On another note, are you enjoying this bass? I haven't bought one yet, but this is the most appealing bass (to me, at least) Ibanez has released in quite a while...
The bass is great! It took a while to grow on me though.
The preamp stinks but the pickups sound wonderful. I like having an active bass boost for soloing the bridge pickup, so a preamp upgrade is in order.
Passive the bridge pickup has a more beefy low end than your average jazz bass. Blend the P pickup back in and it sounds huge and aggressive. The P solo tone is everything you could want from a P. The bridge is a single coil so there will be hum if it is used at all. Fortunately Carey Nordstrand can rewire the pickup to be a Big Split and that will handle the hum, so that is going to happen!
The bass is very well constructed and the neck is straight and playable. the binding and inlays are fairly well executed for the price point. Truss rod access could be easier, the string tree gets in the way. Mine is 10#. Not light, but there is no neck dive. With the strap button located by the 13th fret I would suspect lighter ones would dive.
Bridge was cheap but servicable. Mine was replaced with a Gotoh that was lying around. The tuners are ok. No real need to upgrade, but my inner modder is thinking Lollipops and a D-tuner.
The white finish looks really good on the ash, and the matching headstock is a nice touch. Mine had a little finish flaw and perfect circular ding by the bridge. I got it in a trade so I don't know the true origin of the flaw, but it feels like it is under the finish. The neck is glossy, but not a heavy gloss. A quick rub with some steel wool gave it a perfect feel.
The pickguard though...
