Ibanez 1971 Lawsuit

[GuitarIv]

Well, this is not a NGD, rather a look what a nice guitar a friend of mine has given me to take care of day. Won't put the abbreviation into the thread title as it would be ridiculously long haha :P

Anyway, as I love to look after guitars almost as much as I enjoy playing them I'm really happy to have this Vintage Piece of Lawsuit History at my place. After some research I found out it's a 1971 Strat Copy and it's called the Ibanez Model 2020. Seems like it's not worth anything, at least if you look up the prices these go for on the market for used guitars, but it's a joy to play (and will be even better after I give it some TLC) and sounds great as well. From the look of the pickups I'd say those are P90s and it's actually the very first time I've played those. What a nice surprise it is.

Sonically somewhere between a Humbucker and a Single Coil, those are very muscular and fatter than the average SC, yet retain some of the nice qualities a HB has. A Crossover. I will definitely consider getting P90s in the future for Blues and Hardrock after having a first hand experience now. Only downside is the hum, but I guess it's just a matter of getting used to it :P

As far as the instrument goes it's in a good condition, just needs a proper setup, some cleaning and new strings. The Inlays on the Fretboard look a bit like they could fall out, but I'm not a professional luthier so someone else will have to take care of it, just seems like the glue has given up over the course of the years. The Fretboard will need some oil and cleaning but other than that there are no flaws. I'll tell my mate not to sell it as the quality, sound and playability are in the high end area and a price of 200 bucks is not worth it giving away such a good instrument. Pics are attached.

Cheers!

[BigB]

From the look of the pickups I'd say those are P90s

Well, they _might_ be P90s (or P90s-like at least) but there have been quite a few vintage SC pups that were not built like Fender's traditional ones without being P90s neither. But from your description:

Sonically somewhere between a Humbucker and a Single Coil, those are very muscular and fatter than the average SC, yet retain some of the nice qualities a HB has.

they seem indeed quite "P90-esque".

[JJretroTONEGOD]

looks good, I noticed it's been strung totally wrong, the strings need to be on the right side of the tuning heads not left, it might help tuning stability, I presume this is how you found it?....

you could always go down the conductive copper tape route and line the inside with the stuff, it seems to remove all hum on P90s, in my guitar it made a big difference.

[GuitarIv]

BigB: could be they aren't, but from what I hear it's exactly the sound people always describe when talking P-90s. The Ibanez catalogue doesn't give any info on the pickups unfortunately: http://s93105080.onlinehome.us/Ibanez-Catalogs/catalog/1971/01.jpg

JJ: Yes, it was like that and also tuned up to Standard A. It's actually a guitar his father gave to him and he has just started learning the instrument, so I need to teach him some essential stuff :P
Good idea on the conductive tape, gonna try it out

[Kiichi]

Good idea on the conductive tape, gonna try it out

You have to ground it to take effect though so donīt forget that!

[GuitarIv]

Good idea on the conductive tape, gonna try it out

You have to ground it to take effect though so donīt forget that!

I don't have conductive paint, will a wire connected to the ground do the job?

[Kiichi]

Good idea on the conductive tape, gonna try it out

You have to ground it to take effect though so donīt forget that!

I don't have conductive paint, will a wire connected to the ground do the job?

Yeah, a ground is a ground, nothing complicated about it.
Just gotta put all metal parts that donīt carry signal to the ground basecally, like we already do with the casing of pots.

Just makes me thing about how most of the guitar wiring stuff that can seem rather complex usually is spittingly easy when you get down to it.^^


This reminds me that I would really like to shield my guitars too...one day when I get around to it...