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Ibanez SR1300?


bassrockbob
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I'm looking to upgrade from my Ibanez GSR200 and have a grand to spend. For me that's a big investment so I want a quality bass that will last, and my initial thoughts were the Musicman Sterling Ray 34:

[url="http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=11080915385288"]http://www.guitargui...=11080915385288[/url]

or the Fender American Standard Jazz:

[url="http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=12031011002558"]http://www.guitargui...=12031011002558[/url]

but I found these heavy and bulky compared with what I'm used to playing and wondered if the Ibanez SR1300 Premium:

[url="http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=151218291644002"]http://www.guitargui...151218291644002[/url] would be similar in build quality - it certainly felt more comfortable to play. Or would I be paying for a lot of fancy electronics?

Informed opinions welcome :)

Thanks

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[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1487531376' post='3240528']
[url="http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ibanez-SR1200-Premium-SR-Bass-Guitar-/152431802351?hash=item237da4b7ef%3Ag%3Ap3oAAOSwr%7ElYnaU2&_trkparms=pageci%253A9b367448-f6d6-11e6-9daa-74dbd18053f3%257Cparentrq%253A57c536ed15a0a2a2168d05f0fff32949%257Ciid%253A5"]http://m.ebay.co.uk/...9%257Ciid%253A5[/url]

See what this goes for ?
[/quote]

Blimey.

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I have a SR750 and it is a cracking bass. Cost me £735 ish. Better than any Fender I have played.

Mine has Norstrand designed pickups and they are fantastic so I imagine the Norstrand made ones on the SR1300 will be better. But it`s true about the 2nd hand value of Ibbys.

Have you had a look at Cort basses? They manufacture most of the Ibanez basses and are very good value.

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Haven't been able to find it again, but somewhere there is a demo of the 1205 - those Nordstrands and the pre-amp have given me the only case of bass GAS I've had since getting my Shuker in 2012!

But, as already pointed out, these basses have worse depreciation than a Maserati Quattroporte. Buy off the marketplace here.

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Out of those three I'd go for the American Standard - they're great instruments, real quality in feel and sound.

Whilst the Ibanez would undoubtedly be a nice bass, as others have said; I'd only ever buy a used one. Their value plummets as soon as you leave the shop as unfortunately they're just not really seen as a premium brand.

Depends what you want it for I guess, if it has a sound you like & you're not interested in re-sale value then the Ibanez would be a nice bass to have. But I've never thought of Ibanez basses having a particular sound (unlike the other two) & when I've seen other people using them I've never thought "I need one of those in my life!".

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Deffo buy pre-loved.

I've just acquired a 1991 SR1500 one of the early MIJ Prestige models for a few hundred £s, very well put together and still fully functional despite having been gigged a fair amount.

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[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1487592987' post='3240951']
Out of those three I'd go for the American Standard - they're great instruments, real quality in feel and sound.

Whilst the Ibanez would undoubtedly be a nice bass, as others have said; I'd only ever buy a used one. Their value plummets as soon as you leave the shop as unfortunately they're just not really seen as a premium brand.

Depends what you want it for I guess, if it has a sound you like & you're not interested in re-sale value then the Ibanez would be a nice bass to have. But I've never thought of Ibanez basses having a particular sound (unlike the other two) & when I've seen other people using them I've never thought "I need one of those in my life!".
[/quote]

I think the OP likes the neck profile and string spacing on the SRs . I had a sr765 for a while and for the money was astonishing.. an SR with nordstrand big singles would be immense...

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[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1487533332' post='3240579']
I have a SR750 and it is a cracking bass. Cost me £735 ish. Better than any Fender I have played.

Mine has Norstrand designed pickups and they are fantastic so I imagine the Norstrand made ones on the SR1300 will be better. But it`s true about the 2nd hand value of Ibbys.

Have you had a look at Cort basses? They manufacture most of the Ibanez basses and are very good value.
[/quote] I hadn't considered Cort at all, but that A4ULTRA at Richard Guitars looks a stunner - the black hardware is classy. Thanks.

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As someone who was in your position around 18 months ago I'll chip in with my 2-cents:

The Ibanez basses are very nice quality for what they cost and if you really like the smaller body and thin neck then they're a great choice. I personally don't think there is a massive difference between the lower and higher end models. I looked at them all and ended up with an SR-300 which feels just as good as the premium range to play at least to me, and cost me a tiny fraction of the cost.

The big difference in price is the type of wood for the body - you'll get pretty looking exotic woods in natural finishes on the pricey models. They look wonderful but they're not going to make a massive difference to playing the bass. The cheap SR-300 ones have nice maple bodies that sound wonderful anyhow. And then there is the hardware, which will be 3rd party with possible phase/mid-boost switches on the more expensive. However, I would say that the Ibanez own brand soap-bars sound great on the cheaper ones, and the quality of the on-board electronics is very good. The three-band EQ really works and the pots all have a nice natural range.

Not trying to convince you to avoid an expensive one of course; they are no doubt wonderful instruments. However, if you're on a budget (I know you have £1000, but then I don't know if you would benefit from pedals/amps/cab upgrades too) then don't dismiss trying the cheaper Ibanez basses too. You might be rather surprised. The jump from the GSR-200 to the SR-300 is quite a leap.

The other thing I would point you to is Maruszczyk if you're after something a bit more toward the £1000 end of things. This was the direction I ended up goin for my main bass, simply because they were happy to build me an instrument that was exactly what I wanted. They're very easy to deal with, and they'll pretty much accommodate anything you can think of for a very reasonable price. I ended up with a Jazz-style bass, but with 24-frets, a zero fret, a music-man style humbucker in the bridge and 9mm single in the neck, Delano pre-amp and some lovely cosmetic touches, a neck that was exactly how I like it, and all for a price that was less than an off-the-shelf fender.

For reference, this was the bass that Maruszczyk made me. I've honestly never had GAS for anything since.

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That [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Maruszczyk[/font][/color] is lovely Naetharu! I had no idea they'd build something so custom for that kind of price, it's lower than I expected! I don't know much about [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Maruszczyk, but that's a gorgeous instrument.[/font][/color]

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