NGD: 1982 Ibanez MC-150 Musician

Zelja

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I have 3 early 80s Ibanez guitars - a top of the line Blazer bought new in 1981 & and two Artists - an '80 AS200 & an '81 AR300. The AS200 is my favourite. Great quality builds, especially on the Artists.
 

Quantum Strummer

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I'm curious about the neck profile on the AM205. Is it like the older Ibanezes or thick like the newer Artcores and Artstars?

The neck is typical early '80s Ibanez: slim, not unlike a '60s Fender neck, but not skinny. I like it! This guitar is even louder and janglier acoustically than the AM50. It's a little heavier too. Plugged in it's one of the most alive electric guitars I've ever played. A keeper for sure.

-Dave-
 

Quantum Strummer

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I have 3 early 80s Ibanez guitars - a top of the line Blazer bought new in 1981 & and two Artists - an '80 AS200 & an '81 AR300. The AS200 is my favourite. Great quality builds, especially on the Artists.

I've picked up a couple Blazers too, as part of my interest in "triple pickup guitars that aren't (quite) Strats." These are in fact what set me off on my current Ibanez kick. The first was an '81 BL300 in natural finish, which is to say barely any finish. Super lightweight sen (Japanese ash variant) body. It's a hardtail top loader, and the body is missing the forearm and belly contours. But it's rounded enough that it's still comfy to play. Black "SB" pickups with Maxon date codes and a Single Blade in the coil. I suspect the blade is also the magnet, given how short/shallow the pickups are. It sounds darker than a typical Strat but still with plenty o' spank & cut. It came with a small shim in the neck pocket, which results in easy peasy playability. Crazy value for money!

The second Blazer is an '82 BL550. This one is more typical Strat with the body sculpting, contours and vibrato. Candy Apple Red finish. The pickups are Fender-esque polepiece-magnet types but with coil taps. Well, I suspect all three pickups can be tapped but only the neck & bridge are wired this way. They remind me of Duncan Quarterpounders both in design and in that I like the tapped sound better than the full-wind sound. I got this one for silly low $$ too 'cuz it needs a little work. The nut slots are weirdly spaced, so much so that I suspect the nut is a replacement. It messes up the guitar's feel and so has gotta go. The brass bridge saddles have developed fairly deep grooves over the years and need to be smoothed out or replaced. And that middle pickup needs to be wired to the coil-tap switch or replaced with another tap-able p'up. (I bought a smashed-up BL550 body, including the (intact) pickups, for next to nothing. Already put one of the bridge saddles to use, though these are also worn.) Both Blazers have phase switches too, which I suspect may be why the 550's middle pickup can't be tapped. The 300 sounds very thin, weak even, with the OOP pickup combos while the 550's OOP is more robust even with the coil tap engaged. This one is a nice & easy player too.

I've played a John Scofield (big Sco fan) model, based on his old AS200, but not an original. Given that I have a 335 I'm fond of, and would like to pick up a '60s SF-IV if/when a nice one shows up locally, I decided to give the smaller Ibanez AM guitars a spin.

-Dave-
 
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jp

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The neck is typical early '80s Ibanez: slim, not unlike a '60s Fender neck, but not skinny. I like it! This guitar is even louder and janglier acoustically than the AM50. It's a little heavier too. Plugged in it's one of the most alive electric guitars I've ever played. A keeper for sure.

-Dave-
Good to know. Thanks for the assessment.
 

Quantum Strummer

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[Contents deleted due to a doofus level misunderstanding by me of how the Ibanez AM series bridges adjust up & down. Duh…]

-Dave-
 
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Rayk

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Yow, that's a sharp looker, Ray! Just gorgeous figuring. Visually I think the late '70s Ibanez designs are their best: they were pulling out all the stops to get a foothold in the market. Do you get on with the electronics? I love lotsa knobs & switches but at the same time I know I can get too easily pulled down the rabbit hole by 'em. :)

-Dave-

Hey Qauntum , back in the day the electronics were cool lol only thing I don't like is the signal going through them meaning the EQ which to adds a thinning tone not sure how to say but it's like the electronics give it a unnatural sound .

The performance was pretty good adding nice 10db boost on the EQ eliminated the need of a floor peddle for extra gain leads .

She weighs a ton ! Lol I don't play her much just keep it cased up but I will find me MC 500 one day along with an artist :) .

They made the guitars with great woods but cheap pot metal parts like the bridges and things so they pitted out. I had them polish up and plated with 24 carrot gold . :)

Broke turner and replaced the originals with grovers broke one of them lol so if you look there's an odd ball original tuner on it . Still looking for those parts .
Wish they still made the tuners as they were kick butt and locking .

She's a Japanese build to , not sure if or when they might have out sourced.
 
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Quantum Strummer

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Broke turner and replaced the originals with grovers broke one of them lol so if you look there's an odd ball original tuner on it . Still looking for those parts .
Wish they still made the tuners as they were kick butt and locking .

She's a Japanese build to , not sure if or when they might have out sourced.

Yeah, the Ibanez tuners are just fine. I like the Velve-Tune version a lot. Both my AM guitars have had theirs replaced, one with Grovers and the other with locking Sperzels. Now the Sperzels are really nice but the Grovers are the usual "they work fine but feel kinda spongy" meh. Unless this was necessary for mechanical reasons I don't get it. The "star" tuners I've found on early/mid-'70s Ibanezes (and Grecos) aren't so great, though. They turn smooth and hold tuning fine, but the posts are shaped such that the string wants to travel up as you wind it on rather than down. Design fail!

These Gotohs should fit your guitar: https://www.allparts.com/TK-7740-002-Gotoh-3x3-Gold-Keys_p_3939.html

The first Korean-made Ibanezes date to the late '80s, I think.

As for active electronics, I'm fine with 'em so long as I can completely bypass 'em when desired.

-Dave-
 
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Quantum Strummer

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Reverb lists as of today an '82 Ibanez AM205 and an '81 AR300:

https://reverb.com/item/4927583-ibanez-artist-am-205-1982-semi-hollow-electric-guitar

https://reverb.com/item/4930526-iba...ed-cherry-sunburst-super-clean-closet-classic

The AM205 is a little rougher than the one I picked up last week. I'd expect its price to come down a bit. The AR300 looks really nice, and its pickups will be the Maxon-made DRY/Super 58 rather than the FujiGen version. (They look and (to me anyway) sound identical but some folks are convinced the Maxons have special mojo.) The 300 is likely to be a superior "Les Paul" to anything Gibson has produced since 1960.

-Dave-
 
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Rayk

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Yeah, the Ibanez tuners are just fine. I like the Velve-Tune version a lot. Both my AM guitars have had theirs replaced, one with Grovers and the other with locking Sperzels. Now the Sperzels are really nice but the Grovers are the usual "they work fine but feel kinda spongy" meh. Unless this was necessary for mechanical reasons I don't get it. The "star" tuners I've found on early/mid-'70s Ibanezes (and Grecos) aren't so great, though. They turn smooth and hold tuning fine, but the posts are shaped such that the string wants to travel up as you wind it on rather than down. Design fail!

These Gotohs should fit your guitar: https://www.allparts.com/TK-7740-002-Gotoh-3x3-Gold-Keys_p_3939.html

The first Korean-made Ibanezes date to the late '80s, I think.

As for active electronics, I'm fine with 'em so long as I can completely bypass 'em when desired.

-Dave-

Not sure what type name wise mine are I did at one time lol
 
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