Ibanez GSR100

Just a tech tip for GSR 100 owners:

These basses, like most cheap offshore models, completely lack shielding; therefore, they hum like crazy. The wire under the bridge (mentioned below) is the only effort at grounding, and it is inadequate. Go to the Stewart-MacDonald website and order up some copper grounding tape. Stick it inside the control cavity & solder a black wire from one of the pots to the tape. This trick works on almost any electric instrument.

Better than most cheapies.

bought bass in 1997. 4 string, 22 frets. One volume knob, one tone.

I've played this bass for Worship music, Christian Rock, metal, and jazz. This bass will work for any style of music if YOU can play in that style. I use it with my Peavey Microbass, and it sounds just fine for practicing, or as a monitor, or whatever. I also use it with my SWR 750 watt head with Aguilar GS410 cabinet. With that amp, this bass sounds great. I can get just the tone I want, but that is mostly the amp doing the work. I also plug straight into P.A.'s and it sounds fine there as well. This bass is very well suited for drop D tuning. It doesn't go out of tune, and is still intonated well when changing tunings. The volume controll works very well. You can make it as quiet or loud as you want with it. Whenever I sit down and then stand back up, the strap falls off, but I'm used to it, so it doesn't bother me. Harmonics and arficicial harmonics speak nicely. Good for slapping. Best beginner quality bass I've ever played, but I've only been playing for about 7 years. For the money, I could not recommend a better bass, so I'll give it a 10. Keep in mind that it is a 150 dollar 10. Unfortunately, the new bottom end Ibanez's I've played don't sound nearly as good as mine.

Bass was very well intonated when I recieved it. The action was a bit high, with no fret buzz. Pickups were not lopsided as I have seen on many other cheap basses.

I have played this bass exclusively for 7 years, and it is just now starting to deteriorate. It's been dropped many times, been played in many shows, been left in freezing cold and burning hot cars for days, and until recently has been perfectly fine. It has been a very dependable bass, and even now, I would use it at a show without a backup. There are two reasons why I say it is deteriorating. The frets have worn down a little bit, but only about 3 notes on the low E string are out of tune because of this. Also, the strings have worn the nut slot on my high G lower than the first fret, so the open G buzzes badly. After the first fret everything is fine again. Once again, for 150 dollars, you won't find a bass with more reliability/durability than this one.

I've never had to call Ibanez, or get it fixed. I'll be going to replace the nut soon though, and I might do an update.

If they still made this basses like they used to, I would recommend this highly above all the other bottom end basses. However, I have been dissapointed with how sloppy Ibanez has gotten since I bought my bass. If you are looking for a really nice bass, go pay hundreds of dollars for one, but if you want a nice $150 bass, this ones good. 10, for the goodness/$ ratio.

Bought my bass four years ago and I have no complaints. It was my first axe and it has been reliable to the 9's. Would like a bit more high end tone out of it, since it is a typical Ibanez with lots of low end punch. Passive, w/22 frets and long scale strings. I play with soft, long scale D'addario strings and love the sound. Would like to slap and pop a bit more, and that is hard to accomplish on this bass. Still, for a first guitar, i definatly suggest this one. Two knobs, one for volume, and one for tone. Easy to use and addjust. I play through a 50 watt Yorkville amp. They sound great together.

Sound really isnt too bad. Punchy and but not too aggressive. I will be looking for something with more high end tone though, and want something I can experiment with (slapping and popping). Tone knob is good, volume is excellent.

I had no complains about the action. I adjusted the pickups down a bit. Found i was getting a bit of feed back and when i started playing a bit faster i was hitting the pick-ups. The bass is flawless. Its a pristine bass for beginner.

I have done tones of playing on this baby for 4 years and it hasnt let me down yet. The only things ive replaced were the strings and one tunning peg, but that was my fault. To be honest, i dropped it pretty hard and only one peg broke, which impressed me a lot. The finish has lasted and i replaced my strap buttons with strap locks, just dont trust nuts that much. I would depend on this bass with my life.....ok, maybe not my life....but I would depend on it. I would use it w/o back up, definatly.

Havnt had to contact the company. There was a warrenty on the tuning pegs but i dont remember how much. Have had no problems so there was no need for customer support.

Great value for this guitar. I am playing it in its first show in a month so we shall see how it sands up on stage, but I predict nothing but good things. I am very impressed with the craftsmanship of this bass and will definatly look ab buying more when i go to upgrade. I will definatly keep this one though.

- 22 frets, 4 strings, 34" scale (Long scale by D'Addario standards)
- It has 1 set of passive, P-style, single coil pickups
- decent. They make pretty much the same tone through a variety
of amps or right into a board through a Direct Box.
- I use a BOSS TU-2 tuner - CEB-3 Chorus - ODB-3
Overdrive. No problems using the Tuner at all.
- Picks up alot of string noise, especially with new strings.
Tone adjustment mostly fixes this.
- One volume knob, one tone knob
- Volume control is great. If I am not in an amp, or I am 20'
from the amp (a regular occurance at gigs or sessions) I have
alot of control over my volume. Many other basses I have used
are either all or nothing.
- Tone control changes tone from bright to dark, but still
retains an "aliveness" and warmth to the tone.
- Solid basswood body
- Maple neck with rosewood fretboard
- Black satin finish
- P-bass style bridge
- 16:1 Tuners that don't go out of tune, unlike other brands low-
end basses.
- Strap buttons suck. I am planning on adding in Strap Locks

Other than that, it's a prety much "no-frills" bass.

Depending on who is in the band, I play contemporary christian worship, punk, rock, and some blues. This bass works for all of them.

I play through a Crate BX115, or right into a Mackie board.

I use Chorus 100% of the time to add some vibrato and depth, but by itself, it still has a pretty good sound.

Right now I am using Ernie Ball regular Slinky strings. I get alot of fret noise, especially on slides. The pickups are incredibly sensetive.

The bass is great for live sound, atleast from what I have seen. The previous owner has recorded (not professionally.. his band had a 4 track digital recorder) and they sounded pretty good.

The pickups like to hum, which I am not sure if this is due to age, or the nature of the pickups. EQ (either an inline effect pedal, or on an amp or mixing board) fixes this pretty quickly.

I don't know how the factory set-up was. I have made no adjustments to the bridge, pickup or anything else, at this point. Ask me in a couple of months

like I said... The strap buttons suck. both screws are more or less stripped. I used an epoxy putty to set one.. the other is fine. I plan on replacing them with strap locks soon.

I have never needed to adjust the truss rod.

The finish had some chips in it, but no new chips since I have owned it. I am in the process of filling and painting the chips.

I've never had a problem with any of the hardware. The tuning machines stay in tune well. The bridge has never failed me. I don't think I'd need a back-up, but then again,you never can tell.

Never talked to Ibanez.. their website sucks, tho... no real information, other than the barest of bare...

Overall, it's a solid bass. If you are either looking at a first axe, or are just low on cash, this is a real winner.

hey there,

i have owned my GSR100 for about a year now i have no complaints with it. i bought it for a resionable price at $175 definitly a good bass for the beginner and if you wanna upgrade go with the GSR200 you definatly can't go wrong with it.

sound is pretty good nice clean sound, but not the best for slap though don't have that punch like a jackson.

good comfy feel and nice and light for the price. and the pickup well i just have to say they are no humbucers.

the strap buttons are not the greatest one of the screws got striped. it plays well though with the playing it live.

so far haven't needed to get it repaired just only the replacement of strings but that's normal for any bass use.

diffinately buy if the first time bassist great product!!!

2001 Model (made in Indonesia as all GSR basses are). 22-Fret (Large), 4-String, Solid Top, Volume/Tone, One Mid Split coil pickup, they are Ibanez Powersound series. Passive Electronics. Maple\Rosewood neck, agthis body. Saddle brdge (fully adjustable height and action). I think gotoh or shaller tuners. Thin neck with big frets.

I play in a ska band, it works god for that, its warm and has a unique sound. Not as bright as a Fender but this is more to my preferance. Im using an Ampeg BA115 and sometimes a Washburn BD30B, i also use a Boss chorus pedal sometimes. You get what you pay for so the lows arent perfect, but they are decent, it has a very warm sound and then tone knob makes a huge differance (the sound can be dull and flat or bright but still warm.) The variety is good, ive played punk, ska, alternative, metal, blues, and even some funk on this bass and they all sound good to me. Ive played it live and in the studio, its good in both situations.

Teh factory setup was great, i had to adjust the action on the G and i raised the E (but thats a personal preferance, it was level with the rest when i got it.) The pickups were at a good height, i havent had to adjust them yet. everything on it was good, i had to replace the volume knob but that was my fault. The only draw back is its not comforatble in the middle of my body, i either have to play it low or high which means i have to adjust it in between songs.

The bass is good for live playing, the hardware is good (so long as your volume knob doesnt get kicked accidently....) The finish on mine is perfect and i dont even own a gig bag...i just carry it. The strap buttons are better for practice or studio use than anything else, i would suggest straplocks though. Ive had it for a year and even though i sometimes rest my thumb on E i havent needed to adjust the neck rod. I never bring a backup though, its dependable.

I work on it myself so i dont really need support so i wouldnt know.

Ive been playing bass for about 6 years and im impressed by this bass, it doesnt have the unnecesarry features of the GSR200. If it were lost or stolen it would depend on my money situation, ive been looking at a warwick and an ernie ball so if i could afford one of those i would get one, otherwise id get another one of these. I love almost everything about it, there really is nothing i hate except i cant keep it clean...it gets finger prints and dust all over it. I played it and similar priced basses (up to $250) and i liked this best because of its overall sound quality and great looks.

4 string, split p pickup passive, maple and alder
picked it up in March 2000

It sounded dead until i put in the 9V EMG actives. even then, i cant get the tone out of it. i recorded with it and you cant even hear the bass its so dead. sucks.

loose frets, loose neck screws, headstock was chipped at the factory, ive had 3 or more straplock screws strip out already, and the bridge breaks strings wayyy to easily.

this bass couldnt withstand a butterfly.
it scratches and dents WAY too easily. ive had to adjust the trussrod about once every month to keep from sucko action.
if i had a good enough bass to have this one as a backup, i'd pawn this one.

none whatsoever

it might be good for a beginner who wants to sink all their money into it modifying it.

this is just a basic bass
(my first). the pickups were pretty bad so i changed them and the bridge absolutley sux it keeps breaking my strings and the knobs dont fit on the knob things..22frets, black, split "p"pickups

well.like i said the pickups suck, but werent that bad, it was playable. not to great for slapping it doenst handle tuning down to bad

umm, the neck is alright but its not that good, the bridge sucked it cost me so much money to get new strings and everything needed some adjusment to fit my needs, but not bad for a beginner, one time my controls were screwed up and that sucked

well, i played live with this, but i had to use a guitar string for the G string becuase it had broke and i dont feel like wasting money, but it came through,it wasnt bad for the price and as a first bass but i have totally outgrown it

i should have contacted them but i diddnt feel like wasting my ttime, but if you goto samash in king of prussia PA, dont go there to buy stuff, its a great place to fool around and play on stuff you can never afford but the customer assisstance sux

ive been playing for almost 2 years and this thing is wasting my money (especially on strings) im gonna get this awesome squire 5 string now. it is much better than this piece of crap, but if you are a beginner its up to you you might not want to buy this if you cant buy another bass in like 3 months after you start playing..a good "transitional" bass..wait i jsut made that up,its not good at all..what a hunk of junk! but if you are poor than get it

This was my first bass. I bought it in lefty, because it's the only lefty bass i could afford at the time. It has the most minimum of features, but you must remember what a low priced bass this is.

I used to use it with my Trace-Elliot Boxer 65 amp, and it sounded fine. It's like that amp was made for passive basses. The sound is good, but i always found throwing an eq pedal on it didn't hurt either.

Very good action, perfect for the beginning player. It was well made, and the finish has held up fine for over 2 years now. The pickups were later adjusted by me, but they were fine how they were.

Very good quality for the price. It's held up now for over 2 years, and i've never had to do much than change the strings. The one knob nut broke, but that was a 25 cent repair. That was only caused by me dropping it.

Never had to deal with them. The website is a pain in the ass though, because it's nothing but animated flash files, and my computer can't handle that. It takes my computer 10 minutes to load each page on the site.

very good bass for the beginner.

This was a no frills lay out for a guitar. One each volume and tone knobs, but these knobs are good and tough and can take a beating. I love the finish and stylish look but bought this second hand so these wern't highly rated qualities at the time. This instrument is 10 years old and the finish is holding up well. The wear on neck is the only thing that gives away any of this instruments age.
No accesories. I bought a gig bag and the instrument came with strap locks. If you are looking to buy one of these get the locks. The strap attachments are comfortable thanks to the guitars graceful shape, but allow for easy unhooking if you sit or crouch down.

The bare bones price and configuration of the GSR 100 allow for 2 pickups offset in a single pick up configuration. But I chose this bass over a Yamaha copy of the Fender Jazzman as it had a better tone than the 2 pick-up Yammie. Some low end is sacrificed because of this single pick up, but the previous owner had this thing intonated to the nat and it more than made up for the missing low vibrations.

I play with a band that is always changing, and this bass is flexible enough to do disco back beat, Beatles covers, and raggae all in the same set.

It is also clean enough to plug right into the PA (try to do that with anything else this cheap) or into the bass amp.

I don't know about the factory set since this was a 10 year old bass. It looked like everything was original except the nut may ahave been replaced or upgraded to graphite. The action sold me. The long playable neck makes for good slides, the mondo frets (22) makes me feel like I have some room to play, and the action is tough. It holds its tuning and strikes harmonic notes sweetly.

I can't say about flaws. The few this instrument had seemed to be from usage. This ax was fretted alot in B flat and is impressivly new looking after 10 years. If Ibenaz is still making these this good today this is a big plus.

Well like I said this thing has withstood 10 years of playing and should be a testament to Ibanez workmanship and durability. I actually paid more for this used bass than the new ones, of the exact same model, retail for. But I didn't think of going back to the store to complain because it was such a superior playing and looking ax than the other used basses in its price range.

The hardware has held up with only slight wear. The finger board does give away the basses age, but it still frets fine.

Serial number history information for this instrument was supplied by someone other than Ibanez.

I get customer support from a local luthier.

I'm a blues guitarist that has just picked up the bass. There are plenty of good guitarists to play in our band but bassists are rare. Also, the direction our band has taken is more toward popular stuff and I have had to be in the back seat as a guitarist. This is the 10th guitar I own. It has sold me on Ibanez bass workmanship. If this is the least expensive model they produce, then their upgrades must really be superior instruments. It is light weight, tough, good looking, and play able.

*4 string bass
*22 frets
*solid top
*1 volume and 1 tone control
*1 passive p style (mid)
*passive electronics
*agathis body
*black finish
*maple neck

I play a lot of punk/hardcore and this bass doesn't really fit my music style, it's pretty noisy, it's tone is pretty warm. I would highly recomend this bass for a first bass for its simplified electronics and low cost, you definately get your moneys worth but that doesn't say a whole lot.

I took the bass apart, the screws attaching the neck to the body weren't on strait. When I took the bridge off i noticed there was a wire comming out of the bass (under the bridge) that was hammered flat (don't ask). If you ask me niether of these things really matter

this bass will hold up well...i tend to accidently break things quite often, and it's withstood my abuse so far

nice first bass, I do not recommend it as anything more.

I picked up my Ibanez gsr 100, july 1999. I got the transparent red. it looks pretty bad-ass if i do say so myself. i have had it for about 8 months. ive had to replace the strings once and i am always playing it. it had the regular sr style ibanez body with a single coil pickup. This was my first bass. the neck is made of maple. The fretboard is sonokeilin whatever the hell that is. it looks like a fake wood. the body is made of agtis witch sold me over the squire made of plywood (high quality crap.-right) i got no acceries but i made a deal at the guitar store and got it with a little amp, cord, video and strap and a few piks. i dont use piks. it had 22 frets witch is a pisser.

Well it play heavy rock in a band (go sok-munkeez) and i was pretty good, but when i try to tune down it gives me too much rattle against the fretts so i coulndt get the C# tuning on my 4 string. i used an ibanez little trash amp for a few months , it gave it a nice clean sound but the lows were pathetic. i figured out it was the amp when i switched to fended BXR 200 it got great lows not to bright a nice rock sound, i dont like the highs it sounds to guitarish i dont play guitar. it had a full sound with the fender and the quality was good.

The bass performed great. the one thing that bothered me was the strap would fall off when you stood up with it after sitting, that was crappy but STRAPPLOXX will solve that. i like the color, the wood hasnt dented and i should be arrested for abusing this thing. the pickups were set good, one flaw was the humming i got when not touching the strings. one problem i had to deal with was one of the knobs became loose thats easily solved.

The way i play live a need a bass to perform live i need a bass that can perform as hard as me. the grs 100 seemed to fall and geet back up when i droped it without a scratchthey need to as a soft fuzzy spot for when my plying has get sweaty after a long time on the frame or something. The hard wear would proabably last longer than most humans. i would put it away for 100 years it would be fine if it was ina closet with no termites. i would defonily use it in a gig without a backup. it will be my backup when i get a new BTB. i have not had to adjust the neck too much

ive been playing for about 8 months. its my only bass for now but i am getting a btb when i get the money. i wish i would have got the gsr 205 so i could get the better lows. if it was lost or stolen i would pay a little more and get the gsr 205. i love the look and the douriblity. the sound is suprisingly good for crap pickups. i like my lows. i bought it cause it was dirt cheap