That's a beauty.View attachment 3172049
An 82 Musician, neckthru, switchable active and passive preamp, sounds great as a P or J copy. Plays like butter! Shame it's yellow
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Ibanez basses, 1979-1987
- Thread starter bjelkeman
- Start date
My favorite bass of all time is a Roadster, RS721, a medium scale wonder. If I ever see any more they will be mine!
I'm positive 'star was what Ibanez meant to do. Ibanez and Tama are owned by Hoshino (which means star field) and there seems to have been shared marketing based on star names. Tama had lots of star drum lines (Superstar, Imperialstar, Rockstar, Royalstar, Techstar and Starclassic, to name a few) as well as their original line of drums just called "Star."
I did when I got it, in the ibby club and the medium scale club. Here’s one right now. Not a museum piece, plenty of mojo, but it fits my hands and plying better than any other bass. Been hunting another for years.
Starting to show some wear,hehehe...
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I used to have an '82 940 DS, and I miss it all the time.
I now have two '85 5 string Roadstar II basses, (model RB885 ). One is in very good original condition except (very well imo) defretted, and another which is modded and beat and is my baby.
It has been with me since forever, was my only bass for over a decade, and saw me through almost every musical situation imaginable.
I've been playing for a long time, and I've seen, maybe, a dozen.
I believe these were Ibanez' first 5 string bass, but could be mistaken. Both have active PUs, blend/vol/tone for controls, and lack the coil tapping feature. Both are fairly light, with basswood bodies, but do have 3 piece maple necks with ebony fingerboards. The bodies are, I believe, the same bodies as the RB850, as the string spacing is quite narrow (15mm iirc). Great for chords and soloing. Mine are white, one nicely yellowed and one... just old white.
Can post pics of mine if you like, but here's this from a reverb ad...
Thanks for the thread, and for sharing your collection.
I now have two '85 5 string Roadstar II basses, (model RB885 ). One is in very good original condition except (very well imo) defretted, and another which is modded and beat and is my baby.
It has been with me since forever, was my only bass for over a decade, and saw me through almost every musical situation imaginable.I've been playing for a long time, and I've seen, maybe, a dozen.
I believe these were Ibanez' first 5 string bass, but could be mistaken. Both have active PUs, blend/vol/tone for controls, and lack the coil tapping feature. Both are fairly light, with basswood bodies, but do have 3 piece maple necks with ebony fingerboards. The bodies are, I believe, the same bodies as the RB850, as the string spacing is quite narrow (15mm iirc). Great for chords and soloing. Mine are white, one nicely yellowed and one... just old white.
Can post pics of mine if you like, but here's this from a reverb ad...
Thanks for the thread, and for sharing your collection.
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Nice to see the old Ibanez basses getting some love.
If anyone wants one, I have an '86 RB760 I'd like to move.
If anyone wants one, I have an '86 RB760 I'd like to move.
I love the RB850. I wish Ibanez would reissue it. And great sound clips--- thank you!
Ibanez Musician MC924 − 1985
In 1982 the first Musician came with painted body: black or white. This model still had, for its time, a quite advanced preamp, with blend, volume, tone, active/passive switch, active bass, mid and treble controls. Judging by what those that own these bases they have very good tonal variations.
Description: This MC924 is an active bass with a through neck. In 1985, when this MC924 was born, one had simplified the preamp to only have two volume and tone controls. It comes equipped with two hum buckers. The simplification still leaves a very competent bass.
The shape is more reminiscent of the RB960 than the earlier Musicians. The earlier Musicians had more rounded shapes all around. The MC924 has a more edgy shape. The RB960 and its siblings have sharp edges, with bindings, but the basic shape is essentially the same as the MC924. This Musician is shorter than earlier Musicians, where the body is shorter and the bridge is mounted further down on the body.
Like earlier Musicians the body is a ash/mahogny sandwich with a through-neck of walnut and maple, 34 inch with 24 frets and a fretboard in dark rosewood with no dots. You could get this in black, pearl white and dark stain. It weighs about 4.4 kg on the bathroom scale.
The copy I have is in relatively good nick. Someone has changed the graphite nut to a brass nut and when they did that they cracked the paint around the nut a bit on both sides. But nothing worse. The pearl white has gone more towards cream over the years, but it is very beautiful in this colour I think.
Of course, I have replaced the quite horrible to use V shaped strap buttons, which can be seen well in the picture above.
Sound: When I took this bass to practice last, I was surprised about the sustain. It sings for days like an opera singer with amazing lungs. It is quite a bit darker in tone than I am normally playing, but it isn't bad, just different.
Playability: The neck is a bit thicker than other Ibanez basses of this era. Still 41 mm width at the nut and about 23 mm thick at the first fret. But in general it is much the same as playing any other Ibanez of this time.
Conclusion: I never thought I would have, nor like, a white bass. But I was wrong. I love the look of this with the dark fretboard and the cream colour, but more importantly, it plays well.
Great write up on the MC924 Bj... I've had my 83' MC924 since it was new and it's always been my main guitar. I'm thinking about getting a second Musician in (Now yellowing) White
Ibanez Roadstar Series II RB960 − 1985
Description: The Roadstar RB960 reminds me more about a Musician MC924 than it looks like any other Roadstar basses from the period. The body shape, pickups, electronics are essentially the same. The differences are: bolt-on neck, bindings and a somewhat different neck profile, compared to the MC924s from the same year. Many people that see it for the first time burst out: "Cool looking bass!" Truth to be told, that is why I bought it. But then it turned out it was also a really nice bass to play (no surprises to anyone who have read this series of posts so far) and it has a really nice growly bass sound too.
The first Roadstar basses with this body shape I think came in 1983 (maybe -82?) with a Brown/Cherry Sunburst and a different preamp. They were called Roadstar Deluxe RB920/RB924. In the 1985 catalogue you can find it in Black and Polar White. Then it has bindings on the front, with the resulting sharp edge of the body. The MC924s of the time has a bevelled edge. The tuners, bridge and knobs are gold coloured.
All the Ibanez basses from the period has a battery cover that you have to have a screwdriver (philips) to open. In addition to that the space for the 9 volt battery is quite big, so you have to have some foam or something in there or the battery will rattle around. This bass weighs 4.4 kg on the bathroom scale.
My RB960 is in nearly perfect nick. The only thing I did to it was to put on strap locks on it as I hate the boomerangs they came with.
Sound: The first time I tried this in the practice space, I was using a Mesa Carbine M6 (voicing 4) with TKS W2126 cabs, and a Darkglass B7K preamp (hardly any drive) with the mid turned up. Some of the best bass tones ever heard came out of that stack. A friend who is a much better bass player than I am tried it and said it reminded him of Musicman Reflex basses in passive. Sounds good? Yeah.
Playability: This is starting to get a bit boring, but just like the others. It is very playable with a standard neck profile of the era. The sharp edge can be uncomfortable, but it has a contoured top (as opposed to the RB760). As the other basses a varnished neck which is 41 mm wide and 21 mm thick at the first fret.
Conclusion: A black bass with gold trimmings? Do I look like a pimp to you or what? I was so taken by this bass when I saw it I bought it straight away. It was the first second hand Ibanez I bought in my collection. It has a great growl, it looks good, it is nice to play and it came in at a very reasonable price (like nearly all the Ibanezes from this golden age). What more is there to ask for?
Description: The Roadstar RB960 reminds me more about a Musician MC924 than it looks like any other Roadstar basses from the period. The body shape, pickups, electronics are essentially the same. The differences are: bolt-on neck, bindings and a somewhat different neck profile, compared to the MC924s from the same year. Many people that see it for the first time burst out: "Cool looking bass!" Truth to be told, that is why I bought it. But then it turned out it was also a really nice bass to play (no surprises to anyone who have read this series of posts so far) and it has a really nice growly bass sound too.
The first Roadstar basses with this body shape I think came in 1983 (maybe -82?) with a Brown/Cherry Sunburst and a different preamp. They were called Roadstar Deluxe RB920/RB924. In the 1985 catalogue you can find it in Black and Polar White. Then it has bindings on the front, with the resulting sharp edge of the body. The MC924s of the time has a bevelled edge. The tuners, bridge and knobs are gold coloured.
All the Ibanez basses from the period has a battery cover that you have to have a screwdriver (philips) to open. In addition to that the space for the 9 volt battery is quite big, so you have to have some foam or something in there or the battery will rattle around. This bass weighs 4.4 kg on the bathroom scale.
My RB960 is in nearly perfect nick. The only thing I did to it was to put on strap locks on it as I hate the boomerangs they came with.
Sound: The first time I tried this in the practice space, I was using a Mesa Carbine M6 (voicing 4) with TKS W2126 cabs, and a Darkglass B7K preamp (hardly any drive) with the mid turned up. Some of the best bass tones ever heard came out of that stack.
A friend who is a much better bass player than I am tried it and said it reminded him of Musicman Reflex basses in passive. Sounds good? Yeah.Playability: This is starting to get a bit boring, but just like the others. It is very playable with a standard neck profile of the era. The sharp edge can be uncomfortable, but it has a contoured top (as opposed to the RB760). As the other basses a varnished neck which is 41 mm wide and 21 mm thick at the first fret.
Conclusion: A black bass with gold trimmings? Do I look like a pimp to you or what? I was so taken by this bass when I saw it I bought it straight away. It was the first second hand Ibanez I bought in my collection. It has a great growl, it looks good, it is nice to play and it came in at a very reasonable price (like nearly all the Ibanezes from this golden age). What more is there to ask for?
The first Musicians were earlier than 1982, and they weren't painted black or white as far as I know. My 924 is from 1981 and has a transparent finish (probably tinted brown over the body wings, but it looks clear over the neck-through center part). I believe the first year of production was 1979.
I continue to be impressed with the electronics in my 924. They're nearly 40 years old and still work perfectly. The instrument sounds great even with the preamp disabled (I occasionally forget to turn it on!) but with the preamp it's amazing. My usual settings are bass and treble all the way up, mids all the way down, and the passive tone knob set very low (like 2 or 3). I find that this gives me the tone I want while also reducing the amount of single-coil hum (which is louder when the passive tone knob is turned up).
The one thing I kind of wish was different about this bass (though it's not that big a deal to me yet; maybe it will be when I'm older) is that it weighs over 10 lbs. I thought my Ric 4003 was heavy at 9 lbs 8 oz, but the Musician beats it by a full pound. It's the heaviest bass I've ever owned, but I forgive it for that because it sounds so good and plays so well.
Yes of course. It was just my bad English in a too fast translation. The first sentence should read:
“In 1982 the first Musician with a painted body arrived: black or white.” Or something such. I translated it from Swedish and when I do that sometimes Swedish sentence structure sneaks in.
If you click on the first page you can see that I actually own a ‘79. Which I bought in ‘’79.
I love this era of Ibanez. My '85 RB850 has gotten the nod as my go-to bass for my new band. My 1990 SR1200 was traded for my Musician, but it still had that special "life" to it and solidity of this era. The later SR's just don't quite have that mojo when I pick them up.
Whenever there's an old "mid-school" Ibanez from this era in a music shop, it's pretty much always the best sounding and playing axe on the floor.
Whenever there's an old "mid-school" Ibanez from this era in a music shop, it's pretty much always the best sounding and playing axe on the floor.
I am thrilled to have picked up the '86 RB760 that was for sale.. brings me back to the one I had many moons ago... Anxiously awaiting its arrival!
Does anyone recall if the pot post are split or solid? Picking up some knobs and I want to get the right ones... if memory serves me correct (haha yeah...) I believe they are solid?
Does anyone recall if the pot post are split or solid? Picking up some knobs and I want to get the right ones... if memory serves me correct (haha yeah...) I believe they are solid?
This will arrive into days 86'RB600 in pristine condition....
