Help with Ibanez 'Lawsuit' Les Paul please
L dale Walter
I just picked up a left handed Ibanez Custom, also known as the Lawsuit
Les Paul as Gibson sued Ibanez over them in the 70's. I would like to
know if anyone can give me a date of production on this guitar. It is
black, with Gold hardware. The pickups are gold and have strange hand-
with-butterfly-wings on them. The tailpiece is very large, both thick
and wide, and has vine-like scroll work on it. The bridge is also very
large (wide) with a strange screw adjustment held in by a nut contraption
on the studs that go into the guitar. The body is triple bound just like
a Les Paul Custom, and there is an abalone inlay on the headstock kind of
like a stylized V with the Ibanez name over it. Serial number is J771506
which is on the back of the bolt on neck plate, below the "Made in Japan"
stamping.
Also, both the bridge and tail piece have quite a bit of finish wear and
corrosion on them (besides looking like 70's refugees!) and I would like
to replace them, but they are both slightly larger than standard Gibson
tail pieces and Tune O Matic bridges. I had one of these guitars in the
70, and mine did not have this funky bridge/tail combination, but rather
one that was very Gibson-like. If anyone has any suggestions on where
one of these could be obtained, I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
L. Dale Walter
ldwa...@prodigy.com
TQ Hot
Everything you wanted to know about vintage Ibanezes (but were afraid to
ask) http://www.comcat.com/~alnico5/index.html
TQ Hot
Steve
L dale Walter wrote:
>
> I just picked up a left handed Ibanez Custom, also known as the Lawsuit
> Les Paul as Gibson sued Ibanez over them in the 70's. I would like to
> know if anyone can give me a date of production on this guitar.
I can't help you, but try contacting these guys:
http://www.comcat.com/~alnico5/
Steve
RFLunetta
On 26 Jul 1997, BUW...@prodigy.com (L dale Walter) wrote:
>Message-ID: <5rd901$2528$1...@newsxfs02-int.news.prodigy.com>
>I just picked up a left handed Ibanez Custom, also known as the Lawsuit
>Les Paul as Gibson sued Ibanez over them in the 70's. I would like to
>know if anyone can give me a date of production on this guitar. It is
>black, with Gold hardware. The pickups are gold and have strange hand-
>with-butterfly-wings on them. The tailpiece is very large, both thick
>and wide, and has vine-like scroll work on it. The bridge is also very
>large (wide) with a strange screw adjustment held in by a nut contraption
>on the studs that go into the guitar. The body is triple bound just like
>a Les Paul Custom, and there is an abalone inlay on the headstock kind of
>like a stylized V with the Ibanez name over it. Serial number is J771506
>which is on the back of the bolt on neck plate, below the "Made in Japan"
>stamping.
The serial number indicates that the guitar was manufactured by Ibanez in
October of 1977: The "J" is the Ibanez designation of the tenth month
("A" equals 1st month, "B" equals the second, etc.), and the 77 designates
1977.
The following is from the "Vintage Ibanez Guitar Page," an excellent
source for help with vintage Ibanez guitars, located at
"http://www.comcat.com/~alnico5/"
<<Serial numbers
What Year is it anyway
Pre 1987 models
Ibanez guitars serial number system is easy if the guitar was made
before 1987 you can use the following
EXAMPLE C760276 this is March 1976 the 276pc made that month The first
letter is for the Month so A is January, B is Feb, C is March and so on
The next two numbers are the Year 76 is 1976, 78 would be 1978. The next
4 numbers are the production number that month they only produced 9999
pcs each month.
Post 1987 models
This is a little harder but you can use the following EXAMPLE F700001
The letter is now the Factory designation. The first Number is the year
the next 5 numbers are the production number of the piece for the year.
so the above guitar was made in 1987 and is the first one made that
year.>>
BUW...@prodigy.com (L dale Walter) also wrote:
>Also, both the bridge and tail piece have quite a bit of finish wear and
>corrosion on them (besides looking like 70's refugees!) and I would like
>to replace them, but they are both slightly larger than standard Gibson
>tail pieces and Tune O Matic bridges. I had one of these guitars in the
>70, and mine did not have this funky bridge/tail combination, but rather
>one that was very Gibson-like. If anyone has any suggestions on where
>one of these could be obtained, I would appreciate it.
Sounds like it has an Ibanez "Gibraltar" bridge, commonly found on Ibanez
guitars made in 1977. Go to the "Vintage Ibanez Guitar Page," referenced
above. They have a vintage parts listing that may help you.
Unfortunately, they have no links for replacement parts (as of the last
time I checked). It is probably easier to replate the bridge and
tailpiece than to fit replacements, but call a good guitar repair shop to
inquire.
Hope this helps
Rick Lunetta
GEEPER
I hate to bring this up, but it doesn't really sound like a 'Lawsuit'
Ibanez. I was stupid enough to sell mine about 10 years ago but I've
still got the pictures and memories, and it was much closer to a Les
Paul than what you describe. (Yours may be pre or post 'Lawsuit'.)
The pickups and the tailpiece raises my suspicion, on the one I owned
(By the way mine was bought new and untampered with.) both where exactly
like that of your ordinary Les Paul. So much so I once used the
tailpiece on my real Les Paul (Yes that's gone too) after some heavy
damage at a gig. (Hey it was the 80's)
Look in to it's history deep and hard, hopefully you didn't get
screwed.
Grim