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The Ibanez Club (Part 3)

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#346
Ok guys and gals, here are my 3 favorite weapons of choice. I'm not an Ibanez hater. I went through that phase when I got my 3rd bass which was a, back then, brand new 2002 Ric 4003 and it put the Ibanez EDC705 to shame for me. But I never tried the Soundgear or the BTB series, my only experience w/Ibanez was the Ergodyne prior to say, 2003 or 2004, when I tried a Japan made SR800 at the local Sam Ash, that thing was so black, it cought my attention right off the bat, but the only problem was I just spent $1150 on a Rickenbacker for which I saved up for like 4 or 5 consecutive months, neglecting myself of mary jane and other psychedelic candy. But it was worth it, I guess, except that the bass's headstock was too heavy and was really annoying when on a strap, that huge swan dive kept me aching and going back to my ergodyne which I loved the look of, but it sounded horrible next to a Ric, so my next string bass was a Warwick Vampyre SN 5 string for which I traded the Ergo Ibby and the Ric. boy that was an awsome instrument, well worth the 2500$, but sadly it was stolen from me, but that only led me to try out more basses, next up was an ESP ltd F255 which was cool, but I hated the 35" scale as it made the 5th string flop too much, nice action and sound though. Sold it and got a new Warwick Corvette Std 5 string passive. I learned that after wondering why the hell is it so quiet and dead sounding. That bass was the worst burden yet, yes worse than the ergo. I absolutely hated the baseball bat neck on that thing, I bought it blindfolded thinking it's as good as the Vampyre. Put it up on Ebay, didn't sell, tried again, finally some local guy in my town messaged me for a trade because he wanted this bass so bad but couldn't afford but was willing to trade me a Musicman stringray 5 string form '91. I said hell if it's in good condition and works fine, I'm up for it. Got the MM blindfolded again, and it's now a keeper since feb '09. Next I kept seeing this red fender jaguar bass, it just caught my eye every time I passed it up, So I played it one day, and the next minute it's in my collection, sounds very unique, plays very nice too, cheap hardware, but that was an easy fix with Hipshot swap. In the meantime, I was looking for a fairly cheap but very good sounding bass, so I checked out ebay, foudn a mint condition '03 i think BTB405QM in trans red. Played beautifully, the only issue was the 35" scale and the neck was a bit wide for my preference, but I was shocked at how different this one felt from the ergo bass, wound up selling his bass and got a MIM Fender P bass std in red. Sounded pretty sweet too, but as I had a student I gave her the bass as a present. A few months later I got another Warwick, a Fortress Rockbass this time. I gotta say, they sound pretty good, but as with the Corvette std the neck is too beefy and the action is too high up, cannot be lowered like an ibanez. That bass was a 3 month nighmare, just got rid of it yesterday, finally sold on ebay. In conclusion Warwicks are mainly not my thing, although i wish i still had that vampyre. Anyway, my point here, finally I go look for this Ibanez that I saw back in 2003 at sam ash, the SR800 in black, and my first search on ebay returns the exact bass. This one happened to be the first model with the added midrange controls which was a '93. Sold for a nice price, surprised they went down so much, as these are actually the handcrafted japan made ones. Tested it out the second I got it, threw on a fresh set of flatwounds (d'addario chromes) and holy poop! this thing rocks more than any of the preceding basses, I get just about any tone for any style out of this bass with even flatwounds, that right there puts all of the basses above to shame. Everything about this bass is what I was looking for all along. Next I went through a phase of testing out the same SR800s from different year makes. Turns out these basses from 2000-2003 were made with thicker necks, which I don't like, but all the preceding 1987-1999 had the super slim necks. My next two keepers wound up being an '89 SR800 fretless in Lipstick Red which is more like a hot metallic red and the most current addition which is mintly preserved '89 Crystal Pearl SR800LE looks like an off white/cream metallic or pearly as its name specifies.
 

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#348
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Just got a result from eBay, GSR200 for £62!! This is my first Ibanez bass and have had to go down the cheap route as I got laid off due to having a crumbling spine so I get £64 a week benefits at the moment while I'm *cough* retraining, I actually just applied for a course in sound technology so hopefully I'll be able to do something I love if I don't end up driving bands around Europe.

I was wondering about upgrades that I could do, like maybe a bigger bridge, pickups and such like. I realize this is maybe a beginner/novice guitar (I certainly don't consider myself a pro) but I wanted something with a fast neck and being limited to cash and time to travel to the bigger guitar shops around I went and played everything I could get my hands on and found the SR models to be right on the money visually, tonally and the way it played. I spent about 6 months scouring eBay for Fender Jazz basses but decided to try one first as I tend to impulse buy on ebay and when I tried the Ibanez after making a beeline for the Jazz basses it was the only guitar that stood up to it out of a large and varied range.

I've previously had and still have other basses (BC Rich Warlock, ESP LTD F104, Dean DB95, Silvertone P bass, Maverick something or other, Marlin thingamybob) but when I get this thing to rehearsal on sunday I've got a feelin I'm gonna be blown away!
 
#349
syndrome666 said:
Ok guys and gals, here are my 3 favorite weapons of choice. I'm not an Ibanez hater. I went through that phase when I got my 3rd bass which was a, back then, brand new 2002 Ric 4003 and it put the Ibanez EDC705 to shame for me. But I never tried the Soundgear or the BTB series, my only experience w/Ibanez was the Ergodyne prior to say, 2003 or 2004, when I tried a Japan made SR800 at the local Sam Ash, that thing was so black, it cought my attention right off the bat, but the only problem was I just spent $1150 on a Rickenbacker for which I saved up for like 4 or 5 consecutive months, neglecting myself of mary jane and other psychedelic candy. But it was worth it, I guess, except that the bass's headstock was too heavy and was really annoying when on a strap, that huge swan dive kept me aching and going back to my ergodyne which I loved the look of, but it sounded horrible next to a Ric, so my next string bass was a Warwick Vampyre SN 5 string for which I traded the Ergo Ibby and the Ric. boy that was an awsome instrument, well worth the 2500$, but sadly it was stolen from me, but that only led me to try out more basses, next up was an ESP ltd F255 which was cool, but I hated the 35" scale as it made the 5th string flop too much, nice action and sound though. Sold it and got a new Warwick Corvette Std 5 string passive. I learned that after wondering why the hell is it so quiet and dead sounding. That bass was the worst burden yet, yes worse than the ergo. I absolutely hated the baseball bat neck on that thing, I bought it blindfolded thinking it's as good as the Vampyre. Put it up on Ebay, didn't sell, tried again, finally some local guy in my town messaged me for a trade because he wanted this bass so bad but couldn't afford but was willing to trade me a Musicman stringray 5 string form '91. I said hell if it's in good condition and works fine, I'm up for it. Got the MM blindfolded again, and it's now a keeper since feb '09. Next I kept seeing this red fender jaguar bass, it just caught my eye every time I passed it up, So I played it one day, and the next minute it's in my collection, sounds very unique, plays very nice too, cheap hardware, but that was an easy fix with Hipshot swap. In the meantime, I was looking for a fairly cheap but very good sounding bass, so I checked out ebay, foudn a mint condition '03 i think BTB405QM in trans red. Played beautifully, the only issue was the 35" scale and the neck was a bit wide for my preference, but I was shocked at how different this one felt from the ergo bass, wound up selling his bass and got a MIM Fender P bass std in red. Sounded pretty sweet too, but as I had a student I gave her the bass as a present. A few months later I got another Warwick, a Fortress Rockbass this time. I gotta say, they sound pretty good, but as with the Corvette std the neck is too beefy and the action is too high up, cannot be lowered like an ibanez. That bass was a 3 month nighmare, just got rid of it yesterday, finally sold on ebay. In conclusion Warwicks are mainly not my thing, although i wish i still had that vampyre. Anyway, my point here, finally I go look for this Ibanez that I saw back in 2003 at sam ash, the SR800 in black, and my first search on ebay returns the exact bass. This one happened to be the first model with the added midrange controls which was a '93. Sold for a nice price, surprised they went down so much, as these are actually the handcrafted japan made ones. Tested it out the second I got it, threw on a fresh set of flatwounds (d'addario chromes) and holy poop! this thing rocks more than any of the preceding basses, I get just about any tone for any style out of this bass with even flatwounds, that right there puts all of the basses above to shame. Everything about this bass is what I was looking for all along. Next I went through a phase of testing out the same SR800s from different year makes. Turns out these basses from 2000-2003 were made with thicker necks, which I don't like, but all the preceding 1987-1999 had the super slim necks. My next two keepers wound up being an '89 SR800 fretless in Lipstick Red which is more like a hot metallic red and the most current addition which is mintly preserved '89 Crystal Pearl SR800LE looks like an off white/cream metallic or pearly as its name specifies.
Click to expand...

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#353
ErikW said:
jaffbass the GSR200 will suprise you. It can hang with a lot of basses way more expensive. I will say that the oem pick ups are a little weak. I replaced mine with EMG active pup's and a BQS eq system. It's a rockin' little bass now. Light as heck too. Enjoy.

Erik
Click to expand...

Thanks man that was another of the gold stars with it being so light,I plan on upgrading it gently to start with, I already tried it out in comparison to my Dean which is the bass I use most frequently in gigs and was pleased with the outcome so I can't wait to run it through my Ampeg!
 
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