Ibanez roadstar ii - compared to USA p?

[project_c]

Always liked the look of the old Roadstar ii basses, especially the simple precision style ones, but never had a chance to play one. Those of you that know your p-basses - how would it compare to a real USA Precision from the same-ish era (80s I guess)? The price is obviously very different, so what, if anything, is worse? Feel of the neck? Action? Weight? Weak pickups? Hardware? Tempted to pull the trigger on one anyway but would be good to hear some views.

[discreet]

I don't have one, but I've played a couple and they're very good quality, sound great and play very nicely. I'd rate them up there with my 76P, no problem. Dave Swift obviously likes them. I think they're highly underrated and should be got while they're still affordable.

OK, now I've got early-80s Ibanez GAS.

[Truckstop]

Owned three Blazers in my time (basically Ibanez's P range in the early-mid 80's) and they were very well built, great sounding basses.

Solid brass bridges, hot wound pups and alder bodies. What more do you need? 80's Ibanez made their instruments really well; proper truss rods, good quality machine heads and, in my cases, shielded cavities.

Good instruments altogether and tone wise, very similar to the Fenders of the time. Not quite Roadstars, but I'm just trying to give you an indication of the quality level that their instruments were at .

[White Cloud]

The Fenders of the same era are generally not quite as good as the Ibanez Roadstars IMO.

[project_c]

Thanks for the replies, very tempted to go for it. Any idea on current prices on these? How much would be too much?

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1446503460' post='2899943']
The Fenders of the same era are generally not quite as good as the Ibanez Roadstars IMO.
[/quote]

I do have an '83 Fender which is as heavy as a boat anchor, and isn't the easiest bass to play because of the wide neck, but the tone is deeper and punchier than any other bass I've ever owned, it's the one I always end up taking out with me..

[Bassassin]

Ibanez Blazers, Roadsters, Roadstar IIs, Musicians etc were all made in the same factory (Fujigen Gakki), at the same time as JV, SQ, E & A - serial MIJ Fenders & Squiers.

And yes - on the whole they're a bit better than the US Fender output of that era.

Jon.

[dave_bass5]

Fran (Grand wazoo on here) has both a RS 2 and MIA P, might be worth asking him. For what it's worth I've had his Roadstar II PJ for a few weeks and it packs a real punch. A bit more growl than my P bass, and the neck is very, very comfortable. one of the nicest basses I've played in a long time.

EDIT: Sorry, just re read the first post. Fran has a modern MIA, not one from that eara. Still, he knows his stuff so might still be worth getting him on board with this topic.

Edited November 2, 2015 by dave_bass5

[cocco]

I've had a lot of Fender precision's come and go, but I still have my 1980 blazer, its on the never sell list.

[FlatEric]

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1446505915' post='2899975']
Ibanez Blazers, Roadsters, Roadstar IIs, Musicians etc were all made in the same factory (Fujigen Gakki), at the same time as JV, SQ, E & A - serial MIJ Fenders & Squiers.

And yes - on the whole they're a bit better than the US Fender output of that era.

Jon.
[/quote]
[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1446503460' post='2899943']
The Fenders of the same era are generally not quite as good as the Ibanez Roadstars IMO.
[/quote]

Oooo bit controvercial, if you are a lover of all things Fender but count me in as being in the Ibanez camp!

I have several and they rate around the top of the list, for me.

Once you have played one, you'll see what I mean.

Cheers.

[project_c]

Seems like it's nothing but praise for these basses from you all, so I'm sure there must be something great about them. I'm going to take one for a test drive in a few days and I'll report back.

[Marc S]

Years back, a pal of mine had an Ibanez P style fretless (I think that was a Blazer?)
It was a solid, well built guitar, and sounded nice
But I seem to recall the neck was quite similar to my 70's P, in that it was wide and chunky

I had a Roadstar II, which was very nice to play, sounded superb and had a very comfortable neck, and quite lightweight
I only got rid of it cos I had too many basses (as ever!) and my son loved it so much - I gave it to him
Now he has too many, and he assures me he'll never sell the Ibanez

[Grahambythesea]

Owned a single pick up Fretless Roadstar, lined maple neck, played superbly but not a lot of tone variation. I replaced it with a Fender P Fretless which did have a bit more punch. Both were bought second hand, the Ibanez for £99 the Fender for £650. Was the Fender worth the extra, probably not! Don't own either now.

[project_c]

[quote name='Grahambythesea' timestamp='1446544740' post='2900097']
Owned a single pick up Fretless Roadstar, lined maple neck, played superbly but not a lot of tone variation. I replaced it with a Fender P Fretless which did have a bit more punch. Both were bought second hand, the Ibanez for £99 the Fender for £650. Was the Fender worth the extra, probably not! Don't own either now.
[/quote]

Interesting, I'm curious about the fretless, I'l drop you a PM.

[Lo-E]

I've owned a couple and played bunches of these over the years. I haven't played a bad one yet.

[Grand Wazoo]

Yes I have mentioned about my Ibanez Roadster II before, it was a really lucky find on ebay. It's a PJ and has an infectious growl and punch, for what I paid (£190 on ebay) it came to me in a sorry state and I stripped it, polished it, removed layers of gunk and after a day of intensive care it came out like a brand new bass, the wiring loom was intact from when it was built everything under the hood was perfect. It has become one of my fav basses because it's so well seasoned it has a great sustain and a gorgeous neck. Very basic bridge bit of bent tin stile but has brass saddles and a real bone nut.

The truss rod works perfectly and I have managed to achieve a near perfect compromise between action and neck tension without any string buzz. What I love about those pickups that they are Di Marzio copies and that means they have hex key adjustable twin pickup poles, which give you a great deal of adjustment towards achieving the optimal string to string volume by raising or lowering the poles accordingly.

Anyone who has played it, loved it just like Dave did last week

[dave_bass5]

Yes, and I'm expecting it back soon ;-).

[FlatEric]

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' timestamp='1446569462' post='2900410']
Yes I have mentioned about my Ibanez Roadster II before, it was a really lucky find on ebay. It's a PJ and has an infectious growl and punch, for what I paid (£190 on ebay) it came to me in a sorry state and I stripped it, polished it, removed layers of gunk and after a day of intensive care it came out like a brand new bass, the wiring loom was intact from when it was built everything under the hood was perfect. It has become one of my fav basses because it's so well seasoned it has a great sustain and a gorgeous neck. Very basic bridge bit of bent tin stile but has brass saddles and a real bone nut.

The truss rod works perfectly and I have managed to achieve a near perfect compromise between action and neck tension without any string buzz. What I love about those pickups that they are Di Marzio copies and that means they have hex key adjustable twin pickup poles, which give you a great deal of adjustment towards achieving the optimal string to string volume by raising or lowering the poles accordingly.

Anyone who has played it, loved it just like Dave did last week
[/quote]

You have an RB 650 there - In my humble opinion, one of the best passive basses.
I just does what you need it to, without any fuss.
Sweet.

[LewisK1975]

Mick Quinn from Supergrass played an old Ibanez P-type (dunno if it was a roadstar or a blazer) for a long-ass chunk of their heyday - saw them live a few times and he certainly always had a great sound.

Personally I was never fussed on the oversized headstock on the 4 a side tuner ones - messed with my OCD.

Edited November 4, 2015 by LewisK1975

[Grand Wazoo]

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1446624376' post='2900827']
You have an RB 650 there - In my humble opinion, one of the best passive basses.
I just does what you need it to, without any fuss.
Sweet.


[/quote]

Yes you're pretty accurate the model says Series RB 650 BY (BY is for the Burgundy colour)
Here are the factory specs I found on line

Model Name: Roadstar II Series Bass model RB650BY (Burgundy)

Color Burgundy
Body- Basswood & Birch (they've could have used either of them)
Number of Frets: 21
Fretboard: Maple
Neck Material: Maple
Nut Width: 1.6" (40 mm)
Scale Length: 34" (86.36 cm)
Neck Plate: Standard 4 Bolt
Pickups: 1 x Super P4 + 1 x Super J4
Serial no. C844111
Built 15th April 1984
[color=#000000][font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=3]Your guitar was made at the
Terada Plant, Japan, 1984
Production Number: 4111[/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=3] [/size][/font][/color]

[BigRedX]

I don't know about the relative merits of the two brands in the 80s, but back in the late 70s when I was helping out at my local music shop which stocked both Fenders and Ibanez basses the only reason I could see for having a Fender was because you had to have that name on the headstock. The Ibanez instruments were in every other respect far superior.

[Grand Wazoo]

For me it was a case of... one day I'll get one of these, because back in the 80's I was pretty much a student with very little resources, and by the time I saved enough for a "proper bass" the only choice I had back then was either this Ibanez the one I saw was just a P no J pickup and a Squier JV, having tried both, the Squier won by a small margin, but I pencilled that bass in my head and lo and behold 30 years later I got one. Meantime the Squier JV got stolen here in 1987 and the rest is history as per my signature pics, the only basses I keep are the ones I consider essential, from 1984 to current date, I've bought and sold a large number of basses, some with regret some a relief, but these ones here all have a story to tell and a great voice to tell it too! They are my "keepers"

[kev b]

I have a 1982 Blazer with a lined fretless one piece maple neck which is slightly narrower than a Precision but much thinner.

Pickups are P type no hum and pretty powerful, build quality is excellent, I have had it 25+ years and rarely adjust the trussrod, it gets a lot of use and even with rounds fitted the laquered fingerboard is hardly marked.

Sounds like a really punchy P bass but lacks Mwah for songs that call for the fretless tone, I am on the lookout for a similar fretted Ibanez but preferably with P/J pickups

[project_c]

Well, just to give a quick update on this, I checked out an '86 Roadstar ii today, fretless lined maple neck, original owner, the condition was almost perfect for a 30 yr old bass, lovely neck, slightly narrower spacing than a Precision but wider than a jazz, the weight was ok too, lighter than my 80s precision for sure.

I'm still thinking about it, but there are 2 things which will probably stop me from buying it: 1. the lines on the neck are a little difficult to see, and my fretless technique isn't good enough yet, I rely on those lines in a live situation. 2. The tone is sweet!! but it's not quite different enough from my fretless precision to justify owning both - even though I prefer a maple neck to the rosewood on my Fender.

The seller is a very nice guy, if any of you are interested in the bass I can certainly point you in his direction.

[LukeFRC]

I think your late 70's-early 80's output Japanese from Ibenez, Yamaha and Aria (and bassassin will probably narrow it down to a load more brands and specific factories) are pretty awesome. Early Yamaha BB are good too.

[Grand Wazoo]

Here is an album of pics of my Roadstar II RB650BY after I cleaned it all up

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.587046798004670.1073741870.446213212088030&type=3