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Ibanez basses played by pros?

#102
Todd Kowalski from the Punk/thrash legends Propagandhi has been playing them for nearly the entire time he has been with the band. I very much doubt he is paid to do so. He uses a few different Soundgear 4 strings, mostly PJ configuration ones from the mid 90's. They talked him into a Stingray for a while, but it didn't last long.

IMO, the Ibanez sounds light years better for what they are doing. Even with fined tuned production on the albums, the Stingray was just the wrong choice. If you want a light weight bass with a shredable neck, it's hard to go wrong with a Soundgear.
 
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#105
pigpen1 said:
If they sell a ton of basses why pay people to endorse stuff? Seems like it is unnecessary. They make great playing and sounding basses.
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Exactly. Bottom line is they don't need to.

Personally my first bass was a Silver Series P (which, stupidly, I sold-doh!) and, while I chosen to make my own basses rather than buy them, my reference bass--the one I use to compare playability, comfort, etc--is an Ibanez Grooveline G104. I got it cheap but it is such a good bass, one to aspire to make...

 
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#107
Cornbread plays one (bassist for James McMurtry).

01b.jpg
 
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#108
jonnybass1 said:
I know that there are a few pro players who use Ibanez basses. But considering how many they seem to sell and the range of prices they have I don’t see them being played by pros. I just picked up a sr400qm and it playes and sounds as good as my German made Warwick. I just wondering why I don’t see them being played as often...
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The bottom line is in what you said “It sounds as good as...”

I know several local pros, top players who are good enough to play anyone, they just chose to not pursue a life on the road.

Some of the play Ibanez basses and love them, some won’t touch them. I’m sure players on have similar points of view.

Much of the time a bass can sound excellent, yet perception of the player decides what they will play. It doesn’t say that it’s better or worse, but the conditioning of the mind will actually dictate how it sounds to them.
 
#109
Maxdusty said:
Being a child of the 80s...it seemed like Ibanez Musician basses were everywhere in music videos...not just for heavy metal.
Sting.
This:-

or:-


heck, even spinning around like a whirling dervish like this, of course probably more a prop in this case but still....:
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Dave Hungate played a '63 P Bass with Rotos on Rosanna (the same bass is on Lowdown), and he's on this track. Mike Porcaro replaced Dave and appeared in the video holding the Ibanez. Hungate commuted from Nashville to LA to do the Toto 4 record and left the band before Roseanna was released and became a hit.
 
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#110
Roger Capps played Ibanez a lot (but sported a Dean 8-string, or Precision recently).

Speaking as a non-pro, but from personal tastes: Ibanez Musician (MC924 style, not the MC888 style), BTB, TB, and ATK series basses looked, and sounded great to me. They are atypical of the broader range of Ibanez basses available.

The whole Soundgear look never appealed to me at all. Just never managed to float my boat (and hearing Fieldy's clicky clicky cemented that prejudice). I also have massive mitts, so the thin necks don't work for me. I'm wondering if many pros simply didn't care for the aesthetics.

I'd wager that an MC924 reissue would have more pros playing them.
 
#117
I think there is a public perception, rightly or wrongly that Ibanez don’t have street credibility. I own two, an 81 Musician that I’ve had since then - very well made, plays very well and is rock solid but I prefer the tone of my old early 70s P. The other is an SR655 that has Nordstrands and I play it a lot (see my avatar). It feels great and sounds great but....and here’s a stumbling for others too I fear, I’m not partial to it’s looks. It looks a little too genteel and doesn’t have the workhorse, “throw it in the truck” vibe of an old Fender say. It doesn’t have the look of an instrument that has earned it’s stripes. I think for many people, that matters.
The ones that do have a bit of that street cred vibe are the Talman range. I wish I had one but financial restraints and a stable with too many occupants has held me back from getting one.
 
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#118
laklandplayer said:
Ibanez is probably the most innovative bass company around. They actually listen to bass players and give us a wide array of well designed models to choose from, more than any other brand that I've seen.
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Got to agree with this, they do put out stuff other companies won't touch - stuff like the SRC6 30" scale six-string (Fender Bass VI style), the two iterations of the Ashula fretless/fretted hybrid, the BTB33 with the high C, the singlecut BTBs, the SRFF fanned fret basses, and now the new headlesses. And they must be able to sell them, as they keep on making them!

They do need to bring back the higher-end ATKs though. I had an ATK405 that was one of the best-sounding and best-playing basses I ever owned. Recorded like a dream too.
 
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