Quantum Strummer
Senior Member
I'm posting this mainly to highlight apparent inspiration re. some of Ibanez's late '70s & early '80s guitar models. This one is from the short-lived Musician series. Its body shape reminds me of early Rickenbacker solidbodys like the Combo 850. But the headstock and pickups remind me of another brand. Have a look:
Some trivia re. the pickup: it's a Maxon-made "Super 58" from shortly before Maxon got out of the pickup biz. The six-digit code tells us it was made on 13 Feb 1982. (The initial "8" is a production line code…it's the "2" that indicates the year.) When found in a Greco guitar this same pickup is known as the DRY model, or DRY Z since most samples were ink-stamped with a "Z" in addition to the numerical code. Short AlNiCo 3 magnet typically, though some examples feature AlNiCo 4. Lightly potted. All documented examples to date use poly-coated wire, despite claims of NOS 1950s plain enamel wire also being used. The coating is thinner than typical and the coils have been machine-wound using higher-than-typical tension. By mid-1982 Maxon had sold their pickup-making machinery, and apparently some of their pickup designs too, to the FujiGen Gakki company. FujiGen continued making this design, keeping the Super 58 name for Ibanez and creating a new name, "DRY 1982," for Greco. Whatever the name these are fab pickups, sounding to my ears very much like early Gibson patent #s. They sound great in split coil mode too, as (optionally) in this particular guitar.
-Dave-
Some trivia re. the pickup: it's a Maxon-made "Super 58" from shortly before Maxon got out of the pickup biz. The six-digit code tells us it was made on 13 Feb 1982. (The initial "8" is a production line code…it's the "2" that indicates the year.) When found in a Greco guitar this same pickup is known as the DRY model, or DRY Z since most samples were ink-stamped with a "Z" in addition to the numerical code. Short AlNiCo 3 magnet typically, though some examples feature AlNiCo 4. Lightly potted. All documented examples to date use poly-coated wire, despite claims of NOS 1950s plain enamel wire also being used. The coating is thinner than typical and the coils have been machine-wound using higher-than-typical tension. By mid-1982 Maxon had sold their pickup-making machinery, and apparently some of their pickup designs too, to the FujiGen Gakki company. FujiGen continued making this design, keeping the Super 58 name for Ibanez and creating a new name, "DRY 1982," for Greco. Whatever the name these are fab pickups, sounding to my ears very much like early Gibson patent #s. They sound great in split coil mode too, as (optionally) in this particular guitar.
-Dave-
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