Ibanez Artist Bass

MIJ 1976, Fretted 4 string-trough, Neck Trough Solidbody, 2 Passive Pickups with large rectangular magnets, 2 Volume, 2 Tone, 1 Pickup Selector Switch. Gibson 3 Point Bridge, Japanese Ash (Sen)Body and Neck with what looks like a Rosewood fingerboard. Abalone dot inlays. Abalone Ibanez logo on Headstock. Original Ibanrz Tuners. Long Scale. Original case.

Good bass for fingerstyle. Deep dark sound by with pickup selector you can achieve a wide range of sounds. Dead quiet electronics and pots. Better for live than recording.

Nice low action. Straight neck.

Built like a tank and will last forever if properly cared for. Does not go out of tune and neck has not moved.

Vintage

Been playing for over 20 years. Own mostly vintage American and Japanese. This one is a keeper.

This is a rare animal. Ibanez only made these in 1978 as a repacement for their discontinued Gibson Bass copies. with which it shares some similarites. It has a very beautiful solid Ash body finished in brown sunburst. It has the same kind of pickups found in Ibanez Musician Basses which are fully sealed mini humbuckers one very close against the neck and the other very close to the bridge, they go through two On/off switches which then go through two volumes and a master tone. It has a body shape similar to a Gibson ripper but with a longer upperbody horn and a slimmer wasteline. It also has the same Bridge as a Gibson Ripper with the option of toploading the strings or stringing them right through the body. It has a really comforatble set in Mahogany neck with an enlarged version of the Artist style headstock and Schaller made tuners (originals, I couldn't find any trace of previously installed tuners)

As I said before this is quite a rare animal. According to several sites this version of the Artist Bass was only made in 1978 and the serial number of my bass dates it December 78 so it might be one of the very last made. Among collectors these basses fetch high prices because they are so rare so I got myself a good investment... Or did I?

The reality is that I got my bass cheap because the last owner had split the headstock and had no idea on how to repair it so he just went to a shop and traded it in for a new bass. Enter me: I was in that shop today and saw the Bass standing for an incredibly low price and I knew that would mean trouble. The split looked like an easy repair and after trying the bass out (it was stringed up) I decided to take the bass home and lovingly restore it.

So how does it sound? First of all this is not a slappers kind of bass, the neck is inserted very deeply in the stunningly beatiful Ash body, and the neck pickups hinders slapping and popping techniques. It does make a perfect reggae bass, with a deep earthy "Bump". I suspect that the last owner probably was a reggae player since it was strung with flatwounds for even more deep dub. But I also discovered that it can do a very funky "School days" when the bridge pickup is solo'ed. All in all a very cool tone.

As I said before I bought this bass with a split headstock so I couldn't speak of a "Picture perfect" set up. Luckily I got that sorted out and it now plays like butter.

I have yet to use this bass live but given the quality of the repair (if you want something done right do it yourself.) I shouldn't have any waorries about it falling to pieces on me when I take it out.

This is a bass from 1978 I really doubt it that Ibanez would provide me any customer support for a bass of that age.

I'll skip this one.