Roadster

Picked it up today. It's a dream.







It has the most monstrous sounding P pickup I've ever heard. It came strung up with flats and I think I might keep it that way.

WOOO man, amazing bass you've got there! I wonder how it sounds.

Are these DiMarzios cream colored pickups?

Thanks, man! I really love it. And I got a killer deal on it.

The pickups are the stock Ibanez pickups, no doubt designed after DiMarzio P/Js. They are called "Super P4/J4" pickups. That mini toggle switch is an active/passive switch, but the preamp is kaput. So now, it's a kill switch. I don't know how much I'd use the active setting. I've never heard a functioning Ibanez preamp from this era, but I've heard they sounded cool. But I could care less. P/J, master volume, master tone, 3 way toggle--that's good enough for me. The pickups are loud and have a very full timbre. They're very responsive, too, just like DiMarzios.

The neck feels like a Telecaster neck. It's round with a capital R, but the fingerboard is really flat. It plays like nothing else I've ever played. The previous owner sanded the finish down on the neck. It was formerly a high gloss finish, but now it's very thin and satiny. He did a great job, but I like very glossy finishes. I would like to refinish it (at least the back--I would prefer to keep the logo on the headstock intact), but I am uncertain as to how good a refinish would look/feel due to a couple of dings in the back of the neck. I have no experience with finishes. I would like to consult someone who is more knowledgeable than me on how to get the best results with refinishing it to help preserve the (very stable and very solid) neck on this instrument.

The body is huge. That's one of the reasons why I got it. And it's heavy. It's kinda hard to keep on your leg due to the short lower horn.

The neck is still settling in. It went from summer in Virginia to fall in Washington state...big difference. So right now, the action is pretty high, making it hard for me to tell if it's the different strings or the new bass that's throwing me for a trip.

What I love most is how great it sounds. Since it's strung with flats, I figured I'd jam to some Thin Lizzy, Robin Trower, maybe even a little Maiden. Two hours later, I found that it sounded just as right playing along with Running Wild, Marduk, and Akercocke.

Nice one!

any sound clips? as if I should even ask ....

amimbari wrote:

any sound clips? as if I should even ask ....

Not yet.

Lovely score there, Martin!

Thank you! The neck's settling in still and it plays and sounds better and better. It really roars.

CLIPS NOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!

When I have time to do it properly. I could just use my laptop mic and make some crappy recordings, or I could wait until I have a couple hours to figuring out what I want to do and give you guys some clips that actually sound like something.

I've been enjoying the sound of this bass through my Tube Works amp, going into the 18" speaker on one of my Peavey cabs. I tell you, the 10" speakers really suck, but the 18s sound sweet. I think it's worth the weight (no pun intended ).

Do you have any way of recording line in?

Uuh no? Dude there is nothing in my house that has to do with recording. hahaha

Except for that Windows program that records a 30 second clip or something.

^ Thats why I'm asking if you can do line in. All you need is a headphone amp (or something like a multieffects pedal with one), an audio cable, a computer with an audio in jack, and a program to record with.

Oh right. I don't know what I thought you were referring to.

Yeah I have an SM58 and an XLR-1/4" mono and a 1/4"-1/8" adapter. I can mic up the 18" and maybe isolate myself in the hallway to eliminate the clack.

that would work too

oh Martin, I'll give you a copy of my Sony SoundForge recording program...it does everything you ever wanted to do to manipulate/edit a .wav file, and you can record till you run out of harddrive space...

that goes for everyone else also if you want it. I'll upload it to yousendit.com, and give you all the link to download it

Cool bass. I love the headstock with ash veneer?

I use Apple's Garage band for recording.

I think he likes that thing for the "I love you" factor.

those cute heart shaped tuners are kinda cool

Hmm good eyes, BD. You might be right. The neck construction on the Roadstar/Roadster basses looks similar to that of Spector necks.

You know me, amimbari. It takes a real "sweetheart" to win me over. I would really appreciate SoundForge, man. Thanks!

here you go, the serial number generator and program are NOT viruses, I have been using this program on many computers for 3 years


the only restriction is if you load in a mp3 file, or convert a wav to mp3, you only get 20 uses then it asks you for money. EVERY other function works forever for free....

so bacically I just record with it, and save it as a wav, and use my other mp3 converter if I REALLY must have it as an mp3.

yousendit.com only saves the file for 7 days, so get it before it expires

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/747400587/6ee5507e4cfa12072d5a02ee3353ec18

Done! Thanks, man!

i know, i know ... i've gone sourfaced about ibanez here before. remember, its not about the basses ... its about getting parts.

now, what kinda date are we looking at with a bass like this??? 80's? early 90's?

this model has defiantly been discontiuned for a while. not being able to get ibanez parts for this is understandable.

this ibanez setup is fairly standard tho ... being able to find aftermarket or other brand parts shuddent be tuff if you needed them. those pickups are cool.

this bass is sweet. i dont know why ibanez dicontinued them. i had a roadstar II 6 string guitar and i loved it. i've always wanted a roadstar bass.

nice find!

I know...my friend has an '07 Xyphos 6 string--rad guitar. But he lost one of the blocks that clamps the string down on the tremolo and it's been nearly impossible to find a replacement. It's a little easier with guitars as opposed to basses, but not much.

This model was first seen in '78, I believe. This one was made in 1979. They stopped producing them before '82.

Yeah--they don't make them like this (heavy and big) any more! Now it's sleek and fast. It's a totally different bird.

Isn't this the exact same model that Steve Harris of Iron Maiden uses in the Run To The Hills video?

Mhmm! It's the same series. Steve used the passive version, I've got the deluxe active/passive version. I wish it were the all passive bass, but I kinda like the simplified controls. The pickups are monstrous.

It's heavy as hell. I'd like to weigh it. I never thought I'd say it, but my shoulder actually gets tired playing this instrument.

I found the video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqIFxArPdFY

Man....Steve Harris is so friggin' awesome!

After I sent the payment for that bass I sat and watched that video over and over.

It's perfect--it came strung up with flats. All I had to do was plug it in and flip the selector to the P pickup and I was set for a good two hours of jammin'.

All of those guys in Maiden are so incredible....even the songs everyone takes for granted (The Trooper, Number Of the Beast, etc), they're all so deep...you can listen to just one of the guitars or just the drums over and over and then go back to soaking it all in and it never gets old. That's pretty damn special.

join a tribute band and play in it for 5 years...even Maiden tunes DO GET OLD....

Yeah I'll bet.

That sounds like fun. I could do that.

Been there, done that.