When is an Ibanez Collectible????

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Author Message   Jasma Username: Jasma Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 8:05 pm:    Hi Guys, I'm still new to this forum and have been reading all your coments with great interest, but when is an Ibanez a collectable item? Does it have to be made in Japan? Does it have to be pre 1985??? As you can see on the link below I do own a few Jap. Ibanez's, 3 of these are brand new never been played 1983-5 RS 505CS, RS320RD, RS315CS , I think personally they are one of the best guitars Ibanez ever made, but never seems to get discussed on IBW!!! Not a collectable Guitar or is it not old enough? What do you think? Cheers Jorn, AUS http://www.ibanezregister.com/Gallery/groups/jorn%20heltborg.htmum,   Hasenobu Username: Hasenobu Registered: 01-2006 Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 8:31 pm:    Jorn, I'm an owner of a dozen of RSs, RGs, and PLs, and I love all of them as much as my AR series guitars. I'm rather new here as well, and may not be in a position to state reasons why these great guitars don't get discussed here, but, my guess is that most of RS, RG, PL models are too popular to be talked about: I mean, Ibanez produced far more guitars than ARs and 26** series, and as a result, they are easier to buy at quite reasonable prices even now. Note that I'm not saying these guitars are not worth discussing, though.   Snowjays Username: Snowjays Registered: 09-2004 Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 8:56 pm:    Jorn, A guitar becomes collectable when someone else wants one or has an interest in one, not because of age. IMHO. Tom   Jasma Username: Jasma Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 9:30 pm:    sounds fair to me, but I still think I'll hang on to my RS's for few more years.. got the link wrong for my collection, so here's the right one:http://www.ibanezregister.com/Gallery/groups/jorn%20heltborg.htm Hi Hasenobu, bourght a lot of my guitars in Japan, never seen so many used guitars in one place as in Tokyo in my life!!!!   Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 9:44 am:    Jasma: That's some collection you have there! You have a discriminating eye. Here's some general thoughts, I have on the subject: It's true that there's more discussion of 70s to '80 guitars here. My gut feeling is that the value of those models are appreciating faster than early 80s models. If those factors translate to "collectible", in most people's mind, then that's a shame and that's not the conclusion I would draw. I'm not an expert on Roadstars (or Roadsters), but I think they are a victim of the same prejudice that plagued the '70s models. That they are cheap, Japanese made guitars that just aren't up to the level of the bigger brand names. But those who have gotten to play them and compare them to the competition know the truth: these are players in the best sense of the word. But there are "better" models, in terms of appointments, cosmetics and rarity. Another factor that may contribute to the RS being pushed into the background is the success of their decendents: the RGs (morphing into JEMs and Universe), Radius (eventually becoming the JS) and others that I can't think of right now. Here's another factor: good grief there's a lot of them! They came in every style, flavor, color. IMO, some of the RS will acheive the status of "collectible", i.e., more monetarily valuable. That means right now they are a good deal. I say collect them, invest in them, talk about them! This site was designed to be a haven for all fans of Ibanez guitars, regardless of model or vintage. Have you been looking for discussions of Roadstars in the Contemporary section? There is a considerable amount material there and we even have a resident expert who focuses lots of his attention on the many permutations of this line. OK, Roadstar fans, talk amongst yourselves. But let's do it in the Contemporary section, please.   Jasma Username: Jasma Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 6:59 pm:    Thanks John that made sence.. the funny part is that at some stage I had over 150 Jap. Ibanez's and sold off what looks like being the wrong ones!! LP's, Musicians,JS's ,older type Artists,aso..them are the breaks..Glad I did keep at least some of the collectible ones! cheers jorn   Jimmys Username: Jimmys Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 5:42 am:    Hi Jorn, I've got 3 Roadstars, 2 Artists and a few other non-Ibanez guitars. The Roadstars are brilliant guitars. I have an 86 RS135BK (I think) which has a slimmer body than the other two Roadstars that I have and it is probably the best playing and most comfortable guitar I have owned. It also looks amazing (all black including pickups with a rosewood neck). I have a pink one and a green one also. I think you are in Australia - me too. These guitars are very slowly going up in value here I think as people are probably recognising how good they are in terms of value for money. One red one sold on eBay recently for $325AUD with no case and in used condition. I think that was an OK price and definitely puts these guitars above the cheap $100 firewood specials, of which I own a few. Maybe being made in Japan and not China, Korea or Indonesia helps, and maybe this will be a factor in collectablility in the future. US made guitars are worth more and I reckon the Jap ones are starting to follow suit. We might be waiting a while though for the Roadstars to be worth a lot. For me, the Roadstars are lighter and more comfortable to play than the Artists but the Artists are such beautiful guitars and I'd rather part with the Roadstars than the Artists any day. I suspect that others would feel the same. Still doesn't mean that the Roadstars aren't brilliant in themselves. The Artists are quite hard to come by in Australia, although I've been lucky and have had a few. I have an 81 AR300CS (bought in Sydney and owned since new in 83) and an 85 AR350MST (just bought - ebay.au). Now I think that the marine sunburst one (MST) is collectable as they only made 239 of them and it has the factory tremelo, making it different from most Artists. To think that ten years ago I was not happy with the sound that I was getting from my gear and actually considered trading the AR300 Artist on a cheap Strat ($450 or so). I had no idea about what a great guitar I had and how desirable it would be ten years later. I thought that the Artist was only worth $300 back then as I paid $550 for it in 83. It was probably worth closer to $750AUD then, but would probably go for double that these days. I would be absolutely shattered now if had done that. A new AR3000VV here costs $4k from shops. So, hang on to the Roadstars and maybe they'll be worth something one day. Pity you don't play yours much though. Cheers, James   Jasma Username: Jasma Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 7:52 pm:    Hi James, if you have a look at my collection, most of these I've bourght at auction and pawnshops in Sydney, but that goes back a few years now. The last couple of years I've havent been able to pick up a single good Ibanez around town, so maybe we are sitting on some good stuff that might be worth a bit of money in the not so distance future. The main reason for not playing very much is that I'm not very good, but I'm trying and have been for the last 30 years!!! I like collecting thou and have owned over 550 guitars in the last 10 years, out of that lot around 200 were Ibanez's. If I've had the space and money I should have kept all of those, but hindsight is always a good excuse... Where do you live in Aus.???? Cheers Jorn   Jimmys Username: Jimmys Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 8:01 am:    Hi Jorn, I'm in Canberra but used to live in Sydney. I've bought a number of Ibanezes on eBay but I bought my AR300CS at Turamurra Music store in Sydney in 83. I got my pink Roadstar II in the US when I lived there in 2000. The shop wanted to get rid of it because they couldn't shift it. It was cheap and I don't think they even knew about the coil tap, which is common on these guitars. It has one single humbucker and one knob - that's it. I just got my AR350MS yesterday from Perth (eBay). Great guitar. I'm very happy with it but I haven't worked out if it is a keeper yet or if I'll move it on if I spot something even better (I couldn't really afford to keep it also in that case). So, if anyone reads this and desperately wants a marine sunburst Artist, and has an AR500 or similar/better that they want to part with, let me know. I might be tempted once I've had it for a bit. 500 plus guitars is incredible. I've been playing for 23 years or so and have only owned 10-15 guitars in that time. I have half that now and will probably even reduce that again shortly due to space, money and trying to reduce the obsession a bit! Yes, I find that finding good older Ibanezes is getting harder and more competitive. Pawn shops in Sydney seem overpriced also. There are about 2 shops like this in Canberra (smaller population for those International readers). Mind you, I was in Townsville one year (even smaller population) and happened to go into a local shop there and asked if he had any old Ibanex Artist knobs. Surprise, surprise - he had 4 brand new old stock Sure Grip II knobs which I needed for an AR305AV at the time. So, you never know your luck with these things. Cheers, James   Strings Username: Strings Registered: 01-2005 Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 9:57 am:    Jimmy, what year is the AR350MS? Can you post pics? JohnS would more than likely like most of this discussion posted in the "Classified" section, but I'm sure you can post this stuff here until you are ready to sell. Thanks, Eric   Jimmys Username: Jimmys Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 6:39 am:    Hi Eric, It's a 'L85' model - December 85. It actually has the 86 bridge (the Edge tremelo) so it's one of those cross-over models. Nice guitar. Cheers, James I'll post another shot of the whole thing.   Jimmys Username: Jimmys Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 6:52 am:    The whole thing - not a great quality shot sorry but it shows the contrast with an AR300CS.   Strings Username: Strings Registered: 01-2005 Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 11:31 am:    Beautiful James!! How does it sound when compared to the '81CS...are there large differences between them? I have the same '81 CS and it sounds amazing for a PAF-type axe.   Bluesmeister Username: Bluesmeister Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 8:51 pm:    Ooh, nice one James! It looks very classy. Where was the seller located in Perth? And what colour is the back of the guitar and the neck? It's about time you spent some money on recording gear. I'm hanging out to hear some ACT rock and roll!   Jimmys Username: Jimmys Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 9:34 pm:    I'm still figuring it out but I think that the 85 sounds just as good, if not better than the CS. It has that beefy tone you'd expect from the Super 58's and it seems to have a more single coil sound than the CS when the tri-sounds are in the middle position. I love the trem also and have had a series of strats etc. which always lose their tuning when you use the trem. The Artist has the locking system so it stays in tune! The trem feels great to rest your hand on also. Interestingly, they sound quite different unplugged due to the different bridges I guess. The CS has a more woody tone than the 350. In any case, they are both great guitars to have and play. ..and both are as heavy as eachother. Cheers, James   Jimmys Username: Jimmys Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 3:19 am:    Hi Mr Bluesman, Yes it is not a bad guitar. I think I prefer the AR300CS in looks though, but the trem and MS finish are what got me hooked. How many MS ones do you see also? Very very rarely - maybe the FR is rarer again? I've never seen one for sale. I've seen a few PL (or PW?) ones. I'll have to check the suburb in Perth. I don't know where it came from exactly. Funnily enough, that is the 2nd Artist I have bought from Perth and I have also sold/shipped two to Perth. Must be a cluster of Artist collectors there! Yes, maybe I'll record something for you soon.   Lucklee Username: Lucklee Registered: 03-2006 Posted on Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 8:41 am:    How do you post a picture in the forum like the those ones?   Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 10:50 pm:    Lucklee: Follow this link for the instructions: http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=formatting#images But make sure that your files are 50k or less before trying to upload them.

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