his talk, we sat in Relic’s cozy, plush acoustic room, surrounded by a host of high-end instruments. We took a look at a few of the store’s house-spec’d Bedell parlors while we chatted.
“The story of this guitar is the story of the world,” Bedell explained to me, holding a Seed to Song Parlor. He painted a picture of a milagro tree growing on a hillside in northeastern Brazil some 500 years ago, deprived of water and growing in stressful conditions during its early life. That tree was eventually harvested, and in the 1950s, it was shipped to Spain by a company that specialized in church ornaments. They recognized this unique specimen and set it aside until it was imported to the U.S. and reached Oregon. Now, it makes the back and sides of this unique guitar.
A Bedell Fireside Parlor with a buckskin redwood top and cocobolo back and sides.
As for the ocean sinker redwood top, “I’m gonna make up the story,” Bedell said, as he approximated the life cycle of the tree, which floated in the ocean, soaking up minerals for years and years, and washed ashore on northern Oregon’s Manzanita Beach. The two woods were paired and built into a small run of exquisitely outfitted guitars using the Bedell/Breedlove Sound Optimization process—in which the building team fine-tunes each instrument’s voice by hand-shaping individual braces to target resonant frequencies using acoustic analysis—and Bedell and his team fell in love.
Playing it while we spoke, I was smitten by this guitar’s warm, responsive tone and even articulation and attack across the fretboard; it strikes a perfect tonal balance between a tight low-end and bright top, with a wide dynamic range that made it sympathetic to anything I offered. And as I swapped guitars, whether picking up a Fireside Parlor with a buckskin redwood top and cocobolo back and sides or one with an Adirondack spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides, the character and the elements of each instrument changed, but that perfect balance remained. Each of these acoustics—and of any Bedell I’ve had the pleasure to play—delivers their own experiential thumbprint.
Rosette and inlay detail on an Adirondack spruce top.
Ultimately, that’s what brought Bedell out to the East Coast on this short tour. “We have a totally different philosophy about how we approach guitar-building,” Bedell effused. “There are a lot of individuals who build maybe 12 guitars a year, who do some of the things that we do, but there’s nobody on a production level.” And he wants to spread that gospel.
“We want to reach people who really want something special,” he continued, pointing out that for the Bedell line, the company specifically wants to work with shops like Relic and the other stores he’s visited, “who have a clientele that says I want the best guitar I can possibly have, and they carry enough variety that we can give them that.”
A Fireside Parlor with a Western red cedar top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides.
