Cheap Ibanez bass...what am I missing?

jfrog

jfrog

uber-nerd
Like other guitar players before me, I am looking for an inexpensive, but decent-sounding bass to record with. I was playing an Ibanez gsr200 at my local music store, and it sounded pretty decent. 2 pickups, active electronics.

List $299, they'd sell it to me for $250, I later found out the musician's friend price is $209.

At that price, what am I overlooking? Does anybody out there have any experience with these? Love 'em? Hate 'em?

Purchasing a bass, is this the best use of $300?
 
I used to have one of these. They really do play pretty nicely. If you're looking for the catch, here it is as best as I can figure: the neck is a pretty cheap one piece, and they bow out of control faster than you would want it to. Any Ibanez whore (I'm definitely one of these--I love their guitars more than any other brand) will tell you that the feel of their skinny necks makes them play like butter. Durability is the downside though. All in all, I'd say go for it, but plan on taking it in for routine maintenance. I tried screwing with the truss rod myself and turned the neck into something resembling a water wave. That bass now belongs to a buddy of mine as a "nice punk rock Christmas present."
 
I have one, & I like it.

Call me an Ibanez whore, if you like, & it's probably true.

I have nothing bad to say about the GSR-200, and I paid $199, a few years back. ;) I'd buy another one in a different color, if I had the spare cash lying around. :eek:
 
lbanks said:
ChecK http://www.rondomusic.bigstep.com/category.html?UCIDs=940496
The Brices and SX's have a good rep.
Click to expand...

first of all i play lefty so my selection is very limited (i do everything else right handed). anyway, their store is about 30 minutes from my house. every guitar or bass i played with at the store needed some kind of an adjustment. they all had fret buzz.

i'm an ibanez whore. i have a left handed grx20 (i paid 230 for it) that i pimped out with an aluminum diamond plate pickguard and backplate from www.sharp-concepts.com . i also put zakk wylde strings on it. i put an emg 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck. i got straplocks and i also had the tremolo blocked. the guitar owns me.

i also have a gsr100 bass and i replaced the pickups with an emg active p.
 
Okay, I'll fully expose myself, as an Ibanez whore!

I started with:
'82 Ibanez Blazer (guitar),...

& followed with:
'83 Ibanez Roadstar II, (brown sunburst, Strat-style),
'85 Ibanez Roadstar II RS-440, (fancy glossy 2-tone paint & active-S-S-H-pickups-"Super-strat" style),
'85 Ibanez Roadstar II RSB-880 BASS, (hi-gloss red, & 2-active humbuckers!),

& further on down the road,...
Y2K Ibanez Acoustic/Electric BASS, (what a damned FINE instrument that is!),
2001 Ibanez GSR-200 BASS, (subject bass in topic,... gem dark blue),...
2002 Ibanez GAX-70, (guitar, in trans-red),...

& my most recent score,...
2003 Ibanez GAX-B150 BASS, (shortscale bass, in trans red, that matches EXACTLY to my GAX-70 guitar!).

I think THAT PROVES I'm one of the biggest Ibanez whores on this board!!...

& THAT doesn't even scratch the surface of the MANY DANELECTRO guitars I've gotten, or 3rd-party name brand guitars,... (not Ibanez or Danelectro).

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I recently bought a GRS200 and I really, realy like it. I have heard that the neck can bow - but I'll deal with that if and when.

Bass is not my main axe and the Ibenez is user friendly - plays like a guitar. I looked at the low cost Yamaha and a few other brands, but the GRS200 just felt right (and it sounds very decent) in particular for an under $200 axe!

I've had a mexi Fender jazz bass for a few years - but it was too big and clumsy to play. The Ibenez is a joy to play.

If I was a gigging bass player, I'm sure I would want a better axe with active electronics - but for laying a track here & there the Ibenez serves me very well indeed!
 
I don't remember the model but I bought the cheapest I've-been-had bass about a year ago. It was $123. I like it for what it is. Something for me to record when my bass player is busy.
 
I have the GSR200

Swapped out for EMG's and now this is one great sounding bass. IMO, you will need to change the pickups. Other than that it is a great 1st bass...
 
tombola said:
One thing to bear in mind is how you're going to record your bass.

I was in the same position as you - a guitarist who wants to record some bass. I use a PodXT to record guitar, which is fine for my very amateur purposes.
Click to expand...

The plan was/is to record direct - to use my guitar fx processer (an ART SGX 2000) to basically buffer the signal from the bass, and to maybe add some EQ. Basically to perform the same function as a Sansamp.
 
I run my Ibenez thru a Johnson J-Station (it has a couple bass amp emulations) and I get decent tone. I've never tried the Art SGX 2000, but I would think you could ge a very functional sound.
 
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