Ibanez 2369B-WH P/J Bass

1976 (the year before the Fender/Ibanez Lawsuit)
Made in Japan in the Hoshino factory.
Fretted, 4 string P-bass shaped with some contouring to the body, maple neck, large vintage fender style headstock, flamed maple fretboard, mahogany (or nonunion equivalent) body. Passive P and J pickups, bridge standard fender style, nonstrung through.
Finish a beautifully mellowed vanilla white gloss, very hard and tactile- delicious! Hardly any dings after 30yrs so Id say thats a spanking good finish. Black pickguard, aluminium knurled knobs from which the silver is flaking.
Neck is quite c-shaped though not excessively so; I am a girl with large hands and find it easy enough to get around. Bone nut, cool black block inlays.
3 way selector switch, volume/tone.
Came with shaped ply case which seems as old as the bass, if not original. Big-Bird yellow funfur interior 8-)
A beautiful, beautiful beast- silky, weighty, creamy!
All elements seem original.

Sound- Warm, PHAT, dense and loud on the P setting, and to my ear it pips the modern Ps at the post for fatness- maybe its the age/quality of the wood. If a big glass of Irish stout had a sound, it would sound like this.
The setup was awful when we bought it so we had chrome flatwounds put on and a proper intonation done.
The J setting is lively, bright and twangy, though this might be somewhat accentuated by the newness of the strings. I prefer the P setting, however a *choice* of P or J sounds, and P+J sounds, with that elusive vintage vibe that new basses never seem to have is surely the holy grail of bassy goodness and cannot be sneezed at. I cant say enough about the gutsyness of this bass's sound- it will shock you! Dont just take my word for it; the luthier was drooling from both corners of his mouth and was loath to see it depart! He raved, and hell, he's seen and handled it all!
The combination setting is very useful.
It was noisy at first but I soldered the frayed tone pot wire and now its fine, even in a little room full of electronics.
Its begging to be gigged. Quite apart from it being sonically well up to any live situation, its just so incredibly gorgeous that youd pretty much just have to stand there and you would be rocking the party. I really should get round to scraping that band together :-)
Mojo rating- A+++

No comment on factory setup as this had passed through many hands.
Under the pickguard the routing was extremely tidy and precise, SUCH a contrast to the incredibly hamfisted carcrashes you see under a lot of modern pickguards.
The wiring is robust and uncomplicated, the soldering excellent, and you can pretty much judge the quality of the components from the fact that theyre all original and still going strong.
The knobs are flaking their silvery coating but hey theyre still solid, turning smoothly and are crackle-free.
The frets had never been attended to but a light dress has brought them back to rattle-free perfection.
The nut appears to be bone and is still fine.
Schaller style chunky tuners with some speckled corrosion but gearing is still tight and precise.
The only thing I would question is the cheaparse bridge, but this issue lies at the feet of the Fender originals; why make a bass specifically for phatness and then whack a piece of shitty pressed crap on it? A peculiar choice but again, Fender's spec. Mind you, Im almost afraid to put something like a Badass bridge replacement on it for fear of altering the fabric of space and time with the result!
The paintjob deserves special mention. Flawless, even, polished- the word Im looking for is sumptuous. The colour of a Renaissance virgin's bosom in springtime. Or something similar.

30 something years of impeccable gorgeousness despite obvious neglect- how many modern units will be able to claim this, even after just a decade?
Everything is still straight and true; the body is a 2 piece sandwhich construction, the two large single slabs expertly united lengthways and we suspect this is where it gets is superior tone and sustain.
The luthier had to drill out the pickup screws because they were, erm, at one with the wood, and he replaced it with mahogany plugs to match the grain. I kind of question this sort of slightly anal finnicketyness but his reverential insistance persuaded me to fork out the $.
I would gig in a second with it, but of course never without backups. Im 33, not 17
:-)

No idea.

Ive been playing for about 2 years, guitar and bass. I am not a virtuoso but I have a good ear and know what sucks and what does not. I am not interested in macho instrument snobbery. I will give anything a fair go, no matter what the price or reputation.
I own a mixture of vintage and modern units including Ekos, Schecters, Fenders and Squiers.

From a female perspective Im lucky to be physically able to handle a full scale Pbass type thing but I would urge smaller girls (and boys) to look to shortscale instruments to gain confidence and fingerspeed etc before moving onto the larger beasts. Or not- shortscale is a legitimate artform in itself. Adapting to the larger format is not difficult once you know your way around a bass. Trying to learn on something this large and heavy could be a bit soul destroying so if youre little, this one probably isnt for you.
I own a Fender Urge 1 shortscale bass which I will never give up, ever! She is a lovely little chrome red darling and the polar opposite of this grunty unit.

I am not a fan of many modern Ibanez instruments, because of their all-round mediocrity, being neither horrible nor brilliant (I exclude some 'Art' series semihollows from this generalization.) Do not let this commonly held opinion deterr you from acquiring this bass if you have the chance. They are rare, and they are, quite simply, the bomb, the pre-lawsuit units being a completely different prospect to the later models. Quality oozes from every little woody pore.

At NZ$700 Im assured by all consulted authorities that I got a stone cold bargain. They apparently go for a lot more internationally and are going up all the time, with ample justification.
So many things just come togther perfectly in this bass; looks, build quality, fittings, sound, versatility... With unlimited funds, I still could not think of anything I would rather have. I knew nothing about it when I saw it for sale and a quick bit of research gave me the confidence to buy. Im thrilled I did!