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New to playing, SR800, I have some questions.

H

Heathen_S13

Dec 13, 2017
11
18
#1
Hello, this is my first post on here, I'm just getting started into bass playing and i picked up an Ibanez SR800 for $200 with a hard case and its in great condition. But I don't know really anything about it, I kinda just jumped the gun on it because I wanted to start playing so bad. The guy said it was from the 90's he just wasn't sure what year. That is about all he told me. Anyways I just wanna know more about this bass, if I made a good choice by getting this or if I should have waited for something else, and maybe some good tips for a new beginner.

I'm pretty excited overall, I love music and finally decided to be apart of it. I am a mechanic and I spend hours and hours on the 240sx forums, so I am really glad that there is a bass forum I can spends hours on now and learn!
 
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#2
First of all, welcome to Talkbass! I hope you will like it here and enjoy playing your new instrument!

The SR800 from the 90's was built in Japan and is generally considered to be a great instrument, perhaps even some kind of benchmark regarding the SR series in general, together with the SR500. I quick search on this forum reveals that those two basses seems to be the most loved ones in the SR series. I have owned one myself and deeply regret selling it. The later models SR800 was made in Korea (someone please correct me here if I'm wrong). It should have a P/J pickup configuration (a split coil Precision style pickup in the neck position and a single coil jazz style pickup in the bridge position) with Ibanez own AFR pickups and a 3 band eq with knobs for master volume and pickup balance.

200 dollars with a hardcase is a steal if it's in good shape and plays nicely. You definitely made a good choice and got a good deal.
 
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#4
LinusKarlsson said:
First of all, welcome to Talkbass! I hope you will like it here and enjoy playing your new instrument!

The SR800 from the 90's was built in Japan and is generally considered to be a great instrument, perhaps even some kind of benchmark regarding the SR series in general, together with the SR500. I quick search on this forum reveals that those to basses seems to be the most loved ones in the SR series. I have owned one myself and deeply regret selling it. The later models SR800 was made in Korea (someone please correct me here if I'm wrong). It should have a P/J pickup configuration (a split coil Precision style pickup in the neck position and a single coil jazz style pickup in the bridge position) with Ibanez own AFR pickups and a 3 band eq with knobs for master volume and pickup balance.

200 dollars with a hardcase is a steal if it's in good shape and plays nicely. You definitely made a good choice and got a good deal.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for welcoming me!

This one says made in Japan, and does have the AFR P/J pups. This model seems to have only 4 knobs and no stacked ones. I need to figure out which knob does what and then wanna get new stings on it. I guess the big thing will come down to my style of music I play. I've always been a huge fan of Fieldy, started playing because of him actually.

I am very glad I did not waste my money, I have been doin a little bit of reading on this model since i made this post, but no one has mentioned much of the advantages this model has over others.
 
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#10
Heathen_S13 said:
Thank you very much for welcoming me!

This one says made in Japan, and does have the AFR P/J pups. This model seems to have only 4 knobs and no stacked ones. I need to figure out which knob does what and then wanna get new stings on it. I guess the big thing will come down to my style of music I play. I've always been a huge fan of Fieldy, started playing because of him actually.

I am very glad I did not waste my money, I have been doin a little bit of reading on this model since i made this post, but no one has mentioned much of the advantages this model has over others.
Click to expand...
If your bass has not been modified, it is a 92. Your serial number will be F2XXXXX. That is the only year the afr pj pups came with the eq bII (2 band eq). And I bet it’s black. Advantages are it is well made and lightweight. All other specs are subjective.
eqbii1b-jpg.jpg


By the way I have owned 3 240sx and numerous other Nissan/infinitis but I only frequented freshalloy forums with this same name but that was 15 yrs ago. I still have my 98 that I bought new.
 
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#11
Look on the back of the headstock, you'll see a Serial No.

If the Serial No. begins with an "F", it means it was built in Japan (F is Fujigen Gakki).
If the Serial No. begins with a "C", it means it was built at the Cort Factory in Korea.

The next 2 numbers are usually year of production. I have a couple of Ibanez guitars that are "C04" & "C05" (Korean built, 2004 / 2005), I've owned older Ibanez that were "F94" (Japan 1994). The Ibanez Serial No's changed to this in the mid-late 80's when they started building instruments in Korea.

From the early 2000's, they started building in other countries as well, and I'm not sure about how to decode them now.

Welcome & enjoy your new toy! :)
 
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#12
SR800 with AFR pups was made between 1992-2003

a 92-96 SR800 will have FY##### serial number
Y is the last digit of the year so a 92 SR800 will be F2XXXXX

a 97-03 SR800 will have FYY##### serial number
YY are the last 2 digits of the year so a 97 SR800 will be F97XXXXX

in 1995 there were some SR800 made in KOREA
from what i've seen of examples online, they have abalone oval fretboard markers instead of the usual pearl dots and black metal knobs instead of the usual rubber and plastic concentric. i've only seen these in transparent turquoise and transparent red. the ibanez catalog states early 1995 SR800 had light american maple bodies instead of the usual basswood or ash as is the case with the SR800A.
a 95 SR800 will have C5MM#### serial number
Y is the last digit of the year
MM is the month (01-12)
 
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#18
As others mention you got a fantastic deal. You've also got one of the most comfortable to play basses so an awesome choice for a beginner. The Fieldy sound is "scooped", in other words boosted bass and treble with less mid range. Do you have an amp yet? For the Korn bass sound I'd crank the bass and treble controls on the bass and maybe lower the mids on the amp (depending on how it sounds).

Congrats on a great buy and welcome to TB!:thumbsup:

Edit: it's worthy mentioning that Fieldy plays a 5 string so you can approximate his tone but without the low B string you can't play same lowest notes
 
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