How low can you go without fret buzz? Playability improves with lower action.
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What do I have here?
- Thread starter Skitrodabro
- Start date
Sweet bass, appears to be an Ibanez copy of a Fender Telecaster bass. I like the bezel around the pickup. Get 'er setup and it should be a decent bass.
In your shoes I would get the action and intonation situated first. Afterwards, if it feels nice and plays decently, I would have a look around the inside, as has been said, there are some grounding issues, maybe some dirty pots. In all honesty, I would probably replace all of the electronics with finer quality parts, it's really not that expensive at all to do, especially on a free bass.
Yeah I'm working on it now, if all is wrong in the ground and some dirty pots I would like to keep it as original as possible.
The string alignment may be fixed by loosening the neck screws a little and giving the neck a whack toward the E string .
I would say not to worry about originality considering this is already possibly a parts bass, but then I found another supposedly Ibanez that looks very similar, have you measured the scale on yours?
Also found this non Ibanez that looks similar as well, it's branded Columbus, could be from the same factory I suppose.
That's sweet! If it were mine I would go with a good setup, and try to leave as much original as I could, maybe get new pots, and wiring. If the bridge isn't original, and it's skewed a bit, that might explain the bad alignment, at least check that before doing anything with the neck.
MaddAnthony_59
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- Dec 16, 2006
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Well, just by the first photo, it looks high too me. Maybe it's just the lighting.
If you like it, then don't change it.
you have yourself a unique, vintage Ibanez. cool slab body but I wonder if its a re-finish?
I would keep it as original as possible. 70's Ibanez basses are pretty highly regarded and can have good resale value. I recently sold a really nice Ibanez Jazz bass from the late 70's for over $400.
That's not a parts bass. It's an early 70s Ibanez. It might be a refin, perhaps, but it looks otherwise stock.
Early 70s Ibanez basses aren't all that valuable... Yet... but they are very high quality instruments, usually. I agree with the others that you should get the electronics sorted and get a good setup from a reputable tech. From there, you'll be able to assess what you really have.
If you do decide that a new pickup is in order, a single-cool P-bass pickup might fit in that existing rout. All you'd need to do is make a different bezel for it and you wouldn't need to make any permanent mods.
That stock pickup is just a neck pickup from a Telecaster style guitar. Another option would be to get a Bartoloni Tele pickup and it would be an exact fit. Bart guitar pickups work quite well on bass.
Early 70s Ibanez basses aren't all that valuable... Yet... but they are very high quality instruments, usually. I agree with the others that you should get the electronics sorted and get a good setup from a reputable tech. From there, you'll be able to assess what you really have.
If you do decide that a new pickup is in order, a single-cool P-bass pickup might fit in that existing rout. All you'd need to do is make a different bezel for it and you wouldn't need to make any permanent mods.
That stock pickup is just a neck pickup from a Telecaster style guitar. Another option would be to get a Bartoloni Tele pickup and it would be an exact fit. Bart guitar pickups work quite well on bass.
Looking at the catalog photo and the other TB thread, it looks as though most - if not all - the original hardware has been changed on yours. That's a little bit good and a little bit bad:
The tuners aren't original, but the originals were pretty poor, so you're ahead there.
The bridge isn't original, but yours will intonate more easily. If you want something closer to stock, Wilkinson makes replacement bridges for '51 reissue P-basses that would look good and work well.
The knobs aren't original, but any Fender P-bass style knobs will be close enough.
All the pickguard screws have been changed out for El Cheapo, hardware store variety brass screws. Easy enough to get proper pickguard screws.
Here's the part that's interesting to me: it looks as though - maybe to better match the refin - somebody made a new pickguard and bezel out of black plastic, perhaps using the originals as a template. An Ibanez pickguard from that period, if black, would have been made with a white layer in between (black, white, black). Yours looks like just one layer, and the bevel on the edges looks wrong.
At any rate, all of this is academic until you get it playable. Then you can decide what you want to change - or not.
The tuners aren't original, but the originals were pretty poor, so you're ahead there.
The bridge isn't original, but yours will intonate more easily. If you want something closer to stock, Wilkinson makes replacement bridges for '51 reissue P-basses that would look good and work well.
The knobs aren't original, but any Fender P-bass style knobs will be close enough.
All the pickguard screws have been changed out for El Cheapo, hardware store variety brass screws. Easy enough to get proper pickguard screws.
Here's the part that's interesting to me: it looks as though - maybe to better match the refin - somebody made a new pickguard and bezel out of black plastic, perhaps using the originals as a template. An Ibanez pickguard from that period, if black, would have been made with a white layer in between (black, white, black). Yours looks like just one layer, and the bevel on the edges looks wrong.
At any rate, all of this is academic until you get it playable. Then you can decide what you want to change - or not.
I'd bet a fair amount it's a tele bridge pickup. It has the 3 mounting screw arrangement and looks fatter than a tele neck. Tele neck P/Us also mount to the body I believe... At least you don't see the mounting screws thru the pick guard.
Very cool bass in my opinion... Fix it and rock it!
You could be right, although I've never seen a covered Tele bridge p/u. Heck, I've never seen a 3-screw Tele neck p/u, either. It may be something Ibanez cobbled together from stock parts.
If you look at an Ampeg Big Stud bass - marketed at around the same time and made in Japan - you'll see an awful lot of similarities there. Save for the 2=2 headstock and a second pickup, it's essentially the same bass. If I was a betting man, I'd wager they rolled off of the same assembly line.
Absolutely. From photos, it's hard to tell if the misalignment is from the neck not sitting straight in the pocket (probably the case), the new bridge not being properly positioned or some other gremlin. A proper tech will be able to make that call in moments and get you squared away.
