What Did I Just Buy from Goodwill Auction?

[Drifter8230]

That was my first bass!!!

 

[Williethump]

Got the Ibanez TR 50 just now. Sprayed it down with Ernie Ball polish to clean it and as anti-covid. FedEx delivery, a cheap $11 from San Jose, at least 100 miles (62.3km) from here. And only a day late-their driver's secret? They speed.
Arrived upside down but heavily bubble wrapped and paper padded so no harm. Plugged it in for 3 minutes to be sure it worked before stripping off the wrongly wrapped 3-string set in favor of roundwound D'Addario XL Nickels, like new.
Static whenever the strings are not touched and random static too. New outlet jack and grounding? Cavity shielding with foil? Anyhow, plays OK for basically a student bass. My new strings and possibly foil shielding might help. Paint chip reveals hightech laminated body material (plywood).

Mismatched vol/tone knobs; typical buckle rash of no import; same for random fair-wear-and-tear blemishes. Fairly lightweight with my wide strap. Nice narrow Ibby maple neck with maple fretboard, used but not apparently abused. Some buzz- needs setup as always on used axes.

Foil farraday shielding on cover; possibly special paint in cavity. Possibly not working-static and hums.

 

[Williethump]

I'll keep this thread open and post more as I tackle the various issues of this bass, maybe 12 years old and needing TLC.

For $80 it's a good but not a great deal depending on how well I can address the bass's tonal problems. I'll know more when I put on the new(ish) bright strings from another bass project see how it sounds and plays.

 

[Williethump]

The Goodwill auction blurb did not lie, it does sound good. It took very little of my inept tuning and intonating, and newish bright XL nickel strings, to bring the Ibanez R bass back to life. Neck truss rod adjusted easily, always critical on used basses. Stole two matching control knobs from another project for cosmetics.
The G string is from a different random bass project because the one from the D'Addario Nickel set-also from a project bass-was cut too short.
Running through a Fender Rumble 75 I need to raise the treble and roll down the bass. Seems more equal if I turn on 'Punch' rather than 'Scoop' too. The static seems to have vanished when I swapped strings.

I play a Godin Freeway 4 and a Fender MIJ ash P-bass, both equipped with flats. So I wanted another P, J or humbucker style I could put my bright XL strings on, preferably with a maple board.
Now I can hear better how bad my fingering and muting are, the flats on the other axes tend to hide some of my rookie errors.
The neck is smooth and straight; the frets are good. Not at all narrow like I expect an Ibby neck to be but instead about as wide a nut as my Fender P-bass. Ibanez went full clone on this one.
I'm happy with this $80 auction buy, it was what I was seeking. Plays easily if you are used to a wide neck. The R bass not only 'sounds good for an old plywood student bass' but also just sounds good.

 

[jastraw]

View attachment 3989534
The Goodwill auction blurb did not lie, it does sound good. It took very little of my inept tuning and intonating, and newish bright XL nickel strings, to bring the Ibanez R bass back to life. Neck truss rod adjusted easily, always critical on used basses. Stole two matching control knobs from another project for cosmetics.
The G string is from a different random bass project because the one from the D'Addario Nickel set-also from a project bass-was cut too short.
Running through a Fender Rumble 75 I need to raise the treble and roll down the bass. Seems more equal if I turn on 'Punch' rather than 'Scoop' too. The static seems to have vanished when I swapped strings.
View attachment 3989535
I play a Godin Freeway 4 and a Fender MIJ ash P-bass, both equipped with flats. So I wanted another P, J or humbucker style I could put my bright XL strings on, preferably with a maple board.
Now I can hear better how bad my fingering and muting are, the flats on the other axes tend to hide some of my rookie errors.
The neck is smooth and straight; the frets are good. Not at all narrow like I expect an Ibby neck to be but instead about as wide a nut as my Fender P-bass. Ibanez went full clone on this one.
I'm happy with this $80 auction buy, it was what I was seeking. Plays easily if you are used to a wide neck. The R bass not only 'sounds good for an old plywood student bass' but also just sounds good.
View attachment 3989536

Great score! What's the nut width on your TR-50?