Ibanez basses played by pros?

[Kro]

And some go on about their too-skinny necks

Their "too skinny necks" and tight string spacing at the bridge are the best things about Ibanez basses. It's the primary thing that still makes me contemplate fixing up my SR495 instead of buying a comparable Yamaha.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

The bottom line is that all Ibanez basses are at least decent, and most of them are excellent at their price point. Ibanez basses are certainly good enough for professional use whether we can think of big name players who use them or not. Personally, I care less and less what some hot shot uses, and only if I like it. Even with a signature bass, what matters is if it works for me, not whose name is on it.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Perhaps it's because they are all playing the knock offs from Jackson?

 

[dkelley]

I'm nobody, but in the late 80s through late 90s I played Ibanez primarily (by choice, I bought and played my own instruments, no deals or backing), during the prime of my live career. It came up sort of often in discussions with other bassists that it was a sort of unusual choice. Seemed many other pro bassists I met had Ibanez basses, but their primary gigging bass was not Ibanez. Bit of a stigma back then.

However in past couple decades I haven't been as in touch with live bassists as I used to be, so I'm not sure of the more recent years.

 

[Tommyc]

Astonishing that the Wiki list omitted Carol Kaye. Though she has made it plain that she doesn’t like the modern iterations. I forgot what model she still plays but it’s from a while ago.

 

[SgtHulka]

Slightly Stoopid bass player plays an Ibanez. And he's a damn good Pro.

 

[Kilgore777]

If not one mentioned.... Adam Clayton in the 80s:

 

[DBEUBEBPlayer]

Joshua Young

 

[SwitchGear]

Kasim Sulton

 

[mellowgerman]

I dont think he played it, at least at a show. I think they made it for him and gave it to him in the hope.

Edit: Ok I had to confirm this a bit I found this...
Phil Lesh Ibanez Bass! - Grateful Dead Music Forum

Thanks for investigating that! Would love to hear what Phil did and didn't like about it. Either way, a neat, oddball tidbit of Ibanez history

 

[ThudThudThud]

They only need one....


View attachment 3677711

I really liked that bass line that went: "Clickity, click, click, clack, tick, clickity, click...."

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Kasim Sulton

View attachment 3678003

He is looking a bit like Eric Clapton as he ages. I love those Nordstrand loaded Soundgears!

 

[Relayer71]

If not one mentioned.... Adam Clayton in the 80s:

Sting and John Entwistle also played Musicians at some point. Always wish they'd reissue these (they had a limited edition a few years back but it was $10,000 ).

 

[Milw_Chad]

Long story but had a bright red Japan made SR800 left in my possession for many years, played a lot of gigs and did a bunch of recording with it. Eventually it had to go home. With new round wound strings and the active pickups you could make it sound like a piano if you let it ring (didn't have to just could). I miss it. They're cheap if you look around.

The criticism I always heard about them and sort of buy into is that their is nothing bad about them but there is also nothing signature about them. They make a nice clean sound and play easy

 

[MultiScaleMale]

They were popular in the 90’s in the metal scene. That spot is now ruled by Dingwall.

 

[wishforbass]

We have two market in bass world,
1-Factory market
2-Hand made and master built

Ibanez is active in first category when fender or Warwick are available in both .

Ibanez high mid and high basses are premium and prestige.Their design is special and comfortable.
They had wide range of basses and much more active in Asia market than Us.
Because american sees fender like apple so even a bad fender prefer over a mid Ibanez and older player are used to shape and body of fender.
They are not into changes,Fender thick 5 string necks for example are kind of uncomfortable for a lot of players but they do not switch(Teach bass and sees more than 23 people in this category).
Their weight is over weight a lot of times but still have their powerful marketing .
Imagine a bass idol ,how many of them played fender?
As you can imagine Fender marketing is done even fender itself when come up with new idea gets less attention so they keep their own old product.(Fender dimension)
So this fake standard addict many players because marketing is about make needs that are not really a need.So a lot of time a person have a good bass but he or she feels she needs a fender too .

Ibanez respected in metal and rock world and between a lot of pro players.
But fender passive marketing is enough to make people like basses that are fenderish .

 

[Rib 13]

This is the whole "Jaco only needed four strings" argument......With respect to Jaco as a player, I could care less how many strings he used: I'm me and I'll play with however many strings I see fit.......same thing with Ibanez: If you like Ibanez and they do what you want out of a bass, who cares what everybody else plays......

 

[Daniel Piper]

“pros”

if a person likes a bass, chances are they will play a bass.

 

[Maxdusty]

But Ibanez does label them to some degree: they have a GIO sub brand (or at least they used to, not sure if it still exists), which is their lowest cost line of Soundgears. Aside from that, they're no different than Fender where it's about price range. Fender has their Mexico line of lower/mid priced instruments and then their US mid/higher priced instruments.

It's still an Ibanez and the brand name is even the most prominent logo on a GIO headstock.

A lot of sales listing even drop the "GIO" completely and often list the models like this, Ibanez GSR200 so it's most identified as an Ibanez, not a GIO.
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez/GSR200-4-String-Electric-Bass.gc

Also nowhere near the same with Fender.
The MIM Fender is considered the "standard" Fender these days, not a beginners or most inexpensive model like the Squier Affinity which would be the GIO equivalent. The US Fenders are like the Prestige/Premium models of Ibanez.

I was at a store not too long ago, overheard a conversation between a customer and a sales associates. The customer was a little turned off by the brand of the bass he seemingly enjoyed playing, which was an Ibanez BTB1005. He said something like, "Ibanez was my cousin's first guitar - it's a beginners brand." I found this both equally amusing and sad. I have to admit, it has worked in my favor more than once when I would do trades...I could trade a MIM Fender very often for a Prestige or even Premium Ibanez bass where I live, Fender seems to be the medium of currency, Ibanez basses are often underappreciated.

 

[zubrycky]

I do.