Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Apr 13, 2020 2:56:36 GMT -6
At first glance, Ibanez might not be a name that springs readily to mind when thinking "cheap guitars." Though they often have pretensions of being a near-boutique brand, Hoshin Gakki (the actual owner of the Ibanez name) have long gone out of their way to ensure that the skills of a master luthier work in harmony with hard-edged Japanese engineering sensibility. The result is many models since the 1970s that have surpassed their roots and become truly iconic -- not to mention highly collectible.
I'm going to tell an interesting little story that took me many hours of research.
There was a highly innovative luthier and design engineer in Bern, Switzerland, named Rolf Spuler. The world lost an innovator when he died too young in 2014.
I can only trace his creations back to the early '90s, but some have mentioned the '80s as his beginning. All Spuler instrument designs apply meticulous engineering to highly fanciful designs, resulting in guitars and basses that not only look extraordinary, but are comfortable to play, and sound incredible.
It may seem that I am running really far afield from the whole "cheap guitars" theme, but bear with me.
Most Spuler guitars were branded Paradis. It's not unusual to see a used Avalon guitar selling for more than $10,000.
Spuler was primarily a bassist. His earliest bass designs were rather straightforward, but he quickly began innovating. He was a pioneer in the use of piezo pickups for electric bass.
This caught the attention of the Ibanez designers, and they struck up a collaboration with Spuler in 1991. The result was the Affirma (AFR) bass, of which Paradis made about 900.
Though 900 instruments over three years is very good for a small company, Ibanez was underwhelmed, and dropped the model.
The AFR featured both magnetic and piezo circuitry. Rather than a typical bridge, the team designed independent one-string string-through-body bridges, each with an in-built piezo saddle. This design greatly reduced vibrational string-to-string interference, resulting in clearer tone. This also greatly simplified design and construction, as any number of strings simply use more saddle assemblies, a boon to other boutique and custom luthiers. (Hipshot presently offers a very similar non-piezo design.) Also unique to the ADR bass is the odd headstock, kept very small (likely to reduce vibrational interference), which requires that the strings be wound around the posts in a manner reversed from typical.
Early in 2020, Ibanez reissued the AFR bass in four models. These retail at $1,500 and $1,600.
A recent color, Deep Twilight Flat (face only) --
What is often overlooked is that Ibanez did not let the AFR design rest. After the early success of their plastic-bodied EDX "ErgoDyne" guitars, Ibanez engineers apparently realized that the material was even better suited to basses. (The Luthite material and casting process was patented by the Westheimer Corporation, apparently for use in the Greg Curbow-designed Cort basses, Wstheimer being the sole Cort importer for the United States.) Ibanez began a series of plastic-body EDB basses ("ErgoDyne Bass"). Still innovating, they moved onto the more sculpted EDC shapes.
At some point, they found that Luthite allowed a great deal of freedom, and turned the AFR into the EDA-900, with a very small body and scooped-out back that make it surprisingly comfortable to play. The extremely long upper horn lets the bass balance very well on a strap. The EDA has four controls for the active circuitry: high boost/cut, low boost/cut, magnetic/piezo pickup balance, volume. The volume of each saddle can be adjusted at the back, as well as some of the tone circuit parameters.
The bass was also available with five strings as the EDA-905.
And that's why this belongs on this forum: the EDA is greatly underrated, often slagged by "purists" as "not so good as the real thing." I have a 905, and I have excellent reason to doubt they are credible. For starters, it is not difficult to locate a good used EDA for less than $500 (often including the original fitted case, because NOTHING else is going to fit in it!), and sometimes under $300, where a recent AFR is a shade under $1,000, and an original model likely at least twice that (if you can even locate one of the 900).
Though the nut width measures out at typical, every time I play it I feel as if it is at least 1/8" wider than standard, an illusion possible caused by the surprisingly thin neck. It is a delight to play, and the timbre is amazing.
The largest problem with the EDA is casing. With that tiny body, it would sort of slosh around in standard cases and gig bags. A major prompt for my purchasing the 905 is that it was properly cased.
The AFR should be at least a "must try" model for any half-serious bassist, and at under $1,000 should be considered a "must buy." But if you see an EDA gathering dust at your local shop, you may be able to steal one for cheap, and I doubt you'd regret the experience.
I'm going to tell an interesting little story that took me many hours of research.
There was a highly innovative luthier and design engineer in Bern, Switzerland, named Rolf Spuler. The world lost an innovator when he died too young in 2014.
I can only trace his creations back to the early '90s, but some have mentioned the '80s as his beginning. All Spuler instrument designs apply meticulous engineering to highly fanciful designs, resulting in guitars and basses that not only look extraordinary, but are comfortable to play, and sound incredible.
It may seem that I am running really far afield from the whole "cheap guitars" theme, but bear with me.
Most Spuler guitars were branded Paradis. It's not unusual to see a used Avalon guitar selling for more than $10,000.
Spuler was primarily a bassist. His earliest bass designs were rather straightforward, but he quickly began innovating. He was a pioneer in the use of piezo pickups for electric bass.
This caught the attention of the Ibanez designers, and they struck up a collaboration with Spuler in 1991. The result was the Affirma (AFR) bass, of which Paradis made about 900.
Though 900 instruments over three years is very good for a small company, Ibanez was underwhelmed, and dropped the model.
The AFR featured both magnetic and piezo circuitry. Rather than a typical bridge, the team designed independent one-string string-through-body bridges, each with an in-built piezo saddle. This design greatly reduced vibrational string-to-string interference, resulting in clearer tone. This also greatly simplified design and construction, as any number of strings simply use more saddle assemblies, a boon to other boutique and custom luthiers. (Hipshot presently offers a very similar non-piezo design.) Also unique to the ADR bass is the odd headstock, kept very small (likely to reduce vibrational interference), which requires that the strings be wound around the posts in a manner reversed from typical.
Early in 2020, Ibanez reissued the AFR bass in four models. These retail at $1,500 and $1,600.
A recent color, Deep Twilight Flat (face only) --
What is often overlooked is that Ibanez did not let the AFR design rest. After the early success of their plastic-bodied EDX "ErgoDyne" guitars, Ibanez engineers apparently realized that the material was even better suited to basses. (The Luthite material and casting process was patented by the Westheimer Corporation, apparently for use in the Greg Curbow-designed Cort basses, Wstheimer being the sole Cort importer for the United States.) Ibanez began a series of plastic-body EDB basses ("ErgoDyne Bass"). Still innovating, they moved onto the more sculpted EDC shapes.
At some point, they found that Luthite allowed a great deal of freedom, and turned the AFR into the EDA-900, with a very small body and scooped-out back that make it surprisingly comfortable to play. The extremely long upper horn lets the bass balance very well on a strap. The EDA has four controls for the active circuitry: high boost/cut, low boost/cut, magnetic/piezo pickup balance, volume. The volume of each saddle can be adjusted at the back, as well as some of the tone circuit parameters.
The bass was also available with five strings as the EDA-905.
And that's why this belongs on this forum: the EDA is greatly underrated, often slagged by "purists" as "not so good as the real thing." I have a 905, and I have excellent reason to doubt they are credible. For starters, it is not difficult to locate a good used EDA for less than $500 (often including the original fitted case, because NOTHING else is going to fit in it!), and sometimes under $300, where a recent AFR is a shade under $1,000, and an original model likely at least twice that (if you can even locate one of the 900).
Though the nut width measures out at typical, every time I play it I feel as if it is at least 1/8" wider than standard, an illusion possible caused by the surprisingly thin neck. It is a delight to play, and the timbre is amazing.
The largest problem with the EDA is casing. With that tiny body, it would sort of slosh around in standard cases and gig bags. A major prompt for my purchasing the 905 is that it was properly cased.
The AFR should be at least a "must try" model for any half-serious bassist, and at under $1,000 should be considered a "must buy." But if you see an EDA gathering dust at your local shop, you may be able to steal one for cheap, and I doubt you'd regret the experience.
As you please, any details at all, however peripheral they may seem, are welcome here.