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Ibanez GSR205 Bass

Got this free, plus RM600 in cash, for trading in my trusty old Fender P Bass. The P Bass nows sits proudly in Vincent Chan's showroom at Kuantan Music, Kuantan. Regrets? Of course, the P Bass was magic; and I'll probably never own the likes of it again. Reality check : I needed to reproduce synth bass lines on lots of songs and 4 strings just didn't fit the bill. Life is hard; but one has to survive somehow. This gloss-black Ibanez is made in China, and features the following specs :
Agathis body, maple neck, 22-fret (medium) rosewood fingerboard with round pearloid markers, 2 Jazz Bass-style pickups (DXS 1 Neck PU, DXS 2 Bridge PU), Chrome B15 bridge and 34" scale. The neck joint is smooth, and secured by 4 screws. Electronics are 2 volumes, 1 master tone; and a special bass-boost circuit known as "Phat II EQ;" driven by a single 9V battery. Shielding is good, the exposed wood surfaces in the control cavity are coated with a conductive carbon-based paint; and the underside of the plastic control cavity cover is fully shielded with metal foil.
The only thing I had to modify were the electronics, which were not up to gigging specs. The pots wore out easily and became scratchy real fast. The Phat II was a battery-guzzler and didn't do that much for the sound : you can get the same effect on any bass amp with decent EQ. Plus, there's no bypass option for the active electronics; it's basically "ON" all the time you're playing.
So, I ended up unhooking the Phat II circuit (the mini-board and pot have been retained for cosmetic purposes) and rewiring the bass in the time-tested Jazz Bass configuration. No more battery hassles, and it works just as good as before, if not better. Here are some pics :

Full Frontal View
Front View Full

Rear View (Full) :
Rear View Full

Body (Front) :

Body (Rear) :

Bridge :

Headstock (Front) :

Headstock (Rear) :

Neck Joint :

Control Cavity after Mods :

Original Circuitry, courtesy of Ibanez :
GSR205 Wiring Diagram

Present Jazz Bass-style Circuitry (image courtesy of Stewart-McDonald) :
Typical Jazz Bass Wiring

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