I can see why... these are really neat basses.
My review thus far:
Showed up in the UPS today and I was stoked! Snagged it off of ebay. I asked the guy before I bid if it came with a bag or case. He said it didn't, but if I won, he'd send one with it... He was an honest a trustworthy guy because it came with a gig bag. Decent one, too!
Anyway, the bass is 26 years old and it shows it. This has been loved a lot. Frets have been crowned, buckles have had their way with the back of it, and it's seen the ground a few times. But overall, in good shape for its age.
As for construction, the neck is arrow straight, truss rod works, bridge is solid, tuners are fantastic. Weighs in at 8.2 lbs. The body is very light and resonant. That did, however, lend itself to some neck dive.
The electronics are what drew me to this bass in the first place. Well, actually, a thread I started about my lack of desire for an Ibanez really started the search, but after some recommendations to check the Roadstar II out, I decided to look. Found this and THEN discovered the electronics.
in 1984, Ibanez was offering a Japanese made bass with splittable humbuckers, a contoured top body, light weight, and made to last. In 2010, I added splittable pickups to a not-so-light US made bass and thought that was the modernest thing to do! I was late, I guess.
Anyhow, the Push/Push knobs and the pan-pot in the front were a little different than I was used to. And I was expecting a really crappy feel. But honestly, they aren't bad. If I do keep this bass, I will be switching to 2 or 3 way switches for the pickups and a push/pull for the series/parallel mode. It will just make at-a-glance tone adjustments easier. This bass isn't exactly what I'd like for that electronics configuration, but at least they were thinking!
Get to practice, whip the bass into the old-school Sunn rig and prepare for some testing. Flats and fat humbuckers make for a BEEFY tone. This is absolutely no exception. If I were in a Stoner Rock band, this is the ideal bass for that.
What did surprise me, though, was that the Bucker/Split volumes were close. The Bucker mode just added beef, not as much volume and I like that! But it is pretty muddy with full bucker.
It played and sounded GREAT, though. I was very impressed and am looking forward to more time whacking on the bass. I think I'm gonna have to go back to rounds and see how that treats it. The bass is very classic sounding with the flats, but my band is a bit more modern for tones, so I have to give it another shot.
And as it happens, a friend of mine has a (matching?) Ibanez hardshell case that he keeps his EBMM Sterling in. I think I'm going to upgrade HIS case for him and snag the match in the process. It's aged like the bass is.
And here's the questions:
Anyone know of pickup wiring codes for the Super J6? I can probably figure it out, but diagrams are great, too.
Assuming I like the bass enough to keep it around, should I refinish it? The back is really rashed, there are chips all over. The bass wasn't expensive and the value doesn't seem to be going up as a vintage instrument. But what do you all think?
How much better is the Musician? Should I seek out one of those or will this be a sufficient dip in the Ibanez pool?
RE: Strap buttons...
I never go bassing without my Straplocks, so no worries there. It's been equipped!
