Redleg37
Tele-Meister
I never thought I would be the kind of guy to get a lucky closet find…
Our recreation therapists at work were cleaning a storage area. They cleared out an area that was blocking a closet. This closet hadn’t been opened in 10 years.
There were three guitars inside, 2 acoustics and 1 electric.
They knew I play guitar so they asked me to come look at them before they “get rid of them.”
The acoustics are a Lyons by Washburn beginner guitar. It holds tune and plays well enough despite some of the most corroded strings I’ve ever seen.second acoustic is a Fender T Bucket that has the most corroded strings I’ve ever seen.it has a crack behind the bridge but still plays decent.
The third guitar is in an old hard case. I open it and am immediately intrigued. I see the headstock says Ibanez. I turn it over and it says “made in Japan”.
The original warranty card tells me this was made in September 1983, a few months after I was born. It’s almost 40 years old.
It was missing a string and I didn’t have an amp to test it, but the switches move into position with a satisfying crisp click. The frets are tiny, maybe slightly larger than the frets on a violin. They do stick out a little bit it’s playable.
The fretboard edges are rounded from years of wear.
The frets need polished but the fretwork is really well done and the nut is cut well. The intonation is a bit off but is easy enough to adjust.
They ask me if I want it because they are going to get rid of it anyway. I tell them that I would be happy to take it off their hands; strictly to help them out and not because I had been looking at getting a strat for a few weeks now.
I restring it at home and plug it in. It works. The selector switch is a little dirty at first but makes less noise the more I use it.
It sounds fantastic.
Our recreation therapists at work were cleaning a storage area. They cleared out an area that was blocking a closet. This closet hadn’t been opened in 10 years.
There were three guitars inside, 2 acoustics and 1 electric.
They knew I play guitar so they asked me to come look at them before they “get rid of them.”
The acoustics are a Lyons by Washburn beginner guitar. It holds tune and plays well enough despite some of the most corroded strings I’ve ever seen.second acoustic is a Fender T Bucket that has the most corroded strings I’ve ever seen.it has a crack behind the bridge but still plays decent.
The third guitar is in an old hard case. I open it and am immediately intrigued. I see the headstock says Ibanez. I turn it over and it says “made in Japan”.
The original warranty card tells me this was made in September 1983, a few months after I was born. It’s almost 40 years old.
It was missing a string and I didn’t have an amp to test it, but the switches move into position with a satisfying crisp click. The frets are tiny, maybe slightly larger than the frets on a violin. They do stick out a little bit it’s playable.
The fretboard edges are rounded from years of wear.
The frets need polished but the fretwork is really well done and the nut is cut well. The intonation is a bit off but is easy enough to adjust.
They ask me if I want it because they are going to get rid of it anyway. I tell them that I would be happy to take it off their hands; strictly to help them out and not because I had been looking at getting a strat for a few weeks now.
I restring it at home and plug it in. It works. The selector switch is a little dirty at first but makes less noise the more I use it.
It sounds fantastic.
