Black43
Hated Ibanezes once
Woah, long time no post! I haven't been here since the update, it's all weird and new here to me. Oh well.
I've sort of found myself moving away from seven strings altogether as a matter of fact - I now play bass in an alt/prog rock band and have been slowly clearing my ERG collection away (not giving up on it permanently or anything, just cutting back a bit). I ended up getting this offered as a swap for my Agile Interceptor Pro, and long story short I took it.
It's a 1983 Ibanez Roadstar II RB820. I've always had a soft spot for the Roadstars, they're fantastic basses as a whole and I don't think Ibanez'(s?) current crop compares to the beasts of old. Made in Japan at the Terada factory, it's definitely very sturdy. Frets feel great. It still has the original hardware (the very rare and sought-after Velvetune Bii machine heads and Accucast Bii bridge), which I'm not sure if I'm going to keep or not. I haven't had much time to test it yet, literally only picked it up last night and I've spent the day setting it up and cleaning it, but I can tell you that it sounds absolutely phenomenal. The J6 humbucker is really quite rich on its own, but it absolutely sings when paired with a bit of distortion. It also has this cool little coil split/series wiring switch that really opens up the tonal options. Long story short, it sounds fantastic.
The body is fairly beat up. The previous owner gigged it a lot, and the finish is not without its bumps and cracks. However, they're not structural (there's a crack in the neck pocket which worried me at first, but on closer inspection turned out to be a paint crack only) and it doesn't really affect me whatsoever. I plan to gig it, and really I'd rather something that's been loved and worn in than a case queen that would fill me with anxiety whenever it left the house.
If you'd made it to the end of this essay, thank you. Just thought I'd post a little "where is he now" thing
but anyway, onwards, onto the pics! (Please note these pictures were taken "pre-clean".)
Obligatory sexy artsy shot:
Thanks guys!
I've sort of found myself moving away from seven strings altogether as a matter of fact - I now play bass in an alt/prog rock band and have been slowly clearing my ERG collection away (not giving up on it permanently or anything, just cutting back a bit). I ended up getting this offered as a swap for my Agile Interceptor Pro, and long story short I took it.
It's a 1983 Ibanez Roadstar II RB820. I've always had a soft spot for the Roadstars, they're fantastic basses as a whole and I don't think Ibanez'(s?) current crop compares to the beasts of old. Made in Japan at the Terada factory, it's definitely very sturdy. Frets feel great. It still has the original hardware (the very rare and sought-after Velvetune Bii machine heads and Accucast Bii bridge), which I'm not sure if I'm going to keep or not. I haven't had much time to test it yet, literally only picked it up last night and I've spent the day setting it up and cleaning it, but I can tell you that it sounds absolutely phenomenal. The J6 humbucker is really quite rich on its own, but it absolutely sings when paired with a bit of distortion. It also has this cool little coil split/series wiring switch that really opens up the tonal options. Long story short, it sounds fantastic.
The body is fairly beat up. The previous owner gigged it a lot, and the finish is not without its bumps and cracks. However, they're not structural (there's a crack in the neck pocket which worried me at first, but on closer inspection turned out to be a paint crack only) and it doesn't really affect me whatsoever. I plan to gig it, and really I'd rather something that's been loved and worn in than a case queen that would fill me with anxiety whenever it left the house.
If you'd made it to the end of this essay, thank you. Just thought I'd post a little "where is he now" thing
but anyway, onwards, onto the pics! (Please note these pictures were taken "pre-clean".)
Obligatory sexy artsy shot:
Thanks guys!
HNBD!
