Back when I was playing 5 string basses, the 2 basses I gigged with were both Ibanez, one fretted and one fretless. Among the genres I played on them were: rock, pop, reggae, soul (you get the picture). I never had anyone question the tone of my basses, quite the opposite. Ibanez instruments are well made and, because of the reduced dimensions over Fender type basses, very comfortable to play.