Ibanez Roadstar II RB-999 "Bean Bass" - This Little Bass has BIG Tone! - LowEndLobster Fresh Look

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Hey everyone! Today we're taking a look at quite the oddity from Ibanez. This is the Roadster II RB-999, also known as the 'Bean Bass'. Featuring a compact basswood body and ACTIVE low impedance pickups, this little bass delivers a whole lotta tone! Let's check it out!
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[@bevinmodrak4997]

My 2 biggest regrets is not picking one of these up for $200 about 20 years ago. And giving away my badly modded RoadStar II P-bass. Those Fujijen Ibanez's were so under appreciated at the time. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks Bevin! So glad you enjoyed this.

[@thesnapperkeeper]

The 80s Ibanez basses were ridiculously good quality

[@LowEndLobster]

Indeed! Built to last!

[@r.l.rachel740]

This video is a longevity testament to instruments that are respectfully cared for over time & multiple ownerships & thru countless practices & numerous uncounted gigs. Outstanding tone from a life time of use with yester year pickups. Unfortunate demur looks. Lobster, Thx for sharing vintage instruments.

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks R.L! My '82 Roadster RS924 is another bass like that. Tone that absolutely plows and build quality that will survive the apocalypse

[@jasondoe2596]

The active pickups + passive controls combination makes a lot of sense, and deserves to be more common than it is.

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks Jason! I agree, low impedance pickups can really bring out some awesome tones that don't necessarily need an EQ along side.

[@guy5359]

That Ibanez bass sounds great LowEndLobster!!!

[@Hahalookyhere]

This is the bass I use all the time with my goof-punk band. Looks unique, sounds great, and the smaller size is great for running around. 10/10

[@LowEndLobster]

Nice! Which finish was yours?

[@Hahalookyhere]

@@LowEndLobster It has the white finish :)

[@KitBasher1]

Ibanez is very underrated! I started playing those Roadstar II RB885s last year because they are super lightweight - the longer neck plates make a very stable neck pocket. Ebony fingerboards too, crystal clear tone!

[@mikedeeez]

Nice, I love that you did the Bean Bass! Great review. Also love that Donny Benet shirt, right on!

[@LowEndLobster]

Thank you Mike!

[@poltergeist3194]

Awesome review Lobster! I haven’t seen or played an RB in forever. I tried one out many years ago but it wasn’t in my budget at the time. I might have to find me one now that I don’t worry about money as much as when I was younger.

[@ajkandy]

I’ve owned a few of these over the years. This is the active RB999 from the later part of the run; the original 1984 model had dual Super J6 humbuckers (double Jazz style) as used on many of the contemporary Roadstar IIs, and passive electronics. There was also a lower-end model, the RB888, with a single J6 humbucker, clear finish maple/rosewood neck, passive controls, and a bevelled slab body like the Roadstar RB-824. The Musician version is the MC-888 and has a slightly different body with a longer upper horn, and was available in natural wood or black gloss finishes. One problem many of them have is that the tiny headstock can often develop cracks. The ‘bean’ name came from the Ibanez Japanese catalog which described it as the ‘Butter Bean.’

[@timmerred5]

I miss my old 80’s Ibanez Roadstar II 5 string. I think it was an RB 850 or something like that.

[@philipmcadam5339]

Thanks for the look, Lobster. I like the big tone.

[@atreyuprincipalh4043]

Great video indeed I love that you featured these enchanting little basses,I have 3 Musician MC888 bean basses And four of the Rb 999 bean bases I love them.

[@lesgl]

Yes the Ibanez Lo-Z active pick ups of the late 80's fitted to the Roadstar II series were very good with a open and warm sound..i have a '87 SDGR SR 800 with the ''Regulated Lo Z'' PJ set up..very nice as well...in the early '90's Ibanez came up with ''Designed in the USA AFR active pick up'' made in Korea which wasn't as good..I repplaced the AFR's in my '89 SR800A with EMG PJA Alnico's and very happy with them

[@ChipsA17]

Love the 1980s roadstar sound. Best Ibanez basses we're in the 80s. The roadstar II RB950 is a great Ibanez.

[@Bassdriver]

This a really cool sounding bass! I don't think I'd be able to live with its aestethics though. However, I totally love old full-size Ibanez basses. I'd love to get an RB-924 one day (I'd probably defret it though). Or, better yet, a Musician. If I could find and afford one.

[@jkf9167]

I had an RB 820. It was really nice, I couldn't jibe with the bridge humbucker-only setup over time, but it was a really cool bass in a really cool color - halfway between gold and silver.

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks BD! I would looooooooooooove a musician!

[@paultraynorbsc627]

Excellent Lobster 🦞 thanks for sharing ☕👍

[@serdarozbey]

Nice shirt , we love "Mr Experience"

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks Serdar! I see you too are also experienced

[@martyrofgrenth2136]

Neat little bass haha :D Would be awesome to see you try out a Skjold or a Clement bass sometime! Those are usually more custom made so are harder to come by in the used market, but would be cool :)

[@LowEndLobster]

Thank you! I love Skjold designs, there was a well priced Whaleback on reverb for a while that tempted me

[@martyrofgrenth2136]

@@LowEndLobster lol I feel like every video I comment about another company you should check out, but that's the great thing about it, there are so so sooo many good bass companies out there all in their own unique way! That's why I like your channel lol, I get to hear and see them through an unbiased view of a fellow bass lover :D Cheers

[@thiagodeandradeneves4585]

This thing is hideou, erh, I mean... curious. But sounds great. Funny to see active pickups with passive controls, as we're much more used to the passive pickups with active circuit we see on the Stingrays.

[@craigdamage]

Yep. You gotta be standing with it strapped on to better appreciate the little but big dimensions of the "Bean". That said, I owned an RB 850 in the 80s and it was as Spector-like as I could get on my teenage budget then. The Roadstar RB 760, 850 and 851 are probably what you would fully dig.

[@michaelkeefer4293]

I'm guessing it may have been created to be an alternative to the Steinberger, they made it as compact as they could without making it headless. This is a bass I have never seen or encountered before so this was a very interesting review. Thanks!

[@ronbzoom8531]

Exactly. That's what I thought when these came out way back when. There were a lot of Steinberger headless wannabes and knock offs back then. Ibanez took a different approach with this line. Compact size while still long scale and without having to buy special strings. I'm a bit charmed by it now but back then I thought they were ugly toys.

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks Michael! I suspect you're right. I only knew about these from a random niche TB discussion decades ago. I have a little folder of old bass pictures that I saved online and there were some bean pics in there. An oddity for sure!

[@billholder1330]

Oh yeah The Bean! I love mine! Mine's older, I think, different pickups.

[@KitBasher1]

I almost bought a pink bean bass a few years ago - it was a great little slapper, but the pink bean sold before I could buy it.

[@frankperricone2065]

My new fixation is the Japanese made basses and guitars from the late 70's to the mid 80's. I don't know why coming up as a young guitar and especially bass player coming up at that time, started playing at 13 that it was all about Fender and Gibson instruments and these fine gems were unnoticed by me. In the last year I have acquired a Westone Concord bass, and a Aria Pro ll zzb bass. To my unknowing I had a 1980 Westbury Standard guitar in back room collecting dust, that also is Japanese made guitar. Found out they actually made a Westbury bass that came with a one Dimarzio P type pup and another came with a double Dimarzio P pup. I was wondering if you ever came across one of these Westbury basses?

[@thebassbuilder]

That bass sounds good but I am ready to see that other MTD Kingston review.

[@LowEndLobster]

Thank you! I think I'll have that one released this Sunday :)

[@nickpicc]

Bro you should get an Ibanez Musician bass on here! Let me live vicariously through you lol

[@LowEndLobster]

The dream! I would loooove a MC924 fretless.... hnnnnggggggggg

[@cactus-mcjacktus]

one of the early bass players in The Melvins played one of these, so it can do a fair bit!

[@DeeshBassChannel]

Considering your comments, I think you should try playing it on the strap/standing. It might be brilliant. 🤷‍♂️ It’s a great sounding bass, maybe a tad clinical. (But I say that about most all active basses). I’ve always been curious about these,(and the somewhat similar Dean Razor), so it was great to see your review. Thanks!

[@DeeshBassChannel]

Also, at 8 pounds, I’d prefer this to one of Ibanez 12 pound Musician models. 😉

[@rqkeating]

You took the strap buttons off? Do you normally play (when not making videos) sitting? I guess with so many basses it would be costly to have straps for all of them or difficult to keep adjusting one strap to what bass you are currently playing. I prefer standing when I play, so standing balance interests me more than when seated. Anyway, another fun video. thanks!

[@LowEndLobster]

I took em off to clean em up a bit. The stock hardware was super grimy and the finish was peeling bad. I polished everything up, and intended to do the strap buttons but never got around to it. If I'm jamming or gigging, I play standing with a strap (I have a really nice lobster strap that was a present from a dear friend). Thanks as always Russ!

[@jasondoe2596]

@@LowEndLobster Now I'm imagining a shiny red-orange strap that has "lobster claws" that grab the strap buttons xD

[@isaacbeats2009]

hell yeah donny benet goes hard

[@karlrobertosterman]

I'd gig the Bean!

[@mattiasgarvello185]

Nice Donny Benet shirt dude

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks Mattia!

[@roma5869]

I feel like Ibanez makes basses that look horrible but sound amazing

[@LowEndLobster]

They're quite good at that lol

[@jamesmarkham7489]

I'd love to try the old roadstar basses they seem like real great value players.

[@BryanMaxDobberstein]

On behalf of things from 40 plus years ago, I thank you for your understanding.

[@LowEndLobster]

:)

[@toddohligschlager4093]

Victor Bailey played a similar fretless variant in the Weather Report - Swamp Cabbage video

[@ajkandy]

Yeah, he had a one-off signature version of this in metallic red and gold hardware. It ended up in the catalog for his estate sale, you can Google it.

[@marciosouza8656]

Great sound.... 👍👍

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks Marcio!

[@jdmarino]

I pointed back at you both times!

[@LowEndLobster]

My man!

[@jkf9167]

The funny thing about those Bean basses is that the necks aren't even small. They have P-Bassish necks.

[@LowEndLobster]

Very true! A far fry from the pencil thin soundgear necks of today (for four strings anyways)

[@adams115]

Donny B!

[@LowEndLobster]

He's the master

[@bassimprovjams3772]

Let’s get down!!! Uh oh got that first comment in y’all are slacking 😂 it seems like Ibanez has done a lot of different headstocks

[@TheStiefmeister7]

I'd go with "stretched gumby" instead of bean...looks weird, sounds good though🤟

[@LowEndLobster]

LOL I dig it

[@russellzauner]

The bean is cute but I still have my eye on about 20 RS800/850/900. It's almost mandatory for my Thin Lizzy tribute band.

[@russellzauner]

A lot of the vintage Asian builds really got close to the USA tones - this one does a great P bass in a tiny footprint. It's on the list of travel basses for sure, should I ever start travelling in earnest.

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks Russell! Yeah those basses are killer. I love my RS924 '82. That is one I'm never getting rid of.

[@russellzauner]

@@LowEndLobster I'm after the single fatty pickup on the RSn00 models and then I have to get a chrome/mirror pickguard for it. Phil claims to have had to make his but there's a PILE of ibby aftermarket parts now. And yes, I have eyeballed Phil's FMIC model but if I'm going that way I'll build it up legit. :-) It's more fun and no guesswork that way. The tool will give the tone for the purpose. There's a rough looking tiger eye/flame top one but I can't do that after I got the honeyburst unity dynabass (yep, a TL4 but in PJ config with some form of dynabass preamp). Maple tops better be *caps* and at least 3/4" thick or it's laminate/veneer - this bass has BRICKS of flame maple bracketing maple/walnut neck. You can rotate the bass and follow the flames around the side and up into the back. People who say the "rap test" tells you nothing would break a knuckle barely touching this thing it ooozes so much *hardness* (I used the word bricks on purpose, instead of chunks). It's one of the stupidest basses I have picked up, much less stupidest Peavey guitar I have (I also own a Mystic 6 string that is super fun to play and came with double blade buckers). Best of all, I wasn't going to get it until my wife looked over my shoulder and said "that's the one you *didn't* buy? You're an idiot" so I grabbed it. :-)

[@ramshaar2597]

Okayyyyyyyyy duuuuuddddddeeeeee

[@revlewisrees9880]

Definitely needs to be be played with the blend centred. The bridge pickup adds a much needed clarity to the tone. Not the prettiest thing though.

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks Rev! I agree, center was best. I really want to get a similar bass in a 'full sized' config so I don't feel like I'm playing a happymeal toy ;P

[@Kraz3e987]

I feel like Ibanez basses from this era and even the subsequent SoundGear line were heavily influenced by Spector at least in design.

[@sunn_bass]

Absolutely a Spector influenced bass. Spector NS bass designed by Ned Steinberger is still a great design.

[@ampthebassplayer]

It's called a bean bass because it's bean a while since they made one.

[@LowEndLobster]

DAD, YOU'RE EMBARASSING ME

[@richshields6692]

Didn't Sting use one at some time ?

[@LowEndLobster]

He did!

[@nunofernandes4501]

Sting. Fretless. Yes.

[@a.k.9660]

Love the tone but it looks like someone tried to enlarge a Warwick bass in MS Paint without keeping the correct ratio

[@LowEndLobster]

No joke, sometimes I like to lookup pictures of the bean bass, put it in paint, and stretch it out width wise so it looks normal

[@perrysar5954]

Lobster,I think you're being biased on this litte guy,nothing wrong with this bass,sounds great and it's compact and easy to play with a strap

[@nallablack6391]

That tone, though... I'd consider finding one that been basically destroyed, take out the electronics and put them in a Warmoth or something.

[@Barry101er]

THAT IS COOL :)

[@LowEndLobster]

Thanks Barry!

[@Barry101er]

@@LowEndLobster If I hit the lottery this weekend I would definitely go on the Tokyo Guitar Safari- Can you imagine how much cool MIJ there is?

[@sekretlowrider4046]

i have 3 made in japan bass ,pj555,pb555, red colour moon jj4 mitsuru sutoh model in 80s,all 80s style,

[@felipenicholls6434]

It’s like first travel bass !!?

[@job1778]

It really looks like a short scale though.

[@hetul784]

God I want it.

[@o-g-ob4399]

Great bass for a child who is just starting to play bass.

[@TheBeardofDOOM]

I thought you sold the bean?

[@LowEndLobster]

A few weeks ago I did. Shot this right before

[@jame7569]

Bean

[@PushSueAside]

...and the fact Zorro has put his mark on the back of that bass, isn’t worth discussing, shows that you are too young to use terms like...”they don’t make em like this anymore” That bass could have been owned by “an oppressor of the peoples” or by “Capitan Monastario”.... Ok, old man rant is over. It’s so tiny, I’m sure it would make a great travel bass, it looks quite sturdy. Cheers

[@LowEndLobster]

LOL! The mark of Zorro! You always make me chuckle. Thank you for the great comment my friend

[@PushSueAside]

@@LowEndLobster I’m always happy to hear that. Hope all is well.

[@Sadsoft]

I was worried you would never get your hand back

[@mikhail6289]

Wide bass walking but always in frame

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

It looks like a Spector that’s been on a fad diet

[@LowEndLobster]

LOL well put

[@philbosher6959]

Teeny weeny bass.😂