Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Why Not Ibanez Bass
- Thread starter Serious
- Start date
You always post exactly what I'm thinking. Ibanez might not be the bass "most" players end up with, but I think far more than half of us own at least one at some point.
My first bass was an Ibanez. A red Destroyer!
My first bass was a Rick 4001 - in 1978. Along the way to buyinng that, I did try an Ibanez knockoff of the Rick - it was 3/4ths the price of the Rick, so I bought "the real thing".
Right now, in my house, I have one commercially produced basses - the rest are custom builds. The one commercially produced bass is an Ibanez.
Right now, in my house, I have one commercially produced basses - the rest are custom builds. The one commercially produced bass is an Ibanez.
I remember seeing the Soundgear basses in a local music store in the early 90's, and they haven't changed much since then. For whatever reason, it come across as dated rather than vintage when if you look at a 50's P bass and a P bass today you don't think the modern P bass is dated. Maybe the problem was that early Ibanez basses were largely copies of other brands rather than establishing their own design that could be considered "classic". I like some of the newer headless designs, but they're a little too fancy for me. I guess I'd call Ibanez well built instruments that have to battle a 60-70 year history of the Fender P / J bass standard.
I do, very much so. They're about as "modern" as a flathead V8.
Dated and ugly.
Yes, and many are wonderful, from the DOHC Ford unit to Koenigsegg.
Ibanez and Fender are the two most popular basses in the world. I'm basing that on how may I've come across played in bands or by bassists I've talked to.
I have not ended up keeping any of the Ibanez basses I have owned chiefly because the necks seem to constantly need adjustment. It might be related to the humidity in my home, but I don’t have that problem as often with my Fenders and Ernie Ball Music Mans (Music Men?), so out the window the Ibbies went.
I have a perception, fair or not, that Ibanez basses tend to suffer from Noodle Neck Syndrome.
I have a perception, fair or not, that Ibanez basses tend to suffer from Noodle Neck Syndrome.
Body shape hasn't changed much, basic concept of the controls placement hasn't changed much.
Everything under the hood, the wood, design, pickups, preamp circuits, tuners, bridges, etc have changed far far more radically than on most other famous bass models within one brand over the same length of time, imho.
Most manufacturers stay very consistent. Ibanez has always been like that in their lines - look at the "Musician" bass guitar line from the 70s and 80s.... holy moly they changed so much you only get teh same body and headstock shape (and neck through) being consistent between them.
Just my observation when looking at instruments within ibanez series compared to series from other manufacturers. BTB, Musician, Soundgear.... the ibanez lines are only body shapes and general concepts. Heck, BTB are either neck through or bolt on - they aren't even consistent in that regard.
Fender/Squier (I'll combine those since Ibanez has lower end in their lineup) is about 2.5x as popular as Ibanez, Ibanez about 2x Gibson/Epiphone and EBMM, but I don't have stats for SBMM. (Data based on Reverb numbers, so they're ballpark but should be reasonably close.)
My first bass was a cheap Ibanez sound gear model.
I have moved away from Ibanez chiefly because I prefer a wider, thicker neck than what they have to offer.
I do still have a Roadstar II RB 950 and a Roadstar II RB 760 (vintage 80s MIJ Ibanez basses) that I enjoy pulling out and playing now and again. Those are pretty great basses actually.
MIJ guitars typically never fail to impress.
I have moved away from Ibanez chiefly because I prefer a wider, thicker neck than what they have to offer.
I do still have a Roadstar II RB 950 and a Roadstar II RB 760 (vintage 80s MIJ Ibanez basses) that I enjoy pulling out and playing now and again. Those are pretty great basses actually.
MIJ guitars typically never fail to impress.
Argumentum ad populum.
In my experience most musos are sheep.
I have 3 or maybe 4 Ibanez basses, and at least that many Ibanez guitars. I buy almost exclusively used gear, and I seldom see used Ibanez basses for sale. I think most folks hold on to them for one reason or another. I do see Ibanez guitars used more often, but still not every day. I put Ibanez in the same category as Yamaha; everything they make is quality. Some of it is entry level and some of it is high end, but every one of their units is gig worthy.
One line of instruments that really gets almost no notice is Hohner. I have a Hohner B Professional 4 string bass I bought used. When I tried it at the store I wasn't expecting much, but it feels great in my hands and sounds great also. Either passive or active via a switch, with the neck thru design. I have lots of basses, including Fender, Gibson, Peavey, the aforementioned Ibanez, and Yamaha, and this Hohner is one of my favorites.
Thump on,
One_Dude
One line of instruments that really gets almost no notice is Hohner. I have a Hohner B Professional 4 string bass I bought used. When I tried it at the store I wasn't expecting much, but it feels great in my hands and sounds great also. Either passive or active via a switch, with the neck thru design. I have lots of basses, including Fender, Gibson, Peavey, the aforementioned Ibanez, and Yamaha, and this Hohner is one of my favorites.
Thump on,
One_Dude
With the right setup and strings many of these Ibanez models could do the job of much more expensive instruments. Ibanez is the first on my list of " best bang for the buck".
