I'm not bashing Ibanez! I played them on stage from 97- 2002 in my nu metal days. I'm looking for a 24 fret bass and every time I see a Ibanez I think.. Damn these are some boring looking basses. They are hella good basses, especially in the $700 price range, but the same body shape since the 80's. Am I alone in thinking aboot this?
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Anyone else think Ibanez should change their SR body?
- Thread starter SteffanB
- Start date
If they didn’t offer any other shapes, I might agree. But they certainly have other options. I would like a P+ATK with bound Ric-esque Roadstar styling, please
It’s become a classic. Don’t mess with success! 
I'm still playing my Roadstar II basses, so my opinion may be biased, somewhat. 
The BTB line is interesting.
But the rest are meh!
I've always passed over the SR line for that very reason.
But the rest are meh!
I've always passed over the SR line for that very reason.
Ibanez has many options aside from the SR line. For every person that thinks the SR body shape is boring, 10 will remark how much they hate the BTB/ATK/Iceman/Ergodyne/grooveline/etc bodies.
Yeah, people often say the same about the P bass and the Jazz, too.
I think a proven ‘seller’ will stay the same shape. However, they might try some different new finishes. Glossy poly, different colors, even graphics - something that is so retro, that it’s different to a new generation. Because an entire generation of players have started out, playing the SR.
They should hire a designer from BMW to design an new body style for them.....but keep him away from the restroom.... or hire the London Design Center.
It's looking that way, isn't it?
A lot of instruments keep the same fundamental design for decades. Fender P & J & Strat & Tele, Gibson SG & Les Paul, Warwick, Rickenbacker, Hofner, Spector, Steinberger... Some are iconic, some are not.
The body is functional and recognizable, so I can't think of any reason they'd need to change it, beyond the minor tweaks they've made over the years, and one-offs like the Aerium.
Yep, totally, if it didn't sell they would change it. I'm thinking of another brand that doesn't change many details.
I don't own any Ibbys, but went to their website. Seems they've got some of decent looking basses, and a few radical ones. Can't say I love them all, but my guess is the SR is the least changed. To me it seems to be a functional style that should appeal to the masses..
Exactly! Much the same way the Corvette Stingray or the Eames chair has a functional style that appeals to the masses. They just happen to be perfect and sexy at the same time. ;-)
Well, true the SR body hasn't changed much- it is a series after all and Ibanez has other body shapes on their other series, but Ibanez has some of the craziest finishes on some of their SR basses lately, especially the lower tier SR models like the SR300E. If you want a plain red one, you're screwed but if you're into the Cerulean Aura burst, you're in luck.
Why you dint ask " Anyone else think Fender should change their Jazz bass body ? "
It has body shape since 60's .......
I never found SR body shape boring myself.
It has body shape since 60's .......
I never found SR body shape boring myself.
They make a lot of different shapes. People keep buying SRs. So I can’t really blame them. I get where you’re coming from though. I see an SR bass and immediately think Korn personally. Nothing wrong with that though if that’s what you’re into. I wouldn’t mind seeing them change things up some. For example The GW basses are based on the SR body shape but they are tweaked a little. Would love to see a GW 6 string ashula. Sort of a hybrid of the original 6 string ashula and the GW basses.
Hell no!
Think of all the guys whose first bass was an Ibanez SR, around 1987, with tons of hairspray and tight stonewashed jeans, trying to learn "Welcome to the Jungle" for the first time, wrong notes, fingers sprouting in pain.
Hair metal garage bands wouldn't have existed in the same way without the Ibanez SR. It has a place in history. Seemingly everyone who ever tried to play bass in a bad metal band in the late 80's started on an SR, usually through a terrible, terrible Crate amp.
You could count on it like clockwork. Hear a sloppy high school band practicing a cringeworthy Poison tune in an open garage down the street (so that all the neighbors could hear yet none of them wanted to), and you could bet your @$$ that dude was struggling to play Bobby Dall's insipid lines on a low-slung Ibanez SR.
Although, I have to admit, the whole "Korn" thing really made it really hard to respect the SR, considering that Fieldy dude almost single-handedly destroyed bass tones for about a decade, and the whole rap-rock thing damn near desecrated metal. But, I digress.
To me, the SR represents an era, the aura and reminiscence of your "first bass," and I'm glad they still make them. They are actually great playing and sounding basses, and by all means they have their own identity, which is almost impossible to achieve and have success with.
Leave the SR alone.
Think of all the guys whose first bass was an Ibanez SR, around 1987, with tons of hairspray and tight stonewashed jeans, trying to learn "Welcome to the Jungle" for the first time, wrong notes, fingers sprouting in pain.
Hair metal garage bands wouldn't have existed in the same way without the Ibanez SR. It has a place in history. Seemingly everyone who ever tried to play bass in a bad metal band in the late 80's started on an SR, usually through a terrible, terrible Crate amp.
You could count on it like clockwork. Hear a sloppy high school band practicing a cringeworthy Poison tune in an open garage down the street (so that all the neighbors could hear yet none of them wanted to), and you could bet your @$$ that dude was struggling to play Bobby Dall's insipid lines on a low-slung Ibanez SR.
Although, I have to admit, the whole "Korn" thing really made it really hard to respect the SR, considering that Fieldy dude almost single-handedly destroyed bass tones for about a decade, and the whole rap-rock thing damn near desecrated metal. But, I digress.
To me, the SR represents an era, the aura and reminiscence of your "first bass," and I'm glad they still make them. They are actually great playing and sounding basses, and by all means they have their own identity, which is almost impossible to achieve and have success with.
Leave the SR alone.
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I think the BTB is their ugliest one!
Fender didn’t change the shape of Jazz and Precision basses either. Never change a winning team....
