Early 70s Ibanez 2020 spotted at local auction

DiscoStu

Just found an old Ibanez 2020 at my local auction house. 
They made these 1970 - 1972.
I was tempted by it as a wee project but it needs far more work than expected having been to see it today.

Auction photo: 



My pics today: 





I tested it out, but no signal. A crackle from the tone knob but no volume whatsoever.
Tuners are bust.
Big ding in the back that's been filled in. 

Too much work for me but pretty cool to see something like this up my neck of the woods.

earwighoney

I hope the guitar is sold with a tetanus jab. 

Offset

I'm guessing it went for peanuts.  £25?

DiscoStu

Auction finishes tomorrow. Currently at £60.

Philly_Q

That needs a lot of work, and I'm not convinced it would be worth the effort.

Offset

There's a B-stock Fazley Strat going for £65 at Bax - I know where my money would go!

It's an interesting post however as I havent seen one of those Ibanez models before.

guitars4you

They improved a few things since then 

Offset

Holy batshit.  You have to love an optimist.

https://reverb.com/uk/item/71076263-ibanez-2020-1970-dark-violin-sunburst

.

ICBM

Philly_Q said:

That needs a lot of work, and I'm not convinced it would be worth the effort.

I like these old quirky Japanese guitars, and I'm not afraid to rebuild them completely if necessary - but that's so far gone that I have to agree. I'm guessing it's been stored somewhere damp - like a garage - there's not really going to be any way of restoring the damaged chrome plating, at least not economically.

Danny1969

I don't think that guitar would be much better than the various Kay's and Satellites that were around at the same time. Ibanez did go on to make some very high quality guitars 1o years later but that looks like a pile of shit 

Offset

Danny1969 said:

I don't think that guitar would be much better than the various Kay's and Satellites that were around at the same time. Ibanez did go on to make some very high quality guitars 1o years later but that looks like a pile of shit 

The body is probably too damp to put in the woodburner.  Hideous - a Teisco collaboration according to the chancer on Reverb.

ICBM

Danny1969 said:

I don't think that guitar would be much better than the various Kay's and Satellites that were around at the same time. Ibanez did go on to make some very high quality guitars 1o years later but that looks like a pile of shit 

It's probably made by Fuji-Gen with left-over Tiesco parts, if this is accurate - https://www.vintageguitar.com/3267/ibanez-model-2020/ . Basically the same construction as the Satellites and Top Twentys, yes - they can be a bit better than their usual firewood reputation, but usually only if worked on heavily. They have a quite cool trashy/punky sound - the pickups are a bit hotter than you might expect, and this one at least has an adjustable bridge and a trem that looks as if it might work. A Squier Affinity Tele will play better though.

maltingsaudio

So if that’s what a cheapo electric guitar looks like after 50 years of abuse/ neglect , I do wonder what a Harley Benton Strat is going to look like in 50 years

SteveRobinson

ICBM said:
yes - they can be a bit better than their usual firewood reputation...

I think it's probably ply so not even good for firewood

wesker123

maltingsaudio said:

So if that’s what a cheapo electric guitar looks like after 50 years of abuse/ neglect , I do wonder what a Harley Benton Strat is going to look like in 50 years

Vintage.

Neilybob

Proper retro. 

Saw one of these on FB marketplace recently for £200 but was in better nick. 

ICBM

SteveRobinson said:

I think it's probably ply so not even good for firewood

On the contrary, they burn very well - decades ago I lived in an old tenement flat in Edinburgh with no central heating and an open fire... one winter, I had bought a job lot of beyond-repair Japanese junk guitars (a few like this, but mostly Les Paul copies with the arched ply tops, all with serious structural issues) and had stripped the hardware off them and piled the necks and bodies up in the wood basket. A (guitar-playing) friend came round, and while I was making a cup of tea I told him to go through and put another Les Paul on the fire if he was cold - there was a slightly shocked expression on his face .

hollywoodrox

That early version of the Edge tremolo is scary 

Offset

ICBM said:

SteveRobinson said:

I think it's probably ply so not even good for firewood

On the contrary, they burn very well - decades ago I lived in an old tenement flat in Edinburgh with no central heating and an open fire... one winter, I had bought a job lot of beyond-repair Japanese junk guitars (a few like this, but mostly Les Paul copies with the arched ply tops, all with serious structural issues) and had stripped the hardware off them and piled the necks and bodies up in the wood basket. A (guitar-playing) friend came round, and while I was making a cup of tea I told him to go through and put another Les Paul on the fire if he was cold - there was a slightly shocked expression on his face .

"Put a Les Paul on the fire for me-he... I've made some breakfast and coffee..."

DiscoStu

If it had been in better shape then I'd have taken a punt on it for £10. Could have been a quirky thing and a fun wee project. 

But it's not a wee project. It's fecked.

There's more than one person bidding on it so they maybe haven't bothered to go see it in the flesh like I did...

I'll update tomorrow with the final price!

ICBM

DiscoStu said:

There's more than one person bidding on it so they maybe haven't bothered to go see it in the flesh like I did...

It looks much better in the original pic - the sheer amount of rust isn’t obvious, and with it the proof that it’s been very damp which doesn’t bode well for the wood or the electrics.