Ibanez NW30 Acoustic

I purchased this dreadnaught style guitar at a pawn shop in 1984 or 1985. I used it as a road guitar while playing with bands in the '80's and it looks it. The headstock has been repaired twice- once from a fall-over from the stand onto a concrete floor. The guitar appears to be solid wood- but I have very little info on it. A luthier told me back in the '80's it appeared to be made of cedar- it's a very straight, narrow grain. The neck wood is somewhat of a figured grain- maybe maple. The saddle is ebony and the fretboard is rosewood. The finish is glossy and has lots of road scars. The tuners say "Ibanez Smooth Tuner II" on them and still work very well.

This guitar has no pickup. It's sound is pretty loud, but very clear- not bassy like my Martin D-1. It sounds much better for recording fingerpicking than the Martin, which is my main style of playing.

When I bought the guitar, the edges of the frets were a bit sharp- so that your fingers kinda caught on them when sliding up or down the neck. I had them filed down by Kent at Atlanta Guitar Works, which made it play much better. It still plays amazingly well- and as I said, it's been a true road warrior. The binding on the body is tortoise shell and white plastic with four black stripes around the top, and white/black around the back. The neck binding is white. The purfling around the rosette is 3 concentric circles- the middle one is tortoise shell with white and black pinstripes and the other two are white/black stripes. The logo and inlay on the headstock are dark abalone and the fret markers are round mother of pearl. On the back and across the bottom is a wood inlay with white and brown pinstripes. It's quite intricate work for what I assume was not a real expensive guitar. It says "Hand crafted from select woods in Japan" on the label inside the body with serial number 82136308H. On the block at the heel of the neck is stamped 821119- though the last two are hard to read. There is some visible glue at the joints inside, but for the most part the finish is very good- thick and glossy.

As I said before- this thing is a road warrior and has never failed me even though it's had the crap beat out of it. I haven't played it much in the past 10 years since I bought my Martin. I had it autographed by Merle Haggard and it mostly has hung on the wall since then. I just recently started playing it again and I'm amazed how good it sounds and plays.

I've never dealt with Ibanez directly as I bought this used. I'd love to be able to get more info on this guitar, but the Ibanez folks haven't been much help- not responding to email inquiries. If anyone has any info on this model, I'd appreciate hearing from them.

I've played for 34 years. I own a Martin D-1, Fender Strat, Rover RM75 mandolin and a Fender Jazz bass, along with assorted keyboard, outboard and recording gear. This guitar is irreplaceable due to the autograph from one of my heroes. I doubt I could ever find another as I've never seen another one- and have only found 2 or 3 references to them on the net.

Made in the late 70s in Japan,this is a 6 string beauty and the guitar I learned to play on!!Its got a solid spruce top and in fact the guitar is ALL solid. Its got a gloss finish which has taken a beating over the years,but its still going strong. The neck has that martin "V" shape and is very comfortable and fast. No pickup or electrics and its a dreadnaught shape with a very solid feel

This guitar sounds AWESOME.Its clear as a bell and when I first learned to play I wasnt too good and didnt know one sound from another,but having now played it against much more expensive guitars,I think my one sounds just as good.The sound is clear and crisp with good highs and lows and individual notes have a ringing tone when picked.This guitar sustains forever with a very rich tone and its nice and tight when strumming with no muddiness even when played hard.Its got much better with age and is much more warmer than it was when I first bought it

This is a well made instrument with scalloped X bracing and no messy glue marks.The tuners are high quality chrome like grovers and work smoothly.The body is bound front and back and so is the neck.there is a double pinstripe around the front and back binding and on the inlay down the back."Ibanez" and the logo are inlaid into the headstock in a dark abalone material and the headstock is an unusual shape that looks great( Saw a similar shape on a Daion guitar).Its got an intonated saddle and everything is well made.Thr label says "handcrafted from specially selected woods" and it was!! This is not a cheapo guitar.These were made when the Japs were starting to rule the world as far as guitar making was concerned.

Been playing for more than 20 years now and still pick it up from time to time,all the strap buttons are still intact as is everything elsa,and no sign of tarnish on the tuners.My whole family have played this at one time or another and its been camping and beaching and gigging without any major problems and all it ever needed was a string change!! Rely on it?? You betcha!

This has been a good friend to me all these years and Ive just passed it on to my son,who no doubt will pass it on to his son in time.Ive never actually seen the exact same model anywhere and if it were lost I doubt if I could replace it.Many a good song and a good night has come from this guitar and I would buy it again in a heartbeat if I could.I got a Martin D35 and an ole epi FT145 and it compares well to both and some of my friends say it sounds better than the Martin,but thats just opinion.