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Just bought a 1982 Ibanez Musician.

Sweet score! I got an MC-824(passive, bolt-on, more slab-shaped) recently for a song, and actually talked a guy OUT of selling me a fretless MC-924 for $500(or pretty much whatever price I wanted to set). I had to be straight w/ him, he's a good friend- he kept it. :rolleyes:
 
I've had an '82 musician fretless on loan for about a month now. It is really well made,and between switchable active/passive modes has a nice variety of sounds. It hasn't quite delivered a "holy grail" of fretless for me,i think the multi laminate body and neck tends to dampen resonance to some degree,even with it being a neck through. OOTH,it does have some old,inexpenisve GHS flatwounds on it. I might throw a set of RW sunbeams on it to see what happens....
 
Well done! Great price, too! These are wonderful instruments. My '83 was stolen, but I still have my two '79s - a fretted (MC924) and a fretless (MC940). Love 'em.
I'm also sitting on a pair of Ibanez Studio models (ST924), which are very different, but just as heavy! :)

How does this bass stack up against an equivalent model of an Aria Pro?

Very comparable in terms of quality. They sound a lot different, though. Ibanez Musicians from that era have a ton of mids.
 
I've had an '82 musician fretless on loan for about a month now. It is really well made,and between switchable active/passive modes has a nice variety of sounds. It hasn't quite delivered a "holy grail" of fretless for me,i think the multi laminate body and neck tends to dampen resonance to some degree,even with it being a neck through. OOTH,it does have some old,inexpenisve GHS flatwounds on it. I might throw a set of RW sunbeams on it to see what happens....

Sunbeams would be a good choice on these, as would GHS Compression wounds or Ken Smith Compressors. You could try a coated roundwound, too.
 
I've had an '82 musician fretless on loan for about a month now. It is really well made,and between switchable active/passive modes has a nice variety of sounds. It hasn't quite delivered a "holy grail" of fretless for me,i think the multi laminate body and neck tends to dampen resonance to some degree,even with it being a neck through. OOTH,it does have some old,inexpenisve GHS flatwounds on it. I might throw a set of RW sunbeams on it to see what happens....

If I borrowed a friends fretless that had flats on it I would make a phone call before switching over to rounds.

IMO, '78-'86 Ibanez models are among the best basses in their price range.
 
I had that model bass back when it came out- 1982. Awesome bass, and yes, I remember the weight of the thing! I do remember the neck was a little bit fatter than today's Ibanez basses (or perhaps my hands were just that much smaller). Very solid bass though- I miss having it.