WarmRoom Records Stage on September 27, 2025

Date: September 27, 2025 

Event: Comrade! Vol. 31 

Venue: WarmRoom Records, Putra Square, Kuantan 

Background Music: Nervedeless

https://www.instagram.com/nervedeless

Comrade! Vol. 31 - September 27, 2025

WarmRoom Records is proudly presenting a storm of noise, sweat and resistance Comrade! Vol. 31 - From the Sweaty Walls of WarmRoom show on 27/09/2025 (Saturday).

Where Klang Valley’s distorted thunder crashes into Kuantan’s raging underground fire. A night built on fuzz, feedback, and fury. It’s a grunge night! Lineup:

1. Sonic Star Radio Jamm (Kuantan)

2. Pity Little Suzy (Kuantan)

3. Stillaway (KL)

4. Soma (Kuantan)

5. Nervedeless (KL)

6. After Party: Perusahaan Yeast (DJ)

Contact number on the flyer for further info & don’t forget to get your pass. Cheers!

No racism. No fascism. No drugs. No alcohol. No violence.

COOPERATION NOT COMPETITION

Comrade! Vol. 31

Comrade! Vol. 31

Evaluating a Used "Ibanez" Five-String Bass

Preamble

Folks, this five-string bass came in at around noon yesterday. It's used, and features an Ibanez logo on the headstock face. The current owner is willing to let it go for RM500. Now, here's the thing. Two of my buddies have their eyes on this bass, and one of them managed to persuade the seller to let me take a look at it first. And that's how I have my grubby little fingers on it now. Both my pals want three bits of information from me. One, if the bass is a genuine Ibanez; two, what needs to be fixed; and three, the projected cost.

Headstock - Face

Let's start off at the headstock, then. We have an Ibanez logo on the headstock face, and five tarnished tuning machines in a 3+2 configuration. All five are wobbly, and even after tightening, do not turn smoothly. This is a clear indication of worn-out gears. The black plastic nut, meanwhile, is unglued and pops out easily. The good news, though, is that the truss rod nut can still be tightened or loosened.

Headstock Face

Nut Not Glued in Place

Truss Rod Still Works

Headstock - Back

The back of the headstock is bereft of any sticker, stamp, or marking indicating the serial number, model or country of origin. Red Flag #1, folks. And, looking at the backs of the tuning machines, those white stickers indicate that they're retrofits. Which makes no difference, really, as they'll need to be replaced anyway.

Back of Headstock

No Sticker or Stamp

Fretboard

The fretboard on this bass is dry, grimy and dusty, with a few discolored patches. And those stars? They're just stickers covering pearloid dot inlays. The frets, meanwhile, are discolored and corroded to the point of being rusty. Quite a few, especially in the lower register, are marred by divots. 

Fretboard and Frets

"Star" Inlay Stickers

Neck

The neck is obviously maple, and features a scarf joint where the headstock connects to the neck proper. Surprisingly, the neck heel bears no identifying stamps as one would expect. That's Red Flag #2.

Back of Maple Neck

Neck Heel - No Stamp

Nothing Here Either

Body - Front

The body features two humbuckers, four controls, and a vintage-style bridge with "barrel" saddles. What's interesting here is that whoever did the paint job did not mask the neck pocket from overspray. This is the first time I've seen such sloppy work on an Ibanez instrument. Red Flag #3, folks.

Front of Body

Overspray in Neck Pocket

Close Up of Pickups and Bridge

Body - Back

Besides the obvious sculpted bolt-on neck joint, there isn't much to say about the back of this body. But wait, there's a minor niggle here. Looking closely at the outline of the back cavity cover, one can see that it's way oversized when compared to the control cavity. The control cavity walls also lack the routing one normally sees on Ibanez instruments. In other words, the cover, once screwed in place, sits not flush, but proud of the back of the body. Let's count this as Red Flag #4, then.

Back of Body

Oversized Cover and No Routing

Electronics

Ah, now we get to the pièce de résistance, the electronics. We'll start with the fact that this bass makes no sound save for a loud hum, indicating an open circuit. Although wiggling the jack plug does result in intermittent output, it's still marred by humming and crackling. A closer look at the control cavity shows that someone has meddled with the wiring, but that's not all. The two leads to the corroded output jack have just been twisted, not soldered, onto the hot and ground lugs. This certainly explains a lot. As for the pickups, only the neck is working. The bridge pickup is as dead as a dodo. 

Control Cavity

Evidence of Tampering

Corroded Output Jack

Close Up of Solder Lugs

Bridge Pickup - No Output

Conclusion

Folks, we've counted four red flags so far, which strongly suggests that this is NOT a genuine Ibanez instrument. We've also examined the bass in detail and identified what needs to be done to get it back in shape. My buddies have been informed of these findings via phone calls and WhatsApp, and the projected cost, which I reckon to be between RM600 and RM700. The ball's in your court, guys.         

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025 - Image Gallery

Images in this post were taken on September 21, 2025 at Kompleks Teruntum, Kuantan and are courtesy of Damir Idris, Ya Thora, Tok Sarif, Ajib Vater and Kurnia Pianist.

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

Overhauling an RCE PJ Bass - Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 4 - The Overhaul Begins

Let the overhaul commence, then. That pickguard? Well, it's been scrubbed clean, for starters. Topside, stubborn remnants of the clear protective plastic layer trapped beneath the pot and output jack nuts have been removed. Meanwhile, I've also scraped the burnt section on the underside clean, and with the help of sticker remover spray, detached the existing aluminum foil shielding.

Cleaned Pickguard - Top

Cleaned Pickguard - Underside

That grimy sunburst body has not been forgotten, folks. A firm rubdown with a piece of cloth and naphtha has removed most of the crud and rust, paving the way for, you guessed it, a few rounds of polishing with GetSun Carnauba Car Wax. No, this is not a promo for GetSun. It's just that this particular product gets the job done without harming polyester finishes.

Polishing in Progress

Remember that grimy hardwood fretboard and tarnished frets? Well, they're a thing of the past. At this stage of the overhaul, I'm stopping at scraping, as conditioning with lemon oil will have to wait until just before new strings are installed.

Scraping the Fretboard

After straightening the neck, I discovered five high frets (2, 4, 6, 10 and 12). Oh yes, we're in for some spot leveling. Nothing out of the ordinary, folks. It's basically marking the tops of the frets in question followed by leveling, recrowning, and polishing. You know the drill. 

High Frets Marked

Leveling the High Frets

Recrowning in Progress

Polishing the Frets

Spot Leveling Completed

Overhauling an RCE PJ Bass - Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 3 - Electronics

Basically, being a PJ, this bass features a P-style neck pickup and a J-style bridge pickup. However, something is decidedly different, electronics-wise. Now, one would expect to find, as I did, two volumes and a master tone. Not on this bass. Both pickups are connected to one volume pot (master volume), which means both are always on, and there's no way to select either pickup on its own.

Master Volume and Tone Pots

Master Volume Pot Wiring

Output Jack and Bridge Ground

Both pickups are functioning normally despite being covered in corrosion, dust, and grime. No worries, though. A good clean and polish should do them a world of good. However, those corroded screws and springs will have to go. I'll most probably be replacing the screws and putting in high density foam in lieu of springs. 

P-Style Neck Pickup - Top

P-Style Neck Pickup - Underside

J-Style Bridge Pickup - Top

J-Style Bridge Pickup - Underside

  

Overhauling an RCE PJ Bass - Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 2 - Hardware

Now that we've taken a look at the neck and body of this RCE PJ Bass, let's move on to the hardware, most of which is metal. At the headstock end, those four open gear tuning machines have begun to rust, are deeply pitted, and do not turn smoothly.

Open Gear Tuning Machines

Meanwhile, looking at the vintage-style bridge, the first thing that comes to mind is corrosion. The rectangular neck plate fares a little better, though, displaying lots of scratches but hardly any corrosion. Taking the bridge apart reveals rusty intonation screws, intonation springs and saddle height adjustment hex screws.

Bridge, Neck Plate and Gasket - Top

Bridge, Neck Plate and Gasket - Underside

Rusty Bridge Components

As one might expect, a bass of this style utilizes lots of metal hardware, including screws, washers, nuts, springs, and the like. As can be seen in the image below, corrosion and grime are the order of the day. The two knurled control knobs, for example, have lost most of their chrome plating, revealing bare rusty metal. Well, we'll have to determine what can be saved and what will simply have to be replaced.

Various Rusty Components

This bass features a three-ply WBW pickguard secured to the body with 11 screws. Removing this pickguard took hours, as most of the corroded screws were impossible to turn. Worst of the lot was one screw at the lower horn. It was not only stuck fast in the wood, but also to the pickguard itself. While I did eventually manage to pry the pickguard off the body, this screw took with it a sizeable sliver of wood. Now, the screw was still stuck in the pickguard despite my best efforts. I had to use a mini blow torch to heat what was left of the screw, and quickly push it out. In the images below, I've circled the screw hole in question. 

Pickguard - Top

Pickguard - Underside