interesting Ibanez prototype

hieronymous · November 23, 2012, 09:24:33 PM

There is an interesting bass up on the 'Bay - apparently an Ibanez prototype for Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Grateful-Dead-Custom-Phil-Lesh-Ibanez-Bass-1980-Prototype-One-of-a-Kind-/160926395136?pt=Guitar&hash=item2577f5eb00

Three pickups, lots of controls - is this pre-Musician? Looks like around the same time - interesting also in that the current owner claims that it is short scale.

Dave W · November 23, 2012, 10:01:47 PM

Interesting piece with no confirmation from Phil Lesh. If a company makes a prototype and presents it to an artist in the hope that he'll accept it, that by itself doesn't qualify as celebrity owned in my book. Even if he owned it, no evidence that he used it. But I suppose there's always a deadhead willing to buy it at an inflated price.

And no, Gibson did not successfully sue Hoshino. The suit was dropped after an out-of-court settlement.

godofthunder · November 24, 2012, 12:41:13 PM

I remember Bob Weir having a endorsement deal with them about that time.

chromium · November 24, 2012, 01:41:14 PM

Yeah I've seen pics of Weir with a 12/6 doubleneck, and of course his "Cowboy Fancy" artist model with all the inlays. Seen pics of Garcia playing an MC of some sort as well... Maybe they were trying to lure Lesh in with this. Got a kick out of the letter going on and on about the knobs lol.

Cool bass, though! It does look short scale given the bridge placement. I like the tailpiece(s). My Studio has a very similar bridge, but different tailpiece:

uwe · November 26, 2012, 11:48:23 AM

Looks nice. Were these medium scale?

ilan · November 26, 2012, 12:17:27 PM

Q: What is the scale?
A: It is 30 1/4".

Psycho Bass Guy · November 29, 2012, 07:07:27 PM

Quote from: hieronymous on November 23, 2012, 09:24:33 PMThree pickups, lots of controls - is this pre-Musician? Looks like around the same time - interesting also in that the current owner claims that it is short scale.

The Musician came out in the late 70's and that's basically what the bass in the auction is: an Ibanez Musician with an extra pickup and electronics, a shorter scale, and a substantially different bridge... and lots and lots of curly maple. It's in a stock Musician case, and you can see that the headstock stops a good ways from the end of the case.

uwe · December 04, 2012, 06:25:12 AM

A short scale 8 string makes all the sense in the world as it avoids the extreme tension of a long scaler 8er, yet at the same time gives the inherently mellow characteristic of a short scale some snap. I'm surprised you don't see them more often.

Uwe

Granny Gremlin · December 04, 2012, 07:49:15 AM

I am surprised but I like this thing. Though not a fan or the 70s blinged out wood thing, and 3 pups scrunched so tightly in together (seriously, there's still a good 3/4" left between the 'neck' pup and the neck; as a neck through, there is no structural issue to worry about so why not get it right up in there if you go 2 more anyway? ... that's an annoying location for TR adjustment anyway), but other wise I like it a lot; hardware and circuit look right up my alley (as far as active things go). How many short scale 8 bangers do you see around? ... it would be a rather nuclear option for some of the songs I do with my current band (playing chordy Keefish timing rhythm parts). ... and I bet the octave string really takes the edge off the floppy low E syndrome many shorties have.

chromium · December 04, 2012, 10:38:00 AM

Quote from: Granny Gremlin on December 04, 2012, 07:49:15 AM
How many short scale 8 bangers do you see around? ... it would be a rather nuclear option for some of the songs I do with my current band (playing chordy Keefish timing rhythm parts). ... and I bet the octave string really takes the edge off the floppy low E syndrome many shorties have.

My 8-string in that pic above is actually 32" scale. Tension is nice on the bass strings, and that bridge assembly has the big brass-mass sustain block thing going on. I generally don't go out for active setups, but their stuff from this era sounds great to me. It can be delicate, but usually sounds like a freight train - and it should given that its a 13.4 pound Baby Huey!

The Lesh bass in the OP was a shorty, though, which was unusual (IIRC) for the Musician lineage

Crazy 5K+ selling price on that one! Wow.

Granny Gremlin · December 04, 2012, 10:50:41 AM

Wait, the Lesh bass isn't an 8? I gotta finish my coffee before I post online. $:-\$

What's the model name on yours? Not that I can afford to purchase any new instruments right now, but it never hurts to keep an eye out to get a handle on the market in case a deal comes along (is it too hopeful to hope for a repeat of coming across a basser from Montreal who owes back rent, has no money, but does have a Triumph that the pawn shop won't give him more than $500 for; I may have used up all my gear karma on that one alone).

chromium · December 04, 2012, 11:57:14 AM

Quote from: Granny Gremlin on December 04, 2012, 10:50:41 AM
What's the model name on yours?

Mines a "Studio" model ST-980. It was the bolt-on version, and shows up fairly regularly. There was also a "Musician" model MC-980 that was neck-thru, but I seldom see those for sale.

The build quality on this stuff is pretty top shelf, and the prices are relatively low. Think I gave ~US$700 for mine a couple years ago.

You might check into the Hamer B8S also, if you can find one. One just recently went on Ebay for ~1K.