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Ibanez Musician Bass Club
- Thread starter AphekGreg
- Start date
Actually, Ibanez didn't copy any bass when they started making making the Musicians, Studio's and Roadsters. They already had decided to make their own models. Comparing them with Alembic is of course very nice, but I think that's more about the built quality, not the models made by Alembic. I remember when I bought my first Musician in 1981, other bassplayers always asked why I chose for this bass. In my opinion there were no alternatives back then offering the same quality and possibilities in sound. A Fender P or J was far more expensive at that time, offering less... . I still prefer my Musicians and Studio's for being the allround instruments for what I play.
I think you missed the intent of my post. I was not suggesting that these Ibanez models were Alembic copies or that they were attempts at being such. Nobody on this thread is disputing the quality, ingenuity or innovation intrinsic to Ibanez’ (or other Japanese manufacturers’) designs of that era.
Japanese manufacturers didn’t exist in a vacuum, however, and they paid very close attention to the market and to what other manufacturers were doing, often incorporating - and frequently improving - aspects of existing designs. Ibanez was no exception.
In the mid/late 1970s Alembic was considered by many to be the pinnacle of bass design. Their very high quality, relative rarity and very high price made them objects of desire for many active players. They transcended functionality and became status symbols. Naturally, Japanese manufacturers were aware of this and many basses coming out of Japan that were on the higher end of the product lines were styled, at least loosely, after Alembics. The similarities, as I pointed out in my post, were only barely more than cosmetic, but to suggest that Ibanez (or Aria or Kawai or Vantage or others) were in no way inspired by Alembic would be a bit of a reach.
I think we can all agree that, electronically, an Alembic Series bass and an Ibanez MC have very little in common and that, sonically, they are nothing alike but one doesn’t have to look very hard at a late-70s Musician to see a resemblance to Alembic’s basses. It was a look buyers wanted at the time.
You're absolutely right.
What I was trying to say is, that Ibanez tried to find it's own way in making guitars and basses. Of course every manufacturer in Japan wanted more marketshare and therefore they looked at the high-end market as their example. That's good, because we still can benefit from the quality instruments of this era. And new designs and development gave us more advanced instruments.
Well, I don't fully agree.
I'm a huge Stanley Clarke fan but I can't afford an Alembic, I really really love his sound from the late 70's.
Last year I could get my hands on a MC-9240LE, when I solo the bridge pickup and boost the lows and mids and cut the highs (a bit) the sounds comes very very close to that 70's Stanley sound that I love.
I guess I could have been more accurate by saying that the range of tones available is different but, yes, they overlap here and there.
The Alembic Series preamp is a pretty singular beast capable of very specific sounds. The Musician basses use a more conventional T/M/B preamp although, at that time, a T/M/B was luxurious in an onboard pre. It wasn’t really ‘conventional’ yet. It was fancy!
Sure, the Alembic has these "filters" with which you can do some extreme eq-ing, a Musician can't do that. The "default" sound though comes pretty close. And yes. the T/M/B pre was pretty luxurious at that time. I really do like that "mid" knob, it brings the instrument's character to life.
Btw. I also own an Ibanez EHB-1500 with the vari-mid, it can sort of emulate the Alembic eq (but not as extreme). But does the EHB sound better? definitely not, the MC9240LE is a whole different beast sound wise.
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As an owner of all three basses in this discussion I would have to say that they all are different with the range of tones but if there was a venn diagram of these three there would be some overlap for sure.
Beautiful collection you have there sir!
My MC9240LE might be even closer sounding to the Alembics due to the neck pickup being slightly closer towards the bridge and the active pre-amp. Man, I just love this bass, tone for daaaaayyyyssss.
Yowza. Just got my MC-924DSL. Amazing instrument.
I’m really curious about the cases for the left handed models now? Wondering if that one is original? The right handed ones were made to only fit right handed basses. I guess they could have just used the same shaped material and turned it over and lined the other side?
I’m confident it’s not original. The case itself is too long for the bass, and it slides around inside it. Plus, there’s one other lefty for sale for sale on Reverb, if you can believe that! It has a lefty original green lined case that’s totally different from the one I have. I’ll probably get G&G to make me a rectangular one when they resume custom case builds.
By the way, does anyone here have a Velve Tune BII for sale? My D string tuner is bent and of course the bass is a lefty, so I guess that would be a bass side tuner for the rest of you. I did find one for sale elsewhere but I wanted to check here too. This tuner is still functional for now so it’s not a huge deal yet. Let me know!
Here it is.
Here it is.
I have a couple of bent ones as well. These are as rare as hen’s teeth.
One other question- does anyone know off the top of their head if the Ibanez Roadster has the same specs size-wise as the MC-924?
I’d like to see if someone would be willing to sell me this lefty case right here…
I’d like to see if someone would be willing to sell me this lefty case right here…
Yes, they are identical in size and shape. As are the Studios. And yes, even the 8-strings, as they are 32" medium scale instruments to account for the larger headstocks.
It may be a trick of the angle but it looks like the Roadster body has a slight offset. That said, I believe all the Roadster, Studio and Musician basses fit in those cases.
