NGD: 1983 Ibanez Roadstar II and a story

[trandy9850]

I used to sell those back in the 80’s.

I suddenly feel very old.

 

[11 Gauge]

Congrats! I have a similar Roadstar II that was my first guitar from when I was 13, and I also have a similar era Roadstar PJ bass. They are very well made instruments. I'm amazed at the finish wear on yours. Mine is essentially coated in a thick layer of plastic and nothing short of a major impact will affect it at all.

I've never seen one with a hardtail bridge, that is interesting.

View attachment 1056536

I had the exact same guitar, same color! Bought it brand new in '85. I was 16 or 17 when I got mine. It wasn't my first guitar, but it was definitely one of my first nice guitars!

I was really amazed at how nice the hardware, fit, and finish was, compared to stuff like the similarly-priced Kramers and such of the time that one of my childhood guitar buddies had.

Even the stock ceramic pickups were not that bad. I actually still have them and the trem from mine. I also ended up putting the v-shaped strap pegs on another guitar, but not sure if I still have that, or not.

I wish I would have never butchered mine up, but I did. I think I tried to sculpt out the lower cutaway for better upper fret access, and I know I ended up repainting it with some kind of textured, pale blue paint (I wanted something as durable as the stock finish!). I also reshaped the headstock to be like a Tele, but that actually turned out not too bad (sanded off the red paint and tinted the headstock wood to match the fretboard). IIRC, I traded it to someone for a MIM Strat neck, or something similar.

I also liked the 'sort of roller' string trees. The guitar was really packed full of nice touches for something that only cost a couple of hundred bucks (IIRC).

 

[Alex_C]

Nice find!

 

[Telecaster88]

Very cool!

My first electric was a 1984 Roadstar II, in bright yellow with the matching headstock. When I got my Tele in '89 I traded the Ibanez to my bass player for her '70s Epiphone acoustic. She still has it (as do I still have the Epi). I need to go visit some day and see how that old Ibby feels nowadays.

 

[kuch]

HNGD! Nice score, nice guitar!

 

[FatTeleTom]

I still have, and use, my '84 RS 440, bought new as a teenager. It's been through various iterations and lots of idle time, but I've been playing it a lot lately. I pulled off the locking hardware and fine-tuning screws from the Floyd-style bridge, which made it a lot more comfortable. Fralin vintage hot pickups sound great in it. The neck is thinner than I like, but it's a really great neck for the profile/size. I wish there was an easy way to replace the trem with a non-locking style, but I don't think there's any good drop-in solution.

 

[Derrick]

My 104 college freshpersons are working on group presentations, in my five sections of frosh composition.... Language can do music justice after all, despite the "Uh, like, uh, like, literally, like whatever" that drowns me.

Future surgeons, pilots, and tech designers of the world...

 

[dporto]

I had a baby blue Ibanez Blazer series Strat type with 2 humbuckers and coil split switches (one of the few guitars I’ve ever sold - and of course regretted… the other was a CN100… nuff said)… Anyway, yes they were great guitars - arguably better than most of what Fender and Gibson were offering at the time…

 

[Mjark]

I had beat up RoadStar II with a bridge humbucker. I think I paid $140 for it. It played and sounded great. I eventually gave it to a friends son. I still miss it though. I used it as my main guitar for about a year. 80's Ibanez guitars are wonderful.

 

[Glen W]

Mine's from '83 as well...ash body, nice neck, and stock pickups are quite good. A few gigs on it for sure. Did the surgery in the late '90s IIRC...I kinda regret hacking it, but it works so well.

 

[rayjoyce7]

congrats! the Ibanez is a hardtail too!

 

[Spooky88]

I owned one I bought new from “Marty’s guitars”? In Portland in 1984/85?. Excellent guitar, had 12th fret put a set of EMG pickups in it. Ended up selling it only because I didn’t have room under the crib to keep it……

 

[knopflerfan]

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.

Nice find -hope you enjoy it.

 

[guitfiddles]

Wow, lucky find! Congrats!

 

[--KenRu---]

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.

Great guitars, I bought one of these brand new in 1986 for $175 and the store threw in a small Gorilla practice amp. I only finally sold it about 2 years ago. It had lived through quite a bit even a future ex wife selling it behind my back during a divorce and having to buy it back from the music store, but it was time to find a new home for it. Enjoy !

 

[Gimble]

That’s so awesome! Happy for you to make such a great find.

 

[padreraven]

Wow, talk about the right time and the right place. If they had scrapped them nobody would have ever known - it's good for both you and the guitar that you were there.

 

[CV Jee Beez]

That's cool! Congrats.

 

[NC E30]

Great find! Still have the '85 RS440 I bought new from Reliable Music when I was 17

 

[RoscoeElegante]

Future surgeons, pilots, and tech designers of the world...

Get your clavicle fixed, fly to Toledo, and buy your iPhones now! I really worry about the job skills at work in just a few years. If it weren't a breach of confidentiality and intellectual property, I'd quote verbatim from student "writing" here. But this will suffice--setting the still-capable, shrinking 10-15% aside: