Ibanez BTB20TH5 20th Anniversary 5-String Bass, Blue Reef Gradation

Full Description

History in the Making

A legend in the bass playing world for over 20 years, the BTB bass from Ibanez has been at ahead of the pack. Since 1999, this beautiful bass design has been Ibanez's top of the range bass build. One of the defining features of the BTB is the select materials used in the design and construction process. The BTB20TH5 is no exception. The beautiful combination of Flamed Maple, Ash, and Okoume complement the bass' distinct body shape. The finish is exceptional. The finish, named 'Blue Reef Gradation' invokes an azure ocean. It's time to dive in.

Playable Panga Panga

The BTB20TH5's neck is crafted from a Maple and Walnut combination which gives it a snappy response. Not only does the neck add to the incredible tone, but it also is easy to play, with a quick neck movement. This is accentuated further by the rare Panga Panga fretboard, which gives you excellent movement and helps you articulate notes wonderfully. Panga Panga is an exotic grain and produces a tight low end and gives the mid-range a sharp attack. The BTB20TH5 allows you to express yourself to your full capability, making it a truly pleasing bass guitar to play.

Versatile Electronics

Finishing off the incredible design and build of this bass guitar is a pair of Big Single pickups from Nordstrand. The Nordstrand Pick Ups give the bass a big and meaty tone. The single-coil soap bar pickups produce an aggressive texture. Despite this, the tonal output of the bass guitar can be altered with Ibanez's own Custom Electronics 3-band EQ, the accurate controls give you full access to a range of tones.

Ibanez Bass Pedigree

The Ibanez story is an intriguing one. The first historical mentions of Ibanez guitars come from the 1930s when the instrument sales division of a Japanese bookstore chain began manufacturing Spanish acoustic guitars. Their strange start to life was a sign of things to come: Ibanez regularly got into legal trouble in the mid-20th century for copying the designs of Western guitar manufacturers.

After a particularly costly lawsuit in the 1970s, Ibanez abandoned their strategy of using other established models as the basis for their own instruments. Instead, they began crafting their own, unique guitars in the hope of establishing themselves in the guitar-making world. This was a move that paid off massively - the individual style and sound of Ibanez's instruments set them apart from everything else available on the market, and the company quickly became a gigantic success story.

In the intervening years, a wide selection of some of the music industry's biggest and best artists have used Ibanez instruments in their music. Their bass guitars have gained particularly legendary status for their unique, wide-reaching sound. They've been used in the music of many well-known artists from a plethora of genres, ranging from U2 to Slipknot, Earth, Wind, & Fire to Carrie Underwood, and Al Green to Snoop Dogg. That's why you can be certain that the BTB20TH5 is an instrument good enough for the very best.

Specifications

• Series: BTB

Body & Bridge

• Body: Okoume
• Bridge: MR5S Bridge (19mm string spacing)
• Construction: Neck-through
• Colour: Blue Reef Gradation Low Gloss

Neck & Fingerboard

• Neck: Maple/Walnut
• Fingerboard: Panga Panga
• Radius: 15''
• Frets: 24
• Inlays: White Dots
• Nut Width: 47mm

Electronics & Hardware

• Pickup: 2x Nordstrand Big Single
• Equalizer: Ibanez Custom Electronics 3 - band EQ
• Controls: Volume, Balancer, 3-Band EQ
• Hardware: Black Matte