The model was referred to as an Ibanez 59'er. I bought the same guitar, brand new, in 1974 as my first electric. Since then, many guitars have come and gone. That 59'er, played steadily for almost a half-century, still plays and sounds as good as any of my Gibson's or Fender's. It's sitting in a stand next to a 100 watt Marshall as we speak. I love that darn thing. Great video young man. You're pretty good on that guitar too.
I've always found Japanese instruments (mainly basses) of the 80s era to be just as good or even superior to their American counterparts. Easy to play, excellent quality and craftsmanship and built to last.
@@santrixhimself3679 I keep reading/hearing great stuff about the Blazer basses, what always kept me away from trying out one was my fear that it'd have the classic thick P Bass type neck. The reason I love Ibanez basses has always been the slim/narrow necks and I wonder if these basses have that same style of neck! They do look nice though, especially in those natural finishes!
I just checked my Japanese market-made in Korea ESP Les Paul bass, and yep it has the open book headstock. Funnily enough the truss rod cover isn't a bell, but just a curve.
Funny you'd mention Edwards, I saw a listing for a new Edward's Explorer up for sale on Reverb, and the seller mentioned that he can't sell this guitar to customers in the USA at the behest of ESP USA. Probably because ESP doesn't want to get into a lawsuit with Gibson like Ibanez over trademarks. I think it's fair game if the guitar were to be sold used.
I'm pretty sure all Greco LP's have it. I know my lpc is a proper open book. Also set neck, thing plays like a freaking champ. I definitely recommend it
I have the exact same guitar. Mine’s from 1976 and it’s fantastic. Bought it for around €650 and it was totally worth my money. Amazing guitar and waaaaaay better than most real expensive Gibsons in my opinion.
Hey..jvdd... I picked up a I picked up a 78 pf300 Ibanez when I was 17 now I'm 58 I still have it and did some electronic work and change the settle in the bridge I almost sold it I'm glad I didn't playing it right now bro
I've a fondness for 70s Greco guitars. Very similar. Same factories used, I think. The Maxon pickups are great. Not as easy to find bargains now the market has caught onto how good the guitars are, but you can still get some great deals.
I bought a used set neck Greco Les Paul Custom copy in high school (1980s) for $75. It was killer. I sold it to my friends brother because he liked the Sex Pistols and it was a white LP like they played. I wish I still had that guitar. The quality was evident even to a teenager.
I used to have one of the old Ibanez AS100 made in Japan in 1979, a 335 replica, amazing sound and quality, I had to sell it regrettably but it's been one of the best guitars I've ever had and was even better than the original Gibson 335
Hi, - fellow Dub here. I have one almost identical to this one. As far as I can tell, it was built in 1974, as the end of the neck, where it's cantilevered over the body, is not rounded. I've had it since 1979, when I was 17. I bought it second-hand from my friend Fran O'Reilly, of Mount Brown. It was my first electric. It still plays really well. When I play it now, it feels like a very old friend. My first acoustic was also an Ibanez from 1974 (Concord Series, 697), which I've had since 1977. Really lovely to see another one just like mine. Thanks for the video, man.
Those guitar was made by Matsumoku, they made guitars for a lot of Brands. Most les Paul and SG models were in fact shared across multiple Brands, Vega Power (owned by Martin) for example was one of those brands. Awesome guitar! 👍🏼
Great video, really interesting. And I agree thoroughly how odd it is that Japanese guitars were considered inferior almost universally. Some of them were pretty cheap in all sorts of ways, but some of them were always utter quality. I've got an '89 Orville (i.e. official Japanese Gibson) LP custom and it's still the joint best LP I've ever played. I also have an Antoria LP ripoff of a similar vintage to the Ibanez here, built almost exactly the same though probably from cheaper wood. It's always felt a little rickety, and cheap, but at the same time it also plays brilliantly and sounds incredible. The pickups that came in it are just amazing. No wax-potting, so I switched out the bridge for a Bare Knuckle, and the former bridge unit went in the neck of my Orville. I've yet to really hear a better pickup for the neck position, and I've fitted some incredibly fancy stuff for clients in the last few years. I'd love to hear about the Jackson next; I'm already looking forward to it.
Some MIJ guitars were inferior to Gibsons, some were better & some not. So you need to check it out. My LP copy is not as good, but after some mods it’s pretty good. My MIJ Ibanez though I consider an equal
@@Timbo6669 The other joint best LP I've played was a Greco belonging to a friend. Seems they really are just quality. Going to have to look out for them a bit more actively
@@johnnyexponential7229 A good choice but as said earlier they [MIJ guitars] had some consistency issues during the 70's and early 80's. Mine is a Peter Frampton special [EG600; the one with 3 humbuckers], as the specials tended to be more consistent with quality. I wasn't disappointed.
Japanese cars and motorcycles were considered inferior back in the 60s 70s into the 80s and early 90s until the big three got seriously into economic front wheel drive platforms and have been drug by the Japanese in quality dependability and every other measurable statistic until current day . The US automakers still don’t really compete in the markets dominated by Japanese automakers the only real competitor is the Korean automakers and they are quickly approaching Japanese levels of excellence in fact their build quality may even exceed Japan on some models.
In the video of Mamas Boys, the black flying V Pat is playing was originally custom built for Vivian Campbell, he didn't like it so gave it to Pat. A friend of mine is currently upgrading it for Pat and I get the pleasure of recording pickup samples on it. Lovely guitar. A V with a 25.5" scale length, a Fender like feel and a Kahler tremolo.
i'm glad to see you're accuracy on the reason for an impending lawsuit: The head stock. by utter dumb chance long, long ago, i bought an Ibanez 2661 Les Paul. It has the "open book" head stock, and sports an artistic vine inlay on the fret board. I had it appraised by Killer Vintage about 10 years ago, and it was a paltry $500 to $550 U.S. ....nothing to retire on! But i'd never sell it anyway. Too many fun memories. Great video, pal!
Like a lot of things in the 70's and 80's (cars, electronics, etc...) American manufacturing really dropped the ball on guitars and Japan swept in and took full advantage of the situation.
An unfortunate side effect of a crappy American economy during the 70s. Recession and shrinking opportunities had American manufacturers start outsourcing production overseas, using cheaper components, and cutting corners overall. This trend has unfortunately persisted throughout the 80s and on to today.
From what I remember, William Deming was largely responsible for the shift in high quality manufacturing practices and total quality management in Japan during the 70s and 80s.
I've got an Aria 5522n, which is also a lawsuit guitar. Les Paul copy with a natural finish. My dad bought it for me decades ago, and I recently did a full teardown & cleaning on it. Tiniest control cavity I've ever seen!
First of all, thanks for answering some questions I had before watching this video. I was wondering about the pick up configuration, so thanks for answering that. You get a great sound out of your axe. Robbo would be proud. I have a "Lawsuit" Ibanez Les Paul as well, but it's a post 1976 model, and it might be one of the last ones. It has the post 1976 head stock, not the imitation Gibson "Open Book" head stock that yours has. And I've always wondered about the wood, but after watching your video, I'm going to assume that it's ash. The body and neck are totally BLONDE! Blonde body, and neck, which, I assume are ash, and a MAPLE fret board. It also has two twin single coil pickups. Plays like a dream. Sounds fantastic, and the action is like cutting through butter with a hot knife. I wouldn't use D'Addario strings, but Ernie Ball slinky, but that's my preference, since that's what I usually use on all my Gibsons and Epiphones. (I use GHS Boomers for my Fenders and Squiers) You said the Mama's Boys sticker was on there when you got it as a gift. Do you know if it was originally owned by anybody in that band, or if it was owned by a fan? I wouldn't put a sticker on the body proper, but the pick guard, instead. Oh, well, what's done is done. Anyway, thanks for posting that video, and sharing the information. Like I said, you answered quite a few questions I've had for over 20 years about my model. Now I'm on the hunt for an Ibanez lawsuit SG! Wish me luck, because I think I'm gonna need it. You wouldn't happen to have a four leaf shamrock lying around that you could possibly spare, now do you? .
i've got a 1976 Deluxe 59er which still has the bell cover and the open book headstock. serial number starts with C, so its probably made in march 1976. from looking at other models and serial numbers of that year i think they switched the design in june/july. even though the body is kind of semi hollow and it has a bold on neck, it is my favourite les paul. the neck is just great. i usually dont like les paul because of their necks. the neck on the 59er is something elso though. almost feels like a good slim fender neck.
Ibanez also made an own design LP look alike the "Custom Agent" but with a mandolin headstock but with another older Gibson logo - this had a hollow ply top top just like the Gretch Round-up they did not have to carve the tops
I have got my hands on a 1975 pre-lawsuit red Ibanez les paul custom. MIJ, prestige level for today standards. Also the best Les Paul I have ever played. Also the Super 70s pickups sound so good. I have made a couple of guitar covers with it so far. I love it. Would never sell it.
I bought my Ibanez Les Paul new in 1974. It has the headstock shape and bell truss rod cover. Doesn't have the lozenge design on the headstock. It's blank. The fret inlays are like Gibson. It's only had light use so in great shape for it's age and sounds wonderful. I installed Gibson hum buckers long ago and Schaller machine heads.
Legend has it that Scott Gorham nailed his audition with "some cheap Japanese Les Paul copy." Likely a Fugigen or a Matsumoku... Greco, Ibanez, Tokai, Electra, Aria...... all worthy contenders.
Enjoyed this. As a naive guitarist working a full time job in my first year post high school, in either 1975 or early 1976 when I could afford it I bought an Ibanez lawsuite SG as my first electric guitar. Difficult as it might be to comprehend for guitarists today, Ibanez was an unknown brand at the time. The SG body shape brought to prominence in the late 1960s and dawning 1970s by guitarists like George Harrison, Tony Iommi and the bassist Andy Fraser from Free had positioned it as an instrument holding great image appeal. Of course I'd heard of Fender and Gibson, but thought the Spanish sounding Ibanez was a strange brand name for a guitar made in Japan!? Nevertheless, the store salesman didn't have to work hard to convince me of its virtues to sell it to me. Drop dead gorgeous in its Cherry Red with a build quality and finish which put Gibson and Fender to shame in the characteristic Japanese more, it was presented in an (Ibanez supplied) plush gold lined hard case, all for reasonable and modest sum a fraction of the price of a Gibson. This was in the last days of the JPY favourable exchange rate. I sold it a few years later as other life interests and career pressures were prioritised and guitar playing was relegated to a hiatus for 40 years. If only for nostalgic reasons now, I wish I hadn't.
I started playing acoustic guitar in 1982. My first electric guitar was a 1975 Aria Les Paul Custom with a bolt on neck. It was a lawsuit guitar with the open book headstock and five ply binding on the front and rear of the body and on the headstock. I bought it in 1985 for $150. It was my main guitar up until 1994 when I sold it. I had other electric guitars in 94 but the Aria was my main guitar. I sold it because I wore it out so much that it was going to cost more than what is was worth to refret it. Fast forward to 2019 and I bought a 1977 Aria Pro II Les Paul Custom with a set neck with the five ply binding on the front and rear of the body and on the open book headstock. This guitar was a copy of the Norlin era Gibson with the shovel head style headstock. Then in 2020 I bought a 1975 Aria Les Paul Custom with a bolt on neck the same as my first electric guitar. So I refurbished both guitars and put the same pickups in both guitars as what I had in my first guitar. Dimarzio Super 3 Distortion and PAF pickups. With all new hardware, electronics and pickups, both guitars sound, play and feel awesome! I love the Gibson lawsuit guitars from Ibanez, Aria and Burny. All of those guitars were coming out of the Motsumoto factory in Japan and they just slapped the name on the headstock for who ever they were making guitars for that quarter period in the year at the time.
It looked light when you handled it, so I wasn't surprised to learn that it isn't a solid body. The shallower headstock angle makes sense to me. Real LP's are too heavy IMO, and have tuning issues because of the steep angle.
Back in the early 80s a friend of mine brought me this very beat up Les Paul copy that I proceeded to heavily modify. Bridge and tail piece replaced with a Kahler tremolo, non-potted pickups replaced with Jackson's and my own crazy paint job, which people still flip out over. After finally doing some research it turns out to be one of these early 70s Ibanez "law suite" guitars. Still have it.
I´ve had the exact same guitar Model for about 25 years. It was pretty good. But I changed a lot, damaged it, gave her a new finish and et the end sold it. She still lives hopefully anywhere. These guitars are great! The Ibanez copys from the 70 pre Lawsuit ära are very good intruments. I also have an Black Beauty Paula and a Stratocaster of that time period. Great Models too!
Well, back in 1979, my dad bought me my first electric guitar; It was an Ibanez PF200 les paul copy. A friggin GREAT guitar!! My first live shows were with her too!! P.S. I remember Mama's Boys. They rocked!
Around 84 or 85 my father bought me a 75 or 76 Ibanez LP. It was my first as well. I pawned it when I was about 22. Didn't touch another guitar until about 7 years ago. Now desperately searching for another 70s Ibanez. I know I'll never see my guitar again but it's a dream of mine that I may at least find one that's close. Cheers!
Very nice. I received a no-name SG from 1970something as a gift. It has the Gibson headstock and bell truss rod cover...no text anywhere on the guitar. It has the super low frets which are great for very low action. The 2 humbuckers were replaced with seymour duncan. The color is a very very dark brown with black and chrome hardware, tophat? knobs, and white binding all the way around the neck and headstock. It's weight distribution is balanced and plays great! I call it a lawsuit even if it's a no-name😀. Your Ibanez LP looks and sounds amazing! I enjoyed your playing and story too
I have a Starfield LP Copy from 1977 and almost the whole set up looks the same. It plays like a dream. I was searching for a video with the same pickups that I have.
I've played one of these and it was objectively one of the best guitars I've ever played. It kills every other LP style guitar I've played save for LTD or ESP examples.
Great video! I have an Ibanez Lawsuit LP (not sure of the year) black w/ gold hardware but it was my #2 behind an '81 LP Custom for years. Got me through my college years playing original and cover gigs. It didn't sing quite as well as the '81 but was a fantastic backup and great if I wanted a change of pace or needed to 'lighten' things up a bit (the '81 is HEAVY) or have something tuned differently for quick changes.
G’day from Australia. I have the EXACT same guitar except it was purchased with the name/brand plate “Navarra”. If you look closely at the 2351M model in the 1973 Ibanez catalogue you’ll notice there’s NO brand name on the headstock. I suspect that enabled an importer, like mine in Australia, to put their own name/brand in the instrument. I’ve owned mine since 1973 and often wondered what it was worth but would never sell it. But now I’m sure it’s an actual “lawsuit” Ibanez made guitar. Thanks for the video - I’ve never seen another like mine before.
Man, I've been chasing those for decades! When I lived in LA, they could be had for well under $500 all day. I got to play a '76 Destroyer that felt near identical to my then '05 Gibson Explorer ('76 reissue). The Destroyer was just heavier & obviously the difference of 19 yrs. From what I remember, there were big playability differences between the bolt on chambered ones & the set neck solid body ones. (At least I remember them being solid body). Great vid & clean playing!! ✌🤘
The Ibanez catalogue shots you showed remind me very much of the Antoria catalogue I had back in the '70's. I have a Futura that I reckon was made in '74 as it has no serial No. That's the Korina Moderne copy for those of you that are taking notes.
I had one exactly like that! I loved it! It was burgled from my house in '98,........I've still got that case, though! Hehe (I wired a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, the neck pickup sounded great)
Cool video! Keep those old import guitars relevant! Great guitars. Prices have gone up steadily. Brings back memories of Aria Pro ii, Aspen, hondo, and the list goes on......
Lovely guitar.. I have a 1971 2351 Gold top, a few battle scars and not as clean as yours. Your guitar is a 1973 model, that year they squared off the bottom of the fretboard as it was rounded for 1971 and 1972. Its a keeper and plays just as nice as any of the Gibsons I have, in fact has a solid feeling in the neck the Gibsons just dont do... I love mine and will will go to the grave with me.
Toughest solo I learned at 15! Stone Cold off of Thunder and Lightning! I was a Priest fan but alway loved Thin Lizzy. Sad losing Phil. But John Sykes is the man! Joel Hoekstra lives right near me and can remember him being at our shows along with the guys in Enuff’s Z’Nuff, and I wasn’t a fan boy but the rest of the band went to Disturbed’s Record Release Party. So many greats moved from Chicago Illinois and even cow town Terra Haute Indiana to L.A. in the states. Great channel brother
i saw Mamas Boys a few times in Portland Maine USA back in the 80's. They were always part of the Triple bill with bands like Y&T, Dokken, King Kobra etc. I liked them.
My friend Alex has one of these. I believe it's a 1974 or 75? He got it brand new for his birthday when he was 13 y.o. He still has it after all these years. Great guitar!
i have a Japanese 1974 Electra les paul copy. wow it is as good or even better. love the cut away on back side top of body. fixes tha hang angle for me that irritated the shit out of me in the gibson. not knocking gibson ,but giving credit where it is due. the electra sounds incredible and feels great.
My first guitar in 1984-5 was a Cimar by Ibanez LP copy like this. Bolt on, sunburst with two double-cream Japanese Super Distortion copies. It had the sure grip knobs, the Ibanez bridge with more adjustment travel of saddles and a carved like the tree of life wide and flat tailpiece, gold hardware. Cimar was a cheaper line of Ibanez with Les Paul and Strat copies, probably to not compete directly with the big brands.
Tokai also had/have the 'Open Book' headstock and 'Bell' truss rod cover. I have a 'Love Rock' from 1985. Saw Mammas Boys a couple of times, at festivals and if I remember correctly, supporting the Scorpions in the early - mid 80's.
Nice to see that guitar close up. I doubt a bolt on neck LP copy would ever be so well made now. Now, I might be wrong, but I think Norlin era Les Pauls with maple necks also reduced the headstock angle but went back to the "vintage" angle to satisfy their customers. Those Norlin era Gibsons were the ones being copied...
I had a lawsuit Ibanez, it was the Custom LP copy made to look like a '57 Black Beauty, with three covered humbuckers and gold hardware. It was basically a Les Paul with a bolt neck. Identical same case as yours. Awesome guitar, very well made and finished. It was my first good electric and my main axe for many years. I let it get away and I regret that.
Great video! We only got the 2350 as a lefty (same model different pickups) , but these have been sleepers for years, people are just starting to really catch on the the pre-87 Ibanez lineups. These really do crush a lot of Gibsons.
MiJ quality forever! The guitar and pickups sound fantastic. Always had very good experiences with Japanese instruments. Got a genuine Kiso-made Esp Forest GT for a steal and I have played very few instruments on par with it. I'm sure there are duds or abused instruments that have seen better days but Japanese instruments very rarely disappoint.
I have a 80's Ls aria , led Paul copy , beautiful but very heavy guitar also a aria ts, a hollow body stunning gorgeous guitar, 335 ish, Japanese built but been re fretted an Wilkinson tuners an pick ups. But for a 50 year old guitar is incredible. Just for the record though I do mostly play a ibanez artcore semi hollow, 3 years old !!!!
Really enjoyed that buddy, keep them coming. I loved seeing the Mama's Boys sticker, Pat McManus lives just down the road from me, I've been in his studio and geez his collection of guitars is amazing. I would've liked to have seen more of the guitar, maybe some close ups of the parts, maybe with the parts taken off it etc. I've an '87 MIJ Greco LP Custom copy (with open book headstock etc) and it's superb. I'm surprised Greco/Tokai/Burny/Bacchus etc got away with the openbook design long after Ibanez had to make their changes to design fairly early on.
Mamas Boys and Def Leppard were regulars in the SFX centre in the early and mid eighties. I remember £4.50 to see Leps do a "live rehearsal " circa 1984 That sticker on the Ibanez came with the Lp, I seem to recall. I had that one and a sew on patch from a ratt album stuck to my bedroom mirror!
Great video- I've always been curious about those Ibanez Les Paul's, but never had the opportunity to see one close up. Other Japanese companies, namely Takamine and Suzuki made some great copies of American acoustic guitars, mostly copies of Martin and Guild. Excellent craftsmanship.
I remember seeing Mamas Boys in Nottingham in the early 80's, great gig (watered down beer though). Phil Lynott and a few of his band mates turned up and played a few songs with them.
I used to own an Ibanez RS900VT (identical to the one Philo used in the early 80's). My friend also had one. He got talking to a chap who had done a lot of work on Phils house in Kew, and was given a signed scratchplate from his RS900. He got a template made from it (they didnt come with scratchplates so Phil Lynott had one made to fit) and we both ended up with mirrored perspex copies on our Roadsters. Sad I sold it a few years ago it was an awesome if heavy bass.
You made a pretty good point about the overseas knockoffs, I got a BCP (best choice products) guitar and amp for $100 US and I gotta say, it’s not bad, even the strings were at least playable quality. The only thing I had to fuss with was the set up, and even that is a personal preference thing.
Years ago when Ibanez was newly hot. With Steve Vai and all. A friend found and bought a 70s era Ibanez Strat. I loved it. Thought it was better than the very thinned necked newer ones. I’m sure that guitar is very cool.
I love these old Ibanez. I have a ghostrider and a roadstar II both from 84’. Both are built like tanks. Although the ghostrider was built by samick in Korea.
We played those guitars in the 70's...we had a white Ibanez bolt on neck Les Paul style with a maple fretboard, and our bass player had a "black beauty" Aria Les Paul style one with a bolt on neck...think that guitar actually had an ebony fretboard, but not for sure on that...long time ago...but if I remember right, the black one had a Les Paul Custom look from the front versus a Les Paul Standard look...I still wish I had that white one...
I really rate Ibanez instruments, I have a 1978 Ibanez 12 string Concorde acoustic (strung six) I got it second hand from a shop in 1998 for £100 an absolute bargain. It really has a beautiful sweet warm rich tone. Many thanks for the vid BTW Mammas Boys had some great rockin tunes.
Love the video a year and a half ago I decided to get a 1986 Ibanez Roadstar ii RG440 that was for sale on the Canadian Craigslist called Kijiji I had never liked Ibanez but I knew that it was the first year of the RG model and the first year of the original Edge tremolo and it still had the brown paper covering the back plates so knowing how fanatical Ibanez fans were and the fact that it was so clean and so cheap and I didn’t have any guitars with a tremolo or single coils plus my love for Japanese guitars I decided to get it to flip for a profit figuring that seems as it had some specs that none of my other axes had if I had to sit on it for a few months to a year in order to find the right person willing to pay asking price and make it worth the money plus tye 200KM round trip to pick it up that would be fine by me so with my wife’s blessing that is exactly what I went to do and we’ll long story short I fell in love with it before I had even paid for it by the time I got home I was already trying to figure out what else I was going to sell to cover my “investment” and about 4 months later I was so in love with it that I decided I needed a backup that was hopefully in good shape but still a players grade so that I wouldn’t have to worry about taking my RG440 out to house party’s etc. and risking beating up a what has become my #1 guitar that just happens to be so clean if it still had the rest of the hang tags it would be literally NOS time capsule shape so I sold a Gibson Les Paul that I had bought brand new right out of high school for a slight profit and bought the only Ibanez Roadstar ii that was anywhere close to my #1 that was in Canada so I wouldn’t be stuck with crazy shipping rates and all the customs duties and taxes for a guitar that I had never seen in person and being my first time using reverb to buy anything I was a little nervous about the chance of paying more than a car payment for a 40 year old guitar that I’d never held anyways I ended up settling for an 84 RS530 just like the one that Gary Moore played in the Out in the Fields video with Phil Lynott and well with what it cost me out of what I had got for my old LP I still managed to cover the cost of the first one and make a couple hundred $ although I’m not in love with the RS530 in the same way I am with the RG440’s unfinished oiled neck and edge tremolo and I’m torn about weather to sand and oil the neck as well as plug the bridge rout and install an original edge to make the 530 exactly what I want or because it’s cleaner than the description lead me to believe leave it original and with the guitar market atm sell it and wait for a players grade 86-87 Roadstar ii RG DX/Deluxe to pop up at a reasonable price and have exactly what I wanted instead of close enough
@@brianmclaughlin4419 to a point you are right however RG does stand for Roadstar Guitar and starting in 1986 the Ibanez Roadstar series ii guitars dropped the RS designation and adopted the RG name along with 1986 being the first year of the RG model name it was the first year of the edge tremolo and the last year of the swoosh or blade style headstock the modern RG body style came in 1987 although the roadstar series 2 body style with RG name was still produced with the new duckbill headstock I’ve personally got a 1984 roadstar RS530 with the pro rockr’ trem and a 1986 roadstar RG440 with a first year Edge trem it’s an odd little known translational period of Ibanez RG history that gets overshadowed by the 1987 Steve Vais Gem and its influence on the RG as a cheaper alternative to his signature model
Got to admit, I have been sleeping on this series of yours but I am catching up. This one was great as I can relate. My dad bought a Yamaki guitar that appears to be a copy of a Gibson Hummingbird when he was a teenager. Also lived in an attic in Dublin for 30 years. It's a great sounding guitar
Yes thanks for finally telling us about that awesome Ibby . It’s even cooler that it’s been in your family for a long time. I love Japanese LPs and I’ve always been an Ibanez guy. I had the next body style after the lawsuit Ibanez LP it was a pretty cool guitar I should’ve kept it, it was a set neck. Anyway I’ve always loved Japanese guitars I prefer the Japanese fenders even. I can’t understand how Ibanez can still sell RG Genesis series for around 1000 with a hard case and made in Japan Jackson’s cost 2500 to 3000. I understand the Jackson’s have some nicer finishes and are rear routed but come on 3 times the price of a MIJ RG 550 for a dinky ? My last name is Jackson and I will own a Jackson as soon as I can find a mid 90s MIJ Kelly XLR (kinda purple unicorn) . Anyway I’ve spied the lawsuit Ibanez in the background of your videos, and finally your telling us all about it. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I have a bolt-on branded as a Memphis but the serial is Ibanez. It's my main guitar. I got it as a husk with no electronics. It wasn't uncommon for the neck to have a higher output than the bridge. I ended up tracking down a neck pickup and putting it in the bridge.
My first electric guitar was an Ibanez "lawsuit" Les Paul recording model. There was no internet back then, and the logo had been carefully sanded off the headstock so I didn't know what it was, except cool looking. The covers had been removed from the pickups revealing a bar magnet in a slab of pink wax. The electronics started to malfunction so I traded it for something I regret. Currently I have a Japanese Fender Jazz bass, Strat, a Gretsch Tennessee Rose, and a late '80's Orville. All fine instruments.
Awesome guitar - those old Ibanez were really something. Some people shy away from the bolt on versions, but hey, that kept the prices down on them for a while! At least until people realized the bolt on versions were awesome too. I’ve owned about a dozen 70’s Ibanez over the last few decades. Down to just one, but I’m always on the lookout for a deal on one! Ibanez did change the body shape for 1978, I believe, when they came out with the PF line. Decades later, PRS got sued by Gibson for the body shape on their single cut, but ultimately the judge told Gibson to pound sand.
I got an ‘81 Ibanez Blazer (Strat copy) as a hand-me-down from my aunt. I’ve been playing it since I was 9 years old, when my hands were finally large enough to attempt fretting a full 25.5” scale length. It’s a great instrument! Besides that one, I’ve owned other vintage Japanese copy guitars over the years. They aren’t all built well, and the idea of paying over $1000 for one that isn’t collectable (like an Ibanez Custom Agent) is a bit ridiculous. Be careful when buying these. They used to be a great value, but nowadays they tend to sell for more than they’re worth!
I have a cream one from 1976, they changed the headstock design and symbol to not match, the inlays are blocky rectangular, the original pickups were gone when I got it, i put gold seymour duncan p100s. Its a great guitar.
I had an Ibanez close to that, it had 3 pickups and had moved a little away from an exact Les Paul copy, but it was absolutely fantastic feeling and playing. Yes, it was better than the actual Gibson Les Paul I stupidly got later, lol!
Cool guitar man that's a nice story that it was your dad's and he passed it down to you that always brings the sentimental Factor through the roof I didn't get my first guitar until I was in my twenties and I bought it myself
Love the restring video idea. I see these Japanese models floating around Craigslist all the time, didn’t know about the top being an arch. Would love more videos like this
Great video mate. And YES, make more vids like these. A so called pre-lawsuit Ibanez 2355 was one of my first guitars, also from the late 70-ties. I bought it used in early 80-ties. Since i didnt use it often, I have swapped it with a US 2004 start last year. I dont regret I have swapped it, since I play the strat daily and almost never played the Ibanez.
I have owned a 1980 set neck Cortez Les Paul copy since it was new. Cortez were made in Japan and then production moved to Korea and the company changed its name to Cort. I have kept this guitar for so long because its quality is so great. I have owned real Gibson Les Pauls and this copy could keep up with all of them. It looks nice to. Poly finishes stay nice forever.
I bought a 76 Ibanez les paul sunburst at age 16 they were going for around $450 to $500 back then. I also had a 77 Ibanez explorer - great guitars designed to take market share - which they did. I did a search recently looking for 75, 76, 77 Ibanez les pauls on both ebay and reverb - they are going for $1000 to $1400 I want mine back!
I liked mine more than some gibsons I have owned. The bolt on neck is infinitely better, the body was thinner and lighter. With a good fret dressing and a super distortion and super two it was one of my favorite guitars. I traded mine for a late 70s Dean Cadillac that was absolutely incredible. Now the Ibanez is rare and is as, if not more, expensive than the gibsons. I had a maple one that was wildly flamed everywhere . The neck was amazing. I have missed it ever since .
The model was referred to as an Ibanez 59'er. I bought the same guitar, brand new, in 1974 as my first electric. Since then, many guitars have come and gone. That 59'er, played steadily for almost a half-century, still plays and sounds as good as any of my Gibson's or Fender's. It's sitting in a stand next to a 100 watt Marshall as we speak. I love that darn thing. Great video young man. You're pretty good on that guitar too.
Because of Arthritis, I can't play anymore. I have a 1972 Aria Lawsuit Les Paul with all orriginal parts, which sounds the same.🤷
I've always found Japanese instruments (mainly basses) of the 80s era to be just as good or even superior to their American counterparts. Easy to play, excellent quality and craftsmanship and built to last.
I have a mid 80's Ibanez roadster bass. It is awesome
@@stephenkemp3372 they are amazing basses, I had one too, an RB960, although I sold it for a Japanese B.C. Rich Eagle. Indestructible basses.
man ibanez blazer basses are so great. even better than the blazer guitars
@@santrixhimself3679 I keep reading/hearing great stuff about the Blazer basses, what always kept me away from trying out one was my fear that it'd have the classic thick P Bass type neck. The reason I love Ibanez basses has always been the slim/narrow necks and I wonder if these basses have that same style of neck! They do look nice though, especially in those natural finishes!
yeah you right i have keyboard from like 94 or few years earlier and it's still great
Fun fact those laws around the open book headstock don't apply for the Japanese domestic market so a lot of the tokais, Edwards etc still have it
I just checked my Japanese market-made in Korea ESP Les Paul bass, and yep it has the open book headstock. Funnily enough the truss rod cover isn't a bell, but just a curve.
Funny you'd mention Edwards, I saw a listing for a new Edward's Explorer up for sale on Reverb, and the seller mentioned that he can't sell this guitar to customers in the USA at the behest of ESP USA. Probably because ESP doesn't want to get into a lawsuit with Gibson like Ibanez over trademarks. I think it's fair game if the guitar were to be sold used.
Ibanez kept getting sued by Floyd Rose, but basically ignored it.
I'm pretty sure all Greco LP's have it. I know my lpc is a proper open book. Also set neck, thing plays like a freaking champ. I definitely recommend it
That's why you can't buy the Burney Les Paul in America
I have the exact same guitar. Mine’s from 1976 and it’s fantastic. Bought it for around €650 and it was totally worth my money. Amazing guitar and waaaaaay better than most real expensive Gibsons in my opinion.
Hey..jvdd... I picked up a I picked up a 78 pf300 Ibanez when I was 17 now I'm 58 I still have it and did some electronic work and change the settle in the bridge I almost sold it I'm glad I didn't playing it right now bro
I've a fondness for 70s Greco guitars. Very similar. Same factories used, I think. The Maxon pickups are great. Not as easy to find bargains now the market has caught onto how good the guitars are, but you can still get some great deals.
I bought a used set neck Greco Les Paul Custom copy in high school (1980s) for $75. It was killer. I sold it to my friends brother because he liked the Sex Pistols and it was a white LP like they played. I wish I still had that guitar. The quality was evident even to a teenager.
I have a couple Grecos. Great guitars. The Japanese market models from the the mid-80's are really well made.
Managed to get a left handed 77 Greco Violin bass for a steal and I haven’t put it down since I bought it months ago
I used to have one of the old Ibanez AS100 made in Japan in 1979, a 335 replica, amazing sound and quality, I had to sell it regrettably but it's been one of the best guitars I've ever had and was even better than the original Gibson 335
I live is a area of Cleveland that has many families that originated from County Mayo. Keep rocking. We are all big Thin Lizzy fan's here.
Hi, - fellow Dub here. I have one almost identical to this one. As far as I can tell, it was built in 1974, as the end of the neck, where it's cantilevered over the body, is not rounded. I've had it since 1979, when I was 17. I bought it second-hand from my friend Fran O'Reilly, of Mount Brown. It was my first electric. It still plays really well. When I play it now, it feels like a very old friend. My first acoustic was also an Ibanez from 1974 (Concord Series, 697), which I've had since 1977. Really lovely to see another one just like mine. Thanks for the video, man.
That was really interesting. I love hearing about the history of instruments. It adds to the mojo.
Those guitar was made by Matsumoku, they made guitars for a lot of Brands. Most les Paul and SG models were in fact shared across multiple Brands, Vega Power (owned by Martin) for example was one of those brands. Awesome guitar! 👍🏼
Great video, really interesting. And I agree thoroughly how odd it is that Japanese guitars were considered inferior almost universally. Some of them were pretty cheap in all sorts of ways, but some of them were always utter quality. I've got an '89 Orville (i.e. official Japanese Gibson) LP custom and it's still the joint best LP I've ever played.
I also have an Antoria LP ripoff of a similar vintage to the Ibanez here, built almost exactly the same though probably from cheaper wood. It's always felt a little rickety, and cheap, but at the same time it also plays brilliantly and sounds incredible. The pickups that came in it are just amazing. No wax-potting, so I switched out the bridge for a Bare Knuckle, and the former bridge unit went in the neck of my Orville. I've yet to really hear a better pickup for the neck position, and I've fitted some incredibly fancy stuff for clients in the last few years.
I'd love to hear about the Jackson next; I'm already looking forward to it.
Some MIJ guitars were inferior to Gibsons, some were better & some not.
So you need to check it out.
My LP copy is not as good, but after some mods it’s pretty good.
My MIJ Ibanez though I consider an equal
My fav guitar is a 1978 Greco LP....It plays as good as any Gibson and is now an antique.
@@Timbo6669 The other joint best LP I've played was a Greco belonging to a friend. Seems they really are just quality. Going to have to look out for them a bit more actively
@@johnnyexponential7229 A good choice but as said earlier they [MIJ guitars] had some consistency issues during the 70's and early 80's. Mine is a Peter Frampton special [EG600; the one with 3 humbuckers], as the specials tended to be more consistent with quality. I wasn't disappointed.
Japanese cars and motorcycles were considered inferior back in the 60s 70s into the 80s and early 90s until the big three got seriously into economic front wheel drive platforms and have been drug by the Japanese in quality dependability and every other measurable statistic until current day . The US automakers still don’t really compete in the markets dominated by Japanese automakers the only real competitor is the Korean automakers and they are quickly approaching Japanese levels of excellence in fact their build quality may even exceed Japan on some models.
In the video of Mamas Boys, the black flying V Pat is playing was originally custom built for Vivian Campbell, he didn't like it so gave it to Pat. A friend of mine is currently upgrading it for Pat and I get the pleasure of recording pickup samples on it. Lovely guitar. A V with a 25.5" scale length, a Fender like feel and a Kahler tremolo.
Very cool addional info, cara. Nice....
Good to see the Mama's Boys sticker. Saw them twice live and had a signed copy of their first album by Pat, John and the late Tommy.
i'm glad to see you're accuracy on the reason for an impending lawsuit: The head stock.
by utter dumb chance long, long ago, i bought an Ibanez 2661 Les Paul. It has the "open book" head stock,
and sports an artistic vine inlay on the fret board.
I had it appraised by Killer Vintage about 10 years ago, and it was a paltry $500 to $550 U.S.
....nothing to retire on! But i'd never sell it anyway. Too many fun memories.
Great video, pal!
Like a lot of things in the 70's and 80's (cars, electronics, etc...) American manufacturing really dropped the ball on guitars and Japan swept in and took full advantage of the situation.
An unfortunate side effect of a crappy American economy during the 70s. Recession and shrinking opportunities had American manufacturers start outsourcing production overseas, using cheaper components, and cutting corners overall. This trend has unfortunately persisted throughout the 80s and on to today.
South Korea as well
From what I remember, William Deming was largely responsible for the shift in high quality manufacturing practices and total quality management in Japan during the 70s and 80s.
Yep, an American name Charles Deming took his manufacturing ideas to Japan where they embraced them and well, they win haha
I've got an Aria 5522n, which is also a lawsuit guitar. Les Paul copy with a natural finish. My dad bought it for me decades ago, and I recently did a full teardown & cleaning on it. Tiniest control cavity I've ever seen!
First of all, thanks for answering some questions I had before watching this video. I was wondering about the pick up configuration, so thanks for answering that. You get a great sound out of your axe. Robbo would be proud. I have a "Lawsuit" Ibanez Les Paul as well, but it's a post 1976 model, and it might be one of the last ones. It has the post 1976 head stock, not the imitation Gibson "Open Book" head stock that yours has. And I've always wondered about the wood, but after watching your video, I'm going to assume that it's ash. The body and neck are totally BLONDE! Blonde body, and neck, which, I assume are ash, and a MAPLE fret board. It also has two twin single coil pickups. Plays like a dream. Sounds fantastic, and the action is like cutting through butter with a hot knife. I wouldn't use D'Addario strings, but Ernie Ball slinky, but that's my preference, since that's what I usually use on all my Gibsons and Epiphones. (I use GHS Boomers for my Fenders and Squiers) You said the Mama's Boys sticker was on there when you got it as a gift. Do you know if it was originally owned by anybody in that band, or if it was owned by a fan? I wouldn't put a sticker on the body proper, but the pick guard, instead. Oh, well, what's done is done. Anyway, thanks for posting that video, and sharing the information. Like I said, you answered quite a few questions I've had for over 20 years about my model. Now I'm on the hunt for an Ibanez lawsuit SG! Wish me luck, because I think I'm gonna need it. You wouldn't happen to have a four leaf shamrock lying around that you could possibly spare, now do you? .
Great info…great playing…great guitar…hell yea, I’d love to see more vids like this…rock on my brother!!!
i've got a 1976 Deluxe 59er which still has the bell cover and the open book headstock. serial number starts with C, so its probably made in march 1976. from looking at other models and serial numbers of that year i think they switched the design in june/july.
even though the body is kind of semi hollow and it has a bold on neck, it is my favourite les paul. the neck is just great. i usually dont like les paul because of their necks. the neck on the 59er is something elso though. almost feels like a good slim fender neck.
Ibanez also made an own design LP look alike the "Custom Agent" but with a mandolin headstock but with another older Gibson logo - this had a hollow ply top top just like the Gretch Round-up they did not have to carve the tops
I have got my hands on a 1975 pre-lawsuit red Ibanez les paul custom. MIJ, prestige level for today standards. Also the best Les Paul I have ever played. Also the Super 70s pickups sound so good. I have made a couple of guitar covers with it so far. I love it. Would never sell it.
I bought my Ibanez Les Paul new in 1974. It has the headstock shape and bell truss rod cover. Doesn't have the lozenge design on the headstock. It's blank. The fret inlays are like Gibson. It's only had light use so in great shape for it's age and sounds wonderful. I installed Gibson hum buckers long ago and Schaller machine heads.
Legend has it that Scott Gorham nailed his audition with "some cheap Japanese Les Paul copy." Likely a Fugigen or a Matsumoku... Greco, Ibanez, Tokai, Electra, Aria...... all worthy contenders.
Enjoyed this. As a naive guitarist working a full time job in my first year post high school, in either 1975 or early 1976 when I could afford it I bought an Ibanez lawsuite SG as my first electric guitar. Difficult as it might be to comprehend for guitarists today, Ibanez was an unknown brand at the time. The SG body shape brought to prominence in the late 1960s and dawning 1970s by guitarists like George Harrison, Tony Iommi and the bassist Andy Fraser from Free had positioned it as an instrument holding great image appeal. Of course I'd heard of Fender and Gibson, but thought the Spanish sounding Ibanez was a strange brand name for a guitar made in Japan!? Nevertheless, the store salesman didn't have to work hard to convince me of its virtues to sell it to me. Drop dead gorgeous in its Cherry Red with a build quality and finish which put Gibson and Fender to shame in the characteristic Japanese more, it was presented in an (Ibanez supplied) plush gold lined hard case, all for reasonable and modest sum a fraction of the price of a Gibson. This was in the last days of the JPY favourable exchange rate. I sold it a few years later as other life interests and career pressures were prioritised and guitar playing was relegated to a hiatus for 40 years. If only for nostalgic reasons now, I wish I hadn't.
I started playing acoustic guitar in 1982. My first electric guitar was a 1975 Aria Les Paul Custom with a bolt on neck. It was a lawsuit guitar with the open book headstock and five ply binding on the front and rear of the body and on the headstock. I bought it in 1985 for $150. It was my main guitar up until 1994 when I sold it. I had other electric guitars in 94 but the Aria was my main guitar. I sold it because I wore it out so much that it was going to cost more than what is was worth to refret it. Fast forward to 2019 and I bought a 1977 Aria Pro II Les Paul Custom with a set neck with the five ply binding on the front and rear of the body and on the open book headstock. This guitar was a copy of the Norlin era Gibson with the shovel head style headstock. Then in 2020 I bought a 1975 Aria Les Paul Custom with a bolt on neck the same as my first electric guitar. So I refurbished both guitars and put the same pickups in both guitars as what I had in my first guitar. Dimarzio Super 3 Distortion and PAF pickups. With all new hardware, electronics and pickups, both guitars sound, play and feel awesome! I love the Gibson lawsuit guitars from Ibanez, Aria and Burny. All of those guitars were coming out of the Motsumoto factory in Japan and they just slapped the name on the headstock for who ever they were making guitars for that quarter period in the year at the time.
It looked light when you handled it, so I wasn't surprised to learn that it isn't a solid body. The shallower headstock angle makes sense to me. Real LP's are too heavy IMO, and have tuning issues because of the steep angle.
Back in the early 80s a friend of mine brought me this very beat up Les Paul copy that I proceeded to heavily modify. Bridge and tail piece replaced with a Kahler tremolo, non-potted pickups replaced with Jackson's and my own crazy paint job, which people still flip out over. After finally doing some research it turns out to be one of these early 70s Ibanez "law suite" guitars. Still have it.
That sounds like a fantastic gig piece. I'd love to see it
I´ve had the exact same guitar Model for about 25 years. It was pretty good. But I changed a lot, damaged it, gave her a new finish and et the end sold it. She still lives hopefully anywhere. These guitars are great! The Ibanez copys from the 70 pre Lawsuit ära are very good intruments. I also have an Black Beauty Paula and a Stratocaster of that time period. Great Models too!
Well, back in 1979, my dad bought me my first electric guitar; It was an Ibanez PF200 les paul copy.
A friggin GREAT guitar!! My first live shows were with her too!! P.S. I remember Mama's Boys. They rocked!
Around 84 or 85 my father bought me a 75 or 76 Ibanez LP. It was my first as well. I pawned it when I was about 22. Didn't touch another guitar until about 7 years ago. Now desperately searching for another 70s Ibanez. I know I'll never see my guitar again but it's a dream of mine that I may at least find one that's close. Cheers!
Very nice. I received a no-name SG from 1970something as a gift. It has the Gibson headstock and bell truss rod cover...no text anywhere on the guitar. It has the super low frets which are great for very low action. The 2 humbuckers were replaced with seymour duncan. The color is a very very dark brown with black and chrome hardware, tophat? knobs, and white binding all the way around the neck and headstock. It's weight distribution is balanced and plays great! I call it a lawsuit even if it's a no-name😀. Your Ibanez LP looks and sounds amazing! I enjoyed your playing and story too
I have a Starfield LP Copy from 1977 and almost the whole set up looks the same. It plays like a dream. I was searching for a video with the same pickups that I have.
I've played one of these and it was objectively one of the best guitars I've ever played. It kills every other LP style guitar I've played save for LTD or ESP examples.
Great video! I have an Ibanez Lawsuit LP (not sure of the year) black w/ gold hardware but it was my #2 behind an '81 LP Custom for years. Got me through my college years playing original and cover gigs. It didn't sing quite as well as the '81 but was a fantastic backup and great if I wanted a change of pace or needed to 'lighten' things up a bit (the '81 is HEAVY) or have something tuned differently for quick changes.
Love what you're doing on your channel 👍👍 Also that Warrant intro riff from Uncle Tom's Cabin was glorious 🙏🙏🙏
G’day from Australia. I have the EXACT
same guitar except it was purchased with the name/brand plate “Navarra”. If you look closely at the 2351M model in the 1973 Ibanez catalogue you’ll notice there’s NO brand name on the headstock. I suspect that enabled an importer, like mine in Australia, to put their own name/brand in the instrument. I’ve owned mine since 1973 and often wondered what it was worth but would never sell it. But now I’m sure it’s an actual “lawsuit” Ibanez made guitar. Thanks for the video - I’ve never seen another like mine before.
Man, I've been chasing those for decades! When I lived in LA, they could be had for well under $500 all day. I got to play a '76 Destroyer that felt near identical to my then '05 Gibson Explorer ('76 reissue). The Destroyer was just heavier & obviously the difference of 19 yrs.
From what I remember, there were big playability differences between the bolt on chambered ones & the set neck solid body ones. (At least I remember them being solid body).
Great vid & clean playing!! ✌🤘
I love that you spotlighted mama's boys as soon as I seen the sticker I was hoping it would be mentioned.
This series sounds great. I’m excited for the Jackson video.
The Ibanez catalogue shots you showed remind me very much of the Antoria catalogue I had back in the '70's.
I have a Futura that I reckon was made in '74 as it has no serial No. That's the Korina Moderne copy for those of you that are taking notes.
I had one exactly like that! I loved it! It was burgled from my house in '98,........I've still got that case, though! Hehe (I wired a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, the neck pickup sounded great)
cool series! I am still playing my Ibanez Stagestar that I bought maybe 25 years ago in 8th grade with my lawn mowing money.
Cool video! Keep those old import guitars relevant! Great guitars. Prices have gone up steadily. Brings back memories of Aria Pro ii, Aspen, hondo, and the list goes on......
Lovely guitar.. I have a 1971 2351 Gold top, a few battle scars and not as clean as yours. Your guitar is a 1973 model, that year they squared off the bottom of the fretboard as it was rounded for 1971 and 1972. Its a keeper and plays just as nice as any of the Gibsons I have, in fact has a solid feeling in the neck the Gibsons just dont do... I love mine and will will go to the grave with me.
Toughest solo I learned at 15! Stone Cold off of Thunder and Lightning! I was a Priest fan but alway loved Thin Lizzy. Sad losing Phil. But John Sykes is the man! Joel Hoekstra lives right near me and can remember him being at our shows along with the guys in Enuff’s Z’Nuff, and I wasn’t a fan boy but the rest of the band went to Disturbed’s Record Release Party. So many greats moved from Chicago Illinois and even cow town Terra Haute Indiana to L.A. in the states.
Great channel brother
One of those was my first electric in the late 70ies.
Still own a double cutaway and a semihollow from 1980 and 1982. Good guitars!
Love these videos. Always loved Ola Englund's "My Guitar" videos and I'm excited to tune in here every Sunday 🤩
i saw Mamas Boys a few times in Portland Maine USA back in the 80's. They were always part of the Triple bill with bands like Y&T, Dokken, King Kobra etc. I liked them.
Sweet old Ibanez. I’ve always been a big fan of the old Ibanez guitars. And man! Those pickups absolutely SCREAM!
My friend Alex has one of these. I believe it's a 1974 or 75? He got it brand new for his birthday when he was 13 y.o. He still has it after all these years. Great guitar!
I have an Aria Diamond Hollow body from the early 60's. It was my first decent guitar. It was made in Japan and honestly it plays and sounds amazing.
i have a Japanese 1974 Electra les paul copy. wow it is as good or even better. love the cut away on back side top of body. fixes tha hang angle for me that irritated the shit out of me in the gibson. not knocking gibson ,but giving credit where it is due. the electra sounds incredible and feels great.
Definitely would love to see a video on that Jackson Man!!!! Keep up the great work on your channel, LOVE IT!!!!!
My first guitar in 1984-5 was a Cimar by Ibanez LP copy like this. Bolt on, sunburst with two double-cream Japanese Super Distortion copies. It had the sure grip knobs, the Ibanez bridge with more adjustment travel of saddles and a carved like the tree of life wide and flat tailpiece, gold hardware. Cimar was a cheaper line of Ibanez with Les Paul and Strat copies, probably to not compete directly with the big brands.
Tokai also had/have the 'Open Book' headstock and 'Bell' truss rod cover. I have a 'Love Rock' from 1985.
Saw Mammas Boys a couple of times, at festivals and if I remember correctly, supporting the Scorpions in the early - mid 80's.
Nice to see that guitar close up. I doubt a bolt on neck LP copy would ever be so well made now. Now, I might be wrong, but I think Norlin era Les Pauls with maple necks also reduced the headstock angle but went back to the "vintage" angle to satisfy their customers. Those Norlin era Gibsons were the ones being copied...
japanese guitars slay. i have a '78 ibanez ES-345, '82 Burny RLG-90, and a 2011 Tokai HLS-160. all three are amazing.
I have a 1978 PF100 I bought new. Tabacco Burst. Still looks and sounds great!
I had a lawsuit Ibanez, it was the Custom LP copy made to look like a '57 Black Beauty, with three covered humbuckers and gold hardware. It was basically a Les Paul with a bolt neck. Identical same case as yours. Awesome guitar, very well made and finished. It was my first good electric and my main axe for many years. I let it get away and I regret that.
A good friend & lead guitarist had one back in the 70's, it was badass too.
I have a Japanese Ibanez RT and it is absolutely incredible….I pick it up more than any other guitar
Great video! We only got the 2350 as a lefty (same model different pickups) , but these have been sleepers for years, people are just starting to really catch on the the pre-87 Ibanez lineups. These really do crush a lot of Gibsons.
I have a white Custom version & the SG twin neck both a great sounding. I ended up buying a brand new Iceman in 79 as well.
Cool! Certainly one of the rarer lawsuit. I saw an Ibanez Exp copy as well and loved it
MiJ quality forever! The guitar and pickups sound fantastic. Always had very good experiences with Japanese instruments. Got a genuine Kiso-made Esp Forest GT for a steal and I have played very few instruments on par with it. I'm sure there are duds or abused instruments that have seen better days but Japanese instruments very rarely disappoint.
I have a 80's Ls aria , led Paul copy , beautiful but very heavy guitar also a aria ts, a hollow body stunning gorgeous guitar, 335 ish, Japanese built but been re fretted an Wilkinson tuners an pick ups. But for a 50 year old guitar is incredible. Just for the record though I do mostly play a ibanez artcore semi hollow, 3 years old !!!!
I'm always down for a good story and history with guitars and stuff. So yeah do more of these I'd love to hear what you have to say!
Really enjoyed that buddy, keep them coming. I loved seeing the Mama's Boys sticker, Pat McManus lives just down the road from me, I've been in his studio and geez his collection of guitars is amazing. I would've liked to have seen more of the guitar, maybe some close ups of the parts, maybe with the parts taken off it etc. I've an '87 MIJ Greco LP Custom copy (with open book headstock etc) and it's superb. I'm surprised Greco/Tokai/Burny/Bacchus etc got away with the openbook design long after Ibanez had to make their changes to design fairly early on.
Mamas Boys and Def Leppard were regulars in the SFX centre in the early and mid eighties. I remember £4.50 to see Leps do a "live rehearsal " circa 1984 That sticker on the Ibanez came with the Lp, I seem to recall. I had that one and a sew on patch from a ratt album stuck to my bedroom mirror!
Great video- I've always been curious about those Ibanez Les Paul's, but never had the opportunity to see one close up. Other Japanese companies, namely Takamine and Suzuki made some great copies of American acoustic guitars, mostly copies of Martin and Guild. Excellent craftsmanship.
I remember seeing Mamas Boys in Nottingham in the early 80's, great gig (watered down beer though). Phil Lynott and a few of his band mates turned up and played a few songs with them.
Cool format. Sunday guitar stories. Bring em on.
I used to own an Ibanez RS900VT (identical to the one Philo used in the early 80's). My friend also had one. He got talking to a chap who had done a lot of work on Phils house in Kew, and was given a signed scratchplate from his RS900. He got a template made from it (they didnt come with scratchplates so Phil Lynott had one made to fit) and we both ended up with mirrored perspex copies on our Roadsters. Sad I sold it a few years ago it was an awesome if heavy bass.
You made a pretty good point about the overseas knockoffs, I got a BCP (best choice products) guitar and amp for $100 US and I gotta say, it’s not bad, even the strings were at least playable quality. The only thing I had to fuss with was the set up, and even that is a personal preference thing.
Excellent story and I like your delivery. This "restringing" idea is great for videos, I shall look forward to your next one. 🤘
Years ago when Ibanez was newly hot. With Steve Vai and all. A friend found and bought a 70s era Ibanez Strat. I loved it. Thought it was better than the very thinned necked newer ones. I’m sure that guitar is very cool.
great video , i like the idea of the String/info Sunday episodes! good job!
I love these old Ibanez. I have a ghostrider and a roadstar II both from 84’. Both are built like tanks. Although the ghostrider was built by samick in Korea.
We played those guitars in the 70's...we had a white Ibanez bolt on neck Les Paul style with a maple fretboard, and our bass player had a "black beauty" Aria Les Paul style one with a bolt on neck...think that guitar actually had an ebony fretboard, but not for sure on that...long time ago...but if I remember right, the black one had a Les Paul Custom look from the front versus a Les Paul Standard look...I still wish I had that white one...
I really rate Ibanez instruments, I have a 1978 Ibanez 12 string Concorde acoustic (strung six) I got it second hand from a shop in 1998 for £100 an absolute bargain. It really has a beautiful sweet warm rich tone. Many thanks for the vid BTW Mammas Boys had some great rockin tunes.
Very informative interview., Loved the Mama's Boys sticker, too! I still play "Needle in the Groove" on guitar. Also, I saw that tour in the 80's ....
Love the video a year and a half ago I decided to get a 1986 Ibanez Roadstar ii RG440 that was for sale on the Canadian Craigslist called Kijiji I had never liked Ibanez but I knew that it was the first year of the RG model and the first year of the original Edge tremolo and it still had the brown paper covering the back plates so knowing how fanatical Ibanez fans were and the fact that it was so clean and so cheap and I didn’t have any guitars with a tremolo or single coils plus my love for Japanese guitars I decided to get it to flip for a profit figuring that seems as it had some specs that none of my other axes had if I had to sit on it for a few months to a year in order to find the right person willing to pay asking price and make it worth the money plus tye 200KM round trip to pick it up that would be fine by me so with my wife’s blessing that is exactly what I went to do and we’ll long story short I fell in love with it before I had even paid for it by the time I got home I was already trying to figure out what else I was going to sell to cover my “investment” and about 4 months later I was so in love with it that I decided I needed a backup that was hopefully in good shape but still a players grade so that I wouldn’t have to worry about taking my RG440 out to house party’s etc. and risking beating up a what has become my #1 guitar that just happens to be so clean if it still had the rest of the hang tags it would be literally NOS time capsule shape so I sold a Gibson Les Paul that I had bought brand new right out of high school for a slight profit and bought the only Ibanez Roadstar ii that was anywhere close to my #1 that was in Canada so I wouldn’t be stuck with crazy shipping rates and all the customs duties and taxes for a guitar that I had never seen in person and being my first time using reverb to buy anything I was a little nervous about the chance of paying more than a car payment for a 40 year old guitar that I’d never held anyways I ended up settling for an 84 RS530 just like the one that Gary Moore played in the Out in the Fields video with Phil Lynott and well with what it cost me out of what I had got for my old LP I still managed to cover the cost of the first one and make a couple hundred $ although I’m not in love with the RS530 in the same way I am with the RG440’s unfinished oiled neck and edge tremolo and I’m torn about weather to sand and oil the neck as well as plug the bridge rout and install an original edge to make the 530 exactly what I want or because it’s cleaner than the description lead me to believe leave it original and with the guitar market atm sell it and wait for a players grade 86-87 Roadstar ii RG DX/Deluxe to pop up at a reasonable price and have exactly what I wanted instead of close enough
You've been mixing up RS and RG series, they're quite different, but if you like RGs, yeah, fine. Roadstar is only RS in model designations.
@@brianmclaughlin4419 to a point you are right however RG does stand for Roadstar Guitar and starting in 1986 the Ibanez Roadstar series ii guitars dropped the RS designation and adopted the RG name along with 1986 being the first year of the RG model name it was the first year of the edge tremolo and the last year of the swoosh or blade style headstock the modern RG body style came in 1987 although the roadstar series 2 body style with RG name was still produced with the new duckbill headstock I’ve personally got a 1984 roadstar RS530 with the pro rockr’ trem and a 1986 roadstar RG440 with a first year Edge trem it’s an odd little known translational period of Ibanez RG history that gets overshadowed by the 1987 Steve Vais Gem and its influence on the RG as a cheaper alternative to his signature model
Great video thanks, very well done. I learned something, which is rare.
Dont ever change those pickups. The guitar sounds absolutely brutal.
That's a beautiful instrument, and assuming everything else is equal, it sounds better than your others!
Got to admit, I have been sleeping on this series of yours but I am catching up. This one was great as I can relate. My dad bought a Yamaki guitar that appears to be a copy of a Gibson Hummingbird when he was a teenager. Also lived in an attic in Dublin for 30 years. It's a great sounding guitar
Yes thanks for finally telling us about that awesome Ibby . It’s even cooler that it’s been in your family for a long time. I love Japanese LPs and I’ve always been an Ibanez guy. I had the next body style after the lawsuit Ibanez LP it was a pretty cool guitar I should’ve kept it, it was a set neck. Anyway I’ve always loved Japanese guitars I prefer the Japanese fenders even. I can’t understand how Ibanez can still sell RG Genesis series for around 1000 with a hard case and made in Japan Jackson’s cost 2500 to 3000. I understand the Jackson’s have some nicer finishes and are rear routed but come on 3 times the price of a MIJ RG 550 for a dinky ? My last name is Jackson and I will own a Jackson as soon as I can find a mid 90s MIJ Kelly XLR (kinda purple unicorn) . Anyway I’ve spied the lawsuit Ibanez in the background of your videos, and finally your telling us all about it. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Yeah, the new prices for MIJ Jacksons are comical.
I have a bolt-on branded as a Memphis but the serial is Ibanez. It's my main guitar. I got it as a husk with no electronics. It wasn't uncommon for the neck to have a higher output than the bridge. I ended up tracking down a neck pickup and putting it in the bridge.
My first electric guitar was an Ibanez "lawsuit" Les Paul recording model. There was no internet back then, and the logo had been carefully sanded off the headstock so I didn't know what it was, except cool looking. The covers had been removed from the pickups revealing a bar magnet in a slab of pink wax. The electronics started to malfunction so I traded it for something I regret. Currently I have a Japanese Fender Jazz bass, Strat, a Gretsch Tennessee Rose, and a late '80's Orville. All fine instruments.
Awesome guitar - those old Ibanez were really something. Some people shy away from the bolt on versions, but hey, that kept the prices down on them for a while! At least until people realized the bolt on versions were awesome too. I’ve owned about a dozen 70’s Ibanez over the last few decades. Down to just one, but I’m always on the lookout for a deal on one!
Ibanez did change the body shape for 1978, I believe, when they came out with the PF line. Decades later, PRS got sued by Gibson for the body shape on their single cut, but ultimately the judge told Gibson to pound sand.
I got an ‘81 Ibanez Blazer (Strat copy) as a hand-me-down from my aunt. I’ve been playing it since I was 9 years old, when my hands were finally large enough to attempt fretting a full 25.5” scale length. It’s a great instrument!
Besides that one, I’ve owned other vintage Japanese copy guitars over the years. They aren’t all built well, and the idea of paying over $1000 for one that isn’t collectable (like an Ibanez Custom Agent) is a bit ridiculous. Be careful when buying these. They used to be a great value, but nowadays they tend to sell for more than they’re worth!
Lovely Sunday fare...keep 'em coming!
I have a cream one from 1976, they changed the headstock design and symbol to not match, the inlays are blocky rectangular, the original pickups were gone when I got it, i put gold seymour duncan p100s. Its a great guitar.
I had an Ibanez close to that, it had 3 pickups and had moved a little away from an exact Les Paul copy, but it was absolutely fantastic feeling and playing. Yes, it was better than the actual Gibson Les Paul I stupidly got later, lol!
Cool guitar man that's a nice story that it was your dad's and he passed it down to you that always brings the sentimental Factor through the roof I didn't get my first guitar until I was in my twenties and I bought it myself
Love the restring video idea. I see these Japanese models floating around Craigslist all the time, didn’t know about the top being an arch. Would love more videos like this
if you find it at decent price, go grab it. Ibanez, Orville/ Orville by Gibson, Edwards. You wouldnt regret
Great video mate. And YES, make more vids like these.
A so called pre-lawsuit Ibanez 2355 was one of my first guitars, also from the late 70-ties. I bought it used in early 80-ties. Since i didnt use it often, I have swapped it with a US 2004 start last year. I dont regret I have swapped it, since I play the strat daily and almost never played the Ibanez.
I have owned a 1980 set neck Cortez Les Paul copy since it was new. Cortez were made in Japan and then production moved to Korea and the company changed its name to Cort. I have kept this guitar for so long because its quality is so great. I have owned real Gibson Les Pauls and this copy could keep up with all of them. It looks nice to. Poly finishes stay nice forever.
I bought a 76 Ibanez les paul sunburst at age 16 they were going for around $450 to $500 back then. I also had a 77 Ibanez explorer - great guitars designed to take market share - which they did. I did a search recently looking for 75, 76, 77 Ibanez les pauls on both ebay and reverb - they are going for $1000 to $1400 I want mine back!
Great video KDH and I'm looking forward to Restring sundays!
Very Cool. I grew up in Bensalem PA area. So Ibanez is like my hometown guitar company. I own a bunch of them.
I liked mine more than some gibsons I have owned. The bolt on neck is infinitely better, the body was thinner and lighter. With a good fret dressing and a super distortion and super two it was one of my favorite guitars. I traded mine for a late 70s Dean Cadillac that was absolutely incredible. Now the Ibanez is rare and is as, if not more, expensive than the gibsons. I had a maple one that was wildly flamed everywhere . The neck was amazing. I have missed it ever since .
That’s pretty cool! , I’ve got a 1975 lawsuit era Japan Ibanez SG deluxe, now I wanna get the les Paul to go with it!