Emperor Guillotine
The Almighty Ruler
In an unexpected turn of events, I purchased yet another Ibanez RB888 back in December 2023; and after I intentionally held off on shipping until the holiday season had ended, the bass finally arrived from Japan last month (January 2024).
This thread is going to be short and sweet with mainly just photos and minimal text. For those who want to read a bit about the history of the Ibanez RB888 (colloquially referred to as the “Bean Bass”) as well as a detailed rundown of the instrument, you can check out my thread on my other RB888 here.
Specs:
• Body wood: alder
• Body finish: gloss
• Color: white
• Scale length: 864mm (34")
• Neck construction: bolt-on (AANJ joint)
• Neck wood: maple (1-piece)
• Neck finish: semi-gloss
• Neck profile: D-shape
• Fretboard wood: rosewood
• Fretboard radius: 240mm (9.5")
• Frets: 21 medium
• Pickup: Ibanez Super J6
• Controls: 3-way Ibanez Tri-Sound mini toggle (series/parallel/split), volume knob, tone knob
• Knobs: Ibanez Sure Grip II
• Bridge: Ibanez Accu-Cast BII
• Tuners: Ibanez Velve-Tune BII
• Strap buttons: Ibanez Dead End
Based on what information that I can gather, this RB888 was professionally refinished at some point.
The refinish job was not explicitly disclosed by the Japanese seller (who I believe was unaware of the instrument's history); but I was able to come to the conclusion based on photos provided by the seller before I even had a chance to properly assess the instrument for myself.
As you can tell, the white finish color is brilliant and bright, which you typically do not see on an instrument that is 40 years old. This all points to a refinish job being done.
The fit, finish, electronics, hardware, frets, etc. all feel phenomenal on this bass, especially considering that the latter aspects are 40 years old now
Same as with my other RB888, this bass too is in exceptionally clean condition for its age and was very, very well taken care of.
The face of the headstock was stripped and left blank with no paint to match the body color. It was just given a clear gloss finish. This also serves as an indicator that the bass was refinished.
No decal was used to replace the original Ibanez Roadstar II logo decal that was removed from the headstock.
I am guessing that whoever did the refinish couldn't source a proper replica of the original decal since the decals used on the headstocks of the RB888 model were a bit different compared to the logo decals used on other Roadstar II series models at the time. (The RB888's headstock decal was just a flat, straight Ibanez logo made with a "sparkly silver" type of material with the words "Roadstar II Series" in a tiny text directly beneath the Ibanez logo.)
Same as with my other RB888, the serial number stamped on the neck heel plate indicates that this bass is dated from 1984.
These vintage "Bean Basses" are such small but mighty tone machines. The design itself is lightweight, compact, and rather minimalist with the simple, passive electronics setup; but overall, the bass does all that you need it to do. And that's all that matters.
I definitely got lucky by having the opportunity to score two of them in such immaculate condition back-to-back for ridiculously cheap prices.
"Cool beans, bro."
This thread is going to be short and sweet with mainly just photos and minimal text. For those who want to read a bit about the history of the Ibanez RB888 (colloquially referred to as the “Bean Bass”) as well as a detailed rundown of the instrument, you can check out my thread on my other RB888 here.
Specs:
• Body wood: alder
• Body finish: gloss
• Color: white
• Scale length: 864mm (34")
• Neck construction: bolt-on (AANJ joint)
• Neck wood: maple (1-piece)
• Neck finish: semi-gloss
• Neck profile: D-shape
• Fretboard wood: rosewood
• Fretboard radius: 240mm (9.5")
• Frets: 21 medium
• Pickup: Ibanez Super J6
• Controls: 3-way Ibanez Tri-Sound mini toggle (series/parallel/split), volume knob, tone knob
• Knobs: Ibanez Sure Grip II
• Bridge: Ibanez Accu-Cast BII
• Tuners: Ibanez Velve-Tune BII
• Strap buttons: Ibanez Dead End
Based on what information that I can gather, this RB888 was professionally refinished at some point.
The refinish job was not explicitly disclosed by the Japanese seller (who I believe was unaware of the instrument's history); but I was able to come to the conclusion based on photos provided by the seller before I even had a chance to properly assess the instrument for myself.
As you can tell, the white finish color is brilliant and bright, which you typically do not see on an instrument that is 40 years old. This all points to a refinish job being done.
The fit, finish, electronics, hardware, frets, etc. all feel phenomenal on this bass, especially considering that the latter aspects are 40 years old now
Same as with my other RB888, this bass too is in exceptionally clean condition for its age and was very, very well taken care of.
The face of the headstock was stripped and left blank with no paint to match the body color. It was just given a clear gloss finish. This also serves as an indicator that the bass was refinished.
No decal was used to replace the original Ibanez Roadstar II logo decal that was removed from the headstock.
I am guessing that whoever did the refinish couldn't source a proper replica of the original decal since the decals used on the headstocks of the RB888 model were a bit different compared to the logo decals used on other Roadstar II series models at the time. (The RB888's headstock decal was just a flat, straight Ibanez logo made with a "sparkly silver" type of material with the words "Roadstar II Series" in a tiny text directly beneath the Ibanez logo.)
Same as with my other RB888, the serial number stamped on the neck heel plate indicates that this bass is dated from 1984.
These vintage "Bean Basses" are such small but mighty tone machines. The design itself is lightweight, compact, and rather minimalist with the simple, passive electronics setup; but overall, the bass does all that you need it to do. And that's all that matters.
I definitely got lucky by having the opportunity to score two of them in such immaculate condition back-to-back for ridiculously cheap prices.
"Cool beans, bro."
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