I have a crazy one for ya

[indianscout]

all I know is that a gentlemen purchased this lawsuit LP copy when he was stationed in Tokyo in the late 70's..

no identifiable markings on it Sun inlay on the headstock with no name, inlay on the body as you can see, and neck

I removed the pups and inside is stamped Fujigen Jp 1977

thats all I know...

here's a pic..

http://i17.tinypic.com/68apldh.jpg

[ChuckE99]

If it's a Fuji Gen guitar from '77, it may have a serial number on it, either on the back of the headstock or on the neck plate, if it's a bolt-on neck. At least, Ibanez and Greco brand guitars from that era have the serials. An interesting guitar there.

-Chuck

[indianscout]

well after talking with Ibanez and alot of other manuf, it's an Ibanez Artstar

[dave_g]

What ? Artstar solid body LP copy ? HUH ? 70's ?
Wasn't Artstar the mid 80's hollow body moniker ?

This guitar looks to me to be a run of the mill modern Chinese/Vietnamese inlaid guitar-right up to the non branded "Tulip" headstock and sloppy inlay work-the real tell is the inlaid selector switch control cavity cover.  Look at the inlay work, very sloppy-very non-Japanese ! I own a ton of these guitars and they are a decent build, but the detail work is real sloppy (we have discussed these before).

 
Fujigen wound never have allowed this to leave the factory.  Pickup transplant ?

[bobzilla]

When you say "stamped inside", where? in the pup routes or on the pups themselves? I'd have to agree with Dave here, although that one photo is not much to work from. It certainly looks exactly like what Dave indicated to you. Have you had the guitar in hand? One would think that if you did have it in hand, there would be many indications of age (hardware degeneration, yellowing of binding, evidence of normal playwear over such a period of time (1977-2007.) You say you spoke to Ibanez? I assume you showed them the photo then? If so, I can't believe they would tell you what you say above. Don't get me wrong, I am not stating anything other than... it's difficult to believe, not that it's not true, just difficult to believe. Ibanez had serial numbers by 1977 as well so they should be there somewhere. Do you have more/better/closer photos? Keep in mind, guys like Dave have seen just about everything when it comes to Ibanez and it is surprising that Ibanez would tell you they made this one. Always a chance they made the original body and then later (much) someone decided to do the inlay work but Ibanez never released this axe as is. That I am 99.99999% sure of.

[bobzilla]

Indian, here's an example of one of the guitars Dave refers to: If you read the description on this one, you can tell the seller bought the guitar from Vietnam through an ebay auction, realized it was junk and now he's selling it. Although he doesn't come right out and say that. But notice how he mentions the work he had done and that it still needs a bunch of neck work. I think you can see the style of the inlay work and the style of the inlay work on yours.  


http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-strat-Inlaid-neck-Body- stratocaster-USA_W0QQitemZ300147629455QQihZ020QQca tegoryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


here's another (LP Like yours) :

http://cgi.ebay.com/GREAT-INLAY-SOLIDWOOD-6-STRING S-ELECTRIC-GUITAR-5620_W0QQitemZ330161427827QQihZ0 14QQcategoryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZView Item

[bobzilla]

Indian... here are my 2 "vintage Ibanez" LP copies.  

[bobzilla]

P.S. - if I had photos of the backs, you'd see that same abalone plate on the back that you have on yours. It's definitely from Bruce or Antonio. Definitely. Still, the inlays are obviously brand new but the body may still be an Old IBZ. Maybe.
My 2 came from VietNam by the way, I think less than ayear ago.

[lofapco]

Bob_Z...

Those actually look very pretty but I have always been a sucker for inlay. Do they play nicely or are they just eye candy? Does the inlay on the neck get distracting at all?

[ChuckE99]

This guy has posted his guitar over in our Free Classifieds area. He's sticking by his assertion that it's an Ibanez. We're having a bit of fun with him.

[bobzilla]

Lo.... I was just bouncing around looking at stuff and I see you asked me a ? back in Sept. that I never saw/responded to, in regard to my 2 Vietnamese axes above. I had posted quite extensively about them in the past. Both are now incredible playing/sounding guitars. I wound up getting them for $70 each. Then... I immediately had both necks completely attended to. Frets, adjustments, etc. etc. all completely redone. When I got them, you could not play either neck. On top of that, the one with the flowers is actually a GIBSON LES PAUL NOW TO A LARGE EXTENT BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE ELECTRONIC COMPONENET, INCLUDING THE WIRING AND ALL THE NUTS AND SCREWS... EVERYTHING... DOWN TO THE INPUT JACK IS FROM A GUTTED LIMITED EDITION GIBBY LP.  Sorry 'bout the caps there... accident. So... they both rip and the flower one is quite heavy. It weighs as much as a Gib. LP for sure. I have a new set of pups (Dimarzio BluesBurster) for the scroll guitar but haven't had them installed yet. The scroll axe is a much lighter guitar, it's really nice now though. Both were total crap when I got them. Total crap. Both designs differ greatly from every other design I've seen come out of Bruce's shops so... I love the inlays on both, that was the one thing that made me pursue sprucing these 2 up, the inlays were pretty neat. Much better in person than these fotos show and the actual body color on both is root beer, not dark red. Another ICW member has a ,matching scroll guitar to mine above.

[bobzilla]

P.S. - I added Ibanez pearl tuners to both and they really finished these 2 off rather nicely.