What brand is this bass?

[Djaif]

Can someone tell me the brand/model of this bass? It’s not written anywhere and the headstock logo has been painted over. The pickups are Select by EMG. Thanks!

 

[Whale]

I could very well be wrong, but it looks much like an IBANEZ SDGR 885 5 made from the late 80s thru the mid 90s-ish. The SD in the title of the model stands for “Sound Gear”. Initially, Ibanez installed the Jazz sized pickups with the neck cocked at an angle. Later, they moved to slightly larger pickups placed in the same locations.

The 885 models are regarded as being decent basses. Perhaps, not the greatest to ever come from the Ibanez factory, but still quite good.

Here’s a TB link to a conversation about the bass…

Has anyone ever heard of an Ibanez SR-88 5 String?

 

[Djaif]

The 885 models are regarded as being decent basses. Perhaps, not the greatest to ever come from the Ibanez factory, but still quite good.

Here’s a TB link to a conversation about the bass…

Has anyone ever heard of an Ibanez SR-88 5 String?[/QUOTE]

 

[hypercarrots]

I dont know what it is but i dont think its an ibanez and it is definitely not an sr885.

 

[Gorn]

There are a lot of no name cheap Asian-made basses that look just like that.

 

[Whale]

I think that Hypercarrots might be right. Here’s a pic of an SR885 taken from a Talkbass post…

While most everything looks the same, the shape on the top of the headstock and the upper horn both appear to be slightly different.

 

[hypercarrots]

I searched alibaba, aliexpress, china, sgc, nanyo, tune maniac, washburn, ltd, stagg, etc for half an hour and found no matches.
note the slanted pickup, control layout, fretboard markers, fretboard heel and tuning machine placement are unique features for identification.

 

[Djaif]

Yeah, you’re right. The horn, the headstock, the neck jonction and the dots on the fingerboard. Maybe, like Gorn said, it is a cheap unknown asian-made bass.

I think that Hypercarrots might be right. Here’s a pic of an SR885 taken from a Talkbass post…

View attachment 4500401

While most everything looks the same, the shape on the top of the headstock and the upper horn both appear to be slightly different.

 

[mmbongo]

Fernandes was my first guess but that’s just a wild guess.

 

[GodPlayedBass]

Its probably an ibanez copy cat.

 

[jd56hawk]

Did you buy it?

 

[ardgedee]

Do the back of the headstock or the body have any markings?

 

[Obese Chess]

I'm voting a Korean bass from the 90s. It is definitely not an SR885 - bridge, headstock, and neck joint are wrong.

 

[Djaif]

Do the back of the headstock or the body have any markings?

No, not at all.

 

[Djaif]

Did you buy it?

Yes, I bought it a couple years ago, never really used it, and I'm considering selling it, since I don't use it. The guy I bought it from did not know anything about it either and sold it for 140 canadian $, so maybe 110$US.

 

[fourstringbliss]

It's an Ibanez copy - you can see that the headstock shape is similar, but not the same.

 

[Gregory H]

I'm voting a Korean bass from the 90s. It is definitely not an SR885 - bridge, headstock, and neck joint are wrong.

I totally agree with this.

I have an Alvarez 6 string from the early 2000's that I purchased mid last year. Looks a lot like an Ibanez, and when I was researching this bass I found a lot of similar looking basses from the same era. Cort Artisan bass from the 90's The bridge and tuners on the mystery bass look very similar.

Here is a Reverb listing for a Here is an old TB listing for an identical bass as mine. (no affiliation). The string-job is whack and this is a 4 instead of a 5, but the headstock seems to be a great match to the one in question.

I can't remember where I read it but when I was thinking about buying the Alvarez, it seemed like there were a number of extremely similar looking basses coming out of the same factory in Korea.

 

[Djaif]

Thank you all for your time and infos. I’ll be going with “an unknown asian (Korean?) Ibanez copy from the 90’ “.

 

[EdO.]

The dot inlays on the neck are identical to those on my Cort A5 Artisan. Dots close to the top of the finger board, double dots at the 12th fret close together. That says Cort to me. Headstock is different, looks like might have been reshaped by a previous owner? Could be why it was repainted but that's just a WAG on my part. If Cort built it it's probably a pretty decent instrument.

 

[Durham52]

Here in Australia there are basses with that Ibanez style headstock and similar body shapes to the one pictured by the OP which sell under the Casino, J&D Luthiers, Artist and a few other brand names. They probably all come out of the same factories and all look very similar to Ibanez SR range basses. They might sell under other brand names in the US, or Europe....

J&D Luthiers example .