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NBD - Ibanez Iceman content

Matt_Raymond

Matt_Raymond

Jul 8, 2020
113
705
39
Long Island
#1
Hey all. So I had the opportunity to scoop an Ibanez Iceman for a song off of Facebook marketplace. I’ve ALWAYS wanted one of these. But I wasn’t sure about the tone or the feel. But for what I got it for, it was worth the gamble, and any one of you would have done the same!

After I took the Pokémon stickers off and changed the strings, I noticed this bass actually kicks ass. It’s got a great tone! No fret ware, and the neck is straight as an arrow. It was missing the truss rod cover, but I found one on eBay in 2 seconds.

Now, for some fun. I’m in an original band that likes to cheese it up and wear fun jackets, shoes, flash it up because we have fun! We’re good time rock guys and we’re not boring. So, I thought, let me get around 2,600 rhinestones and see what happens. So I give you the REAL ICEMAN!

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#5
I have an ICB200, too.
Here's my take on this bass:
Upsides--mine has amazing tone unplugged with rich mids that cut through, and piano-type highs.
The neck feels great, and is my favorite neck profile. I have an early '90s pointy Ibanez with the same neck and it's great, too.
Fit and finish are very high. Bridge is good, tuners are good, nut was cut properly, controls are good. Came stock with "top hat" knobs.
Mine was made in Korea around 2004-6. I got it at a pawn shop in 2012 in like-new condition for $200. Still had the protective plastic on the control cavity cover, and zero fret wear.

Downsides-- believe it or not, the pickups are GUITAR humbuckers. They are the exact size and configuration as Gibson Firebird pickups, and probably were surplus at the factory from an Epiphone or other Gibson copy.
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The pole pieces don't all line up with the strings, so E and G sound out of phase with A and D. And the lows are pretty weak. Works great for some types of music, but not what I play. Bass mini humbuckers like on the Gibson EB-3/SG basses don't fit the Iceman, so I replaced my neck pickup with a Seymour Duncan soapbar humbucker (required routing) and it sounds like a bass now. I have a preamp that'll go in it when I run out of other projects.

Neck dive is tremendous. And with the neck heel strap button it also tried to tip away from me and face the floor. Hard to reach the tuners and even playing at the first fret wasn't fun. I made a strap button extension, and combined with the new pickup it's now super comfy and one of the two basses that go to every show.
 
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#6
KeithAlanK said:
... Downsides-- believe it or not, the pickups are GUITAR humbuckers. They are the exact size and configuration as Gibson Firebird pickups, and probably were surplus at the factory from an Epiphone or other Gibson copy.
View attachment 4045268
...
Click to expand...
Counterpoint:

A pickup is a pickup.

Broncos, and Danelectros, come stock with "guitar" pickups. Sure, people replace Bronco pickups all the time. With Strat pickups. My Badtz Maru Bronco has an overwound "hot" 6 pole pickup as stock, and needs no replacement. It has thump for days.

I use the neck pickup from a Telecaster on my "vintage P" clone, and it works just fine.
bass katherine lipstick.jpg


I guess what I'm trying to say is, since the OP says it "sounds great", the pickups on the OP's Iceman are probably fine as is. Don't replace them just because they have 6 poles. Strings, and playing style, effect your sound much more than pickups.
 
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#7
Matt_Raymond said:
Hey all. So I had the opportunity to scoop an Ibanez Iceman for a song off of Facebook marketplace. I’ve ALWAYS wanted one of these. But I wasn’t sure about the tone or the feel. But for what I got it for, it was worth the gamble, and any one of you would have done the same!

After I took the Pokémon stickers off and changed the strings, I noticed this bass actually kicks ass. It’s got a great tone! No fret ware, and the neck is straight as an arrow. It was missing the truss rod cover, but I found one on eBay in 2 seconds.

Now, for some fun. I’m in an original band that likes to cheese it up and wear fun jackets, shoes, flash it up because we have fun! We’re good time rock guys and we’re not boring. So, I thought, let me get around 2,600 rhinestones and see what happens. So I give you the REAL ICEMAN!

View attachment 4044969
View attachment 4044971
View attachment 4044973
View attachment 4044974
Click to expand...
Awesome! I've wanted one of those basses for a while now too. Nice snag.

Question: Will you be going full Liberace on stage? Because the bass playing version of Liberace could be absolutely hilarious.
 
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#13
KeithAlanK said:
I have an ICB200, too.
Here's my take on this bass:
Upsides--mine has amazing tone unplugged with rich mids that cut through, and piano-type highs.
The neck feels great, and is my favorite neck profile. I have an early '90s pointy Ibanez with the same neck and it's great, too.
Fit and finish are very high. Bridge is good, tuners are good, nut was cut properly, controls are good. Came stock with "top hat" knobs.
Mine was made in Korea around 2004-6. I got it at a pawn shop in 2012 in like-new condition for $200. Still had the protective plastic on the control cavity cover, and zero fret wear.

Downsides-- believe it or not, the pickups are GUITAR humbuckers. They are the exact size and configuration as Gibson Firebird pickups, and probably were surplus at the factory from an Epiphone or other Gibson copy.
View attachment 4045268

The pole pieces don't all line up with the strings, so E and G sound out of phase with A and D. And the lows are pretty weak. Works great for some types of music, but not what I play. Bass mini humbuckers like on the Gibson EB-3/SG basses don't fit the Iceman, so I replaced my neck pickup with a Seymour Duncan soapbar humbucker (required routing) and it sounds like a bass now. I have a preamp that'll go in it when I run out of other projects.

Neck dive is tremendous. And with the neck heel strap button it also tried to tip away from me and face the floor. Hard to reach the tuners and even playing at the first fret wasn't fun. I made a strap button extension, and combined with the new pickup it's now super comfy and one of the two basses that go to every show.
Click to expand...

Yup I knew these were probably guitar pickups because I believe this is from the same year yours is. I also had the stock knobs as well but tossed on the black ones since I had some spare parts laying around. I haven’t really noticed anything being off or out of phase while playing, but I have noticed the pickups are a lot hotter through my interface than other Basses. I always have to re adjust my volumes when I plug in to record or demo songs. But it’s got a different sound than my other Basses which are mostly Jazz style, so I’ll roll with it!
 

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