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Ibanez SR800 help

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DavidEdenAria

Dec 13, 2013
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On a Hill
#1
Just received this bass...very nice, light (a plus) the quality is obvious....plugged it in and I need help figuring out the knob functions LOL.

Is there a diagram? I can't post at the Ibanez forum for some unknown reason.

The bridge height screws were clogged with dirt and rust, so I spent some time and got them clean and freed up.

I think it has Ernie Ball rounds or whatever Guitar Center uses, anyone know?

The SR800 sticker is gone but the Japan and serial are there...it's a black 98 model.

I don't have a proper case but a Roadrunner for now....the pots look like they could easily get damaged though.

Any insights into these basses is welcomed but i need help on the knob functions in the meantime until I get time to play with it more.
 
#4
Just saw your post and saw that fourstringdrums already answered your question.
Hope the bass is working well for you. Just got my SR800 a few days ago and really very impressed with it- the more I play it, the more I realize how good of a player the SR800 really is. Incredible variety of tones compared to my other P/J basses. After a little truss rod tweaking, the neck feels so comfortable on the bass.

Totally out of nowhere, I just happened to chance upon a 1990s (not sure yet what exact year) SR1000 today and debating whether to go for this one too. lol
 
#5
Maxdusty said:
Just saw your post and saw that fourstringdrums already answered your question.
Hope the bass is working well for you. Just got my SR800 a few days ago and really very impressed with it- the more I play it, the more I realize how good of a player the SR800 really is. Incredible variety of tones compared to my other P/J basses. After a little truss rod tweaking, the neck feels so comfortable on the bass.

Totally out of nowhere, I just happened to chance upon a 1990s (not sure yet what exact year) SR1000 today and debating whether to go for this one too. lol
Click to expand...
I agree....with the tonal variety available at the bass itself, I can try this with some of my old tube amps to fine tune the EQ a bit more.

How does the SR1000 compare to the SR800?
 
#6
DavidEdenAria said:
I agree....with the tonal variety available at the bass itself, I can try this with some of my old tube amps to fine tune the EQ a bit more.

How does the SR1000 compare to the SR800?
Click to expand...
Haven't tried it yet as it's pretty far from me. I've been looking at online info comparing the two - from what I've seen so far, it seems that the SR800 has a bit more tonal control at least compared to the SR1000 which seems to be a 1989 version with DiMarzio pickups. (Later version of the bass uses EMG).
Both the Sr800 and the Sr1000 have graphite reinforced necks (like on MIA Fenders and more expensive makes) so I'm assuming the neck to be a bit more stable than let's say other Ibanez basses I've owned- so I'm not too concerned with the age of the basses being an issue.
 
#7
Maybe this helps:
Vari-Mid1a-1.jpg
EQBII1b.jpg
 
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#8
DavidEdenAria said:
I agree....with the tonal variety available at the bass itself, I can try this with some of my old tube amps to fine tune the EQ a bit more.

How does the SR1000 compare to the SR800?
Click to expand...
I passed on it - it seems to have a few electronic problems that perhaps may be easy to fix in the right hands. I suspect it could still be an awesome buy- just didn't want to buy a bass that needed work at this time. It's was on GC's website, but it looks like someone else bought it after I declined purchasing it. It's an SR1000 bass mis-marked as a SR800 bass going for $219. It's most definitely a Fuji-gen made SR1000 from 1989 (based on the serial number"F9xxxxxxxx"provided by the Customer associate over the phone.
 
#10
DavidEdenAria said:
Repairs are an issue with basses of this type......not like a P bass where you can easily find lots of parts and a simple design!
Click to expand...
I agree, finding replacement stock parts if needed would be a little difficult- may be easier to just replace the whole preamp if that's what was wrong with the bass. Then again, it could be a loose wire or connection somewhere- I didn't want to risk a project at this time, just wanted a fully functional bass. It seems like a nice bass from what I could see in the pictures though.
 
#11
I saw a recent interview with the bass player of the band 'Chevelle' where the bassist had taken a fondness of some obscure older Ibanez bass...he is in the process of buying them up....I can see why!

See if I can dig up the model number of his basses but they are replacing his T-Bird basses.
 
#12
DavidEdenAria said:
I saw a recent interview with the bass player of the band 'Chevelle' where the bassist had taken a fondness of some obscure older Ibanez bass...he is in the process of buying them up....I can see why!

See if I can dig up the model number of his basses but they are replacing his T-Bird basses.
Click to expand...

Not surprised to hear that; tbh most of the late 80s/early 90s Ibanez SR800-1200s are great instruments, and are currently extremely undervalued.

IIRC they went for 800ish street back then, and can now be bought for $200 or so, as mentioned above.

Amazing value for dollar imo. If I had space for more instruments I'd be hoarding them too.
 
#13
I'm keeping my eye out for more of these 80s/90s SR800-2000 basses myself. I'm actually shocked at how much bang for the buck you can get some of these for. Incredible value and easily some of the best Ibanez basses I've played even compared to the higher end Soundgear basses today. As mentioned above, the SR800s went for $800, the SR1000 I believe went for over a grand. These are not your average Ibanez basses and they certainly feel, play and sound like top quality instruments.
Part of the problem if you want to call it that is that resale values for Ibanez basses are fairly low to begin with. On top of that, there is quite a number of these higher end basses that are often misidentified as the cheaper GSR200 basses for example which they do resemble at a quick glance and to a pawn shop owner, often what they'll price it as. There's often no model number on the headstock (I believe it used to be like a decal that could be peeled off fairly easily). You'll often have to remove the neck to see the model# on the neck cavity and the neck if you can't recognize the bass. I bought my SR800 for $100 because the person I bought it for could not identify the bass as a high end Ibanez and priced it as a used GSR200!
Keep an eye out for these in pawn shops - they may look unassuming at first, but pick it up and play it - you'll notice a huge difference almost immediately. Look at the serial number and if it begins with "F" , it's one of these hidden gems. It should say made in Japan right below the serial number too. F= Fuji-gen.
 

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