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Possible NBD- Thoughts?

#21
That was a good period for Ibanez and it's definitely worth having a sit down and a good long play to see how it sounds. These basses (on that catalog page) are all passive "standard" models so they may not be all that exciting at $350. Your ears will tell the story. The active pickups from that period are amazing, and of course the Musician basses are something else... Necks are all great, though.
 
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#24
And I said:
If the price is right is there any bass that isn't worth buying?
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Exactly. IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT.

There is nothing really collectible about ANY Ibanez that I know of - so ask yourself if you like how it plays / sounds and if the price is good. Don't expect to flip it for a bunch of coin - these were not considered really great basses when they came out, so my guess is they aren't considered really great *now*.
 
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#27
Low84 said:
I would love to have my black Roadstar II RB850 back! it's got a quarter-sized chip on in the inside body concave for anyone that may have it!

I think I only paid $200 cash for it and case used back in the 80s. so yeah, $350 with case for something similar sounds like more than a fair deal.

post pics once you bring 'er home!
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Me too! I owned (original owner) a 1985 RB850 in metallic red. Sold it 4 years ago and used the funds towards my Geddy Signature Jazz, and I still regret selling it. In fact, it's probably the reason I've been Jones'ing for an Ibanez.
 
#29
charlie monroe said:
Although they aren't basses, the 1976-77 Les Paul copies can fetch a pretty long dollar. A pal has one, sweet guitar.
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Really? I wonder why. Go figure, right? The basses from back then I played were all just Fender clones - not so great, but not awful.

I actually get how those old really fancy Ibby guitars from around then (with all the flower / vine inlays) might fetch some good cash - Those were pretty cool.
 
#30
TL23NC said:
I've got a 1987 Roadstar that sounds similar to your old one. This one is unique in that it is an active version of the RB850, which I believe was called an RB851. All archived catalogs the from Ibanez site only show the 850 available as a 3 knob passive version. The active electronics were standard on the RB800 4 string and RB885 5string , so this bass might have been a special build. It's a very nice instrument- easy to play. Roadstars seem to have a lot of fans here and I can see why.
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I have one of these rb851 and a rb850.
Great basses with different sounds.
I don't think the 851s were exported from Japan at the time.
Obviously since then they've been bought up via eBay etc
 
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#31
TL23NC said:
I've got a 1987 Roadstar that sounds similar to your old one. This one is unique in that it is an active version of the RB850, which I believe was called an RB851. All archived catalogs the from Ibanez site only show the 850 available as a 3 knob passive version. The active electronics were standard on the RB800 4 string and RB885 5string , so this bass might have been a special build. It's a very nice instrument- easy to play. Roadstars seem to have a lot of fans here and I can see why.
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Hi TL23NC and rustindeath, is your rb851 wired with two volume and two tone controls? I got one recently that's wired this way and sold as rb851. Does yours have four "Alpha" pots inside? I've had the exact same looking bass I got in the 90's with four knobs, but wired differently. One volume, one blend/balance, and two eq's - high and low.. I cant find any info from catalogs and elsewhere online. I would appreciate your help in figuring out what this model is as well as my older one. I'm not sure if it was rewired or stock. Hopefully you can shed some light on this. Thanks in advance

They are both equipped with two HB pickups each, by the way
 
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#32
Himedia said:
Hi TL23NC and rustindeath, is your rb851 wired with two volume and two tone controls? I got one recently that's wired this way and sold as rb851. Does yours have four "Alpha" pots inside? I've had the exact same looking bass I got in the 90's with four knobs, but wired differently. One volume, one blend/balance, and two eq's - high and low.. I cant find any info from catalogs and elsewhere online. I would appreciate your help in figuring out what this model is as well as my older one. I'm not sure if it was rewired or stock. Hopefully you can shed some light on this. Thanks in advance

They are both equipped with two HB pickups each, by the way
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I'm traveling until Friday evening but I will take a look at the bass and get back to you.
 
#33
Putting an exact dollar value on these things is tricky. If you look at it as a professional grade instrument that has another whole lifetime in it, it's a very reasonable price. I love these basses, but the headstock is definately a take it or leave it.
 
#35
Paulabass said:
Putting an exact dollar value on these things is tricky. If you look at it as a professional grade instrument that has another whole lifetime in it, it's a very reasonable price. I love these basses, but the headstock is definately a take it or leave it.
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Thank you TL23NC, I would really appreciate that. Enjoy your vacation
 
#36
TL23NC said:
I've got a 1987 Roadstar that sounds similar to your old one. This one is unique in that it is an active version of the RB850, which I believe was called an RB851. All archived catalogs the from Ibanez site only show the 850 available as a 3 knob passive version. The active electronics were standard on the RB800 4 string and RB885 5string , so this bass might have been a special build. It's a very nice instrument- easy to play. Roadstars seem to have a lot of fans here and I can see why.
Click to expand...
I used to have the same bass I bought in Toronto, Canada in 1995. It was a four string active HB's with four controls in pearl white. The pearl white over time turns to a not so nice yellow but I still like it. I have to say it looks very nice in black. I was recently looking for a replacement for my 1995 bass and tried to go for a black one but ended up with another pearl white that's now closer to yellow. In fact black and the pearl white are the only colors I've ever seen on an active, four controls four or five string Roadstar ii. I think the black five string is even rarer. They sound, look and play amazing to me. Yours is in great shape judging from the photos. I would never part with any Roadstar or Musician bass again as I've been regretting it ever since.
 
#37
Himedia said:
I used to have the same bass I bought in Toronto, Canada in 1995. It was a four string active HB's with four controls in pearl white. The pearl white over time turns to a not so nice yellow but I still like it. I have to say it looks very nice in black. I was recently looking for a replacement for my 1995 bass and tried to go for a black one but ended up with another pearl white that's now closer to yellow. In fact black and the pearl white are the only colors I've ever seen on an active, four controls four or five string Roadstar ii. I think the black five string is even rarer. They sound, look and play amazing to me. Yours is in great shape judging from the photos. I would never part with any Roadstar or Musician bass again as I've been regretting it ever since.
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I might end up regretting it but I'm probably going to sell mine before we move this fall. I have to downsize and I'm deciding which basses need to go. Now you have me thinking about selling the fender p or jazz instead.
 

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