The Ibanez Club (Part 3)

[Mousekillaz]

I'm really interested in this bass but I haven't been able to hear one demo anywhere on the net. I've inquired at various dealers but they never carry the bass- just order when needed. Anyone played or heard one? How does it compare to other Ibanez basses?
I have played other Soundgears - 400 and the anniversary edition I believe it was and loved the tone and especially the slim neck.

the Prestige basses I have played are all fabulous just out of my price range for now

 

[happybacon]

i felt like just posting my straight opinion of ibanez basses here i love them for metal. because as far as metal goes, i like a soft attack if that makes sense. as apposed to a more full bright sound with a lot of attack. thats how i like my metal bass. So an ibanez soundgear with mahogany body, rosewood FB, and whatever neck probably maple, is what i like. but only with metal those soundgear pickups are so easy to use and get a decent sound out of. though they dont have that wide of a range of tone

and theres happybacons opinion of ibanezs! i got me an ibanez GSR 200....my first good bass honestly. i love it to death

 

[BassLife77]

Just bought a red GSR200 off craigslist for $60. she bought it for her husband for christmas and he decided in a week he's not bass player. He didn't even bother to set it up correctly. After setup bass has nice punch. has a weird smaller "Phat EQ" knob that boosts bass and highs and cuts mids a little. Gotta dump these strings and get some Rotos. also has a green cap that has to be changed

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[Basstovsky]

Maybe your pickup got damaged. Clearly it's been in and out of the bass before. Maybe a lead wire has a few broken strands from being removed and reinstalled. I seriously doubt Ibanez went through the effort to redesign the precision pickup for their mid-level Soundgears.

Well stock it was an active bass, its now wired passive, so they may have done something with the pickups to be more responsive to the EQ in it, I've personally never played an ibanez EQ i liked =/ But passive sounds great, been thinking of making a passive iceman with parts from warmoth but that is a ways in the future xD

 

[danomite64]

I owned a 300, a 400, and six 800's. I've upgraded the pickups in my son's 800, put his pickups in my 300, and used those pickups in a few experiments. From all that, I can tell you Ibanez didn't design what you're talking about.

 

[Buslady7803]

Heeyy can I join up? I'm getting my Ibanez soon, put it on layaway today.

Edit:
Now I have my Ibanez, set up, teacher lined up, gettin my amp soon then Im set. im stoked!!

 

[Basstovsky]

I owned a 300, a 400, and six 800's. I've upgraded the pickups in my son's 800, put his pickups in my 300, and used those pickups in a few experiments. From all that, I can tell you Ibanez didn't design what you're talking about.

Then I guess theres some crazy short or something in one of the coils causing it to short some highs, regardless it sounds like a beefy P/humbucker and thats good enoguh for me


I just rewired it (again!) with just the P pickup on a sliding base of my own design, its like a Grabber thats way lighter and sleeker...I've never played a bass more comfortable than a Soundgear. (though Spectors seem to be like a SR that is even more contoured, but too expensive for me to ever hold one!)

Pics to come when I've painted the cavity to not look so ugly

 

[Chowderboots]

I wonder what Ibanez will feature at NAMM.

 

[syndrome666]

I played MIJ Ibanez SR-800's for a long time before switching over to Gibson Thunderbirds as my main basses. For a while I was buying a new one every year as a birthday present to myself until they quit making them in Japan. Now these primarily get used for studio work or if I need a fretless, I use my 1990 SR-800FL. I picked it up off E-bay, and it had been given a high quality refinish in white. Looks sharp and plays great.

I've sold off a couple of these so I'll just list out which ones I still have and which ones have found new homes. Left to Right:

SR-800 '89 Pearl White
SR-800FL '90 Originally Black, refinished white
SR-800 '93 Emerald Green
SR-800 '98 Cherry Fudge
SR-885 '99 Black
SR-800 '00 Silver
SR-640 '01 ? Iris - Sold *MIJ
(De Armond Starfire)
(Gibson Blackbird)
SR-505FL '94 Black *MIK
SRX-500 '02? Honeyburst - Sold
(Fender P-Bass)

That repainted white looks hot! I love the early sr800s more. Own a '93 in black and it's the most comfortable neck yet, 18mm thick. Just sold my '01 SR800 in silver/grey nickel, neck was 20.8mm on it. Didn't like the bridge as much either. Never tried the '87-'92 ones though. they had only 4 knobs I know and a slightly different bridge than the '93-? ones. Looking for another one to use as a BEAD tuning bass. Definitely very good basses though. I've seen some of these made in korea though, any info on where those came about? They're mainly made in Japan, but i did stumble upon a couple of sr800s made in Korea, features on them are a bit different like the inlays, finish colors, gold logo instead of chrome/silver, and standard ibanez strap buttons than the Japan wide ones.

 

[meRTKendrew]

I'll join in here! No number tho thanks, because I'll forget what I was given.

This is a 1981 Ibanez Blazer bass that was my dads for 28 years. He bought it brand new. It's the only bass i use at the moment.

 

[Bassist Jay]

Here is my 2007 Ibanez 20th5 20th Anniversary Soundgear bass that I just bought last week. To the right of it is my Black 1994 Ibanez SR 500 Soundgear bass and to the left of it is my Crimson Metallic 1995 Ibanez SR 500 Soundgear bass that was custom painted.
Previous models that I have also owned was Metallic Red 1993 Ibanez SR 400 Soundgear Bass and a Metallic Blue 1995 SR 800 Soundgear bass.

 

[BassLife77]

the preamp on this GSR200 is very bright and bassy, great for R&B and slapping. changing the cap only mellowed it a little. the tone capabilities are limited so I'll have to swap the preamp for something with a parametric EQ

 

[Bongolation]

Just a note to mention that the ATK750 is being closed out for US$379.99 plus whatever additional coupon and promotion discounts you can scare up. That's a pretty good price.

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[Chowderboots]

I'll join in here! No number tho thanks, because I'll forget what I was given.

This is a 1981 Ibanez Blazer bass that was my dads for 28 years. He bought it brand new. It's the only bass i use at the moment.

Wow! I'll bet you love that guitar dearly.

 

[Turtle71]

Well, I found another SR505 that I just couldn't live without (I love Craigslist).

I can't tell you what year it is, but I do know it's older than my current SR505 which is a 2008 model. My guess would be early 2000's maybe?

The weird thing is....Even though these basses share the same model designation, that's where the similarities end, for example my new ones neck is notably thicker than the one I already had, plus the finish is darker and has a slight bit more gloss to it, and the electronics though both being Bart MK-1's the new bass has a distinctly different sound, much smoother low end, but it suffers a little on the high side. I'm going to restring it with the same strings I have on my other one, and compare them again then.

OK, enough talk, now for the picture (The new one is on the right) The only flaw I see is the small chip just below the G string, presumably a "slap/pop" inflicted wound.

 

[Billy K]

SR 500 owner need number..also want ideas from club members on pickup swap and bridge exchange. Want to drill for thru body also. Is this too much to invest in a 500?I am thinking of refinnish too.

 

[Turtle71]

SR 500 owner need number..also want ideas from club members on pickup swap and bridge exchange. Want to drill for thru body also. Is this too much to invest in a 500?I am thinking of refinnish too.

Well, that's kind of a tough question....Is a SR500 worth putting those kinds of upgrades into? Probably not if you base it strictly on the street value of the instrument. That being said, if you really like the instrument, then I would say it's certainly worth it

As far as those upgrades, the pickups & preamp, might not be to difficult to do, just decide on the manufacturer, and then start researching that manufacturer to see if those upgrades are available for your specific instrument. Most preamps are somewhat universal (so long as the number of controls matches the number of holes you have, otherwise you'd have to drill). For pickups, unless you buy "direct fit" pickups, body routing could be required....

As far as bridge w/ string through body, I'm afraid I don't have even a guess for you.

 

[Billy K]

Thanks Turtle, seems the bridge on there now has 4 holes in it that look like I could drill thru and put ferrules in....but I don't know if I could or should.Just looks possible. Pickup drop in is MK4 hundred bucks but somewhere on this forum it has been said to swap position of MK1 first that I might find that I would like the sound better.I like the bass enough but wonder if anyone refinnished the body. the grain thing I dont like. Like a smoother finnish almost glassy or even spray on poly. Trying to get some ideas of what has been done to these 500. I seem to never leave things alone as they are.Maybe therapy would do me good LOL

 

[danomite64]

#540 willqx4
#541 mousekillaz
#542 happybacon
#543 BassLife77
#544 Buslady7803
#545 Billy K

 

[Gaetano Paul]

#458 daahoud
#459 Sav’nBass
#460 amour217
#461 ColinGWood

How do I join this club. I play an SRX705!