(SOLD) Ibanez Blazer Series BL550 Royal Blue 1982
Ibanez Blazer, royal blue, made in Japan circa 1982. This is cool, I'm into it. The Blazer Series was Ibanez's Strat-esque offerings, with some fun twists, made from 1980-3 at the excellent Fujigen Gakki plant in Japan. It's worth noting that the Fender JV serial guitars that were made at the same factory in the same year are highly collectable, owing to their historical significance but also their outstanding build quality. This too, is extremely well made. The neck has plenty of play wear, but dang, it feels great: it's a great piece of maple and feels super lively in the hand. The body is responsive and loud unplugged, with super tidy fit and finish work. If this was all original and in tip top shape, it'd be worth a decent pile of cash, but it's had most of the hardware, pickups and wiring all replaced, so it's priced accordingly. Our house tech has done a fret dress and full re-wire, so it's in great functional shape. The tone is awesome: snappy, bright and full, with a chirpy top end and a tuneful, punchy bass. The mini toggles are a killswitch and an add-neck-pickup switch, so you can get a cool Tele-middle position sound too. This is heaps of guitar for the cash and the blue finish is very fetching indeed. I'd blaze, would you?
Model: Ibanez Blazer Series BL550
Made: Japan, Fujigen Gakki plant, 1982 approx
Serial: missing, as the neck plate was replaced
Finish: royal blue metallic, glosss poly
Body: basswood and birch
Neck: maple, maple fretboard, 25.5" scale, 10" radius, modern C shape
Weight: 3.545kg
Mods: tuners, knobs and bridge replaced, re-wired with Alpha pots and new jack/switch/toggles, frets dressed/levelled/polished
Pickups: single coil x3, model not verified, non-original
Accessories: trem arm, no case
Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has scuffs on the end and edges, and some dimples on the front and back. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, plenty of minor dimples scuffs and rub wear on the back but no major marks. The back has some dents in the belly carve, chips in the elbow area and on the back edge and widespread dimples and scuffs around the whole body. The sides have minor dimples and scuffs around the whole body, as well as some small chips on both horns and the elbow area. The front has small chips on the top horn, elbow area and back edge, as well as widespread dimples and scuffs around the whole body.
Overall: good condition (6.5/10)
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. Wearing fresh 10/46 Moonshiners strings.
Fret life: 7/10, recently dressed/levelled/polishrd by our house tech so they're nice and even and playing smoothly, but some height is gone