Ibanez 2650 Black Beauty

Well, seems to me that mine's the first guitar of this type in your list!
O.K., here we go: Ser.No is I765631 stamped on the back of the headstock, saying it's a 1976 from September made in Japan, 22 frets,solid top Les Paul Custom with set neck (these are hard to find!!),gold hardware, 2 Humbuckers,tune-o-matic bridge,stop tailpiece,black high gloss laquer,slim tapered neck (i call it my "speed train")1:1 copy of a Gibson "Black Beauty", no open book headstock,original "single star tuners",volute neck reinforcement,original 70ies speed knobs(2 vol,2 tone)3 way toggle switch,real mother of pearl block inlays on the fretboard, "IBANEZ" MOP Logo on the headstock. The guitar got a 5-layer binding all over,which has nicely yellowed with the years, quite heavy(4.3 kg) but very well balanced on the strap. I bought it from the net in 1999 !

I'm a blues player(wide variety of style),at the moment I play her with an black Fender Pro Junior equipped with a 10" Weber speaker through a Reverend "Drivetrain II" I usually crank the amp to 11, pull the "drive" to full and control the overall loudness with the vol of the "Drivetrain". The original PU's (Super 70) were a bit weak and had problems with feedback at higher vol settings, so I replaced them with RIO GRANDE BBQ-Bucker(Bridge) and GENUINE TEXAS (Neck)gold-covered HUMBUCKERS!! BOY;thats the "REAL DEAL" The sound improved from mediocre to ....UNBELIVABLE!!! AFter the first Gig with the new Setup everybody was speechless! Now the axe covers everything from clean "bell-like", to screaming overtones (even can get real "jazzy" on the neck-pu),the controls are very sensible and you really don't lose much treble when turning them down! I've had an original Gibson Les Paul 1960 Classic - I sold it!!!

As for this baby is almost 29-years old, it's not flawless...got heavy bealt buckle on the back, dings and dongs, but boy, this is vintage, this one got the vibe everybody is looking for, I play 010 - 048 roundwounds(D'addarios),low action for bendings, neck is straight as nothin'else without adjusting in all these years of heavy use. Remember, this babe was "Top of the Line" of the Ibanez Les Paul Line.
Bridge and tailpiece were faded from heavy sweat and 2 years ago i replaced them with Gotoh Parts( very good quality ), it fits the Rios better!!

This is quality, you will never get again from Japan; not for a reasonable price - for the hardware see above - you can rely on this guitar (it's like livelong warranty; everybody who owns a guitar like this knows....!!) I went on tour only with the "Black Beauty", a cable and an amp! Needed no back-up guitar! Never had a string problem, you take it out the case, it stays in tune! I own between 13 - 15 different guitars , this beauty got the fastest neck of all, the most sexy tone and look( ask my girlfriend....makes her sweat!)!!

Never dealt with them!
Helpful link is "Ibanez-Vintage-page"!!

I'm playing since 30 years, now slowly-though still a player- merging towards collecting guitars and gear(mostly vintage). I started with my first electric when i was 16(an Ibanez Les Paul Standard in cherry wine with bolt-on neck),I traded it for a 68'Telecaster,traded that for....don't remember, but I guess, in 1999 the circle closed an gave me that beautiful "Black Lady"(back in those days it was too expensive ,so i had to do with the bolt - on, cheaper version(still a good guitar for the money)! If it were stolen or lost, I would replace it asap with the same again( maybe with a nice flametop though)!!But I'm through with Gibson Les Pauls except the old ones(too expensive), did you know, that Gibson will discontinue the nitro-cellulose finish on all standard series in 2005!! Only highpriced "custom shop" guitars receive that special kind of treatment(musicians aren't rich...at a rate of 95%)So I have to stick to this baby(started off with a Copy and will stay with one!)