DonaldG Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Hi everyone, I have an Ibanez bass which I've owned for about 28 years and which I bought from a junk store for about £30 as my first bass as a teenager. It has some cosmetic wear which is consistent with heavy use over the years but still plays well. However, I don't use it much now and I was thinking of giving it to a friend who has started playing. I was looking online to try and get some more info on the guitar before I handed it over and so did a search on the serial number. It suggests it is a Japanese made 1983 Ibanez, possibly a Blazer, (made at the Terada factory in Nagano in Japan). However, the headstock has a) no markings on it and b) has a shape not consistent with the Blazer, rather it looks more like a precision bass head. The body looks like a Blazer. Some web searches I've done suggest the guitar could be collectable but I'm not sure if it's maybe had some bit swapped out on it or it's not an Ibanez Blazer and the serial plate has been put on another bass. I've attached some photos and would be interested to hear from other forum members who know more about Ibanez to see if they can help pin down the model and to determine if it's worth anything (and I can then offer it for sale and finance my next bass purchase). Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Sorry to disappoint you, but it's just an Ibanez Blazer (certainly BL-700) with a reshaped headstock. Better give it to your friend as it's not worth more than the price you paid long ago, in that condition... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 The serial number is November 1983, but it does look like someone's buggered about with the headstock. Got to agree, looks like a Blazer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu_g Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 yeah I would agree someone has reshaped the headstock, hence why it has no logo I suspect.The machineheads are correct and the body is right,value wise not sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Just about now, some insufferable know-all is going to steam in and say it was made by Fujigen Gakki, not Terada and will someone please correct the pernicious rubbish spread by the bloody Guitar Dater Project before it gets fire-bombed by militant vintage MIJ guitar fans. But not me, guv. I will say a couple of things though - it's not a Blazer, I think it's a Roadstar II RB630. The horns are a slightly different shape and it doesn't have the chunky brass bridge you'd find on a Blazer. It's a bit messed around but is worth a little more than £30 - Pity someone's butchered the headstock, but it looks otherwise intact, & with a clean and new strings/a decent setup it'd probably fetch £150 or so. I think if it was mine I'd reshape the headstock to look more like the original 1980 Blazer style. Just to confuse people like me. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 (edited) It's an Ibanez Blazer BL-700 from the 80's with a reshaped headstock as I wrote earlier : Edited February 4, 2020 by Hellzero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Urm, urm, there's one for sale here on BassChat, in close to pristine condition for 350 GBP : 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 (edited) In fact, it's an Ibanez BL-800 BY (the same as the BL-700, except for the white pickguard and the laminated mahogany body due to the solid colour) in Burgundy red rom 1982 with the headstock reshaped (butchered), missing brass knobs, missing brass bridge and in poor condition. Not worth more than 100 GBP, the kind of bass you find in crash converters very often, absolutely not a collector, especially in this butchered version. Edited February 4, 2020 by Hellzero Slight corrections 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 My vote is reshape to Blazer style like wot @Bassassin said. Maybe paint the body (personally not a red bass sort of a chap). This is on the premise that it plays nicely. If it’s not a player, give to friend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassaussie Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, Bassassin said: Just about now, some insufferable know-all is going to steam in and say it was made by Fujigen Gakki, not Terada and will someone please correct the pernicious rubbish spread by the bloody Guitar Dater Project before it gets fire-bombed by militant vintage MIJ guitar fans. But not me, guv. I will say a couple of things though - it's not a Blazer, I think it's a Roadstar II RB630. The horns are a slightly different shape and it doesn't have the chunky brass bridge you'd find on a Blazer. It's a bit messed around but is worth a little more than £30 - Pity someone's butchered the headstock, but it looks otherwise intact, & with a clean and new strings/a decent setup it'd probably fetch £150 or so. I think if it was mine I'd reshape the headstock to look more like the original 1980 Blazer style. Just to confuse people like me. About the bridge, it's not the original bridge. It's a Schaller 3D. Edited February 5, 2020 by bassaussie 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 8 hours ago, bassaussie said: About the bridge, it's not the original bridge. It's a Schaller 3D. So it is - I should've looked closer! Definitely worth more than £30, then - those are excellent bidges and not exactly cheap. @Hellzero No, mate it's not. The serial number dates it to November 1983 which was around two years after the Blazer disappeared from the Ibanez range - Blazers & Roadsters were both superceded by the Roadstar II line, of which this is an example Specifically an it's RB630, which I might have mentioned. The body shape is very slightly different to the Roadster and it originally would've had a BBOT bridge, which is doubtless why someone stuck a Schaller on it. I have been wrong about many, if not most things in my life but not about this. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 No more TLRT's, so 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonaldG Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Thanks to everyone who provided input on my thread. Really appreciate the information. It still plays really nicely and has a nice tone. I may just keep it if my friend does not want it but at least I now know a bit more about it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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