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Ibanez Gary Willis Signature GWB35 Fretless 5-string Bass Guitar - Black Flat

5-string Electric Bass with Basswood Body, 3-pc Maple Neck, Fretless Ebony Fingerboard, Custom Wound Pickup, and Finger Rest/Ramp - Black Flat
$949.99

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Ibanez Gary Willis Signature GWB35 Fretless 5-string Bass Guitar - Black Flat
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A Fretless 5-string Fusion Bass

Go fretless with the Ibanez GWB35 Gary Willis signature model 5-string bass guitar. Gary Willis, a fusion icon, has designed an affordable bass with Ibanez that incorporates many of the features from his more expensive bass. The light basswood body, maple neck, and ebony fretboard are comfortable enough for marathon jam sessions. The custom wound pickup and 2-band EQ let you sculpt your perfect tone in seconds. From funk to rock to fusion, the Ibanez GWB35 Gary Willis 5-string bass has you covered.

Gary Willis inspired design and functionality

The Ibanez GWB35 Gary Willis signature model bass brings all of Gary's personal tweaks and touches to an affordable bass. Gary's extended cutaway gives you complete access to the fretboard to ensure better intonation in the higher frets. Custom wound pickups offer the quick attack, superior dynamics, and highs that you want from a fretless bass. A custom finger rest/ramp helps you not dig into the strings too deep and gives you a more consistent attack.

Puts signature Ibanez feel into an affordable package

Finally, the feel of a high-end bass loaded into an awesomely reasonable priced package. The Ibanez GWB35 sports Ibanez's signature Gary Willis neck shape for an amazing playing feel. It's got a 3-piece maple neck, a comfortably contoured basswood body, and a fretless ebony fingerboard for classic fretless bass sounds.

Versatile electronics for any style of music

Ibanez basses are used in every style of music from metal to rock to jazz fusion. The versatile pickups and active electronics let you shape your tone to best fit the gig. The Ibanez Gary Willis GWB35 features a custom humbucking pickup to deliver tons of deep bass tones that will cover any style of music you need. A simple active EQ lets you tweak the treble and bass to dial in your ideal sound. From the scooped mids for slapping and popping to massive low-end 5-string rumble the GWB35 can do it all.

Ibanez Gary Willis Signature GWB35 Fretless 5-string Bass Guitar Features:

  • 5-string fretless bass designed with Gary Willis
  • Extended cutaway for complete fretboard access
  • Custom tuning machines for a balanced bass
  • GWB Custom humbucker
  • Detachable finger ramp designed by Gary Willis

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Tech Specs

  • Number of Strings: 5
  • Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
  • Body Shape: SR
  • Body Material: Basswood
  • Body Finish: Flat Finish
  • Color: Black Flat
  • Neck Material: 3-piece Maple, Bolt-on
  • Neck Shape: GWB Shape
  • Radius: 12"
  • Fingerboard Material: Ebony
  • Fingerboard Inlay: Dots
  • Number of Frets: Fretless
  • Scale Length: 34"
  • Nut Width: 1.77"
  • Bridge/Tailpiece: B105
  • Tuners: Sure Grip Tuners
  • Bridge Pickup: SFR-GWB Custom Humbucker
  • Controls: Volume, treble Boost/Cut, Bass Boost/Cut
  • Strings: .045-.130
  • Case Included: Sold Separately
  • Manufacturer Part Number: GWB35BKF

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Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 5/5

Best bass I've ever owned.

I love it. Best bass I've ever owned. I put Thomastik-Infeld JF345 Jazz Flatwound Bass Guitar Strings on it and set the action so it's sweeta. Sounds nice too!
Rated 5/5

A joy to play, sounds great with the right strings!

My bass-playing friend referred to the neck as being like a Ferrari. I have to agree that this is as much fun to play as a Ferrari is to drive. Don't be put off by the tuners - they are a good design and I wish my fretted bass had them too - they don't get bumped out of tune nearly as easily as other tuners.

When I ordered this bass I had the Sweetwater techs do a full setup on it, with string height set to reasonably low but not too low. It's a lot of fun to play but the strings I got with it were my chosen DR Black Beauties (stainless steel not nickel plated), the same ones I use on my fretted bass. For those who don't know, when you have the techs do a setup they do it with the strings you want on it so the tension is consistent between setup and you playing it. Anyway, those DR Black Beauty strings sound great on my fretted bass but I found the sound on this bass to be way too bottom-heavy, as another reviewer noted. I tried a bunch of other strings by other manufacturers but never found the bright, punchy sound I wanted (and had achieved on another Ibanez fretless bass) until I installed a set of stainless steel Elixir Strings 14677 (clear coated) strings. At the moment we are going through a period of post-covid economic recovery and Elixir isn't making the 5-string stainless steel set. So I purchased a single UNcoated stainless steel .125 B string from another mfr. It worked - THAT'S the sound I was looking for! The stainless steel Elixir strings are definitely the way to go in my opinion. Of course, your mileage may vary, but I was considering making electronics changes because the original sound was that bottom heavy. Now I LOVE this bass!! Thanks for all your help, Joel!
Music background: Old weekend warrior playing for over 30 years
Rated 5/5

A pleasure to play

The Gwb35 is a enjoyable bass to play
I have been playing bass for a long time and enjoy listening to and watching Gary Willis play
The GWB 35 when it is set up properly Is a pleasure to play. A very close action at 2/64th and a awesome sound coming from the electronics from the factory
The neck is slim and fast and the weight comes in at about 8 pounds is nice on the back with a 4inch strap
I love the feel of this instrument an in my opinion is very nice fretless to own
Music background: 40+years play bass
Rated 5/5

Ibanez GWB35

What an outstanding bass this one is. Lightweight, smooth neck, very useful finger ramp, growling tone - what else can I ask for. Gary's tone at such an affordable price. Happiness all over.
Huge thanks to my sales engineer Ben Stokes.
Rated 5/5

lafawnduh... it's all in a name

My Son named this bass lafawnduh (Napoleon Dynamite). He got it for his 18th Birthday and he gets a ton of comments on both the looks and the sound. He loves the fast, fast neck of an Ibanez. It's fret-less, but it's hard to tell with the flattened frets on the fret board. Amazing Sound and quality you expect from an Ibanez Bass.
Music background: Long time Hacker of Instruments

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What Do Our In-house Gear Experts Think?

Andy Rice

Th GWB35 from Ibanez is an amazing bass for the price! The feel and sound is even throughout the whole instrument. It also plays as good or better than many basses that cost twice as much. It's extraordinarily well balanced - and looks really cool to boot! No matter their budget, no one looking for a fretless 5-string bass would be disapointed with this one!
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