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Picked it up today from the classifieds. Why is it that i can't get any good gear without a story? It was listed in two separate ads - with a $75 difference in the price. So I printed out the lower priced ad, grabbed a friend, and drove into the hood to pick this one up. Sellers were a group of 12 year old kids, and well... after a little haggling (yes, I haggled with 12 year olds), I got the guitar for a good deal. Basically, I didn't want the amp, cable, pick, or guitar instruction books that came along with the guitar. Plus, it had issues that I'll get to in a bit.

Comet Blue with a matching headstock. Serial dates it to April 1984, made in Japan by Terada.

Bad: Anyway, it's missing a saddle (popped in a strat saddle as a temporary replacement), the pots were seized, missing a knob (put in some gibson knobs as replacements), the phase switch is dead, and the 5 way switch only had 3 working positions. Bridge has a weird design that makes changing strings a bitch.

Good: Frets are good, metal didn't have rust (there is pitting though), pickups work, sounds pretty good (HOT single coils), neck is straight, truss rod works, tuners work well. Action is COMFY.

Meh: The body has a fair bit of mojo, but it's a 29 year old guitar, so I'll deal with it. Also, it's a slab body, which I can take or leave.

Anyway, the guitar spent most of the afternoon with my tech, who replaced the pots, 5 way switch, put in the strat saddle as a temporary measure, the gibson knobs, and set it up. I've gotta swing by radio shack to get a new switch if I want the phase options, but I might wire it so I can add the all 3/neck+bridge positions instead. I've also contacted Ibanez about getting some original knobs, so it's just a matter of waiting for them to answer.

And pics:
The pic from the ad:


And now:

Love it. Another MIJ win.

Nice one. I'd love one of these one day.

nice guitar and good job screwing those kids over lol

hard lesson for them i guess

Very nice. Good score!

Interesting color looks kinda like turquoise in some of the pics? Congrats!

Awesome, nice price. That's an RS135 right? I just finished putting those exact pickups on my Roadstar, which was a single humbucker model. I read mixed opinions on them, but I think they sound good. Not very strat-y, which is fine by me since I already have a strat for that purpose. Regarding the bridge, I just string it like a typical strat bridge, load it through the back and make sure the ball catches in the socket. Funny, Ibanez advertised the purpose of that design as being able to load the strings from the top, but every time I try that, I end up having to turn the guitar over anyway to make sure the string is in place.

Awesome, I love those guitars; Nick's been a long time player and fan of these. You still got it, Nick?

Dillon wrote:Awesome, nice price. That's an RS135 right? I just finished putting those exact pickups on my Roadstar, which was a single humbucker model. I read mixed opinions on them, but I think they sound good. Not very strat-y, which is fine by me since I already have a strat for that purpose. Regarding the bridge, I just string it like a typical strat bridge, load it through the back and make sure the ball catches in the socket. Funny, Ibanez advertised the purpose of that design as being able to load the strings from the top, but every time I try that, I end up having to turn the guitar over anyway to make sure the string is in place.

Yep, it's an RS135. I like the pickups - hot ceramic single coils. They take dirt quite well, so I'm pleased.

Doog wrote:Awesome, I love those guitars; Nick's been a long time player and fan of these. You still got it, Nick?

Sort of. Mine's a Blazer which is similar but a little different. It's been in project status again for a couple years after parting it out and then buying the neck back from Mages. I have a pair of period correct Ibanez "flying finger" super 80s ready to go in it, but it's in being held up due to the pickguard (Jeannie Pickguards on eBay are theiving assholes I won't do business with again, and they're the only company that makes a reasonably priced Blazer pickguard.). Debated throwing it up in the classifieds again but each time I do nobody bites.

I always liked the way they look, and they're very nice quality for what you can get them for.

So, small update. I was able to get replacement Ibanez Suregrip II knobs and an original saddle. Also, swung by Radio Shack yesterday and picked up a new switch to replace the broken one. I decided that since the single coils are a bit hot, perhaps the out-of-phase options would be a better way to go.

mkt3000 wrote:I was able to get replacement Ibanez Suregrip II knobs and an original saddle.

!!!! How?

NickS wrote:

mkt3000 wrote:I was able to get replacement Ibanez Suregrip II knobs and an original saddle.

!!!! How?

The knobs are actually still made. Ibanez sells them direct if you live in the lower 48 states (http://store.ibanez.com/store/Category.aspx?s=1000004), but I don't, so I ordered them from Rich at ibanezrules.com. The saddle came from Orval at mr-ibanez.com, who has some NOS parts (http://www.mr-ibanez.com/parts.htm)

The only part it needs that I'm not ordering is a trem arm, since I rarely use trem anymore. But I've been told that an Ibanez Edge trem arm works, so I'll use one of those if I ever need it.

Cool. I guess the saddle looks a bit shiny next to the others.

mkt3000 wrote:

NickS wrote:

mkt3000 wrote:I was able to get replacement Ibanez Suregrip II knobs and an original saddle.

!!!! How?

The knobs are actually still made. Ibanez sells them direct if you live in the lower 48 states (http://store.ibanez.com/store/Category.aspx?s=1000004), but I don't, so I ordered them from Rich at ibanezrules.com. The saddle came from Orval at mr-ibanez.com, who has some NOS parts (http://www.mr-ibanez.com/parts.htm)

The only part it needs that I'm not ordering is a trem arm, since I rarely use trem anymore. But I've been told that an Ibanez Edge trem arm works, so I'll use one of those if I ever need it.

I don't think it does, actually. The Edge arms are interchangeable with the Pro Rock'r, but I'm pretty sure the Power Rocker bridges have a different arm, which is more like a Kahler arm, or an early-80s Strat arm (which I have, and which works awesome). Hard to describe, but on that Strat arm, there are two little wings that on the arm that fit perfectly in the slots in the socket. Those early 80s Strats have a top-load trem that's very similar to the Ibanez one.

Edit: Like this

http://www.stratcat.biz/4027-freeflyte.shtml

But then if you look at this image, it does look just like an Edge arm, so I'm not sure

And the missing pieces have arrived

I had one of these for a long old time - a really great player and I loved the push pull in mine (humbucker in the bridge). Mine also had a floyd too. Was bad ass, miss it.

What a cool guitar. Good score.

So... my tech just sent me this video. Apparently when I dropped it off a few weeks back for a quick one-over, he recorded an demo:

[youtube][/youtube]