Details & History
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the studio
fretless, 1980, has been fitted with a double whammy
floating trem system, with independent action for the E-A & D-G
string pairs.
I didn't do this, I
wouldn't have.... & I've had to jam it up in the rear with coins so
it doesn't throw the thing out of tune. an amazing range of fretless
sounds, but mostly with that 80s slightly synthy tone to them. this
is down to the semi-parametric eq with it's six-way filter frequency
control. the small switch just brings in a booster; amount
determined by the knob nearest to it. all the tone adjustment is
active & it's on all the time there's a jack in the bass. only the
parametric selector was a chicken head originally; I stole the other
two knobs for one of my other ibanez.
currently in D-G-C-F
tuning, w/ flatwounds.
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the 924DS,
1982, is stock except for a finger-guard round the active
switch, & a two-colour LED (green is normal/battery check, red is
active-on). the pickups are the later version, which are actually P
& J clones under ibanez covers. the big old ibanez single coil jobs
sound better, i.m.o., & I'm looking for a pair of them to replace
these with one day. involves routing, unfortunately.
standard ibanez
features for this year- blend pot (but note the p/u switch has gone)
& 3-band eq, + master volume & tone.
I may have changed
the order of the pots to put the master volume nearest the
strings... can't remember. & I put a pull-switch on the tone control
for switching the phase of the pickups. all my musicians have this
mod.
currently tuned
B-E-A-D.
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the 940DS
#1, 1982, has been butchered by a previous owner, who
routed it to take huge dimarzio humbuckers & lost the covers for
the ibanez P & J clones. at least he sent me the pickups.... but I
couldn't refit them. so instead, I had this plate made & fitted a
decent sounding pair of schallers with the coils tapped. they're a
lot like the original ibanez single coils. I can just about live
with the cosmetics now.
same electrics as
the 924 above, but the knobs seem to be in different places.....
regular roundwounds,
E-A-D-G.
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the 940DS
#2, 1981 (the alphonso), so called because the seller said
that alphonso johnson had requested a semi-fretted musician. so this
one had frets & oval markers as far as the ninth fret, & then an
unlined board after that. other differences from the other 940 are
this one still has the ibanez single coil monsters (much better
tone, i.m.o.) & still has a p/u switch aswell as the blend pot. the
actual position of the controls varies quite a bit with these
changes. also, note the sculpted end of the fingerboard...... gold
tuners too- I always wondered why the musicians had gold bridges but
chromed tuners. odd.
the fretlines were
quite crudely added- almost like chalklines on a blackboard- but the
bass is far & away the nicest fretless I've played. apart from my
defretted 1978 4001.... :-)
also wearing
flatwounds. thomastik, in fact, & B-E-A-D.
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the 980,
1980, this has the older single coil pickups & simpler
electrics. why, I don't know, but we're down to a simple two-band eq
here, a blend pot & a pickup switch, master volume & tone. to be
honest, this thing is quite enough of a handful without turning up
the bass or the treble. it makes the right sort of noise for "achilles'
last stand", sort of like a rickenbacker 12 string electric but
lower.... thunderous.... difficult to play; because of the slim
neck, you're fooled into thinking it has a lighter action, & it
requires some determination to keep the thing from rattling at you.
& you really have to use a pick, downstrokes. it's worth it, though.
I am not convinced
that the scale length is any shorter than the other models- I will
measure it & get back to you.
eE-aA-dD-gG
roundwounds.
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