is ibanez roadstar ii rb850 a good buy?

cliff em all · #1 01-06-2013, 12:12 AM

hey guys i found a used ibanez roadstar ii rb850 i believe? it caught my eye because of its sweet finish but i was wondering if its a good buy and what could i compare the tone to because i cannot test it because it is on the other side of the state

joebar · #2 01-06-2013, 12:22 AM

i had one and it is a tone monster. getting rare but great deals out there.

cliff em all · #3 01-06-2013, 12:40 AM

so its awesome?

iridiumrocks · #4 01-06-2013, 01:03 AM

I have an '84 Roadstar II RB850 that I bought used in 1986. It's one a my favorite basses. Great tone, looks, and very comfortable to play. The pickup fader gives you a great range of tones depending on how you balance the pickups. It has a very growly bright tone from the bridge pickup and also has a fat bottom end from the neck pickup. If the price is right, I would go for it.

alfred88 · #5 01-06-2013, 08:30 AM

I also have a red 84 that I got on Ebay for $150 with OHSC
back in 2005. This one is a keeper, great tone, well made,
lots of sounds , light weight, great fast neck. One of the best deals for a used bass.

I've seen some recently go for 200-250$, worth every penny.

If you get a deal, go for it!!.

Erich Bruning · #6 01-06-2013, 08:56 AM

Mine is an '86 IIRC, and was my first and only bass for about 15 years. Good overall bass, but like every Ibanez I've played the string spacing is tight.

I still like it and currently have Thomastic flatwounds on it, which feel and sound great.

Not the best pic, but:

danomite64 · #7 01-06-2013, 09:49 AM

I had a few; great basses. As you can see, I often preferred it to my '78 Jazz.

cliff em all · #8 01-06-2013, 01:47 PM

http://www.guitarcenter.com/In-Store...19-i2899787.gc
heres the link to it its 300$ the only thing holding me back from buying is that i just got a new bass a couple of month ago

wraub · #9 01-07-2013, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erich Bruning

Mine is an '86 IIRC, and was my first and only bass for about 15 years. Good overall bass, but like every Ibanez I've played the string spacing is tight.

I still like it and currently have Thomastic flatwounds on it, which feel and sound great.

Not the best pic, but:

Oddly enough, I have almost the same story. I have the same bass (but in white) and it was my only bass for over a decade.
I like it so much I wanted another one that was fretless, and after several years of searching, I found one and did the work myself. So now I have 2. Both are from '85.
Yours looks in beter condition than my fretted, which has seen a lot of use and some modification.

The string spacing is tight (15mm iirc) but I can slap on it with no trouble and it's great for chords. Good electronics, wide range of tones, inexpensive and well made.

wraub

BrentSimons · #10 01-07-2013, 01:19 PM

My first bass! I still have it but I had it defretted and I haven't been playing it much. It's a great bass. I bought mine new in '86 I think.
Brent

TinIndian · #11 01-07-2013, 01:25 PM

I picked up a beat to crap one with the HSC for 120.00. I have it stripped down and am restoring it. Those Super J6 pickups are amazing, it really has amazing tone. the neck is very comfortable too. Not as thin as an SR neck, but not a baseball bat by any stretch. I think the high price I've seen on these is 300.00, but that is pretty clean. Typically they go in the 200-250 range.

smcd · #12 01-07-2013, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliff em all

http://www.guitarcenter.com/In-Store...19-i2899787.gc
heres the link to it its 300$ the only thing holding me back from buying is that i just got a new bass a couple of month ago

$300 is market value for that bass, so it's not a great deal, but not a bad deal either. Value-wise, it's a great deal. You can't touch a bass of that quality made today for that price.

STRINGSLINGER · #13 01-07-2013, 02:13 PM

Got to say, I absolutely love mine. Sold it in 2000, regretted it, tracked it down and bought it back. I will never part with it again. If the price is right, you will not regret it.

Greevus · #14 01-07-2013, 02:20 PM

i have 8 old Blazer/Roadstars! Hell yes, they are GREAT! i paid $160-$350 for each of them. they are a steal if you watch ebay a while. i prefer the Early '80s to the late, but they are very well made, all of 'em. the stock pickups sound hotter than two Fenders i have. great gears/bridges too.

synaesthesia · #15 01-12-2013, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greevus

i have 8 old Blazer/Roadstars! Hell yes, they are GREAT! i paid $160-$350 for each of them. they are a steal if you watch ebay a while. i prefer the Early '80s to the late, but they are very well made, all of 'em. the stock pickups sound hotter than two Fenders i have. great gears/bridges too.

I'm weetchoo.

I used a lefty blazer in the 80s/90s with EMG ps, installed an additional pickup on that one and did loads of recording with it.

Picked up a 1981 RS924 lefty for a song last year, and 'rescued' a 1986 RB850 lefty with low impedance pickups for $100 that had been converted for RH use from Gumtree last week. Cleaned it up, sorted out the action (the owner propped the saddles up so that action was literally 1/2") got new strings and NBD! Sounds very very good. Plays like butter.