The official Ibanez Blazer/Roadstar Club

#2,041
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bigtone23 said:
I would wager that would work, as the coils in the J6 do look like standard J coils.
As with J pickups, there are some variables.
1. They need to be the same length. There are neck length and bridge length pickups, as well as small variations of each from various manufacturers.
2. You have to get pickups that line up the polepieces correctly with the cover.
3. Best to get a set that is RW/RP so you can continue to get hum cancelling in series and parallel mode.
4. IIRC, the J6 pickup has ceramic magnets with coils wound around 7.9-8K. Makes sense, wound to sound good in series mode, clear in split and parallel modes.

Finding these is not an issue with many of the boutique and smaller pickup makers being able to wind those right up, as well as with the Duncan custom shop or perhaps a special request from Dimarzio.
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I thought I'd take a look at 'what if the J6 died. They not easy to replace. I had two jazz bridge pickups laying around. One was from a Mikro. The pole pieces didn't align quite properly with the j6 pickup cover holes. So rather than muff the cover, I just took off a couple of ears from each jazz pickup cover, and nasty glued them together with a 2mm partition between them made from a bit of pick guard. Bit of a rough job he he. This made the combined cover width around the same width as the J6 pickup cover. I put the pickups in with some padding under it, like the JS has, but didn't use springs like the JS does. As for the sound. Didn't really notice any difference
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#2,044
Prodigus Filius said:
A change is as good as a holiday. Haven't put strings back on yet
I took out the tri switch too, as nothing of interest except for series, which you don't need a switch for. Upgraded the output socket to a Pure Tone socket and swapped in a 0.1uf cap View attachment 6974050

View attachment 6974051
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I would probably do the same if I only liked one pickup setting. That's why I changed my J bass to Vol/Tone/3 way - I always had both pickups maxed so I never used the individual volumes.

I'm all about simplification.
 
#2,045
Picked this up a couple of weeks ago and once I put some flats on it and set it up, I haven’t been able to put it down.

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It’s an RB680. I’m still getting used to the sound of jazz basses, but this plays like a dream. It’s a lot lighter than I expected, about on par with my Guild Pilot.

It’s got a few blemishes, which suits me fine since I don’t have to worry about adding more, and two of the tuner bushings are missing, but I’ll probably just live with that. The pickups are some unidentified Dimarzios, and I don’t know that I love them, but that’s easy enough to change eventually.

Also it came with a Peavey chainsaw case which is a nice little nostalgic bonus. Ironically, this replaced the Peavey Millenium BXP which I had just bought a couple weeks before as my first foray into jazz basses.
 
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#2,046
definenredefine said:
I would probably do the same if I only liked one pickup setting. That's why I changed my J bass to Vol/Tone/3 way - I always had both pickups maxed so I never used the individual volumes.

I'm all about simplification.
Click to expand...
Same here. A minimalist at heart. Not into the overly complex.
I should clarify that the switch I removed, though having the triple function, wasn't the stock Tri switch, which wasn't in it when I got it. Was just an easily sourced cheap, mini dpdt toggle switch.
 
#2,047
InkCow said:
Picked this up a couple of weeks ago and once I put some flats on it and set it up, I haven’t been able to put it down.
Click to expand...

So YOU got it! I saw the ad for this one and was going to pick it up the next time I was going through North Georgia. I mainly wanted it for the Peavey case, though - I was going to clean up and flip the bass and keep the case. I'm glad a fellow TB'er scooped it up. It's a rare bird, too - from what I could research, the J-style was only made in 1986 or so.
 
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#2,048
ATLbassist said:
So YOU got it! I saw the ad for this one and was going to pick it up the next time I was going through North Georgia. I mainly wanted it for the Peavey case, though - I was going to clean up and flip the bass and keep the case. I'm glad a fellow TB'er scooped it up. It's a rare bird, too - from what I could research, the J-style was only made in 1986 or so.
Click to expand...
Yep, this model was one year only. Heck of a deal, like you said, even if it was just the case, which, outside of the foam (which is largely missing), looks brand new.
 
#2,052
Hi there,

I lost my 1st Bass, the beautiful '81Ibanez Blazer BL-700 TV in a serious accident in an elevator. Neck and body were totally demolished, the elevator stopped, repair impossible. I was 16 years old, broke and sooo sad. My parents supported me to buy my 2nd Bass, a nice Roadstar II RB650 that was modified to become my 1st 5-string (additional Tuner 4R 1L, schaller 3D 5string Bridge). I Love it still, but not the same as the First.

Last week I found a Blazer BL-700 on eBay even in trad. violin finish, but in a bad condition visible even on the photos... I bought it, cleaned it, set it up, put new strings on it and now I'm happy, whole again! The Bass is just one month older than the original was, but now I know what I missed over 40 years. The back is "heavy relic" ;-) and here it is:
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If you got one, keep it and take care!

Tom
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#2,054
Yesterday I took delivery of a black 85 RB850. When it arrived it was badly in need of a setup. Knowing that the bass is almost 40 years old, I'm taking the truss rod slowly. Over the course of several hours, I've got a bit less than half a turn on it. I also lowered the pickups a fair bit. Tomorrow, we'll see what it looks like, and restring it with some DR hibeams. Then adjust the height at the bridge and set the intonation.
So far, the bass is super light and the neck feels great. The action is still kinda weird, and I can't get a bead on the sound yet, but I am hopeful!
 
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#2,055
Well, life gets in the way for a bit, and when you come back, there's new forum software. That's gonna take awhile to get used to...

And if anybody still wants some extra pics of the RB-920 controls, well that will have to wait some more (although it seems like you got everything worked out), as I am now trying to clean up some flood damage. If it ain't one thing, it's another. :meh:
 
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#2,060
Just got my new (old) Roadstar II Deluxe RB 840 fretless MIJ. Really happy with it. The previous owner put a light coat of epoxy on the fretboard. Love the sound and my back loves the fact that it weighs 7ilb 7 oz. Love the Super J6 pickup.

Came with rounds on it which I actually did not mind. Put a set of TI Jazz Flats and she growls oh so lovely. This is my first Ibanez I have ever owned.



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