Any Ibanez fundis around?

G-Man

I currently own an Ibanez RG321MH and play most of my metal stuff a step lower in D standard, but like occassionally play in standard tuning, and would like to play more "normal" stuff, but the tuning everytime I want to play is a real pain in the a$$ and time consuming (and it saps my inspiration a bit) .

So I wanted to grab a second cheapy guitar to keep in standard tuning and I found one of these for sale http://www.redgage.com/blogs/musical1/an-old-friend-my-ibanez-ex350-electric-guitar.html , but dirt cheap and with an amp and hard case (I really don't want another cheap amp). Only thing is that it's in silver, and as far as I can tell, they were only made in white WH, brown BR , Black BK and Blue JB . Now I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but I was kind of hoping for an original-ish early nineties guitar, but seeing a sprayed one makes me wonder what else may have been "augmented" or covered up...

The other thing is the tremelo, (which forms the next part of my question) are they any good on these earlier Ibanez low end 350EX series? I currently have a fixed bridge which never goes out of tune, so will I find myself chucking into my braai out of frustration at not keeping it tuned in properly, or are they usable?

So what do you reckon?Were the old RG 350EXs any good, or should I keep my eyes open for a Gio? ?

flatfourfan

G-Man wrote: I currently own an Ibanez RG321MH and play most of my metal stuff a step lower in D standard, but like occassionally play in standard tuning, and would like to play more "normal" stuff, but the tuning everytime I want to play is a real pain in the a$$ and time consuming (and it saps my inspiration a bit) .

So I wanted to grab a second cheapy guitar to keep in standard tuning and I found one of these for sale http://www.redgage.com/blogs/musical1/an-old-friend-my-ibanez-ex350-electric-guitar.html , but dirt cheap and with an amp and hard case (I really don't want another cheap amp). Only thing is that it's in silver, and as far as I can tell, they were only made in white WH, brown BR , Black BK and Blue JB . Now I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but I was kind of hoping for an original-ish early nineties guitar, but seeing a sprayed one makes me wonder what else may have been "augmented" or covered up...

The other thing is the tremelo, (which forms the next part of my question) are they any good on these earlier Ibanez low end 350EX series? I currently have a fixed bridge which never goes out of tune, so will I find myself chucking into my braai out of frustration at not keeping it tuned in properly, or are they usable?

So what do you reckon?Were the old RG 350EXs any good, or should I keep my eyes open for a Gio? ?

The trems can always be locked you know...........you can always sell off the amp. I'd so buy a 350ex over a gio.......as much as I like gios, the pups are budget as is most of the hardware. I can't fault the body and neck though.

arjunmenon

Hey G-man, there are a few Ibanez fundis around here...most notable Chad Adam Browne.

From what little i know, the EX350 is a late 80's ('88 i think) - '91 model equipped with a TRS (lo-trs??) floating bridge (not the nicest trems IMO, but you get what you pay for). Build quality might be a bit of a hit & miss as this was supposed to be Ibanez' first attempt at budget non-Japanese production.

As per Rich Harris' Ibanezrule.com, they came out in 5 colours : BK (Black) , DB (Dark Blue), SL (Silver), WH (White) & PR (Pearl Red).
They only came out in silver until 1990.

If you're not against floating trems, then i say go for it, but keep in mind that as strings stretch out, you will have to retune many many times (which means, unlocking - tuning up - locking - fine tuning + repeat if necessary) until you reach a stage where the strings settle in...then it is virtually bomb-proof.
The other thing to consider is tuning a Floyd Rose or similar floating bridge equipped guitar isn't as simple as tuning a fixed bridge. You'll need to balance strings tension vs. spring tension, making sure that the angle of the bridge is right etc etc. If you aren't going to be changing string gauges or tunings, then it's not a bad guitar to have.

I would imagine GIOs go out of tune quicker than a tone deaf popstar.

flatfourfan

Arjun Menon wrote: I would imagine GIOs go out of tune quicker than a tone deaf popstar.

NOT with the fixed bridge gio's...............I beat on my old one and it never went out of tune.

arjunmenon

flatfourfan wrote:
Arjun Menon wrote: I would imagine GIOs go out of tune quicker than a tone deaf popstar.
NOT with the fixed bridge gio's...............I beat on my old one and it never went out of tune.

True that. I was thinking of the vibrato equipped ones.
I was under the impression that there would be some slippage on the stock GIO tuners.
I suppose it all depends on how you string 'em up.

G-Man

OK cool, thanks guys!

flatfourfan wrote: The trems can always be locked you know...........you can always sell off the amp. I'd so buy a 350ex over a gio.......as much as I like gios, the pups are budget as is most of the hardware. I can't fault the body and neck though.

Very valid points, I may try and grab the guitar without the amp for a little less, but it's all under a grand so what the hell, may as well grab everything.

Arjun Menon wrote: As per Rich Harris' Ibanezrule.com, they came out in 5 colours : BK (Black) , DB (Dark Blue), SL (Silver), WH (White) & PR (Pearl Red).
They only came out in silver until 1990.

Ok cool, I thought the silver was a DIY spray job, this is looking pretty good then. ?
(The GIO reference was more tongue in cheek, it was more of a price referrence than anything.)

Arjun Menon wrote: From what little i know, the EX350 is a late 80's ('88 i think) - '91 model equipped with a TRS (lo-trs??) floating bridge (not the nicest trems IMO, but you get what you pay for). Build quality might be a bit of a hit & miss as this was supposed to be Ibanez' first attempt at budget non-Japanese production.

Yeah it is a TRS

flatfourfan

I spy with my little eye something beginning with translucent ice...........lol.

ZarK

I'm a huge Ibanez fan but despite this I find that Cort guitars in the same price range tend to offer better value for $$$. (imho. -especially second-hand.)
Definitely worth looking into...

G-Man

Thanks Zark, I'll keep that in mind. Aren't they made in the same factory or something?

G-Man

Well that sucks, guy didn't answer me and pulled the ad. Must have been a lot of interest. >☹

flatfourfan wrote: I spy with my little eye something beginning with translucent ice...........lol.

Well it was the 80's ?

arjunmenon

G-Man wrote: Thanks Zark, I'll keep that in mind. Aren't they made in the same factory or something?

Just my 2c, if the serial starts with a 'C', that stands for Cort.