Confusion about Ibanez basses

[salmon256]

While Ibanez is still a cheaper option of today, and for sure I feel like many beginners start on an Ibanez, they are in no way still the cheap basses of the pass. Some of the models range go into the 1k but you get an amazing deal for that price. If you like Ibanez but you said you are down to look into other brands, for sure check out Yamaha, their five strings are amazing IMO. Also Sire Marcus Miller is great if you still love your Fenders and want a good Five but with some knobs. I find Ibanez while great is much better to try in person but Yamaha and Sire I can personally say in my experience have been good online. I loved my Mikro from Ibanez and my cheap GRS, while GRS for sure was cheap it did the job and was a fun guy, Mikro I am looking into to buy again but it was just that awesome for the price. Good luck friend.

PS
Love the skinny necks of Ibanez!

 

[Snert]

I remember hearing of Ibanez back in the 70s. It was touted pretty much as a good but cheap alternative to the Fenders and Gibsons of the world. No one I knew bragged about having an Ibanez back then.

I did with my early Roadster I purchased new. The fit and finish was so obviously better to any person and it (still) sounds great, is as stable as a rock over a lot of conditions. 70s/80s Fs were not all that great, certainly not the way the vintage market sees them now, when at the time they were considered very poor. The Japanese Lawsuit era instruments were great and kicked the MIA models in the butt so comprehensively that the US manufacturers had to sue or they would have been driven out of business.

When it comes to 5 and 6-string basses, few companies have as many offerings as Ibanez for several budgets.

If you like a slender "skinny" neck and tight string spacing, then check out the Soundgear line.

If you want something with a wider neck, wider string spacing, and a 35" scale neck, check out the BTB line.

Prestige is the best of the best, made in Japan.

Premium is the next step down. Premiums are pretty dang nice!

Standard is the next step down from that.

Yes, the OP should go to the Ibanez pages for the particular series' and they go from the most boutique down, with the exception of the Workshop Series at the top. These are MII, not MIJ like the Prestige, but off the more unusual variants and are made in much more limited runs.

Otherwise, generally, the least expensive ranges start at the lowest numbers, ie 200 and go up, with the 4 digits being a bit higher spec. But, don't let that worry you; though I have several higher model SRs, my base model GSR/SR206 sees as much gig and playing time as any of the others because it sounds good, is rock stable (though a simple 1 piece neck) and feels the same as my more expensive 6s. On this last point, SRs have a very consistent neck shape between models and over the years, so one SR should feel the same in the fretting hand to another.

SR | PRODUCTS | Ibanez guitars
My 206 is the second last instrument.

If the stores have some BTBs, also try them as you might like them as well. Same basic idea with model numbers and neck consistency. The 845v/846v are both 33" not 35" like the rest of the BTBs.
BTB | PRODUCTS | Ibanez guitars

The SR655 was mentioned earlier as a recent PJ5 type. Here is the Ibanez wiki page on it, and the same site has a wealth of (mostly) correct info on older Ibanez models. Most of the older official US pages can still be found at archive.org with a little tenacity if you want to confirm.

Last point, Ibanez recycle model numbers like BMW do, so when someone refers to an SR505 for example, they varied a bit over the years so you might need to know what year to confirm the exact spec. First 2 numbers in the SN are usually the year.

 

[leftyc]

The Black one has flats and the White one has rounds!

 

[mikewalker]

I wish there was a short-scale version of the SR924 - I'd be all over one of those quilted bits of bass eye-candy...

 

[Lowlou17]

I did with my early Roadster I purchased new. The fit and finish was so obviously better to any person and it (still) sounds great, is as stable as a rock over a lot of conditions. 70s/80s Fs were not all that great, certainly not the way the vintage market sees them now, when at the time they were considered very poor. The Japanese Lawsuit era instruments were great and kicked the MIA models in the butt so comprehensively that the US manufacturers had to sue or they would have been driven out of business.
Yes, the OP should go to the Ibanez pages for the particular series' and they go from the most boutique down, with the exception of the Workshop Series at the top. These are MII, not MIJ like the Prestige, but off the more unusual variants and are made in much more limited runs.

Otherwise, generally, the least expensive ranges start at the lowest numbers, ie 200 and go up, with the 4 digits being a bit higher spec. But, don't let that worry you; though I have several higher model SRs, my base model GSR/SR206 sees as much gig and playing time as any of the others because it sounds good, is rock stable (though a simple 1 piece neck) and feels the same as my more expensive 6s. On this last point, SRs have a very consistent neck shape between models and over the years, so one SR should feel the same in the fretting hand to another.

SR | PRODUCTS | Ibanez guitars
My 206 is the second last instrument.

If the stores have some BTBs, also try them as you might like them as well. Same basic idea with model numbers and neck consistency. The 845v/846v are both 33" not 35" like the rest of the BTBs.
BTB | PRODUCTS | Ibanez guitars

The SR655 was mentioned earlier as a recent PJ5 type. Here is the Ibanez wiki page on it, and the same site has a wealth of (mostly) correct info on older Ibanez models. Most of the older official US pages can still be found at archive.org with a little tenacity if you want to confirm.

Last point, Ibanez recycle model numbers like BMW do, so when someone refers to an SR505 for example, they varied a bit over the years so you might need to know what year to confirm the exact spec. First 2 numbers in the SN are usually the year.

I will check out the Ibanez pages! I have an older TR-50 and I’ve used it plenty. Lots of tone options. But I prefer the thinner necks.

 

[Snert]

Good luck with your search, and come back with any more questions you have. The knowledge base here is very good.

 

[cdef]

Particularly, Ibanez basses of the 1980s are much underrated deals. As well or better constructed than any basses built at that time, Fender included, and creative-cum-progressive with the electronics too.

 

[DRBP]

Particularly, Ibanez basses of the 1980s are much underrated deals. As well or better constr

I remember hearing of Ibanez back in the 70s. It was touted pretty much as a good but cheap alternative to the Fenders and Gibsons of the world. No one I knew bragged about having an Ibanez back then.
I have an Ibanez TR-50 and I love the tones.
I’m looking to get a 5 string. Currently I own a Sterling StingRay5 but the neck feels like it’s a 2x4. That’s my only knock on the Sterling. I want to replace it and I’d like to consider an Ibanez. (It does appear I’m a Fender man since 3 of the 5 basses I own are Fenders and I love them). However, I’m open to other brands and am curious as to what Ibanez has to offer in a 5 string pbass. In my mind, Ibanez is still a cheap guitar and it appears it’s a better instrument than I’m willing to give it credit for. Please educate me on Ibanez and what is a good bass new or used for a max $500 budget. Thanks!

i’m not sure you can really go wrong with an ibanez. i only have one ibanez and it is my only fretless (SR370F) but over the last decade the neck has been perfectly stable and it is easy to play and was really inexpensive, even new when i bought it. i primarily play fretted (fender, yamaha, lull, and mayones) but the ibanez never disappoints when i need fretless. i wouldn’t hesitate to buy an ibanez fretted or fretless again. as others have said it is really good if you can try at least a similar model to what you want to buy just to be sure it fits your style and comfort.

 

[Stedkey]

I remember hearing of Ibanez back in the 70s. It was touted pretty much as a good but cheap alternative to the Fenders and Gibsons of the world. No one I knew bragged about having an Ibanez back then.
I have an Ibanez TR-50 and I love the tones.
I’m looking to get a 5 string. Currently I own a Sterling StingRay5 but the neck feels like it’s a 2x4. That’s my only knock on the Sterling. I want to replace it and I’d like to consider an Ibanez. (It does appear I’m a Fender man since 3 of the 5 basses I own are Fenders and I love them). However, I’m open to other brands and am curious as to what Ibanez has to offer in a 5 string pbass. In my mind, Ibanez is still a cheap guitar and it appears it’s a better instrument than I’m willing to give it credit for. Please educate me on Ibanez and what is a good bass new or used for a max $500 budget. Thanks!

If you are interested in fretless, the Ibanez SRF705 is really nice! I've had one for about 7 years and have no complaints. New is above your price range but you might find a used one in the $500s.

 

[beaglesandbass]

Leave your preconceptions in the ‘70s. A lot has changed since then.

This.

Much like most (if not all) mass produced brands, they make some not-so-great instruments, and some really nice instruments.

 

[micguy]

Ibanez makes really good sounding and good quality instruments. They always have. And if the neck shape fits your preference there’s nothing but love for Ibby here.

For those who doesn't like a skinny neck (I've got big hands, and they slow me down) the Talmans are a bit bigger neckwise.

 

[FatOwlBass]

Ibanez has many flavors to choose from for any budget. Soundgear is great for slim fast neck and close string spacing. If you want a bigger neck the BTB basses are comfy but wider.
The Talman basses are more retro looking.
The quality of Ibanez products is pretty consistent.

 

[fhm555]

Ibanez makes really good sounding and good quality instruments. They always have. And if the neck shape fits your preference there’s nothing but love for Ibby here.

Yep, until recently I had an Indonesian made Ibanez Jet King. It was a solid and well built bass with the exception of the pots and wiring. As it came to me it had weak, tinny output. It was wired straight VVT like a Jazz so I replaced the (I think) 500K mini pots with regular size (for Fender) CTS 250k pots and the tiny diameter solid wire with some decent stranded copper wire and it came alive. I originally bought it to load it up with some swampy sounding hum buckers and a bunch of toggle switches just for fun, but I lost the use of my left pinky before that happened and the thickish neck was just too much for my weakened left hand to navigate. I wound up giving it to my niece for her to sell for her church building fund, but their regular bass player liked it so much he traded his Mexican P bass for it. So the P got sold and the Jet King now brings folks to alter call on Sunday.

 

[Levent]

The late 70's / early 80's brought us some of the best Ibanez basses, period. The Musician & Roadstar basses went from great to awesome across the product line at the time. Others soon followed suit with neck thru, active controls, and price conscious builds. View attachment 5307034 View attachment 5307035 View attachment 5307036

They actually said die cast is better than steel or brass..

 

[retslock]

I remember hearing of Ibanez back in the 70s. It was touted pretty much as a good but cheap alternative to the Fenders and Gibsons of the world. No one I knew bragged about having an Ibanez back then.
I have an Ibanez TR-50 and I love the tones.
I’m looking to get a 5 string. Currently I own a Sterling StingRay5 but the neck feels like it’s a 2x4. That’s my only knock on the Sterling. I want to replace it and I’d like to consider an Ibanez. (It does appear I’m a Fender man since 3 of the 5 basses I own are Fenders and I love them). However, I’m open to other brands and am curious as to what Ibanez has to offer in a 5 string pbass. In my mind, Ibanez is still a cheap guitar and it appears it’s a better instrument than I’m willing to give it credit for. Please educate me on Ibanez and what is a good bass new or used for a max $500 budget. Thanks!

Haven’t read the entire post yet but I own an Ibanez SR655 that was made in Indonesia. I’ve traditionally been a Precision player for many years. The Nordstrands on the SR655 sound very good. My bass records very well and has a punchy tone. The build is very good and the bass is very nice to play. I’m not in love with the body shape but I bought it anyway because it is a very good bass for the money. I don’t know what they go for in USA or if you’d consider used but I can vouch for the bass.
The Precision/Jazz pickup - active/passive configuration has plenty of tonal options and the string spacing is narrow (approx. 16.5 to 17mm) which I prefer but some don’t.

 

[retslock]

I will check out the Ibanez pages! I have an older TR-50 and I’ve used it plenty. Lots of tone options. But I prefer the thinner necks.

I have a really nicely built old Ibanez Musician MC924DS that I got in 1982. It’s as solid as a rock. It’s toured and seen some action. They make good stuff but seem to be still trying to live down their earliest forays into the market. They know how to do it know and produce quality but some people aren’t ready to accept that yet.

 

[retslock]

Particularly, Ibanez basses of the 1980s are much underrated deals. As well or better constructed than any basses built at that time, Fender included, and creative-cum-progressive with the electronics too.

Truth.

 

[brocco]

I recently bought a Mezzo SRMD205 32" scale and used it NYE on a 4 hour gig, no aching shoulder ( 7lbs. ) or aching fretting hand because of the shorter scale. The pre-amp is really hot, but you can dial it back to get a nice passive type tone. I was stunned how good it was in the mix and a bass player friend of mine at the gig was as well. Will it do what my Musicman's do sound wise, not quite but good enough. At under $350 what a steal, I like it so much I bought the 4 string Mezzo also. I did take off the stock strings and put Dunlop medium scale and they sound much better!

 

[BobKos]

I'm primarily a 4 stringer. I don't like most 5 strings. The Sterling Stingray 5 is one bass I get along with because I feel that for a 5 the neck is more COMPACT than most and the tighter string spacing works for me. IME most 5's are even bulkier than the Stingray neck. I would think that if you want to go slimmer than that look at an SR 505 or other SR series 5 string from Ibanez. I own SR500 and SR1300 4 string models and both are great basses. In the used market they are a bargain for what you get. Not all Ibanezes have the slim profile neck that the SRs have so you really have to look at specs or do hands on auditions.

 

[Dlew919]

I’ve got a 1985 Roadstar as per my sig. I’ve only recently semi retired it because I don’t want to wear it out. It still has plenty of life in it. I also have a sdgr 5 string. It has recorded beautifully. It’s a terrific instrument.