Anyone have experience with the Ibanez GSR200?

[papersoul]

Anyone have the GSR200?

I was going get this one off a friend who got it new and never used it. In perfect shape, but the pickups were very weak and didn't record well. I assume it was the pickups and they could easily be replaced.

Instead I picked up an old Peavey Fury USA made which sounds great but the neck is bowed pretty bad so it looks like I made the wrong choice even though it has great tone.

[sleepingtiger]

Those are like $200 new. I think you'd do much better with an OLP or something from Rondo.

Tony

[JohnSS]

GSR 200 is usually a very good sounding and excellent neck playing bass in my experience. It's possible that the battery was dead (there is an active pre-amp), but even in passive mode, the bass usually has a pretty good sound. Maybe it needed new strings? I think it's one of the best bang for the buck beginner/intermediate basses for those with smaller hands. The neck is wonderful and rock solid - I can do Victor Wooten type tapping on it without getting false notes.

My main basses are a very rare Ibanez post lawsuit Artist bass and a lawsuit Fujigen gakki '76 Jazz bass. I also play a Thunderbird.

[jeff25]

I picked up an older SR400 (P/J-style,passive pups and active EQ) to learn on ($150!) After a set of flats and what I thought was a decent setup,I really liked playing it but I became concerned about the pups in it. The high strings weren't putting out near as much as the low ones,and the pup height was fairly extreme to make up for it. I've been debating a pickup swap ( I really like how it feels and looks) or just getting a higher level bass.
Anyway,to your question,I picked up a new amp last week,one that I like much more than what I was playing. That fired me up to see what I could do with my bass. I re-strung it and went all through the setup again. After a truss rod tweak,lowered action,intonation and actually lowering (and leveling!) the pickups,It's a whole different playing experience. It's playing easier,chording better and sounding really sweet with the new amp (Which is actually smaller than my old one)
I was shocked at how different the new setup was compared to what I did to it when I bought it. My point is,make sure you're getting everything there is to be had from it before you give up on it,and look at your rig as a whole before you decide what to do.