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NBD... 33 Year Old Case Queen!

#41
Which one? I have seen 885 models with at least 2 different PU types. Or, are these the same PU in different shells?

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hypercarrots said:
RB885 has J65 pickups
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#49
Stratomato said:
I picked up this beauty on Wednesday. It's a 1986 Ibanez Roadstar II. I'm pretty sure it's a RB850 Deluxe, but that's not important. I absolutely love it. I saw it in a mom and pop music store nearby and played it unplugged, as well as a few others. I was just killing time and didn't think too much about it then. Later that day I couldn't get it off my mind. I went back the next day and asked them if they would hold it a few days, and they agreed. I knew I wanted it, but had to clear out some space and let the Mrs. know what I was up to.

It was on consignment by the original owner. It came with the OHSC and still had the sales receipt from 1986 in the case. It still has protective film on the control cover and stickers on the pickups. I am going to leave the film on, but not sure about taking off the stickers.

Except for a very tiny ding on the bottom, it's flawless. It looks like it was barely played. The frets have practically no wear, but they were a little tarnished. I polished the frets and lemon oiled the fretboard and put on a set of Rotosounds. The setup is already perfect. The action is very low and it plays wonderfully. To me, it sounds really good and has a nice little growl. But it can cover a lot of bases tonally.

It has active pickups with passive controls, Blend, Vol. and Tone. Simple just how I like. And as a nice touch, and salute to Japanese quality of the time, the truss rod cover and battery door are metal. I'm not a wood expert, but I was told the body is alder. The neck is 3 piece maple. In case it's not obvious, I am really happy with this new guitar!

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Nice time capsule bass!
Great Score!
 
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#50
Stratomato said:
It starts with the letter L. The first five are L8555. I assumed an '86 Model fabricated halfway through '85. Do you know? And thanks either way.
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I have found that Ibanez (of this era) would experiment and release models and options in the back half of the year (maybe coinciding with July NAMM?). These were not shown in the catalog, which was shot for the models/options for the front half of the year. Since yours is December of 85, it's quite possible it was a revision or expanded option bass, if not imported from the Japanese market.
Case in point: the 1985 catalog (Pro Line section) shows the PR1440 only coming in red, the PR1550 and PR1660 only in polar white. I bought a red PR1440 new in late 84 (it had an October 84 serial number). Traded it off in the 90s, was bit by the bug to get another about 8 years ago since they were selling for a steal. Found and purchased a November 85 PR1440 in black, yet saw others in Cherry Ice, too. Clearly, they saw fit to add more colors to that model for the back half of the year. Have seen it with other models, too. The PR1550 was dropped and the PR1660 was also made available in Cherry Ice by the back half of the year. I confirmed all of this via serial number. If it's not shown or referenced in it's respective year catalog, you can bet safe money the serial number starts with a F G H I J K L.
 
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