Ibanez 2384

i bought this guitar "new" in 1977, but it had been in the shop for quite a while. as it has no serial number and considering the old catalogs at (http://www.ibanez-vintage-page.de/) i think it was produced 1973/74. it was made in japan like all ibanez of that time.

this is a copy of the fender 72 telecaster thinline, i.e. a telecaster with some wood left out and an f-hole, very light guitar for that time. the body is supposedly ash with transparent coating. the neck maple w/o fretboard. it had (originally) two ibanez humbuckers like those of fender with coils in groups of 3 and 3. very simple electrics, 3-way-switch, volume and tone control. string-thru body bridge.

the neck is great for me having a small hand, but it might appear a little too narrow for the average guy. it's easy to adjust the strings very low over the frets without any buzzing, so this might be a fast one (if i could do it).

for the mid 70s this was a light weight as compared with strats and teles of that time, not to speak of gibson and the likes.

this guitar can be used for nearly anything between country, rock and blues. it has got a full sound with great sustain due to its bridge. the original pus were a little weak for heavier styles, but i had them replaced by dimarzio style humbuckers (see below). now i mostly use the neck pu or both, less often the bridge pu alone, as this is getting a little too hard for my every day taste (but very nice to annoy my neighbors).

i use it with a solid state amp and several mild overdrives (ibanez mt10, marshall shredmaster anf the like). it gives a great sound with any of them, with the neck pu a singing bluesy tone i prefer to any lp i've heard. it can be very clean and full without any distortion. i think changing the pus was a good thing, but as this is 25 years ago i would not bet on that.

this guitar is versatile as far as a humbucker guitar can be. you can't expect a tele or strat (single coil) sound of it.

well, as far as i do remember i had to re-adjust just about everything with this guitar. but then there were no flaws whatsoever about it. so i give it a 6.

okay, this is a 30 years old guitar that has been used all the time. it has never been on a stage and very seldom gone anywheres, so this is a livingroom guitar. i can't tell what would have happened to it in a rougher life. about 1979, just after two years with me or about 5 years after production both pus failed. i had them replaced by my guitar shop with dimarzio type pus, i don't remember the brand, but they last and sound good to me.

the finish is very solid, it just chipped off at one edge, when the guitar fell on the floor.

and for the frets: i haven't done anything about those for 27 years and do not have much reason to. i have used 009 strings most of the time and those frets just don't wear off!

electrics haven't failed so far. just had to clean the pots and the switch some times. the knobs have corroded and need replacement, but that's ok considering the time of use.

so it's not a 10 just for those pus.

never ever tried to contact ibanez. great producer, no service as far as i heard.

what do you think? this was my first "real" guitar. i had a beginners guitar before that for about 4 years, but with the ibanez i really learnt to play. fender and gibson were far out of reach due to the costs. at that time a fender strat was at least three times the price of a comparable ibanez.

up to last year i did not use any other instrument. now i bought an epiphone lp, an ibanez strat (vintage) and a blade strat. those just have to accomodate for some sounds, that the 2384 thinline can't produce: the really heavy lp (obl humbuckers) and the single coil strats. but when i get home and just want to play a little bit to myself, then i most often take the thinline. if this one were stolen or got lost, i would not know what to do. i have not yet seen any of these at ebay or anywhere else for sale. must have been a very small production, don't remember i saw a second one in the mid 70s either. i think both fender and ibanez discontinued production of this light weight model at that time, because good guitars had to be heavier than this.

as compared to my other guitars the narrow neck is quite comfortable to my small hand, but my ibanez strat comes close to it on that behalf. the singing blues tone of the neck pu and the natural sustain are still great.