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IBANEZ GIO SOUND GEAR CLUB

M

Medium-II

Jun 23, 2009
96
0
Philadelphia, PA
#1
I've been playing bass for 7 years...

I remember the day when I put down the upright, and proudly walked side by side with my dad into the local Guitar Center for my first ever bass guitar. I was beyond stoked. I was bouncing off the walls.

My dad eyes an Ibanez Gio Soundgear bass and asks me to try it out. I don't really like it, but I sit down and plunk away. He asks me what I think.

"It's great, dad!" I lie enthusiastically. I just want a bass.

Flash forward 7 years. During the first few years of my bass playing career I hated the Ibanez. I bought different basses. Arias, Squiers, nameless Korean models. Yet somehow, as time has rolled on, I have fallen in love with my Ibanez.

It is perfectly balanced, light, and has a great tone with super thin, super fast neck. Not bad for a bass I hated! I love my Ibanez so much, I'm currently in the process of selling off my other basses to buy ANOTHER Ibanez GSR100. Why the GSR 100? Guess I'm a sucker for the passive P-type.

Anyway, here is my 7 year old Ibanez Gio. I've since sanded the "Ibanez Gio" portion off the headstock leaving only "SOUNDGEAR", swapped out the pickups for SD QP Basslines, and hooked it up with awesome flatwounds and black speed knobs.

It also has a sticker by local graffiti artist Kazam.

Anyway, with the money I get from selling my other basses, I plan on hooking this bass up with a shell-pink finish and a humbucker in bridge position with a three-way switch. My other GSR will be orange with a middle position humbucker (where the split pickups are) and a jazz pickup in bridge position.

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So, post your Ibanez Gio Soundgear basses. I'm thinking we'll give out numbers...

Sweet, I can be 001!
 
#8
dralionux said:
Just bought a GSR200 on ebay for $110 (with gig bag).I'm very happy with the Ibanez, it's very easy to setup. Will replace the roundwound strings with flatwound.
My first bass is a SX Fretless J Short scale.
Click to expand...

Here is the pic of both. Could I be # 002 ?
 

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#9
dralionux said:
Just bought a GSR200 on ebay for $110 (with gig bag).I'm very happy with the Ibanez, it's very easy to setup. Will replace the roundwound strings with flatwound.
My first bass is a SX Fretless J Short scale.
Click to expand...
I actually did the same thing last month, found a GSR200FM-Lefty for 100 bucks with a bag.

do I like it compared to my other units?...yes...why?

the weight on this agathis body compared to my Jacksons with poplar is WAY lighter ( almost 3lbs ), the neck is perfectly playable and comparable to my Jacksons, the OEM strings on it were so rough on my fingers they came off the same hour I was setting it up, the PHAT2 was thrown in the garbage as soon as I got it and I used one of my spare 2band Jackson pre's in it...much better. then the bridge e-saddle adj screw got jammed in the saddle and while backing it out, the head of the cheap screw broke off...no problem, I used one of my highmass Jackson bridges...final step was to throw out the j-pup because it just sucked and buzzed like any other cheap pickup with an unshielded cavity. so I threw my spare Barden dualcoil-j in it so I don't factor in the costs of those items into the cost of the bass.

out of the box it WAS perfectly playable, but not to what I like to hear out of a unit.

here she is last month minus the black knobs and black Jackson tuners:
P1010297.jpg


anyone want this crummy PHAT2 for free? PM me.
P1010305.jpg

.
 
#14
I've had two GIO 100's and you can't beat them for the money. I traded one away, then bought another one a couple years later. That one had a little accident when I tried to throw it around my body and the strap peg screw came out. Blew the pup springs out from underneath the pups, cracked the finish and borked a tuner, so I bought a Yamaha RBX170 for an upcoming gig. I just fixed up the Ibanez and I'm swapping some strings off the Yamaha so I have a back up bass.

The Yamaha feels a little more solid, but I'd suggest a GIO to anyone who's looking for a first bass, with no reservations.
 
#15
I have a GSR206 that I recently refinished myself. When I played it in the store, it felt great, and sounded good enough. After playing it a while, I noticed the B string wasn't as loud as the other strings, even when I went so far as putting it in the E string slot... so I concluded that the pickups needed to go. Swapped them for a set of SGD Neo's. Since I'm big on asthetics, I swapped the chrome bridge for a black Hipshot B bridge, and the chrome tuners for black Wilkinson's. Refinished it a shade of baby blue that I had a couple cans of at the house. Just added a Bartolini NTMB last week, so now, the only original parts are the neck and body. Now, it feels and SOUNDS great!!
 
#18
Way to resurect an old thread here....
I have one of these as my first ever bass.
My story is that I had been wanting to play an instrument again ( I Used to play clarinet as a youth) and just felt gravitating towards a bass. Harrassed my brother/dad and for my 21st I ended up with a Ibanez Soundgear Gio along with this little baby amp.
I still have the guitar of course, and it is the most balanced guitar I have. Light, great pickup etc. The only problem at the moment is I may have for some stupid reason set the action really high, so needs a re setup. I dont dare do it myself though!
preview.jpg
 
#19
I've been playing for over 25 years, always played/owned Yamahas. I bought a black SGR200 Gio and it's my main gigging axe now. Lightweight, fast neck, dig it. The stupid plastic knobs irritate me, but I'm learning to deal with it.
 

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