80's ibanez bass

dave_clark69 · #1 05-30-2003, 12:52 PM

did/does anyone have an ibanez bass from the 80's, because my mate is giving me one and i want to know what to expect. What was like the standard pickups for that.

P.S do they have a good sound, well better than a yamaha rbx 170

thanks

bass_man86 · #2 06-02-2003, 06:46 PM

I own an '80s vintage Roadstar II. Nice bass, medium scale, too little for my taste. That pretty well sums up Ibanez in the eighties for me. Ibanez back then IMO seemed to be fixated with these smallish basses with shorter scales that looked great on the big hair musicians of the era. Their best model IMO was the Musician (you can see it on the back of the Police, Zenyatta Mondatta album.

volker · #3 06-02-2003, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dave_clark69
did/does anyone have an ibanez bass from the 80's, because my mate is giving me one and i want to know what to expect. What was like the standard pickups for that...

...Ibanez basses in the '80s were equipped with DiMarzio pick-ups, a good-quality-brand.

Maybe you could find out which model it actually is that you're about to buy - Ibanez had several lines going during the '80s which were quite different to each other also ("Blazer", "Roadster", "Roadstar", "Musician",...).
But generally you can say that their basses are good instruments

@ dave_clark69

dave_clark69 · #4 06-03-2003, 09:03 AM

Thanks friend, I dont know what make or what type of bass it is but me being pesomistic, i am looking and the cheapest with standard everything. That way everything turns out better(hopefully)

To take the test to find out if you are pesomistic/optimistic, read this word and then corrospond it to the words below

HAPPINESSISNOWHERE

HAPINESS IS NOWHERE
HAPINESS IS NOW HERE

Michael Jewels · #5 06-03-2003, 11:32 AM

My old Ibanez pre dates your question by one year; my Musician is a 1979 model. Bought brand new, I'm the only owner. http://216.250.245.172/musbass.html

About 10 days ago marks the 22nd anniversary that I've had my child.

The build quality is absolutely superb. I've also played a number of Ibanez basses from this era, and most of them were of the same calibur: very good to excellent.

Some people say the quality started to slip towards the end of the 80s, but, I don't know when exactly, or if it concerned all models. I'd say it's a safe bet that if you're getting an 80s Ibanez, you're getting an instrument that is at the very least above average.

Here's the vintage homepage to help you find out which model you have. http://216.250.245.172/

I once had an absolutely terrible Fender that was followed by an excellent Ibanez; this is why I'm partial to them.

Good luck, and let us know which model you're getting.

Mike

ZuluFunk · #6 06-03-2003, 11:55 AM

I remember almost getting an Ibanez in about 1985.
It was dark metalic gray and had a shorter scale and a very small/narrow body. I'm pretty sure it had 2 tuners per side of the head.

I thought it was a Roadstar, but the ones show at that link are much mre heafty looking and have all the tuners on top.

I wonder what it was.

mikezimmerman · #7 06-03-2003, 01:33 PM

There were Roadstars with 2/2 headstocks. There were some with standard width bodies, some with "Spector sized" bodies (I had one of those), and some with really skinny bodies. All had long-scale necks, though--I don't remember any Ibanez Roadstars with a medium or short-scale neck.

Mike

James Hart · #8 06-03-2003, 01:47 PM

I had an early 80's Destroyer (explorer shaped... like the lead player in the Def Leopard video "Photograph" and others). It was red with a single cream colored split P

I later had a late 80's EX series 4 string with 2 sets of P bass pickups.

both basses were playable and I'd take eithone back if they came my way.

volker · #9 06-03-2003, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bass_man86
I own an '80s vintage Roadstar II. Nice bass, medium scale, too little for my taste. That pretty well sums up Ibanez in the eighties for me. Ibanez back then IMO seemed to be fixated with these smallish basses with shorter scales that looked great on the big hair musicians of the era...

'80s Ibanez basses have a 34" scale and so belong to the long-scale-category (at least in the world of 4-string-basses)

volker · #10 06-03-2003, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ZuluFunk
I remember almost getting an Ibanez in about 1985.
It was dark metalic gray and had a shorter scale and a very small/narrow body. I'm pretty sure it had 2 tuners per side of the head.

I thought it was a Roadstar, but the ones show at that link are much mre heafty looking and have all the tuners on top.

I wonder what it was.

Yes, I remember that one and had even checked it out myself! Its body had shapings like a Gibson SG guitar, and the 2/2 headstock was just big enough for the tuners. It had only 1 (humbucker) pick-up. As far as I remember it was a Roadstar II Series bass, Model "RB 888" or something like that. A tiny instrument and very easy to play, but still with a long 34" scale. I can't find anything about it on the web, though.

bass_man86 · #11 06-03-2003, 10:17 PM

Quote:

'80s Ibanez basses have a 34" scale and so belong to the long-scale-category (at least in the world of 4-string-basses)

Dude, I can assure you that my ax is a medium scale bass. It can almost pass for 34" scale until I stick next to my '73 Jazz. The neck is just as long, but it has twenty four frets. What I do like about it is that it's similar in size, feel and tone to a Gibson EB3 (kind of, sort of!)

Ibanez did make some nice basses during the '80s, but the ones that I saw, with the exception of the musician were all medium scale basses with the exception of the Musician. Mind you, that is just my personal experience.

mikezimmerman · #12 06-04-2003, 05:53 AM

bassman -- My 80's Roadstar II was most definately long scale, and I can't think of any medium scale models. Can you measure the bass from the nut to the 12th fret on your bass, and perhaps give a few more details so we can figure out which model it is?

Thanks,
Mike

oddio · #13 06-04-2003, 06:18 AM

Sadly I sold my '81 Musician 824 quite some time ago. It was an excellent long-scale bass, and the pickups were a real improvement over earlier models. The only downside to the instrument as I remember it was the weight.

geezer316 · #14 06-04-2003, 10:05 AM

my buddy has a nice 80's Westminster(Ibanez's alter ego)jazz style bass,its almost as nice as a "real" Jazz bass but needed to have up-graded pick-ups to really make it complete.80's Ibanez's are decent basses that are equal to other "big" name CO's.

volker · #15 06-04-2003, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bass_man86
Dude, I can assure you that my ax is a medium scale bass...

...Ibanez did make some nice basses during the '80s, but the ones that I saw, with the exception of the musician were all medium scale basses with the exception of the Musician. Mind you, that is just my personal experience.

I should have said that in the '80s most Ibanez basses were long scale ones - of course there were also medium scale ones. In your first post it just sounded like all '80s Ibanez basses (except for the "Musician") were medium scaled, you know

@ bass_man86

And I agree to oddio; I once tried a "Musician", and I was quite disappointed about it being f***ing heavy.

volker · #16 06-15-2003, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by myself - "Yay" for me!
Yes, I remember that one...It had only 1 (humbucker) pick-up. As far as I remember it was a Roadstar II Series bass, Model "RB 888" or something like that...

In the meantime the Ibanez Vintage Page got updated and they have a picture of that bass on there now. Looks like I was wrong with remembering the instrument having only one pick-up, but I was really close with the model name, RB999 instead of 888

dave_clark69 · #17 06-15-2003, 05:50 AM

After the long wait i got the bass. It looks suprisingly similar to the squier p bass, with a maple neck.
My mate said in 1983 when he bought it, it cost him £150. Now that is roughly £300.
Does anyone know how much this is actually worth (like a penny black is worth loads but it costs a fortune)

The funniest thing is that the strings are the originals. And after 20 years they still sound great!

volker · #18 06-15-2003, 06:02 AM

So it's probably one of these ones here:

mikezimmerman · #19 06-15-2003, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by volker
In the meantime the Ibanez Vintage Page got updated and they have a picture of that bass on there now. Looks like I was wrong with remembering the instrument having only one pick-up, but I was really close with the model name, RB999 instead of 888

There was a single-pickup version as well, but darned if I can remember the model number. Sting actually had a fretless one of the single-pickup models that he gigged with for a little while.

volker -- the Blazers you pictured are the predecessors to the Roadstar versions. They're pretty much the same thing, though the body outline was changed a little bit to match the Roadstar guitars.

Mike

Mike

volker · #20 06-15-2003, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mikezimmerman
...
volker -- the Blazers you pictured are the predecessors to the Roadstar versions. They're pretty much the same thing,...

...hmmm, not really - the "Roadstar" versions' headstocks had the same colours like their bodies and there were different pick-up configurations available, too. dave_clark69 said his mate bought the bass in '83, so it could be either a Blazer or an early Roadstar II...

Hey, dave_clark69, how about you posting a pic of the bass?