Why did Ibanez stop making this bass?! // Ibanez Roadstar II RB950 Deluxe (1984)

New from my Vintage Artifacts series! Ibanez certainly doesn't disappoint with its latest models, but I'm also a big fan of several of their discontinued basses. This RB950 Deluxe from 1984 is a model I wish Ibanez had continued to make. From the stellar body to the diverse tones, it's a great one to collect and use. More info...
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#vintage #ibanez #roadstar

[@KrAzYKaRLoS1013]

All the Roadstar Series was so fucking Amazing!

[@Anton-du-Fleur]

I still have mine from the 80's I would never get rid of it. The action is so sweet , sounds like the best thing

[@RumblinMan]

Awesome.

[@gazfunk]

I love those old Ibanez basses. I had a fretless Musician Bass that I foolishly sold. Really regret it now. It's really expensive to pick up a clean one these days.

[@bartwitek9526]

I had 2 at some point . One of the best passive classic basses that Ibanez ever made. One was super heavy , the other was kinda on the lighter side .. both excellent in craftsmanship and sound quality. The pickups and the electronics were the secret weapon of these classics

[@RumblinMan]

Yeah man!! Such a cool creation. I wish Ibanez would get back to their roots.

[@1funkyangel]

That Baby sounds sweet ! Ibanez needs to bring these back !! I’ll take one in every color! 😎🎸🎶👍🏽

[@teedammit]

Great to see the Roadstar II series getting some love. My MIJ RB-760 was my main bass from '85 to '10 or so, with a split single neck pu and a unique 2-bar bridge pu. I've seen and owned a couple of the variations, but yeah, the SR series took over and that was that. The 80s emphasized punchy, bright basses, and the Roadstar II was emblematic of that sound.

[@bedamat]

I have three Basses from this family... A '83 Sunburst one that has a humbucker at the bridge, and a splitcoil in the neck position. That splitcoil is as big as the humbucker... And I have two of the dark blue burst ones, one of them I bought new in a little countryside guitar store in 2003. They had found it in the basement, still in the shipping box, and put it into the window a couple of days before I came by. I went to the next ATM, walked in and payed cash, all done in 5 minutes. ✨🔥 At that time I was recording a lot of session stuff and had a Fender J & P, Rickenbacker 4001, Stingray 5, Warwick Something, Ibanez ATK 5 and those Roadstars.. All the other Basses I slowly sold off, as I never played them anymore, even the 5 strings... Those necks are sexy!

[@MatthewMcClellan]

It does my heart good to see someone appreciating these basses. My 1984 RB760 is still my number one. You’ve got some beautiful Geddy Lee tone going there.

[@RumblinMan]

Thanks so much for the kind words!

[@secretjourney4815]

Ha. I was just thinking that. Geddy. Power Windows, Hold Your Fire days

[@t.j.meechan682]

I love the tone of that gallop.

[@dans_place]

I love Ibanez bass guitars .... my first choice always!

[@JustK009]

You ain’t lying man! Ibanez basses were the s_it back in the day..the musician especially the roadster/roadstar series great bang for the buck

[@KitBasher1]

I own four of the RB885s - those were 1985&86 five strings, super skinny necks. The stuffed all five strings into the four string neck. They play great, sound amazing!

[@197604121040]

Really glad I found this. Very hard to find any info about this bass. I have one just like the one on the video, colour and all (but mine still has the original golden knobs). It has such a huge sound that hardly anyone belives when I tell them it is not an active bass.

[@RumblinMan]

Very cool. It’s really a cool bass!!!

[@pczYT]

One of my biggest regrets was not buying a beautiful Musician I saw in a music store back in the early 2000's

[@gingerbeer914]

Mine was not buying a black Gibson Les Paul Custom with a Bigsby, just like the one Neil Young has for ƒ1495,- which is €680.- That thing is worth the price of a really nice car now or a garage.

[@amonster8mymother]

Well I have one.

[@craigparse1439]

My absolute FAVORITE headstock shape! 2x2 w/ straight string through (mostly).

[@craigparse1439]

I pulled the trigger on one and got it today. 1983 (not bad for a 37 year old instrument). It's a keeper.

[@MrAKbass]

What an amazing sounding bass, very punchy and clear. I own a MC9240LE from '81 which is one of those Ibanez gems I'll never sell. All I can say is hold on to that bass bro.

[@Hamburgler6.9]

Recently purchased an RB824 (candy apple red with gold hardware) from a bass dealer in Tokyo; still awaiting it's arrival, but trying to learn as much as I can about these basses. I kinda purchased it on a whim knowing nothing about it other than being aware that Ibanez made killer stuff in the 80's (I come from the the 6 string world of guitars), and that I loved the look. Really can't wait to receive it and start getting to know it. So many people seem to love them.

[@ChrisDavis1975]

They are great looking Basses. I’ve admired them from afar. Same with the Peavey T-40. I want them just to say that I have them. I just can’t afford eye candy Basses right now. 💸

[@RumblinMan]

Chris Davis feel ya on that brother!

[@amonster8mymother]

A T40 is a good bass to have.

[@ChrisDavis1975]

amonster8mymother I may get one some day. I know they are notoriously heavy & my back can’t take it like it used to. I’m mid 40s now so I’m no spring chicken. 😏

[@travisblum7032]

My Bassman has a '78 Peavey T 40 and it's a wonderful, unique and powerful Bass.

[@lesgl]

Why did they stop making Musician basses..?? had one of those back in the day...great basses

[@groovydjs]

Here is your bass: www.hoshinogakki.co.jp/pdf/ibanez/catalog/1983EB.pdf If you have a touch screen, all of the info is right there for you. I had the exact same one as you. Cheers.

[@RumblinMan]

Thanks!

[@FlamesAt1000ft]

Hi👋🏾🧔🏾‍♂️As an 🇺🇸residing in Japan for decades…Ibanes was & still is a contender in the Bass World!! I own a ‘81 Musician 924 DS that I STILL use to gig TODAY!! The Roadsters & Musicians are sought after because they’re so universal in Genres!! 👍🏾😃Advice tho’…Get Copper PU sealing done which ever you own! They (if original circuitry) can be very noisy thru a PA or even thru some of today’s Amps! Lots of powerful Stage Lighting & FX will put a Grimace on one’s face!! But I LOVE ME SOME Ibanez‼️🤨👌🏾❣️

[@bricknboxer]

I have an early 80's Roadstar II, birds eye maple sunburst with tri sound circuitry. I played out with it for about 12 years. Wide variety of tones and could blend the bridge and neck pu. Never seen the wine finish like yours but it looks sweet.

[@Klaus80804]

Well, I remember in the 80s I was very often at the Frankfurt Musikmesse to check out new gear, as there was no internet at that time. So in the middle of the 80s Ibanez suddenly came up with a completely new range of basses. These were mostly the Soundgear models, which all were designed to go well with the new - more modern - taste of the time. Basses like the Warwick Streamer, or the Spector basses were the big thing, and traditional shapes like the Fender Preci, Jazz Bass, or Rickenbacker were all out of fashion. So with the Soundgear Basses and the JEM type of guitars, all available in super fance colours, Ibanez really hit the nail on the head. I think the Roadstar Series was not much in demand anymore and so Ibanez focused on what was up to date at that time.

[@RumblinMan]

Great retrospect. Thanks for sharing. It’s so hard to imagine the classic models being out of style, but I guess that’s how it was at that time. Interesting stuff!

[@Klaus80804]

@@RumblinMan Absolutely - I remember I auditioned for a locally well known Hard-Rock/Metal Band in the mid 80s. I got the gig playing my old Sunburst Precision, but was asked to get a more modern bass. I bought a Yamaha RBX-200 Bass, that was almost identical to the Preci (one split pick-up, Volume, Tone) but looked so much more modern and was exactly what the guys wanted to match with their style of guitars. Could have also gotten a modern Ibanez, but the Yamaha was just as good, with a smaller price tag. I played it almost 'til the end of the 80s before switching back to the Precision.

[@RumblinMan]

@@Klaus80804 that’s cool, man. Such an interesting shift in trends between then and now.

[@etyramone2000]

Wow it does sound good. Funny how the only Ibanez basses I like are not the «arty» modern ones but all the ones that have been discontinued :') I may be wrong but I believe that the Supergrass bassist had one. Nice review, again !

[@RumblinMan]

Ety Ramone thank you! There are definitely some great discontinued models.

[@guyburman1370]

I have a 1985 black Ibanez Roadstar II RB960. It's a great bass. It has a Les Paul style 2 volumes and 2 tones pots. It is a very early active, the pickups are soapbars, but look different from the 950. Same bindings on the body and same headstock.

[@rfuriati]

I’’m still have my Japan RB650 , RDII 1986. I love It and everybody love the sound punch i get with

[@alainbrasseur7083]

the Ibanez RD II RB650 mij is my very first bass, bought new in 1986... and I still have it ! all originals parts except strings. kiling tone with flatwounds. a bit heavy but the neck is so easy to play. just notice that several basses of this time had got less than 19mm string spacing on the bridge, wich I like.

[@derekpierkowski7641]

Holy Crap ibanez made a Jackson! Right now, Jackson's making Ibanezez!

[@YokRzeznic]

This era of Ibanez were amazing. I picked up a haggard 86 RB960 the other day, turns out it had some engraving on it and I managed to track down the original owner. He bought it straight off me. I still have my 82 Muscian bass, though.

[@patpompeo9354]

I own a black Roadstar RB 960 bought new in 1986. I recently started playing again and have been researching my basses. This was great video although mine is a little different setup with 4 knobs (all gold lol) and active electronics uses a 9 volt battery. I like hearing it compared to a Stingray. That is on my wish list. Thanks for great video.

[@timothybedwards5440]

Awesome bass

[@AllbeeHivezChristianAllbee]

Looks and sounds sick. Very Jazz Bass-like indeed😊

[@smogtroll6007]

I have one exactly like this, it's great to have more understanding of it. Need to get the coils working. Spent some monet to have it fretless, so getting the coils working would be great.

[@RumblinMan]

Cool!!!

[@floydlay9189]

Hi RUMBLIN MAN,,THAT'S AWESOME LOOKING AND SOUNDING!

[@RumblinMan]

floyd Lay thanks Floyd! Always great to hear from you brother.

[@johnnysguitarcorner5510]

That is a really really cool bass, never heard about it. I own 2 ATK''s and absolutely love those. Ibanez is the master of copying other brands but give their own little cool twist to it. Tenx for showing man

[@RumblinMan]

ATK’s are wonderful basses. Congrats man.

[@atreyuprincipalh4043]

I had this very same bass,I still have a lot of the Ibanez roadstar basses. I love them,and a couple of musicians basses,including a mc888 bean musician bass.ibanez Rocks

[@travisblum7032]

Damn, I miss my first bass. ❤️ It was this one but black with red trim. Best Bass ever.

[@Tinwoodie100]

Hi mate, Great review, really appreciate your efforts! Cheers.

[@RumblinMan]

Thank you so much bro. Means a lot. God bless.

[@hankrogacki8356]

I have this in the same color. One hell of a bass

[@johnroe447]

Great looking bass! Planning to buy ibanez musician mc924 and rare to find. Luckily one of our store here near my place have one.

[@TheBeardofDOOM]

Similar look and sound to the Schecter Apocalypse I have. I dig it.

[@yojon1212]

Maybe a little insight as to how Ibanez chooses their model numbers. The 900 series fits right between the 800 series and 1000 series. Funny how that works?!? I have a 1992 Ibanez Soundgear 950. Only 1000 were produced and they discontinued production. The reason was price point. The 9 series had upper level features at a lower level price point. So Ibanez apparently wanted to distinguish the "level" of product you were buying for the price and let the customer decide whether the bump in price is worth it. I also own a 1999 Ibanez ATK1300. The ATK series has come and gone a few times, but when they brought it back, the model number was ATK1200, which was a fine bass but not the quality of the 1300. I have been studying the Ibanez Catalogs throughout the years (online) and the MC, RB, SR 900 series basses have extra quality features that either lost features at a lower price 800 series or got them at a higher price by calling them a 1000 or 1200, 1300 or 1500 series.

[@pilummurialis6490]

These basses need to come back big time, especially those pickups and the body design, also that Wine colour! the only thing they should change, is the wood they use to make them lighter, whatever they use for current basses, should be used to build these roadstar basses now, if Rickenbacker try to sue them over the body design, they can bugger off, this design is miles better anyways!

[@frankperricone2065]

That is a beautiful bass guitar. That is my new fixation is the Japanese made basses and guitars. I don't know why Fender never did any kind of pup configuration, with coil splits. As much as l love my Fender basses my new love is the Japanese made basses. I purchased a Aria Proll zzb, a double Humbucker Explorer shaped bass. Also I have acquired a Westone Concord bass. Both of these instruments are very high quality made instruments. I also bought a Westbury Standard double cut two Humbucker guitar that came with Dimarzio super distortion pups. I acquired this guitar from a band mate in the late 80's and I did not know it was anything special except that it sounded great and played great.

[@RumblinMan]

I love Aria Pro II!

[@frankperricone2065]

@@RumblinMan Great instruments 👍

[@jenniplease]

Thanks for making this vid! I was gifted a cherry sunburst non-deluxe ‘84 RB924 recently. Mine has the tri-sound toggle switch and buddy made it fretless lol. By any chance do you remember what position you had the coil tap in when you were playing the bridge pickup around 9:30? HB, series or parallel?

[@RumblinMan]

Sadly I don’t remember. Thanks for the kind words!! I’d love to check out your bass! Haha.

[@davejackson9016]

Lush! I'd buy one!

[@Internettumbleweed]

Holy shit it’s my bass! Didn’t think I’d ever see another exactly like it! Only thing is the music store I got it from replaced the tuning machine bc my E tuner broke and they put crappy replacements on it. I wish I could find replacements for it

[@noahfreeman3191]

I’ve got the same one in a cream color

[@Internettumbleweed]

@@noahfreeman3191 these bass’s are seriously awesome, and I just love their sound and how tanky it feels.

[@alhbass]

I also have this exact bass, including original tuners! Though it lost its gold tone knob a while ago, which is annoying! And, bizarrely, a previous owner fitted a 3 pin output connector next to the control knobs - no idea why.

[@facedowngaming]

Kinda regret returning my Roadstar850 ibanez back to Guitar Center. It was real eye candy but I couldn’t vibe with the tone for my music. The pickups were both humbuckers, not the PJ humbuckers I see in other 850’s.

[@thebionicbassplayer]

I love the sound, wanna get some low cost vintage basses, The Roadstar II checks all the boxes.

[@amonster8mymother]

It's got that typical 80's high bass sound.

[@VincentBrick]

I bought my RB924 from a pawn shop in 1993 when I was 15, same thing only minor differences, these things are so badass. If anyone has one of these truss rod covers please HMU, mine's been missing since I got it!

[@Internettumbleweed]

Curious is it possible to see the insides of that bass? Whenever I split both pickups I loose almost everything except a tinny treble sound and wanted to see as to why when I never had anything done with the electronics.

[@theopfender1762]

Lovely bass!

[@chaddavies1032]

I see alot of people talking about the early 80s models. theres one available in my area that is a 1991 model are they good aswell?

[@RumblinMan]

Certainly!

[@nigellacey559]

such a cool name...roadstar

[@rome8180]

I want the marine blue one. However, it's really tough to find. I see one for sale out there now and it doesn't have the gold hardware. Found listings for a couple others, but they're already sold. The thing is that they're not that expensive when you do find them.

[@RumblinMan]

That’s an interesting thing I observed as well. I looked for one on reverb but found nothing. But have seen that they were previously listed for like 3 or 400.

[@amonster8mymother]

I had a roadtsar 2 when they first came 9ut.

[@amonster8mymother]

The raodstar I traded for a rickenbacher.

[@atreyuprincipalh4043]

Great post dear Friend 🤩

[@amonster8mymother]

I bought a raodstar 2 in 1984 brand new. I still have the brochure.

[@rubenriverarojas7910]

Thats a nice headstock

[@igiveuponhumanity9238]

Ruben Rivera that'swhatshesaid

[@amonster8mymother]

👍

[@wojtas316]

Super rare colour. I have RB924 and 920 Deluxe. This one is RB850 but with super rare finish. Push knobs are not original I think, never heard about this technic in vintage japanese basses. I'm collecting them from 11 years.

[@RumblinMan]

Wojtek J. Wow! Very cool. Thanks!

[@MrGrsrrt]

I don't know why, but I'm lucky enough to own one.

[@RumblinMan]

Nice!

[@walterehler6638]

I've owned this exact bass, colour and all, for about 30 years now. I'll never part with it!

[@amonster8mymother]

Hey. My dad bought me a Roadstar 2 in 1984 when they were new. I traded it for a Rickenbacker. 😳😳😳

[@arnoldvandamme5852]

Hello guys! How it is going!. So my dear co-players the price of that bass how much would be?

[@gingerbeer914]

3:36-3:47 As a matter of fact the RoadstAr Series NEVER EVEN EXISTED. They had made a mistake and called them RoadstEr Series. That's why you can't find them. They're just NOT THERE. Hoshino is the owner of the brand and the name means STAR FIELD. At some point they decided to use the word STAR in all kinds of different series: RoadSTAR II, ArtSTAR, LoneSTAR... They even introduced a separate brand called Starfield. The reason they discontinued the RS Series has to do with introduction of the pointier RG Series, such as the RG550 in 1987. At the same time the manufacturer Fuji Gen got busier producing MIJ Fenders on a larger scale. At Fuji Gen there was hardly any time to make anything else but bolt-on neck guitars and a lot of set neck Ibanez guitars from after 1986 were made in different factories, such as Terada (Yes, that started around 1986/'87) and Iida (AR and AFD models). Cutting and glueing birdseye maple veneers and binding wasn't really helping to speed up the production at Fuji Gen. It was much simpler and faster to just cut the bodies with the CNC and finish them with paint. But pointy headstocks on BASS guitars look weird, so they designed a new series called the Sound GearR series (SR ) and that was the end of the RB Series. Is it a pity? Yes, it is. Are the newer SoundGeaR basses bad? No, on the contrary, they're very good, and they have an IDENTITY OF THEIR OWN that stands apart from the old Fender models. Fuji Gen kept making Precision Bass and Jazz Bass models, but they were called FENDER JAPAN, because of a deal that Fender made with Kanda Shokai (owner of the Greco brand and closely related to Fuji Gen). I think that in itself it was a good thing that Hoshino / Ibanez was pushed towards developing new guitar and bass designs. That stimulated INNOVATION. If you compare Hoshino/Ibanez on one side and Gibson and Fender on the other, the latter two are FOSSILS. But I don't mind owning some rare vintage "fossils". I own an RB630WH myself. It's super light, it's resonant and it sounds really sweet. It is basically a PB with an Ibanez headstock and I'm fine with that.

[@maartenverbaarschot4332]

You had both RoadstEr and RoadstAr basses back in the day. The name was on the basses, the different series were advertised by Ibanez as Roadstar and Roadster. No denying after the fact that something "never ever existed", when there's ample proof it did. Where do you come up with this nonsense?

[@gingerbeer914]

@@maartenverbaarschot4332 No, back in the day you had Ibanez RoadstEr guitars and basses, a series that started in 1979. And after that you had RoadstAr II (TWO) series that still used the RS and RB model numbers, but the RS for guitars changed to RG in 1986. Where can you find the correct info? On the Ibanez Collectors World forum and in Tony Bacon's book: "Ibanez electric guitars" pages 60, 62 and 63. and in "Ibanez, The Untold Story" page 111. Tony Bacon's book is easier to find and less expensive.

[@maartenverbaarschot4332]

@@gingerbeer914 look, you state that the Roadstar series never ever existed in your original comment. That's what I reacted to. Now you say the Roadster series did exist. Now I know where this is going to, there only was a Roadstar II series, never a Roadstar series, cuz they spellen it wrong and thus it became the Roadster series. You are right if that's what you are saying, but to the average bass player, the Roadstar II series is a Roadstar series. The first one to be exact. Only it was called II. Cuz people make mistakes and all. 🙂

[@gingerbeer914]

@@maartenverbaarschot4332 The Ibanez spelling mistake is known to auction search engines, and when you type "Ibanez Roadstar" the search engine will find the Ibanez RoadstEr guitars as well. I think that is how I found my rare Roadster RS350. The owner was a fellow Ibanez collector who hated trems, so he went for an RS100. I play just about anything, so I'm happy with it.

[@amonster8mymother]

Now I have a yellow musician with the gold hardware.

[@GODenWord]

I have made in Germany Warwick Vampyre bass. They stop making it unfortionaly. It is probably the best bass for me! I have BO version. It was experimental very limited run and it was made for shor time. Thanks God they still make strings for BO version which is 35 inch scale 175-85 gage Also they had made in Germany SN version and NT versions. All these bases were totaly differnt and even shape of body of each version was spesialy optimized for each version. Now you are able to get these basses only throught castom shop.

[@romarocker9307]

Very nice bass, what strings you used? cheers

[@RumblinMan]

Roma Rocker thanks! I’m not sure what strings were on it. Some old rounds.

[@gingerbeer914]

7:06 Here the playing starts.

[@Andyanddiana467]

If you wanna check out another gone-but-not-forgotten Ibanez, find an Ergodyne.

[@RumblinMan]

Andyuf2 sweet!

[@amonster8mymother]

You sound like Geddy. 👍😷🇨🇦

[@PatrickTengmusic]

It’s good for straight rock n pop but doesn’t perform well for slap bass that’s my own observation correct me if I am wrong

[@tonefreakbassexperience3997]

hey MAN, good to stumble upon this at 7am. i hear toooo many bass reviews that i can't stand because of the playing style or the show off ego tripping, let alone the crumby tone. you exhibit none of these traits here. you and i sound similar here in fact; i use an old black roadstar II and love it, along with a mohogany and walnut alembic orion which just outright creates earthquakes. thanks for this vid. btw, my channel is new. i tone freak / improv play both basses on it, with a lot of fx experiments. hope you check it out. i'd appreciate it. i've subbed to you. be well.

[@RuShEd_AltF4]

I have a Ibanez Roadstar II series jbass. It's a 83, and the last 3 numbers of it's serial is 666

[@mattiasjp]

My guess on why it was discontinued is that it’s looks became outdated towards the late 80s. Ibanez threw out almost every model and launched several new product lines in 86-87. We still see those models today, especially on the guitar side, with the RG and S (Sabre) body styles and the SR/SDGR range on the bass side. This was a great success for Ibanez and is probably the reason they are such an iconic brand today, because they were everywhere and almost every guitar hero of the late 80s and early 90s played Ibanez. Ibanez has always been quick on their feet to produce instruments for the new trends in music. Had they held on to the Roadstar and Roadster designs, I think they would have been like Aria Pro 2, Fernandes and Tokai are today. Love it or hate it, the Soundgear has sold like crazy and still do over 30 years after it’s introduction.

[@amonster8mymother]

You can get it to sound like a fretless

[@amonster8mymother]

I thought they sounded like steinbergers.

[@marcin2x4]

Sounds a bit like WAL