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Any Ibanez EX series owners

#21
I know this is a dormant thread but I thought I'd try anyway.
I've been trying to find out about my EX 4 string fretless bass.
none of the catalogues show such a bass. It has a serial number c212530 which doesn't seem to correspond to anything except made in Korea by Cort. It has the three ply maple neck and by the weight i'd say the body was maple, it has an Ebony fingerboard
and P/J pups. Don't think they are EMG's. I upgraded the bridge, and as far as I know I'm the original owner.
Thanks
frettless Ibanez bass.jpg
 
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#22
I have one, an EXB404 in black. My singer gave it to me as a project as it had been in pieces in her basement. I replaced the hardware to all black and threw in some cheap pickups just to get it working. I'm quite liking it, so I may upgrade the pickups to EMG's at some point.
 
#24
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I have what I think is an EX445 from 1992. It was my first real bass and bought it new. I put EMG's in it shortly after. It's lived a hard life as I never had a case for it, but I took pretty good care of it. It was retired around 95-96 when I got my SR. This past month I've restored it. All the hardware was tired and had some oxidation happening so I did a total dismantle. Had the tuners, bridge, knobs, and strap locks Cerakoted in Midnight Bronze. All the screws were cleaned and repainted. I bought a cheapo bridge to rob the black set screws and pieces from as the originals were unsalvageable. A friend gave the body a quick buff to restore some shine. I have new pots for it and now I'm waiting on the output jack to arrive to finish the wiring. I've always loved the way it plays, big fan of the necks on Ibanez stuff. For an entry level piece, they really are nice. Always been impressed with Ibanez's price for quality.
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#29
fretlessman71 said:
I have a '90 Korean. Bought new for about $300, added a BadAss II and a HipShot Xtender Key. Still amazed at how perfectly appropriate it sounds when I run it through overdrive with a pick. Wish there was more info online about it, but being a not-quite-flagship model I can understand why it gets little respect.
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I think their starting to get a bit more respect.... it only took 30 years.... most cant get behind the pointy bits of that model.
Fortunately, if you can find them, they are still pretty cheap.
Iv had my my 1990 since it was new... it’s gotten a few upgrades through the years of course.
I just found another 1990 on ebay... now on its way to me!!!
Maybe its because my EX was my only bass for many years but i find them very comfortable to play and would pick one over higher end basses if it was set up well.
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#32
Dr Zee said:
I know this is a dormant thread but I thought I'd try anyway.
I've been trying to find out about my EX 4 string fretless bass.
none of the catalogues show such a bass. It has a serial number c212530 which doesn't seem to correspond to anything except made in Korea by Cort. It has the three ply maple neck and by the weight i'd say the body was maple, it has an Ebony fingerboard
and P/J pups. Don't think they are EMG's. I upgraded the bridge, and as far as I know I'm the original owner.
Thanks
View attachment 3692827
Click to expand...
I have a black EX404 that was defretted before it came to me. It looks like heck but actually sounds and plays pretty amazing. Would love to play a factory fretless!
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045ECD97-DD68-4470-AAB2-71C002A980DD.jpeg


FEB73A4B-B2DB-4E01-B71E-83B386E3094C.jpeg


C73B9598-49E1-4A91-BB0D-39387E118DBD.jpeg
6F414FD2-6756-4152-80DA-E44DF97D3E7F.jpeg
 
#33
When I first started playing back in 1994, my first bass was an EXB404 in burgundy red. I saved my pennies like crazy for it. I liked its punchy, aggressive tone. Definitely a good starter bass and one I could see being a good project bass as well.

The only thing I didn't really like about it was the long flair/swoop/swoosh headstock. I'd accidentally bump it into things.
 
#34
Dincrest said:
When I first started playing back in 1994, my first bass was an EXB404 in burgundy red. I saved my pennies like crazy for it. I liked its punchy, aggressive tone. Definitely a good starter bass and one I could see being a good project bass as well.

The only thing I didn't really like about it was the long flair/swoop/swoosh headstock. I'd accidentally bump it into things.
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Do you remember what you paid for it in 94?
I want to say my 1990 was between $150-$200 but I really don’t remember. I know i was able to trade a cheap washburn and scrape up the rest to buy it.
At the age of 16, I didn’t have much $$.
 
#39
i have an EX series bass with serial # 8910723, however, it has jazz pickups both in the neck and bridge position like the 5-string version, except that mine is a 4-string. I'm not the first owner though but it doesn't seem the neck pickup cavity has been re-routed. Can't find anything like that in the Ibanez website, Ibby catalogs or from the internet in general. Appreciate if someone can provide more info. Thanks much!
 
#40
6thplanet said:
$250 back in 92. Probably the cheapest 5 string in the catalog, which I think was Musicians Friend or AMS.
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Yes, I remember these from when I started playing at age 12 in the summer of 1993, and almost bought one. I ended up going with an ATK (another aggressive Ibanez, though the similarities end there :laugh:) for my first 5-string in 1995. Still have the ATK, but I did finally get my pointy Ibanez 5-string last fall :cool:
 
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