Just bought a 1982 Ibanez Musician.
 

Always wanted one of these, a 1982 Ibanez Musician MC924. I know they're quite heavy, but they balance well, play well, and sound great. Got it for NZ$560 which is about US$450.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=548913634

Love those......

wow: you got a real piece of history and an excellent bass, there!!! Compliments. That was one of the last basses issued with the old body shape, before the Ibanez body standard changed for the Musician/SDGR series...

Congrats nice bass I love those also.

Cool!

Those Musician basses are one of the best basses of it's era. Or, frankly, any era.

Sweet score! I got an MC-824(passive, bolt-on, more slab-shaped) recently for a song, and actually talked a guy OUT of selling me a fretless MC-924 for $500(or pretty much whatever price I wanted to set). I had to be straight w/ him, he's a good friend- he kept it. :rolleyes:

very nice! I love those basses :) I would probably put gold tuners on it but only for cosmetic reasons. Play it in health!

How does this bass stack up against an equivalent model of an Aria Pro?

I've had an '82 musician fretless on loan for about a month now. It is really well made,and between switchable active/passive modes has a nice variety of sounds. It hasn't quite delivered a "holy grail" of fretless for me,i think the multi laminate body and neck tends to dampen resonance to some degree,even with it being a neck through. OOTH,it does have some old,inexpenisve GHS flatwounds on it. I might throw a set of RW sunbeams on it to see what happens....

Well done! Great price, too! These are wonderful instruments. My '83 was stolen, but I still have my two '79s - a fretted (MC924) and a fretless (MC940). Love 'em.
I'm also sitting on a pair of Ibanez Studio models (ST924), which are very different, but just as heavy! :)

Very comparable in terms of quality. They sound a lot different, though. Ibanez Musicians from that era have a ton of mids.

Sunbeams would be a good choice on these, as would GHS Compression wounds or Ken Smith Compressors. You could try a coated roundwound, too.

Nice. I have its bolt-on P/J cousin, the RS924, also a great bass. Bought as a teenager in London in the '90's, it is the last one I would ever get rid of.

If I borrowed a friends fretless that had flats on it I would make a phone call before switching over to rounds.

IMO, '78-'86 Ibanez models are among the best basses in their price range.

I had that model bass back when it came out- 1982. Awesome bass, and yes, I remember the weight of the thing! I do remember the neck was a little bit fatter than today's Ibanez basses (or perhaps my hands were just that much smaller). Very solid bass though- I miss having it.

You know the rules! No pic = no bass!!!!!

Your memory is not playing tricks on you! :)

The necks were much bigger circa 1977-1982. They went to a narrower neck and different p'ups in '83, but they were still much fatter than today's Ibbys.