Ibanez Axstar

I am not sure what this bass is made of but it has two humbucking Gotoh pickups in passive state. The neck contains 24 frets, the layout of knobs is volume,tone and blend.

this bass' sound is alot better than my Fender Squire Musicmaster and has a lot more features to change the sound. I really like how you can position your thumb on the neck, first pickup and second pickup to change that sound dramstically when combined with the pickup controls.

I could not find any flaws on this bass.

This bass is great for live shows not only beacuse it looks increadible but it is light wieght and durable. I can always count on this bass.

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This is a great bass. I also own a Fender Squire musicmaster and this Ibanez kicks its ass. I love how there are many feature like the many thumb rests and the odd headless style. I would definitly buy this bass again if it was stolen but they seem to be very rare.
This bass is great.

I have this baby for a year or so. It's a Steinberger look like type (i.e. headless). It was made in 1986 and I've got it defreted (originaly it had a 24 frets).It has 5 string (High C)two active PU, 3 controls: Volume, Bland and Tone. there's an active EQ (I have no idea who installed it). Mine came with the original hardshell case.

I was not setisfied with the posibilities of the EQ so I have replaced it with an EMG 2 band EQ kit. Now it has much more options. Since I play mostly Jazz, I don't fool around to much with the EQ. As it is now, with Labella Flatwound strings I can produce from a worm and deep sound to a crispy sound at will. I have tried once to rplace the high C with a Low B but it sounded dead (no sustain). But I'm realy happy with the High C configuration.

If it survived for so many years, my compliments to Ibanez. It looks great with only very small scraches. It's hi glose finish (off white)is in a very good condition and so are the tuners bridge etc.

As I've said before after so many years... no cons

I've tried to get some info from Ibanez but got no responce from them. Some people provided me with additional info over the net.

It's small in size and still a 34" scale. It's comfortble and easy to play. I wish Ibanez would still make them.

The Axstar (new technology by Ibanez) is an odd looking instrument. Built between '80 and '82, it featured a headless neck (in that time!)and a extremely streamlined body. The whole bass (except for the neck-front) is laquered with a durable finish. It has two humbucking Gotoh pickups in passive state. The neck contains 24 frets, the layout of knobs is volume,tone and blend. The neck is bolted on with 4 large screws and it has 3 posibilities for strap attachment.

Though this instrument is small,very small, it has very specific things about it. First of all, I must admit I installed a active preamp onboard, and this boosts the sound a lot. The bass is very light and has not much mass for the strings to swing on. Boosting the bass a little leaves you with a very good tone, resembling somewhere between a fretless and an active. It sings, actually. The good thing about the headless is, that the strings go about 3 cm further from the nut to the actual attachment, leaving space to bend the string inbetween, hence featuring the same as a normal headstock would do. The stringchanging is a matter of 3 minutes, no fumbling needed.

The action is very low, a bit of buzzing around the 7th on the Gstring, but not irritating. Below the 24th fret a complete cavity has been cut to facilitate your hand to do the slap-trick. The rear pickup is very near to the Steinberger-like bridge, gaining a very clear sound. The bridge is totally resettable and can be tightened from the side. The wing where the stringballs have to be inserted is made of a big piece of metal, enhancing sustain. Very easy in use.

I use it next to my Jaydee Supernatural Mark King and both are backups of eatchother. Though the Jaydee is very versatile in funk and slapping, the Axstar (which is about half as small) makes beautiful singing lines and offers the 24 frets. It's very useful for fast leaps and tapping: slapping tends to become a cacaphony because of a lot of overtones , probably becuase of the totally laqcuered body.

I don't think Ibanez remembers ever making these basses... I don't know about support, never needed it.

It looks very "cyber", is extremely light though has a great tone. This is a bass that should have lived a longer life and could even use a Kahler trem because of its guitar-like sound. Although already 20 years old, I wouldn't trade it for a "better" bass ever