Ibanez atk305 5-String

[fivebass52]

I got interested in ATK's after reading the threads on Talkbass. Last week I bought a right-handed ATK300 from Craigslist for $200, cleaned it up, and showed it to my guitar buddy, who demanded I sell it to him on the spot! He gave me $350 (he's a good friend!), which was a nice flip in two days! Here's what I started with...

It looks like the chrome is worn off the tuners, and the knobs and Pup plate look pitted... notice the rusted screws...



Check out the new look...




Damn I wish it was a lefty! It's my favorite color too - rootbeer! I put on a set of Everly Brothers B-52 Rockers strings (45-65-85-105), that I had bought a couple of years ago, strung them through the body, it sounds great! It has a nice growl to it. Had to slant the pickup up towards the D-G strings to even out the volume. Lowered the action a bit too.

I've been surfing Google the last couple of nights, and no sightings of any lefties, four or five string. Appreciate any help from my fellow lefties in helping me find one.

Aloha,
Ian

[Jeroen]

That looks great! They're fine basses, I like both my ATK's a lot. Mine are both Japanese-made ATK's, a 300 and a 305. I have played Korean-made ATK300's too and I think both are great instruments. These are mine (in my favourite colour, Transparent Black):

[fivebass52]

Those are beautiful! Is there a link to a japanese website that you know where I could order one? I have not been able to find a single lefty at the moment through exhaustive Google searches. If you can, help a Brother out!

[Jeroen]

I wouldn't know where to buy one but on the secondhand market. There are no lefthanded ATK300's or ATK305's produced anymore, they were only around between '95 and '98, both Korean and Japanese made. After that there were some other ATK-models, but no lefties anymore.

Currently ATK300's and ATK305's are being produced again, this time in Indonesia, but there are no lefties made. The only lefty ATK available new at the moment is the Paul Gray (Slipknot) signature Ibanez PGB1, which comes stock with heavy gauge strings tuned BEAD:



So to obtain a good lefty ATK will require patience and a lot of luck, I'm afraid. I waited two years before I found a good Japanese-made ATK300, and I stumbled upon that ATK305 by pure coincidence (I wasn't looking for one, but couldn't resist the temptation).

When I come across one, I'll drop you a line though

[fivebass52]

Thanks for the info. I've seen the current Paul Grey models, but I would like to get an ATK305 with the maple fingerboard. Iv'e never owned a bass with a maple fingerboard, and liked the sound from the one I just had.

As usual, lefties are being discriminated against. I would think it would be obvious to Ibanez that because there are no lefties to be found, and literally a ton of righties, a batch of left-hander would sell like hotcakes. Oh well.......

Aloha,
Ian

[danomite64]

Yeah, they only made the lefties for the US market from '94-'96, and all of them were amber (orange) 300's. The Europeans got the other colors and the 5 strings (too bad, because those brown ones are by far my favorite color). Anyway, lefties are scarce enough that I had to buy a beat to hell one and fix it up.

[Jeroen]

Do I spy an extra switch there? What does it do? Active/passive? I've always wondered what my ATK's would sound like with the preamp switched off. There used to be a passive ATK, the ATK100, which didn't have the triple coil pickup and could only be switched between series and parallel wiring, and only had a volume and passive tone knob. I've never heard one though.

[danomite64]

It's a battery kill switch. I play a lot at churches, where we play a few songs, sit down for an hour, then play a few more. I don't want the battery to drain, and I prefer not to plug/unplug my bass several times each gig as those barrel jacks wear out kind of easily.

[Jeroen]

Ah, so it only switches off the preamp but does not let your signal bypass the preamp so you'd still have an output signal?

[pjmuck]

They do pop up on ebay every now and then, I grabbed mine off the 'bay about 6 months ago for $325.00. I was surprised nobody else was bidding on it.

[fivebass52]

Nice job Danomite! Thanks for all of the info guys, I'm learning more and more about my new favorite bass! I'm going to be on a constant hunt now for one.... pjmuck, you lucky dog!

[Jeroen]

http://cgi.ebay.de/Ibanez-ATK-305-Lefth ... dZViewItem

If I'm not mistaken, this very bass was bought NOS about 1 of 2 years ago in a music store where it had been laying around since new (they had put it on eBay with BIN only). It has a strange mark in the grain of the fingerboard wood which doesn't show in the picture in the auction. The auction says the guy will only ship within Germany, but it never hurts to ask
It looks very dark in the picture, but it is the same Transparent Black colour as the two I own pictured above.

Translation of the auction text:

"Selling an ATK305 lefthand. Made in Japan (unlike the current Korean and Indonesian ones). In very good condition. One small, barely visible ding on the body, but no scratches. Frets 100% OK. Triple coil humbucker with 3 band EQ. Sounds range from Stingray through Jazz Bass to Precision. Very high quality bass, so grab your chance!"

Please let me know if you're actually placing a bid, because if you won't, maybe I will

[fivebass52]

Just to let you all know, Jeroen and I have been PM-ing back and forth about this auction. I have a friend who's Mom lives in Germany, but I havent' been able to contact him with enough time to see if his Mom would accept the bass if I were to win the auction. I also don't have time to find out more about the shipping costs to Hawaii, so as much as I would love to bid on this bass, it just isn't "in the cards" for now....

Thanks go to Jeroen for letting me know about the auction, and I'll just keep scouring the internet for a lefty 305....

Aloha, Ian

[andrew]

Why not see if you can ship the bass to Arni?

[Jeroen]

I got it, at an incredible price.
If I ever decide to let one of them go, you'll be the first to know

[fivebass52]

I got it, at an incredible price.
If I ever decide to let one of them go, you'll be the first to know

Congratulations Jeroen! I hope it's as nice as the ones you currently have! Thanks for the "first right of refusal"!

Why not see if you can ship the bass to Arni?

Didn't know I had the "Arni option", and will have to contact him to see if that would work in the future. He might know offhand what costs might be to ship to Hawaii, and that would give me a better idea if the price plus shipping would allow me to bid on bass from the European area.

Even getting gear shipped from the Continental US to Hawaii can be a challenge... most sellers on eBay list Con-US shipping only, when for another ten-to-twenty dollars added, it will ship here. I sometimes think their mindset is Hawaii is in another country. Oh well, it's been exciting to watch the auction on this ATK bass, and consider there might be possibilities on any others... I'll talk to my friend to see if "the Mom option" is do-able. And, I'll have to find out shipping costs from that region to mine.

Aloha guys, Ian

[AzWhoFan]

I got it, at an incredible price.
If I ever decide to let one of them go, you'll be the first to know

yes you did!! Congrats!!

[Jeroen]

So far the seller has not responded to my request to complete the payment details (full shipping amount and BIC and IBAN bank numbers)

[fivebass52]

So far the seller has not responded to my request to complete the payment details (full shipping amount and BIC and IBAN bank numbers)

Don't panic yet Jeroen, save that for later in the week! Hopefully it's something simple like the seller has been sick, or busy at work, or busy painting Easter eggs for the kids.... Keep us informed, and even though it's not mine, I'm still thinking good thoughts for you to have it in your eager hands soon!

Aloha, Ian

[Jeroen]

Another lefty ATK on eBay in Germany, a regular ATK300 4-string this time. It's a '97 MIJ version, in transparent black (I asked the seller to send me the serial number). The guy prefers local pickup but reluctantly offered to ship it to the Netherlands for 22 euros when I asked him to, so he might also be willing to take the 'friend's mom'-option. He did add that he won't take any responsibility for shipping and any damage or loss along the way.

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... TQ:DE:1123