The Ibanez Musician Bass was a line of electric

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

s produced by the Ibanez Corporation from 1979 until 1987.

History

The Musician series was introduced in 1979 with the MC-800 and MC-900 models, which were available in natural (NT) and "dark-stain" (DS) finishes.

List price The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

for the MC-800 was $655.00 USD for the NT finish and $665.00 USD for the DS finish. List price for the MC-900 was $775.00 USD for the NT finish and $785.00 USD for the DS finish. The MC-800 was a single- pickup design, while the MC-900 had two pickups and a three-band EQ. The 1980 price list retains the MC-800 and MC-900, in both NT and DS finishes, but adds the MC-824, MC-924, MC-940, and MC-980 ( 8-string), all of which were DS models. The 1981 catalog lists four models: MC-824, MC-924, MC-924L, and MC-940. All four models were DS models, as the natural (NT) finish was no longer an option. The MC-824 was the base model, the MC-924 added a three-band EQ. The MC-924L was a left-handed version of the MC-924. The MC-940 was a

fretless A fretless guitar is a guitar with a fingerboard without frets, typically a standard instrument that has had the frets removed, though some custom-built and commercial fretless guitars are occasionally made. The classic fretless guitar was fir ...

version of the same. The 1983 catalog retains only two models, the MC-924 and MC-940, but introduces a new finish option, polar white (PW). The 1983-1984 catalog shows a reintroduction of the MC-824DS and an additional finish option, metallic black (MB), for the MC-924 and MC-940 models. The 1984 price list retains the 1983 models and introduces the MC-888, sometimes referred to as the "bean bass," which featured a smaller body. In 1986, only two models remain. The MC-924 is renamed MC2924 and the MC-940 is renamed MC2940. Their body shape is redesigned and looks more like what would eventually become the SoundGear line. These are the only two Musician models in the 1987 price list.

Features

The ''Musician Bass'' featured a 34" scale

neck-through Neck-through-body (commonly neck-thru or neck-through) is a method of electric guitar construction that combines the instrument's guitar neck, neck and core of its body into a single unit. This may be made of a solid piece of wood, or two or m ...

design. The neck was 5-piece neck, constructed of three pieces of

rock maple ''Acer glabrum'' is a species of maple native to western North America, from southeastern Alaska, British Columbia and western Alberta, east to western Nebraska, and south through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Colorado to California, Ar ...

, with two strips of

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

in between them. The body was initially made from a sandwich of

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

and

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

- a mahogany core, with ash on the front and back. The mahogany core was discontinued in '82, leaving it with a solid ash body. From '79 to '81 they used Ibanez Super 4,

single coil A single coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer, or pickup, for the electric guitar and the electric bass. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal. Single coil pickups are one of the two most po ...

'soapbar' pickups, which were also used in the Roadster basses of the same period. Starting in '82 they change to Ibanez Super P5 and Super J5 pickups, which were Precision and Jazz Bass style pickups in Ibanez' own covers. The MC824 model used a single J6 humbucking pickup with the Ibanez Tri-Sound switch, allowing series, parallel and single coil operation. All Musicians were passive basses, but the majority of models included an active equalizer circuit that could be switched in or out. From '79 to '81 they used a 3-way selector switch to change between the pickups. From '82 onward the two pickup models lost the switch and gained a blend control.

Endorsees

The various Musician models were endorsed and/or used by several high-profile musicians, including

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

Adam Clayton Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Cla ...

of U2, Fleetwood Mac's

John McVie John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleet ...

The Who's The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are ...

John Entwistle John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...

, Mark Egan, Dee Dee Ramone, Mike Porcaro of Toto, Victor Bailey and James Freud of Australian band The Models. Sting's fretless Musician is said to be the instrument he used most in The Police. Adam Clayton used his Musicians as his main instruments from around 1981 through to 1984. He owned an MC824DS, which he favoured, as well as a MC924DS. He later owned and used a MC888 'Bean' bass, which Edge used for "40" on the original Joshua Tree tour and can be seen in shots taken while recording the Zooropa album. Clayton used the MC888 for 'With or without you' on the '17 Joshua Tree tour.

Commemorative model

In 2009, Ibanez produced a limited run of 15 ''MC30TH 30th anniversary Musician basses''. The instruments were supposed to be the same as the original pre 1982 models, although differed in some significant ways. The body was ash, which they'd changed to in 1982, rather than the original ash/mahogany sandwich, but the biggest difference was with the electronics. The Ibanez advertising claimed they had reproduced the original Super 4 single coil pickups and EQ-B preamp/eq. The pickups, which featured wooden covers, were actually humbuckers that sounded nothing like the original single coil models and the preamp was a completely different circuit to the advertised EQ-B. Cosmetically they looked very similar to the pre 1982 models, with the addition of very ornate inlays on the fretboard and headstock and the wooden pickup covers. Built by their best craftsmen, the construction was outstanding. With a list price of US$10,666.65 in 2009, it took a long time for all the basses to sell.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Bass guitars