1978 Ibanez 2630

[ARGewirtz]

As I mentioned in my previous post re a website to browse vintage MIJ guitars, here are a few pics of the 1978 Ibanez 2630 that I bought and it arrived yesterday.

As you can see, it’s in really clean shape except for a somewhat obscure part that’s missing. The original guitar would have had 2 Ibanez Super 80 pickups with a Super 80 Tri-sound pickup in the bridge and a Tri-sound selector switch just above the bridge pickup volume knob. Somewhere along the way the original pickups were replaced and the Tri-sound selector switch was removed, leaving a small hole in the top. I’m looking for a similar switch that would be just for show to fill the space.

As for the current pickups, I don’t know much about them and I will decide whether to keep or change them, but if I decide to change I’m NOT going to bother to chase after the original Super 80s. Any suggestions on other pickups to consider? Over the past 20-months I’ve focused exclusively on learning standards and basic jazz playing, and I have a couple of nice old archtops for that purpose. I understand that with the right PUPs I can use this guitar for those same tunes (although clearly with a different sound) but this guitar gives me the added flexibility to wander into some blues when I'm ready.

The only other item is that sometime over the guitar’s 44-year history, the pickguard was removed. This model was made for only 3 years, 1977-1979. The 1977 model did not have a pickguard; a tortoise pickguard was added for the 1978 model. I kinda like the look without the guard and likely any original pickups that are still around would have gassed-off by now, so if I decide to add a pickguard, I’ll have a new one made to fit.

[st.bede]

Wow... that is so beautiful I can almost hear it. What a find.

[citizenk74]

A truly lovely instrument! Congratulations, and play it in good health!

As for pickups, I'm very happy with the '57 Classics that came in my '04 ES-175.

[blille]

Grats! I suggest a set of Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[ARGewirtz]

Wow... that is so beautiful I can almost hear it. What a find.

Yes, thanks, I thought so too, which is why I bought it. Below is the link to the website where I found it (I'm not affiliated with the site except for this purchase).

Joe's Vintage Guitars.Com

[ARGewirtz]

A truly lovely instrument! Congratulations, and play it in good health!

As for pickups, I'm very happy with the '57 Classics that came in my '04 ES-175.

Thanks, I'll look into them.

[ARGewirtz]

Grats! I suggest a set of Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks, I'll look into it. Marc Tappan, who is the guitar tech at Guitars & Jazz here in NJ, is a friend and he's gonna take a look at the guitar tomorrow so I'll ask him about pups.

[JohanAbrandt]

Thanks, I'll look into it. Marc Tappan, who is the guitar tech at Guitars & Jazz here in NJ, is a friend and he's gonna take a look at the guitar tomorrow so I'll ask him about pups.

Second vote for seth lovers, fantastic pickup.

The 57:s will sound good as well, beefier and darker, but the seths are nicer

[st.bede]

... as for PUs, that is serious rabbit hole that I have gone down over, and over again. What is even more bothersome, is that I keep bumping into Alice.

... it depends on what type of sound you are after, and how the guitar sounds ...

I personally have never really been happy with most Duncans. (I did like an JB, in the bridge of a super strat guitar, that I played in the mid to late 80s). For me Duncans always sound a little pushed. Sometimes I like my amps with that mid forward sound, sometimes I like it in pedals, I certainly like it in synths, but not for PUs. I have had a number of SD. I put them in, and then take them out. I have a vintage rails somewhere that I held onto. I like that one. The rest I have sold.

I hear a particular SD sound in all of their PUs. It seems strange to me and I question my own validity, but even before we had a zillion PU winders, I removed a set of SDs from a custom built guitar and had some one custom wind me a set. Who knows?

Fralin has some great sounding PUs,

I also like Lollar ... some people hear his PUs as sterile, I hear them as having a tight bass and extended highs. However, I did not at all, like his take on Fillteron.

I like TV Jones stuff.

For me Bartolini have that compressed warm jazz sound happening.

Wilde (Bill Lawrence) PUs have that compressed sound (like Barts), but with more attack and a little grit. (I assume due to the ceramic magnet).

I always wonder about DiMarzio. I had some in the 80s that I liked, and they sound great in high end Music Mann guitars, but I have not used one since the 80s.

[jazzkritter]

Yay! Good looker happy NGD!
Ive replaced my Super 58s with Fralin Modern PAFs. Very responsive with a playing feel i did not find in SD or DM. Never tried a Lollar but i do know he and Lindy communicate so maybe similar?
As above, pups are a rabbit hole)))
jk

[Gitfiddler]

Congratulations on your 'new-to-you' Ibanez 2630. Those are GREAT guitars in my view.

My first decent electric guitar was a '78 2630 that I found languishing in a pawn shop in L.A. At the time I was looking for a Gibson ES335, but simply couldn't afford what was available new or used. 20 years later I spotted another 2630 ('79 build) and had to have it. I did a bit of restoration on it (binding rot repair and pickguard replacement), then sold it. The pickguards tend to out-gas and rot everything it comes in contact with (frets, binding, metal bits, etc), so most surviving 2630's either have no pickguard, or an aftermarket replacement.

I still have the original '78. It has been upgraded with a Gotoh bridge and newer Super 58 pickups that sound fantastic. It goes to the grave with me.

Here's a photo of the two 2630's. The '78 is on the right.

[ARGewirtz]

... as for PUs, that is serious rabbit hole that I have gone down over, and over again. What is even more bothersome, is that I keep bumping into Alice.

... it depends on what type of sound you are after, and how the guitar sounds ...

I personally have never really been happy with most Duncans. (I did like an JB, in the bridge of a super strat guitar, that I played in the mid to late 80s). For me Duncans always sound a little pushed. Sometimes I like my amps with that mid forward sound, sometimes I like it in pedals, I certainly like it in synths, but not for PUs. I have had a number of SD. I put them in, and then take them out. I have a vintage rails somewhere that I held onto. I like that one. The rest I have sold.

I hear a particular SD sound in all of their PUs. It seems strange to me and I question my own validity, but even before we had a zillion PU winders, I removed a set of SDs from a custom built guitar and had some one custom wind me a set. Who knows?

Fralin has some great sounding PUs,

I also like Lollar ... some people hear his PUs as sterile, I hear them as having a tight bass and extended highs. However, I did not at all, like his take on Fillteron.

I like TV Jones stuff.

For me Bartolini have that compressed warm jazz sound happening.

Wilde (Bill Lawrence) PUs have that compressed sound (like Barts), but with more attack and a little grit. (I assume due to the ceramic magnet).

I always wonder about DiMarzio. I had some in the 80s that I liked, and they sound great in high end Music Mann guitars, but I have not used one since the 80s.

Thanks for this intro to the rabbit hole where all PUP advice seems to live. I've read lots of threads about PUPs and have heard these brand names before. Unfortunately I've been playing for a relatively short time so my practical experience is quite limited, which means my ears haven't yet developed to the point where I can distinguish between all the nuances of each type of PUP. I have the same issue with the various sound challenges that are posted asking listeners to rate their favorite guitar or strings. The commentary is always interesting but I can rarely hear the differences.

[jazzkritter]

Also nice 2630s Git!!!

Yep personal opinions flourish in pup and string land. Funny thing is we all hear sounds differently and react to them differently. I think we bring our own unique sonic memories with us so what one might consider a perfect pup might be due to their own memories of their first jazz guitar sounds… Wes, Tal, Howard whom ever.
Anyway, thats my sonic philosophy for the day)))

Maybe Dirk should start a pickup lending library through the forum.

[ARGewirtz]

Congratulations on your 'new-to-you' Ibanez 2630. Those are GREAT guitars in my view.

My first decent electric guitar was a '78 2630 that I found languishing in a pawn shop in L.A. At the time I was looking for a Gibson ES335, but simply couldn't afford what was available new or used. 20 years later I spotted another 2630 ('79 build) and had to have it. I did a bit of restoration on it (binding rot repair and pickguard replacement), then sold it. The pickguards tend to out-gas and rot everything it comes in contact with (frets, binding, metal bits, etc), so most surviving 2630's either have no pickguard, or an aftermarket replacement.

I still have the original '78. It has been upgraded with a Gotoh bridge and newer Super 58 pickups that sound fantastic. It goes to the grave with me.

Here's a photo of the two 2630's. The '78 is on the right.

These look really nice and the '78 is quite similar to mine with the addition of the pickguard. Fortunately it seems that the original pickguard on mine was removed long ago, which prevented the binding and other parts from the ravages of gassing so all are in pretty decent condition.

Earlier this year I found a 1979 Aria Pro II Herb Ellis that also was missing the original pickguard so I got it in similarly good condition. But I wanted the "H.E." monogrammed pickguard so I found someone to make one for me. It came out great so I may track him down and have him make a repro pickguard for me for the 2630.

[ARGewirtz]

Also nice 2630s Git!!!

Yep personal opinions flourish in pup and string land. Funny thing is we all hear sounds differently and react to them differently. I think we bring our own unique sonic memories with us so what one might consider a perfect pup might be due to their own memories of their first jazz guitar sounds… Wes, Tal, Howard whom ever.
Anyway, thats my sonic philosophy for the day)))

Maybe Dirk should start a pickup lending library through the forum.

I agree, and the sonic memory thing, which has been one of my challenges learning to play jazz. I taught my self to play guitar when I was about 12, back in 1967. I grew up on early R&R and blues, so that's what my ear knows and understands. I didn't play for many years after that and now that I'm retired and learning to play jazz I struggle to reorient my ears from their aural and timing upbringing to jazz phrasing, although I've made some progress over the past 18 months.

[st.bede]

I agree, and the sonic memory thing, which has been one of my challenges learning to play jazz. I taught my self to play guitar when I was about 12, back in 1967. I grew up on early R&R and blues, so that's what my ear knows and understands. I didn't play for many years after that and now that I'm retired and learning to play jazz I struggle to reorient my ears from their aural and timing upbringing to jazz phrasing, although I've made some progress over the past 18 months.

My story is long. i am going to condense it. I became pretty good at music. Then I had a medical issue and that lead to a serious set back.

However, one of the most important areas of practice for me, and it was a part of my daily practice regimen, was focused, critical, sustained music listening. Focus meaning, I would not let my mind wander. Critical meaning I would listen (and name: theory) the musical devices beginning utilized. I would also compare and contrast the musical devices used by different musicians. Sustained meaning at least an hour a day.

Really listening to music is a skill and does build upon itself.

I would think there is enough “jazz-ness” in blues and older R&B that you have internalized the alphabet and some vocabulary of the language. Daily critical listening would have a huge benefit.

(Louis Armstrong could be a path due to how much blues their was in his playing. I always feel not that hip, when I mention Armstrong, but I think he is brilliant and his sense of timing is as good as, and often much better then many more “sophisticated” players. I am ok living and dying with that).

For example: I love many forms of music. However no matter how long I listen to Arabic music, those middle eastern sounding scales always seem a little awkward. Even after extended use. They feel like when you are still learning how to really drive a stick shift. I can get around but always a little jumpy. (There is a relationship to the “jumpy-ness” and how much Arabic music I am listening to).

Since I regularly heard (but not that often) some Japanese Traditional music while growing up, my set of Japanese scales have always flowed (since I had them down). As mentioned above there is a relationship to amount of music listened to and flow. I find that Japanese melodies stick longer in my minds eye, then say Arabic melodic content.

[ARGewirtz]

My story is long. i am going to condense it. I became pretty good at music. Then I had a medical issue and that lead to a serious set back.

However, one of the most important areas of practice for me, and it was a part of my daily practice regimen, was focused, critical, sustained music listening. Focus meaning, I would not let my mind wander. Critical meaning I would listen (and name: theory) the musical devices beginning utilized. I would also compare and contrast the musical devices used by different musicians. Sustained meaning at least an hour a day.

Really listening to music is a skill and does build upon itself.

I would think there is enough “jazz-ness” in blues and older R&B that you have internalized the alphabet and some vocabulary of the language. Daily critical listening would have a huge benefit.

(Louis Armstrong could be a path due to how much blues their was in his playing. I always feel not that hip, when I mention Armstrong, but I think he is brilliant and his sense of timing is as good as, and often much better then many more “sophisticated” players. I am ok living and dying with that).

For example: I love many forms of music. However no matter how long I listen to Arabic music, those middle eastern sounding scales always seem a little awkward. Even after extended use. They feel like when you are still learning how to really drive a stick shift. I can get around but always a little jumpy. (There is a relationship to the “jumpy-ness” and how much Arabic music I am listening to).

Since I regularly heard (but not that often) some Japanese Traditional music while growing up, my set of Japanese scales have always flowed (since I had them down). As mentioned above there is a relationship to amount of music listened to and flow. I find that Japanese melodies stick longer in my minds eye, then say Arabic melodic content.

Thanks for this. I happen to love Louis Armstrong and I'll take you up on the suggestion for more focused listening, which will include Louis and some of my other favorites both old and new.

[blille]

I personally have never really been happy with most Duncans. (I did like an JB, in the bridge of a super strat guitar, that I played in the mid to late 80s). For me Duncans always sound a little pushed. Sometimes I like my amps with that mid forward sound, sometimes I like it in pedals, I certainly like it in synths, but not for PUs. I have had a number of SD. I put them in, and then take them out. I have a vintage rails somewhere that I held onto. I like that one. The rest I have sold.

I hear a particular SD sound in all of their PUs. It seems strange to me and I question my own validity, but even before we had a zillion PU winders, I removed a set of SDs from a custom built guitar and had some one custom wind me a set. Who knows?

I don’t think there is a particular SD sound and definitely it is not overall mid forward. Something like a jazz pickup (misnomer) for example is quite scooped and it’s one of the best sellers. It has a vast, diverse catalog.

I think with pickups the best is to experiment and know a brand in depth so you can pick what you need depending on the genre or guitar you have. I’m a huge SD fan but I don’t think it’s necessarily better than others. I just happen to know it better after 25 years of using it.

[jazzkritter]

Venerable Bede, having also been sidetracked musically thanks to medical issues you have my understanding.

Critical listening is a developed skill for sure. Had a prof in college who had us take a few phrases, and do what he called ‘screwed down listening’. Had us take notes (literally and in words) on what we heard. By semesters end it was amazing how you could start identifying things you hadn’t noticed before, even while casually listening. Similar to transcription but not, goal wasn’t to play it but to know what was going on, if that makes sense. BTW he sure was a tough grader

I didn’t grow up listening to Japanese or any world music but for one: Polish Polkas. Didn’t help me at all!

Jk

[st.bede]

Venerable Bede, having also been sidetracked musically thanks to medical issues you have my understanding.

Critical listening is a developed skill for sure. Had a prof in college who had us take a few phrases, and do what he called ‘screwed down listening’. Had us take notes (literally and in words) on what we heard. By semesters end it was amazing how you could start identifying things you hadn’t noticed before, even while casually listening. Similar to transcription but not, goal wasn’t to play it but to know what was going on, if that makes sense. BTW he sure was a tough grader

I didn’t grow up listening to Japanese or any world music but for one: Polish Polkas. Didn’t help me at all!

Jk

lol... I can not believe you would disparage a good polka... however, I still suffer ptsd from when my parents would watch Lawrence Welk.

Thank you. What really sucked the most was after my chronic injury, every time I listed to music, it was like driving nails through my heart. Music was what saved me in my youth from complete self destruction, and had always been there for me, until I could no longer play at any real level.

However, I did make through that time period. I turned my attention to composition. Which always felt second place to performance but really utilized my theory chops and continued to use my ear training. I also then started engineering to be able to work with musicians in creative ways. That ended up with me making much more money then performance ever did.

Things are really good now. I am not a doctor, but since I started taking glucosamine I have been able to sustain daily practice. I would say I am half-ish the way back to were I was. I do not think I will ever get the speed back but I did not really need it when I had. The only time I played super fast was to impress other guitarist. I always thought my best playing was at 8th note groups with some utilizing of 16th notes, and never really much at 16th note triplet groups. They always sounding more like trills/turns to me... a little too Baroque or jig-ish. (This leads back to listening and youth. I wonder if I had been exposed to Klezmer music when I was a youth, if I could pull out more of a jazz feel from 16th note triplets.... one wonders).

I would love to know in more detail what you had to write down:

was it musical devices, for example, I hear a perfect cadence while the melody utilizing a passing tone on the last upbeat from the V to the first beat on the I chord

or was it more general: I hear the use of syncopated patterns and a crescendo

or just mood stuff: the fast tempo makes it feel like a busy street in New York

It just seem like a great practice tool and I should be utilizing it.

(I am too prolix).

[st.bede]

I don’t think there is a particular SD sound and definitely it is not overall mid forward. Something like a jazz pickup (misnomer) for example is quite scooped and it’s one of the best sellers. It has a vast, diverse catalog.

I think with pickups the best is to experiment and know a brand in depth so you can pick what you need depending on the genre or guitar you have. I’m a huge SD fan but I don’t think it’s necessarily better than others. I just happen to know it better after 25 years of using it.

I am going to just go with my instincts and not look at eq curves or frequencies. I very well could be making a fool out of myself. I tend to think that each range can be broken down into three groups. For the low range I think like this: low lows, mid low mids, high low high. (For example, if you want to tighten up a bass, roll off the low lows, and add a gently narrowish increase in the high low range.

For me I believe that something can be very scooped yet still be pushing in the high midrange. Typical that is where the push is. I do not hear the highs start until the notes start to sound white.

To my limited knowledge, there is also the phenomenon that if you use a tight q and a deep cut in the lows, it will sound like you are adding a narrowish q and a spike in a sympathetic frequency in the highs.

When I hear SD, I hear a lot of different mid type sounds, probably based on different magnets, but there is a sense of clarity. That is a great sound. That clarity could be coming from different elements: a push in the high mids, or making sure the high extend, or cutting some mids in the lower mid range, or having a steep roll off staring in the mid area in the lows. ... also how the notes are blooming or compressing (ADSR stuff) ... I bet there are a few more I am not thinking about.

However, I am not an expert in SD. I have personally tried maybe 8 or 10 different ones, and the last time was 2004-ish.

I do believe that Duncan, same as DiMarzio, same as TV Jones, and others: try to have a certain type of sound through out their whole range.

Could that be similar to a placebo effect, ... could I do a blind test and tell which PU is related to which maker... F’ if I know. I have only feelings (not in the sense of emotions but more like intuitions) that relate loosely to reality and are shaped by my own particularities and desire to organize the world. (The phenomenon vrs nomena issue).

My particulars could be useful (allowing a different frame of reference) or harmful (strengthening pre-conceived notions), but that is what a forum is: offering up personal experiences and seeing if any noodles stick onto another person’s wall.

I try to always write from a: “this is my limited experiences, I am missing some information, and your experiences may be completely different” place.

I like to think: that no one is a fustian expert, even in one area of music, because each person experiences music (and sound) itself so subjectively and personally. ... but even with the madness of the manifold of different interpretations, is the sublime beautiful flow of being human.

(I did some editing of my post, because I was off).

[gitman]

This is quite a throwback ...
I was 16 and an exchange student in the US, had some money saved up and found me a beautiful ‘63 ES-345 sunburst from an ad in the Los Angeles Times/ Friday edition for
a whopping $ US 1500,- including a stand and a stereo cable. Played this in the Highschool Stage Band , brought it back home and God knows what bug had bitten me but in my youthful ignorance I foolishly let it go .... forward 2 years and an Ibanez 2630 popped up - I had hoped it could ease the pain I suffered from missing that Gibby but alas, it did not ... a very pretty guitar, but also quite heavy and the sound to my ears had much more of a solidbody guitar than the sweet tone of my beloved 345. Not a bad guitar in any respect but simply a different animal. Another 3 years passed by and in '82 I found another '63 ES-345 and it will have to be pried from my stiff, cold fingers.
I love my Ibanez GB15, would buy a GB5 if I could find one and the '83 AS-50 I found last winter is a very toneful semi-hollowbody - much lighter than the 2630 and it's got a very balanced, well defined and sustaining tone, great for all my Light-Jazz/Soul/Blues needs. And it's not flashy, which is a plus in my view .
I still have and use the guitar stand from way back when but that guitar never showed up again....

[jazzkritter]

Gitman a cool story! I’m lovin my GB10 I got a few weeks ago and would love to find a 5. At which point ms jk will probably cut a few parts off me, but WTF. Been considering getting a different neck pickup, something warmer.

Bede the professor I speak of was Noel DaCosta, at Rutgers in NJ. A very interesting fellow: jazz violinist with tens of albums as a side man, classical violinist, a composer, a singer and conductor of vocal music and co-founder of the Society of Black Composers. A real slacker in life lol! Hard grader but a peach of a quiet humble human being. I have a folder of that stuff (from 1975) I will dig it out.

I did a speed run on my bicycle hit a bad bump hole, and destroyed the thumb ligament sheafs on both wrists. Ended my number one love as a classical/church organist. I still get depressed on Christmas Eve. Ended public jazz guitar performance too. I actually lost a good job because of it, I was so destroyed personally. Life goes on, right?

jk

[st.bede]

Jazzkritter OMG, I am super grateful if you get chance to find and share that information.

Wow, that accident... I know how much that loss hurts. I remember after my hands become so bad, I would literally wake up and just stand looking at my room’s wall for long periods of time, not having a clue of what to do. Music was everything, and I had no way to organize my time.

At that time of my life, I ended making one of my worst decision. I had no ability to really take care of myself, and my self-esteem was so based on my musical abilities. A woman ask my to marry her. A part of me clearly knew better, but I did not have the strength to say no. The next 18+ plus years were spent in an emotionally abusive relationship, trying to protect my kids.

That also had extreme impacts on my music. For example, I started vocal lessons, wanting to get back to preforming. My ex-wife laughed at me, when I sang her a song.

(That is one example out of thousands. When I was working on leaving the relationship, I wrote down pages of stuff. That was not even bad enough to get be included in my lists. I had to read those experiences everyday, plus lists of how to challenge my own thoughts, and what is healthy. I read a book on emotionally abusive relationships over and over. I was going to both a therapist and a psychiatrist, the psychiatrist utilized CBT, also my closet and best friend worked with me in therapeutical setting, she being a MFT, and now is over 3/4th the way through her doctoral program. When I say it was hard to leave the relationship, I mean Herculean hard).

Getting back to the laughing incident, you would think that should of had no impact on me, having been a musician and experienced worse criticism then that. It is weird how much emotional abuse makes it difficult to have boundaries and agency.

The very hardest thing I have done in my life by far, was leaving that abusive relationship. It made recovering from a serious constantly life threatening drug addiction, seem almost easy. I myself with BA in sociology, would wonder why people stayed in abusive relationships. I get it now.

I thought about deleting this post: I rarely acknowledge my sobriety in any public settings, it has to do with how much I value my anonymity. (Theoretically the Internet knows all). I am keeping it up just in case it helps someone understand some stuff. If anyone wants to talk on a deeper level, feel free to message me.

[ARGewirtz]

That's quite a story. I envy your perseverance and fortitude to keep on keepin on despite some life experiences that would have left others staring up at the roots. I hope you're able to move on and enjoy the rest of the journey.