NGD- 1977 Ibanez Artist 2618

New Guitar DAY!!




1977 Ibanez Artist 2618
 
A new guitar purchase-- really an old guitar,  but new to me:
 
i walked into GC to look at Les Paul Doublecuts.
they didn't have any.
 
what they DID have, was  a 1977 Ibanez Artist 2618 , priced out at $899 (which is about $400 cheaper than anything i've found on Ebay)....
i talked them down to $599.
really good condition, one small chip out of the finish on the back, and the pickup selector knob is broken off, but the selector still works fine.
 
looks like the original frets. no checking in the finish, it's beautifully worn, gold finish is coming off the hardware at a very normal rate, for a 34 year old guitar.
 
serial #  E775404
Mahogany Body with Maple top
Maple neck Ebony fretboard with dot abalone markers
Machine Head Smooth tuners
Pickups Super 80
Controls 2 vol, 2 tone, 3 way pickup selector
Harmonomatic bridge
Hardware Gold
Finish Antique Brown
24 frets all in pristine condition. NO wear at all on frets or fingerboard.
 
 
 
Almost just like the one i bought in 1979, which was a 2619, meaning, it had block inlays and a phase switch on the bridge humbucker.
i wished i had never sold it.
this sorta makes up for it.
this is the SECOND time i went into a store shopping for a Gibson Les Paul, and left with an ibanez Artist.
LOL
 

 
 
Built in Japan in 1977.  Research on Ibanez can be difficult as they supported all sorts of numbering systems and numerous factories in different countries. This was the second year of production for this model. Based on the “E” designation in the serial number, it would have been built in May of 1977. The Ibanez Artist was only built with these specs for four years, from 1976 through 1979. Sometime in 1979 they cheapened all of the appointments and changed the model to the AR200, which made the earlier models hard to find and very much in demand by serious Ibanez players.
 
The guitar features a mahogany body with a carved solid maple top, hard maple set neck, bound ebony fretboard, abalone dot fretboard inlays, original Flying Fingers ceramic pick ups, and  gold plated
hardware and pick ups. The finish is a rich antique brown sunburst. It came with a hard shell case, but I can not say for sure if it is the original case because it does not say Ibanez on it.
 
Having said that, in 1977, Ibanez may not have been putting their name on the outside of their cases like they do now. Bottom line is it’s a nice plush lined archtop, very well padded case that fits the guitar like it was made for it. The lining inside is lime green, if that sheds any light on the originality of it, and amazingly, it DOES NOT stink! LOL
 
whoever had this before me, possibly the original owner, took incredibly good care of it, and did not play it very much.
 
info, i'm not sure of:
This guitar was made at the Terada Plant, Japan, 1977, Production Number: 5404 .
 
I was actually shopping for a Gibson Les Paul, back in '79, when i bought my original 2619. I had just finished about 6 months of demo’ing every les paul I could get my hands on, waiting to find the right one. This guitar has a nice warm tone and sustains for miles.  It’s actually the closest thing i've found to a Les Paul without being made by Gibson. This Ibanez is the only guitar I’ve ever heard that can compare to the Les Paul, which amazes even me. The Flying Fingers pickups are killer.
 
 
a pic from the original 1977 catalog:

EW

ah, i got to play one of those 12 stringers back in the day!
super sweet, i always wanted one.... but it was too far down the list to ever pull the trigger on.....

whoa, that's a heavy sucker!
LOL


usually, i see these with a bit of checking and whatnot, but this dude that owned it before me--Must have played it alot, but lightly, and kept it in the case all the time. the finish has worn very nicely (looks obviously vintage) but no damage anywhere, except the **** in the finish on the back, where you can't see it...
 


when the guy at the desk told me 'we don't have any gibson doublecuts, but there's an old ibanez over there'.....
and pointed to the area where a bunch of used guitars were standing...

i saw that artist, and new immediately what it was.
i casually walked over there, caught another salesman, and said 'that one'.
he reached up, and as he brought it down from the stand, he stared at the tag, wondering why it was so cheap.
honestly, i believe he thought it was a mistake.
he ALMOST didn't want to hand it to me... i could see the gears working...... he wanted to grab the floor boss, and say 'hey, someone's tagged this wrong!"
hehehe

once i had it tho, and played it, i knew i was going to buy it.  i talked the store manager down to about what they had in it.
He said it had been in the store too long, and he just wanted to move it.

i saw another one like it, sell on another site like ebay, for $1300.
thing is, most of those, at least have some fretwear, and some bad bucklerash, and all that, this one is just almost pristine.

i've waited 26 years to get one back (sold mine in 1984 to pay for the Carvin i bought)



it's kinda weird, how the finish has aged over the years, and certain parts of the woodgrain have kept the stain, and other areas have given it up to age.
i don't think you could ever stain it like that on purpose, it does give it a bit of a unique flavor. my original one didn't quite look like that, but it seemed a bit 'fancier' because it had the big pearl and abalone block inlays, but was basically the same guitar.



here's the original:





i'll tell you, this guitar is making me rethink a few things, for sure...

for one, the Henries output is supposedly about 4.4, about half of what my hottest humbucker (lawrence 500L) puts out....
and i REALLY like the way it responds to the boogie.
like the input of the boogie, and THAT output, were made for each other.

also, the frets...
they're super wide, twice as wide as my regular 'jumbos'......

and real flat, the way gibson used to crown their frets on the 'fretless wonders'....
you know what i'm talking about?
man, i can pull off riffs on that thing that i haven't done in years.

ugh, the strap was too long.