Adam Nitti Talks About His Signature Ibanez ANB205 Bass

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Adam Nitti about his Signature Ibanez ANB205 Bass, and here is what he had to say…

What influenced your decision to choose the tone woods and electronics for your new signature bass from Ibanez

For the ANB205 I was going for a more traditional tone in the direction of a mid-70s J bass, so I put together the specs accordingly. It is a much simpler construction than my 6-string signature bass. It has a swamp ash body, and a 3-piece maple neck and maple fingerboard with block inlays. The pickups are Bartolini and are mounted specifically in the mid-70s J bass location.

The preamp is a special hybrid custom design that is active, but also features a passive tone buffer in the cavity that operates like a tone control from a vintage passive J bass. Because the swamp ash/maple combination is inherently bright, the passive tone buffer allows you to tame it to your liking if you want your tone to be a little darker. It is a really incredible preamp with a ton of versatility, especially in recording environments.

What is the difference between your 6-string and 5-string signature series?

The ANB306 6-string is more of a modern-sounding instrument, mostly because of the electronics and specific pickup placement, the neck-through construction, and the types of wood used. The ANB205 on the other hand, is a much simpler construction and plays and sounds more like a J bass, as I described earlier. The 2 basses are very different, but they are very complimentary. Tonally the ANB205 has more of a traditional sound, and works very well in a variety of musical situations in which you want the bass to seat nicely in the mix of an ensemble. The ANB306 also sounds fantastic, but it has a more ‘pointy’ tone to it, and subsequently sounds really great when you want your sound to be a little more up front. Of course, these are just very subjective observations; you can adjust the preamps and pickup blends in both basses to accommodate most musical situations successfully, but each bass has its own fundamental character.

Are the production models the same that you use in your performances?

Yes, absolutely. One of the things I am most excited about with these instruments is that the production models are essentially clones of the hand-built prototypes of these models that were originally built for me. They share the identical woods, preamps, pickups, construction, ergonomics, etc. as the prototypes. The only difference is that they are built on C&C machines instead of by hand. For that reason, I choose to play the production models professionally because it allows me to travel with them with confidence knowing that if they had to be replaced due to damage, loss, etc., I could get an identical replacement that would sound and feel exactly the same. The basses that you can buy are the exact instruments that I play as my main instruments.

Click to check out my review of the AND205 5-String Bass

Visit Adam online at adamnitti.com and adamnittimusiceducation.com

Check out the Ibanez Signature Adam Nitti AND205 5-String Bass at Ibanez.com or at an Ibanez music retailer near you!