1985 Ibanez Roadstar II RB850 Bass Guitar

Vintage Japanese double humbucker bass, in immaculate condition, inside and out

The last few months included a quest for a bass with a humbucking pickup and after considering more recent Korean models from Schecter, Kramer and a Peavey Grind Bass that was made in Vietnam, this vintage beauty just appeared out of nowhere. I've now had 3 Roadstar guitars and basses over the past few years, two of them came from the Goodwill and both have incredibly been in impeccable condition.

I had no idea that Ibanez made a humbucker bass as part of the Roadstar series, so the ability to fill a need with my favorite brand and era of electric guitars make this an even sweeter find. This neck is super thin, even for an Ibanez and of course, it plays incredibly fast. The body also sports a sleek and slim design.Other features that stand out are the headstock and truss rod cover, which are reminiscent of the older Roadster series.

Also of note on this beauty is that it included both the original boomerang strap holders and odd-shaped, brown leather hardshell case. On the technical side, the bottom two knobs seem to control the two pickups and both are push knobs that turn them off and on. I haven't spent too much time messing around with this one yet, as most of my recent free time has been spent building some pedalboards and playing the Peavey Deuce tube amp and another sweet vintage amp that will be featured tomorrow.

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1990s Ibanez TR 300 Expressionist Bass Guitar

Semi-rare Korean Fender Jazz bass copy

The latest acquisition is a mid-grade gem, a solid Jazz bass copy that has seen its share of action. You can see the rust spots on the pickups; likely created by beads of sweat and the bridge also had its fair share, before I took a toothbrush and some Bar Keeper's Friend to it. My buddy Clay at Beach City Pawn and Guitar cleaned a nice layer of gunk off the fretboard as well.

The only info I could find on this model was in the 1996 Ibanez USA catalog. Its loaded with passive pups called Power Tier. The previous owner listed the color as burnt orange, but it looks like black and this cherry red finish were the only two that were produced. The catalog also brags about the dual-mount EB7 bridge that is installed on it.

I picked this up for a few different reasons. First, its an older Ibanez and second, I was looking for a bass with a rosewood fretboard, as the other basses on the rack right now have naked maple necks. I'm also looking to be able to achieve different sounds with all three basses, as one is a P-bass, one a P/J and now this J-bass. I may take out the pups and replace them with Seymour Duncan rails to get a fatter sound with it, if its even able to be done.

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1984 Ibanez Roadstar II RB650 Bass Guitar

Another top-flight 1980s import, still a popular choice with collectors and musicians 30 years later

Like it's younger cousin that we featured yesterday, this is another super-nice Japanese Fender copy from Ibanez, with P/J pickup configuration and a maple neck. This model still has all of the original hardware, including the very hard to find "boomerang" strap holders.

Can't believe how fast this plays for a maple neck, most others seem to be really wide. This one needed a little work with the electronics and it has been beaten up a bit over the years, but it's still in perfect playing shape.

This was the top model of the Roadstar II Standard Series in 1984, but I'm not sure if they had a Deluxe or Custom Series that year. Either way, this is a great bass for gigging or recording and you can generally find a mid-80s Roadstar bass from anywhere between $200-$300.

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2000s Ibanez Gio GSR 100 Bass Guitar

Budget line bass guitar from a trusted brand, plays nice and easy

Ibanez is known for making electric guitars with fast necks and this Gio bass continues that tradition. This model has the classic split pickup P-Bass setup, but I've seen others with P/J and even humbucker setups.

For as well as it does play for it's price range, it's probably not up to par for a gigging musician to use even as a backup and definitely not something that you want to reach for if you're laying something down.

It is however, an excellent choice as first bass for a beginner or maybe a guitar player who wants to mess around with one. The price should definitely be right. These retailed for around $200 or so way back when, anything more than $100 secondhand is a crime.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution pictures here.