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hi, I am considering buying a late 70s Ibanez hollow body (gibson copy) - any general views on the quality of these guitars? Anything in specific I should look out for? I’m assuming they are pretty good and well built - at least as good as Gibson! - but I have no experience at all with this…any guidance for me before I buy? Thanks!
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12-08-2024 09:49 AM
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Make sure the binding isn't cracking because it'll only be a matter of time before it starts flaking/chipping off, a common problem w vintage Japanese guitars.
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I owed a 2355 (ES-175 copy) from this era that I would describe as okay. It had very nice flame maple laminate but it never played as well as I would like and just showed bits of sloppy workmanship here and there. This guitar was certainly not as good as most Gibsons I’ve played although it sounded pretty dang close to the real thing after I put a 57 Classic in the neck. Before that I owned an early 80s AS200 that was as well made as any guitar I’ve owned or played but I didn’t bond with it. Long story short I wouldn’t pay a premium for Ibanez of that era and certainly I would want to see and play the actual instrument before buying.
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I have owned, and regret deeply selling, a few 2616 and 2355 models that were superb guitars. The binding rot as already mentioned by wintermoon and separations at the neck-to-body area are places where these (and other old guitars as well) can have problems due to long term mechanical stress. If you are buying online, ask for detailed photos of the neck and ask about the truss rod.
Lastly, are you buying this as a player guitar or collector? For the latter expect that many of these vintage ibanez guitars have had some modification so you need to know if the original parts are included with the sale.
good luck and let us know how your quest turned out!
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Thanks for this info guys - very clear and helpful! I’m buying to play but the seller says all original and it looks in very good shape from the pictures….I”ll ponder a bit and then let you know if I buy… Thanks again….
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Very nice guitars, my first archtop was a 2355 I sold it to buy my 88' ES175 (classic move). The comparison doesn't last, my gibson is a way better guitar. But I still regret selling it as the Ibanez was also a very nice "go to" guitar, with a thinner neck, a "funkier" sound. Do not consider it as a ES175 copy but as a good guitar with it's own personality. Try it, and if the neck suits you go for it. They still have a good resell value if you change your mind (around 1200 euros i would say).
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Not to mention vintage American guitars. It's inherent to the binding material manufactured at the time and can affect any brand guitar. But rebinding a D'Angelico or D'Aquisto, even an L5, is financially worth it whereas with guitars of lesser value the cost/benefit gets murkier as the resale value is lower.
Originally Posted by wintermoon
I have a 1981 Ibanez GB10NT; there are some discoloration of the binding in spots, but thus far no cracking, crumbling, delaminating, etc. If it was a sunburst finish, it wouldn't even really be very noticeable; but because the discoloration of the binding extends into the surrounding wood, it shows up more readily on natural finish instruments.
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Watch for evidence of pickguard out-gassing. 70's Ibanez guitars were notorious for this as well as the aforementioned binding rot and discoloration. Quality improved dramatically during the 80's forward.
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My mid 1970s 2355 was pretty well built, but off just a little. Nothing I could not fix:
Pots too high value, measured 1k-> new electronics installed
Pickup off center -> re-drilled holes and re-installed pickup ring in correct location
Frets too low -> refretted
Otherwise a very nice guitar. Sounds and looks very nice. So much that I put off buying a real ES-175 for 20 years. 1992 to 2012.
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Ditto for me, I have the 1970's Japanese ES-175 copy discussed in this video, the binding and neck are good. Originally Posted by icr
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Does the Cortez have a soundpost and is the guitar the same dims as a Gibson? Originally Posted by Mick-7
My Japanese copy is slightly thinner than my '63 and it has fake HBs!
Thanks
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Yes, it has a sound post but it's just a dowel, similar to a violin sound post. I've heard that the pickups on the Japanese copies are usually inferior to Gibsons, this is true of mine. My Cortez guitar has a narrower neck than I like (I'm over 6' tall and have long fingers), guess they modeled it after the thinner neck Gibson ES-175's. However, the body dimensions appear to be the same. Originally Posted by garybaldy
The guitar in the video looks just like mine although mine is in better shape. I was told it was manufactured in the mid' 70's, problem is they did not put serial numbers on them (as far as I know) so dating them is very difficult. I've had it for over 20 years.
Here's another video on the history of Japanese made guitars by the same guy who made the Cortez video:
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I play a 2616 pre-serial. Like it a lot. All original. No binding problems at all.
Never played a gibson. Can afford it but my playing isn't worth it. I often get inspired by the sound of my 2616 and jp20.
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I also have an Ibanez 2616. It is a fabulous guitar. The original pickups with the Ibanez inscription are great. No issues with binding, neck or pickguard. But to avoid surprises, try it out before you buy.
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I have a '78 Ibanez FA-100 I bought after having gone through 2 Gibson 175s in the late 80's. I got it for a Yes cover band gig and love it to death. I've never had an issue with the binding, though I did have the pots changed out to better ones about 20 years ago or so. Lovely figure on the top as well
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I had a mid-70s 2355 for a while (in the mid-70s). Easy to play, sounded nice through my '60s Ampeg Reverberocket. Only issue was it was a few cents flat at the octave, but that could probably have been fixed if I tweaked the bridge location. Wound up trading it for an Ovation classical with a pickup that was better suited to my playing at the time. I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another one if I came across one at a decent price.
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Ok, stumbled on this thread and comments I read prompted me to chip in, as some of them seemed to be knocking down those oldies for poor craftmanship which I found a little harsh, lacking in convincing evidence.
So meet my old jazzer. An early Byrdland copy. I played the real thing (a 60s one) too and it just felt pretty much the same. I acquired this old Ibby about 34 years ago and at the time it had already been gigged around for 20 or so.
I've looked after it. The were spells when I did not play it for several years as my interest shifts at time between genres. But over the years I do keep an eye on it, check for any signs of change, treat the fretboard, give it a polish etc. And it looks, feels and plays better now than when I first grabbed did many moons ago.
At its youngest is would have been born in around 1973 but possibly earlier. This instrument has a few dings and notches here and there from its years on the roads, but nothing the binding is intact and has mellowed beautifully.
I am very impressed by the quality of this built. And from my personal experience with Japanese made guitars, I have only good words to say about the craftmanship. Electronics perhaps not all that great in more recent models but that can always be fixed I found.
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Beautiful guitar.
I never owned late seventies Ibanez, but I have a 1980 AS50, just a slighlty smaller ES335 (it's bigger than a ES339). A fabulous instrument, it feels like very high level piece of workmanship.
The one thing I've noticed is that Ibanez more often use maple, or 3 piece necks, rather than mahogany. This has a big impact when comparing to Gibsons.
My AS50 has a percussive and clear voice because of it's maple neck.
I used to have a 1981 AS200, this one had a mahogany neck. It not a better guitar than the AS50, just different, but much heavier.Last edited by Jx30510; 10-24-2025 at 12:42 AM.
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I have a Blond 1978 Ibanez Byrdland copy too. I recently put it back in rotation along with my GB-10 and Gibby HR Fusion, using it tonight for BB rehearsal. I find myself favoring it over the others these days. Plays great strung with D'addario flatwound 13's. Those Super 70's PUPs sound fine.
Tom
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Hi,
Thank you,
I don't know what tone woods it is made of. All I can say is that I haven't had to touch the trussrod in over 20 years now. The action's not moved, intonation is spot-on and it keeps the tuning very well.
Perhaps just a very lucky pick.
I didn't know about the 3-piece neck you mentioned. So thank you for explaining this.
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Great stuff!
The only snag I have with that old jazzer is that the neck feels pretty narrow at the first fret these days.
When I was in my 30s, my fingers weren't the sausages they've become.
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Just to add, when I say 3 piece necks, I don't mean 3 pieces of the same wood with scarf joints, but 3 different stripes of wood glued together in parallel. The GB10 is a good example of that type of build.
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Most new Ibanez archtops are good too and lot less expensive than the vintage Ibanez.
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I mentioned this not too long ago in another thread, but the search engine here seems incapable of finding that post, so I'll tell it again:
When I was a wee teen my guitar teacher (the phenomenal Richie Hart) had one of the most gorgeous specimens of Gibson L-5 I had -- or, to this day, have -- ever seen. Not sure how old it was, but it had a DeArmond floating pickup, and a custom made carved ivory bridge with ebony base. Lovely cherry sunburst. Beautiful looking and sounding guitar. I couldn't imagine a more covetable instrument for playing jazz
...and then one day I show up for my weekly lesson and his L-5 is sitting in the corner, and he's holding a brand new (this was circa 1977 or '78) Ibanez, a clone of a Johnny Smith Double, in natural maple finish, completely stock. I'm sure it cost him well under $1k in late-70s dollars.
I asked him how the two compared, and he smiled, played a few bars of the "Misty" chord-melody solo we'd been working on, and said "This guitar is the real thing. Might even be better than my Gibson."
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I can believe that. As I had the chance to acquire a 60s Gibson Byrdland round 10yrs ago for a very decent price. Originally Posted by Bob_Ross
I mentioned this not too long ago in another thread, but the search engine here seems incapable of finding that post, so I'll tell it again:
When I was a wee teen my guitar teacher (the phenomenal Richie Hart) had one of the most gorgeous specimens of Gibson L-5 I had -- or, to this day, have -- ever seen. Not sure how old it was, but it had a DeArmond floating pickup, and a custom made carved ivory bridge with ebony base. Lovely cherry sunburst. Beautiful looking and sounding guitar. I couldn't imagine a more covetable instrument for playing jazz
...and then one day I show up for my weekly lesson and his L-5 is sitting in the corner, and he's holding a brand new (this was circa 1977 or '78) Ibanez, a clone of a Johnny Smith Double, in natural maple finish, completely stock. I'm sure it cost him well under $1k in late-70s dollars.
I asked him how the two compared, and he smiled, played a few bars of the "Misty" chord-melody solo we'd been working on, and said "This guitar is the real thing. Might even be better than my Gibson."
Played it for some time and could compare both.
Apart from the Gibby being the "Real Deal" and sounded awesome on an old Fender Deluxe amp (i think) that included some Jazz function knob. The price was great but taking that thing out to gig round town was not going to happen.
My Ibby is a very early 70s, (still the Gibson 'open book' headstock) possibly earlier. The tonal range it delivers is honestly surprisingly rich, and versatile.
I have that velvety tone such as the vamp you hear on the back of old Bill Evans recordings for instance. As well as great funky tones and more.
It really covered it all and if something had happened to it, it would only have been an inconvenience at the time, not a tragedy.
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