NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by stevejamsecono » Sun Feb 05, 2023 8:27 am

Okay, the title is a bit misleading maybe...

Image

Added to my unintentional collection of vintage MIJ guitars from 1983 is this stealth beauty -- the Ibanez Roadstar II Deluxe RS335

The more long in the tooth OSGers will remember that early in my OSG career before stumbling upon Yamaha SGs I was really into vintage Ibanez stuff and had a few cool basses of theirs from this same series. I saw a guitar identical to this one at Mr. Music around that time but sadly could not afford the paltry $199 asking price and therefore had to pass on it. It was a bit of a bummer, since I was quite taken with its looks and feel, so my thoughts had drifted back to it a few times over the years. I've been on a bit of a Superstrat trip for the past few weeks and remembered these, so after checking around on Reverb and Ebay I found the one you see here for not too much more and pulled the trigger.

ImageRS335ad by Steve Bailey, on Flickr

Happy to report that despite traveling here from FL in single degree temperatures, the guitar showed up rock solid and ready to play. Definitely seems to live up to the quality standard that Ibanez was rolling with back then. Turns out that the RS335 is a bit of a rare beast too, as in my research I discovered that they were made for a limited time ( just 1983) out of spare Roadstar bodies for the US and Euro market only with no real catalogue presence. Only real pop culture footprint I've seen for these guitars is that Corin Tucker played one of the white ones in the early days of Sleater-Kinney.

Anyway! Very pleased so far. I likely will swap out the high output pickups for some more vintage output Dimarzios per my usual preference and get some period-correct SureGripII knobs, but other than that should serve my purposes perfectly.

Image20230205_093437 by Steve Bailey, on Flickr

Image20230205_093455 by Steve Bailey, on Flickr

Image20230205_093504 by Steve Bailey, on Flickr
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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by Pacafeliz » Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:02 am

Oooh always liked these!
i love delay SO much ...that i procrastinate all the time.

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by Flurko » Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:48 am

Nice find ! They sure had a great eye for shapes in this time. The vibrato is similar to a two-point strat type ?

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by stevejamsecono » Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:58 am

Flurko wrote:
Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:48 am
Nice find ! They sure had a great eye for shapes in this time. The vibrato is similar to a two-point strat type ?
I... think so? I need to order a repro bar to make any use of it so I guess I'll find out then. It's got a fairly unusual mechanism where the string locks to the bridge itself and then wraps over the saddles from beneath rather than being fed through the body. I can say at least that it's quite a weighty piece of metal so the natural sustain of the thing is pretty impressive.
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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by Fiddy » Sun Feb 05, 2023 3:14 pm

Looks good to me .

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by BoringPostcards » Tue Feb 07, 2023 4:06 am

Yeah, I dig it! Have you tried the vibrato yet?
Det er mig der holder traeerne sammen.

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by ThePearDream » Tue Feb 07, 2023 7:31 am

What a cool find! Those old, non-pointy, Ibanez models are really neat.
Doug
@dpcannafax

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by stevejamsecono » Tue Feb 07, 2023 7:50 am

BoringPostcards wrote:
Tue Feb 07, 2023 4:06 am
Yeah, I dig it! Have you tried the vibrato yet?
Sadly didn't come with the bar! I'll have to track one down. I'll let you know when I do.
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Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by stevejamsecono » Tue Feb 07, 2023 7:51 am

ThePearDream wrote:
Tue Feb 07, 2023 7:31 am
What a cool find! Those old, non-pointy, Ibanez models are really neat.
Completely agree. I was obsessed with them some years back and I feel that coming back on again...
And you find out life isn't like that
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Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by Oig » Tue Feb 07, 2023 4:06 pm

Bro, I LOVE those old RG’s and Roadstars - that thing looks sweet! Also, how the hell are you man?! So good to see you online again. It’s only been, what, about 7 years or so… :D

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by stevejamsecono » Tue Feb 07, 2023 4:30 pm

Oig wrote:
Tue Feb 07, 2023 4:06 pm
Bro, I LOVE those old RG’s and Roadstars - that thing looks sweet! Also, how the hell are you man?! So good to see you online again. It’s only been, what, about 7 years or so… :D
I'm good! The gear churn continues. I've still been on the OSG in that time but less active, maybe.

I also saw our old Melody Maker SG making the rounds on reverb again lately. I think it's up to $1500 now :D
And you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by Oig » Tue Feb 07, 2023 6:23 pm

Yeah? Last I heard a country player had it and he was super into it, touring with it regularly…I know how that goes though - I still regret trading that black SG, I loved that thing :D

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by sessylU » Wed Feb 08, 2023 3:52 am

Lovely. Like an aerodyne roadster.
a total idiot jackass

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Re: NGD: My First 335... well, sorta. (Vintage Ibanez Content)

Post by CorporateDisguise » Wed Feb 08, 2023 5:31 am

I’ve always loved that headstock shape.

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