Vintage Ibanez

[nilorius]

Here we go - all and everything You have to say about Yours or neibhors vintage Ibanez !!! 😉

[White Cloud]

Better than modern Ibanez!

[Misdee]

Much better than modern Ibanez.

 

I played and owned a couple  of vintage Ibanez  basses when they were new Ibanez basses. Lots of other top players used them in those days, too. I still remember the glossy adverts in guitar magazines. 

 

I was so excited when I got my brand new Musician Bass that I didn't sleep properly for two nights. I had wanted one for years. One of my happiest memories. It was epic at the time, but I think I would appreciate it even more if I had it back now. I would be able to set it up to play better, too.

Edited August 10, 2023 by Misdee

[BigRedX]

I don't know about the vintage ones being better than the modern ones, but I can definitely say that in 1979 anything with an Ibanez logo on it was vastly superior to any thing coming out of the Fender US factory.

 

 

[Doctor J]

Japanese Ibanez have been consistently superb. The old basses are very different to what they offer now but in no way better... or worse, for that matter.

[neepheid]

One of the first basses I ever encountered was a friend's Ibanez Musician. Didn't know at the time what a good bass or a bad bass was, but I do remember it being a weighty beast.

 

Pretty sure it was one of these:

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by neepheid

[meterman]

I like old Ibanez and new Ibanez. I know these particular old basses are not too sought after but I’d still have one of each of them, especially the natural Telecaster bass...

 

 

Phwoar 👍

[Waddo Soqable]

I had an ibanez Rickenfaker that was pretty decent, was a bolt on neck as I remember 

[tauzero]

Was the Axstar better than the EHB range? And why am I replying to a Nilo topic?

[nilorius]

1 hour ago, Waddo Soqable said:

I had an ibanez Rickenfaker that was pretty decent, was a bolt on neck as I remember 

Perfect bass for youuu, i guess !

[jezzaboy]

It`s always amazed me that Ibanez don`t re do some of the older models, I mean Fender have been doing it for decades!

 

But maybe the only ones who would buy them would be sad gits on bass forums 

[Doctor J]

They continually refine what they do and don't allow themselves to get stuck in a rut, like most Japanaese companies, a very different business model to the regurgitators.

[DGBass]

4 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

t`s always amazed me that Ibanez don`t re do some of the older models, I mean Fender have been doing it for decades!

 

But maybe the only ones who would buy them would be sad gits on bass forums 

You might be onto something there G😉 I did own one first time around in 79/80, a Blazer 800 in two tone sunburst, slab body and one piece maple neck. It was my first ever new bass after a string of used planks i'd owned. The fit, finish and quality was immense. It felt like and was a proper quality instrument and sounded brilliant through my Marshall Superbass half stack.  The Fenders of the time looked rough by comparison. Seems such a long time ago and the photo shows that! Not sure if I'd buy a re-issue if that ever happened. Ibanez still make great instruments but nothing like they were in their heyday.

 

 

A slightly better photo of it just before it was sold on circa 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by DGBass
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[Misdee]

 If anyone has a more contemporary Ibanez bass that they enjoy then I've certainly no wish to denigrate that. It's just that back in the late 1970s and up to the late 1980s Ibanez were making some world class high-end instruments.

 

Looking back it was a Golden Age for Japanese-made equipment, and not just guitar equipment, either. Japanese hifi, photographic equipment, electronics ect were all taking over the top end of the market. 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Misdee

[Lozz196]

If I recall correctly Mick Quinn, the bassist from Supergrass used to use an Ibanez bass - whatever their Precision copy was - as he said the output was stronger/hotter in comparison with the Fenders of the time.

[Bassassin]

23 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

If I recall correctly Mick Quinn, the bassist from Supergrass used to use an Ibanez bass - whatever their Precision copy was - as he said the output was stronger/hotter in comparison with the Fenders of the time.

 

Ibby Blazer, I think. Pickup would have been a Super P4 hex-pole DiMarzio clone, which tend to be pretty pokey.

 

Same as the P unit in my '82 RS924 Roadster, which is the best-sounding P/J bass I've had. The J unit's silly-hot, clocks around 12k, if I remember.

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Bassassin

[Bassassin]

1 hour ago, jezzaboy said:

It`s always amazed me that Ibanez don`t re do some of the older models, I mean Fender have been doing it for decades!

 

But maybe the only ones who would buy them would be sad gits on bass forums 

 

I think they reissued the Blazer guitars back in the late 90s, don't think there was a bass though. They did recently reissue the 70s Black Eagle bass.

 

Would be hilarious if they reissued their 2388B Rick copy. And then claimed trademark rights on the body & headstock shape, because they were selling them in 1972 & Rickenbacker International Corporation (who own the trademark) didn't exist before 1984. But no-one should be that cruel to poor old John Hall.

[tubbybloke68]

5 hours ago, White Cloud said:

Better than modern Ibanez!

Definitely! 

[Dazed]

4 hours ago, Waddo Soqable said:

I had an ibanez Rickenfaker that was pretty decent, was a bolt on neck as I remember 

I have one of those, picked it up a few years ago. I wouldn’t swap it for a Rick. 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Here's my lovely old Blazer, next to another elderly cousin.

It's a Precision Bass, only more so.

[lidl e]

Ive got two left from a lrger collection of vintage Ibanez

 

A 1972 2651B and an 92 Musician M888 "bean" bass

 

I actually have them both up for sale locally

 

 

 

[LeftyJ]

I currently only have my 1983 lefty MC924 that I love - but never play. It's very rare and it's from my year of birth which makes it quite special to me, and it's really comfortable to play and sounds great. I mostly play my other basses. 

 

That said, I've always been a vintage Ibanez geek. I've owned two more MC924's, an RS924 (indeed, as @Bassassin put it, one of the best sounding PJ's out there), two 1996 ATK300's, one 1998 ATK305 and a 1987 (first year) SR800LE, all made in Japan. I've also had a few of their guitars, all RG's and also all made in Japan (two RG470's and two awesome RG550's). I'm sure more will follow, I'm a sucker for anything Ibanez Japan. 

[Waddo Soqable]

Seeing lidl e s one ^ reminds me I did have, fairly briefly, one of their Les Paul bass copies, the type with all the mad knobs a controls everywhere, it may have been titled "studio" or something? 

I didn't have it long as I swapped it for a Kramer ali neck thing. 

[Misdee]

Ibanez were making some lovely stuff back in the day. Some of the signature model guitars were exquisite, like the Joni Mitchell and George Benson semi acoustic models, also the Bob Wier  and I remember a Paul Stanley model that a local music shop had on display in the window sometime around 1980. 

 

My MC924 was my first high-end bass, having previously owned a JV Squire that I part-exchanged on the Ibanez. Nowadays I'd probably be able to sell the JV Squire for more than the Ibanez if I still had them both.

 

 

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[MuseMatt]

Had this old Roadstar II and it was a great sounding P-bass; didn't really appreciate the P-sound when I had it so I sold it

 

Messy pic but it's all I have at the moment.