The Electrics - 1978 Ibanez Artist This instrument is another one of my famous (infamous?) "Travel" guitars, the definition being a guitar acquired due to my being away from home and, thereby, being unable to play any of the other guitars I bought while being away from home and unable ... you get the picture. In any event, in the summer of 1983 I had to do some work for a client that required my access to code resident on systems at my old company, Frey Associates, in NH. So, while staying with my good friends Bob and Sherie Hynes I got the itch to play some music so I went into Manchester Music (one of my old haunts) just to play some of their guitars to "take the edge off". My friendly old salesperson was more than happy to lead me over to the used instrument section (knowing my penchant for more vintage instruments) and then told me to have fun and left. After about an hour or so he popped back 'round and asked how I was doing. "Fine," I said, "but I'm curious about this abused, old Ibanez - what are you asking for it?". Well, that question only prompted him to wane poetic about all the stories the guitar could tell from "life on the road", yadda, yadda, yadda. Finally, I simply said that I could see why he was reluctant to part with it and hung it back up on the wall. Suddenly, he seemed to recognize all the modifications, dents and dings were not as historically significant as he might once have imagined and coughed up a number on slightly unreasonable; within 10 minutes we met on common ground and he was on his way to the register with my credit card firmly in his grip. Still, the stories this thing could tell...
As you can see, this instrument is in less than original condition. The bridge pickup has been replaced with a dual, split coil unit, there is one additional switch which is used to toggle the pickups between parallel and series and another that puts them in or out of phase with each other. These additional settings actually make it a pretty versatile instrument and provide a vast assortment of sounds from just a single guitar. Other features I like include the incredible access you have to a full 24 frets of playable neck. It really puts it all out there for you to work with! The only drawback of this guitar is the weight - it weighs a TON!!! You have to play a Les Paul just as training for playing one of these beasts! Still, that results in sustain that is a wonder to behold; add a little compression and overdrive and you're a rock star, baby!
The case is the original case for the instrument and shows the effect of life on the road. I've seen worse but this one has more than a little character. However, to its credit, it still has fully functioning latches and hinges - can't be all bad...
And now for the pictures (click to enlarge):
So concludes the presentation of my 1978 Ibanez Artist guitar. Feel free to contact me with any questions and/or comments.
*8o)
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Changes last made on: Friday, December 30, 2011 at 8:17pm