Ibanez Cimar

Well, I know as much (or as little) about this mysterious cheapie guitar as anyone else does. Bought it 3 years ago with a little Park practice amp for $100, so I think it was worth it. Features??? Tuners of some sort (i.e cheap). Pickups are S/S/H...brand unknown. 21 frets on a somewhat thick neck. 5-way selector (also cheap). 1 tone, 1 volume (both cheap, both crackly). Body made of some kind of heavy, presumably wood-like substance. Pretty nice black finish, with only minor chips and a crack or two. Also came with SKB hardshell case, which I was told was worth more than the guitar in it. Had to buy a cable and a set of saddles. Got Graph-tech Labs Graphite saddles and i love 'em.

Humbucker sounds pretty good for being made by God-knows-who in God-knows-where. The two singles are pretty much crap, though. Middle isn't too bad, but the neck pickup sucks and i never use it alone. I can get this thing to make all kinds of noise, that seems to be its calling (i mean that in a good way). Good for punk, sounds decent clean too if you stay away from that neck pickup. Pretty noisy on anything but the humbucker alone.

Action was crap when i got it, but i played around with it and its pretty good now. Intonation was way out of whack, but i got it somewhat better. On that note i should mention that the saddles i got are for a Fender Strat, but they work well on this guitar. Tuners are total crap, including the weeny little tinfoil screws that hold them on. Selector and volume and tone all make crackling noises, but its not that big a deal to me, except when no sound gets through to the amp (smacking it usually works).

Cheap though it is this thing is built like a tank. Heavy as hell, and has survived a lot of abuse. Doubts about hardware, though. Haven't played live yet, but I think it'd do ok, though I'd definately have a backup. One strap button is loose, but its never fallen off, and I play it a lot. With better hardware I think this would be a good guitar

The guitar that never was.

A decent beginner tool, that has potential. although playing one of these will not prepare you for other guitars. It's kinda like owning a British car...needs love, unexpectedly hiccups, has gremlins, but is a lot of fun.

Year made: Unknown. Made in Japan, 22 Frets,
This is my first electric ever and at that time, as far as I know, 3rd hand already. It was the most standard Strat copy one can imagine, especially with the 3 way element switch. When I bought it the bridge pickup was out of order and after a few months replaced with a ESP humbucker. The Neck pickup was replaced about an year later with a humbucker as well.
On the instrument itself, as far as not covered below:
A close to perfect finish job done.

Solid wood Body,
Volume, Tone, Tone,
3 SC elements, Brand Unknown, passive
3 Way selector switch ,
Body wood unknown, neck: maple, big headstock.
Finish: 3 clr sunburst
Bridge: Stndrd Fender style
Tuners: brand unknown
Accessories: Bridge cover

This is my first electric ever and at that time, as far as I know, 3rd hand already. When I bought it the bridge pickup was out of order.

As said, 3rd hand and ready for adjustments, modifications and repair. Toill doday I never managed to remove last piece of the broken off whammy bar from the hole it is screwed in.

The instrument is out of use after being my only for 5 yrs. Buying a new guitar (Ibanez FGM300) showed me I almost had to learn to play again on a much easier to play instruments. The instrument is nice to play some rhythm tracks but the way too thick neck with too thin frets is limiting for solo work.

Uh Ooh!

When running into another Cimar, which happens rarerly, I'll just smile and let it pass. It was a nice starter but never again

i bought this new in 1995. not sure where it was made. strat style. it has a fairly thin 21-fret maple neck, s/s/h pickup configuration (the stock pickups leave something to be desired), unstable tremolo,cheap tuners, one volume and one tone pot, 5 way switch. set up correctly the smooth neck is quite fast, though the wood is soft and prone to denting and the neck joint is almost flexible. the tuners cannot handle excessive string bends or any use of the whammy bar, so don't even bother. paint is decent, but with a slight "orange peel" surface. much better than a squier by any means though.

i play alot of classic rock and blues, and some death metal. the action, after i had it adjusted, is low but it is staring to get some fret buzz. it still sounds and plays alright though. the origional pickups were decent for an entry level guitar like this but i replaced them. with new pickups it sounds fine, but sustain is somewhat limited by the bolt-on neck and the fact that the pickups are mounted only to the pickguard itself. played thrugh a decent tube amp it can produce a wide variety of sounds well.

it had rather high action from the factory but a setup fixed the problem. the pickups are mounted only to the pickguard and have a tendency to fall thruogh into the guitar. one of the strap buttons fell out after several months of play but i glued it back in and it has held for years. the tuners do not stay in tune very well and the plastic nut doesn't help either. other than that it was assembled quite well and has played great since i bought it.

this guitar seems pretty solid, though i have put a few dents in it, broke the pickguard, and cracked the wood near the neck joint (drinking is bad). it has taken a fair amount of abuse and is still alive and kicking. if i played it more often (i usually play one of my other guitars) i would certainly replace the tuners with some nice locking ones because the sock ones are loose and flimsy and probably will not last too long. i think i could depend on this guitar live, but i would certainly have a backup no matter what guitar i was playing.

ibanez denies making the cimar. when i tried to obtain a replacement pickguard they seemed unsure of the model and i had to get a luthier to make me a custom one. i think the guitar originally had a 1 year warranty. thats about it.

i have been playing for a number of years and this was the first electric guitar i ever owned. i also have a les paul standard and a fender strat plus. they both play better than this guitar. but for the price, it was a very good beginner electric. i wouldnt buy it again unless i was just beginning to play, just because thre are nicer guitars out there. but it is well built, sound good, plays easily (just don't use the whammy bar), and was definitely worth the money.

I have a Cimar Les Paul model and it was made in the 70's.
It has 22 frets. The pickups are H/S/H with a three way swich.
It has a mahogany body with a flame top of some sort.
It has a sunburst finish. It has a pretty thick neck with big frets.

I play reggae in a band and I use it sometimes.
It fits good for that and also for metal and other styles.
It has a rich sound.
I also have a Westone Spectrum GT that I use more often.

The guitar is pretty old but the finish is great.
I think it will hold for many more years!

I've used it live and it works fine.
I can depend on it and it sound fine!

I have never heard of Cimar!
It doesn't say Ibanez on it, only Cimar.

I've had it for about a year and I think it's a very good guitar!

I must have the oldest working Cimar Strat remaining. It was my first electric and I bought it in 1977 in Holland. I still use it regularly.
It's as far as can see a perfect white body maple neck seventies strat imitation, 21 frets three pick-ups S/S/H three-way toggle, whammy bar bridge, rounded head with cimar inscription.

I mostly play west coast rock(eagles, jackson browne) and sevties/eighties rock (clapton, scorpions, dire straits). It's a very versitile guiter hooked up to a 15w fender amp with built-in distortion. I get the warm west coast sound but I can also get a mean bite out of it.

I played with industry settings for 20 years (with minor adjustments done by myself) I took it to a specialist in 97 who did a new set-up and it felt like new again.

This guitar played live for many years and is now used weekly at home, it's still all original since 1977 except for the strings. I'd go and play a gig with it anytime, it's absolutely reliable.

what support?

I've been playing 24 years I have a special attachment to this guitar since it was my first but even now I still think it plays better than a new original strat. I also have a 1992 Gibson SG, a 1978 Takamine 12-strings and a recent Epiphone 6-string acoustic.

Not sure about the year on this one, possibly a '95. 21 frets. One volume, one tone, 5 way selector, S/S/H. No make and model on the pickups and I can't tell you what kind of wood the body is made of because Ibanez refuses to acknowledge that they made the Cimar. Strat style body, slightly less than average tuners, plastic nut, string through body bridge. The first problem I had with this guitar was the humbucker kept falling out. I lost the original screw, fixed it, then it fell again, only on one side. Nothing a little superglue can't fix though. After I got it, I ditched the whammy bar because any use knocks it out of tune.

Nice guitar for a beginner, much better over a Squier (ugh). Neck hasn't bent yet, but I string it with .08's to keep it that way. It suited me fine as a first guitar, and I still ocasionally use it. Suited my musical styles fine after I lowered the action a bit. I play rock, classical, and a little bit of jazz. The pickups, when used with my Peavey Rage 150 (don't laugh, it was free) were slightly noisy, but the neck single coil wasn't quite loud enough. Just a quieter noisyness. I'm not sure how it would sound on a better amp. When I hook up my Zoom 505 it improves the sound a bit. Not good with my Crybaby though. Overall I like it.

The factory set-up wasn't the greatest. Adjust the action a bit and get it intonated and it was much better. I messed with the pickups a bit until I got a configuration I liked, raising and lowering and all. My main problems with it are bad tuners, horrible nut, and no trem use. Other than that It was alright.

The guitar will withstand live playing, but I really don't recommend it. The hardware isn't very good. Finish was pretty good. Strap buttons have lasted so far and don't show any signs of loosening up. I can depend on it being a good beginners guitar. I wouldn't use it on a gig without a backup, but then again, I wouldn't use any guitar on a gig without a backup....you never know what can happen.

Customer support sucked. Massively. Ibanez won't acknowledge making it. I've e-mailed them several times asking about what kind of wood the body is made of and I have yet to recieve a response.

I've been playing about three years. I own an Ibanez EX-350, A Samick Acoustic-Electric...not sure on the model, A Zoom 505, a Crybaby Wah, a Peavey Rage 150, a Crate Gx-10? amp, and a really, really old overdrive pedal. If the Cimar were stolen or lost, I'd probably get something else. I didn't compare it to other guitars before buying it (it was $50 and I wanted a guitar). I wish it had a new nut, better tuners, and something to secure the humbucker in place.

Well then... let's see. It's got a crimson finish, white pick gaurd, a tone knob, a volume knob, floating bridge, plastic nut (ugh), nameless S/S/H (the humbucker gets microphonic feedback, surprise), pickup setup, some crappy set of tuners...
It looks a lot like a strat. 21 frets. Maple fretboard. No idea what kind of wood the body is made out of.
It is, of course, a bolt on neck. Not especially good, either. Makes trilling a bit difficult, and if you hold the guitar by its body and shake it back and forth violently, the neck wiggles. Yow. Aformentioned nut doesn't help any of this.

I play a variety of genres (hackneyed phrase), from Radiohead to Sonic Youth to Pantera, and of course, the all encompassing Frank Zappa for . It doesn't do any of these especially well, but, hey, it's a Cimar. The humbucker, which I use often, has a bright sound, but compared to the two single coils, is a bit lower in output. The middle position pickup is okay, sounds palatable slightly overdriven. The neck pickup really isnt that bad. It sounds as though the tone has been turned down, and it's difficult to articulate a note unless you strike the string quite hard. The single coils are certainly noisy. When switched to the humbucker, the sound is bright and passable for soloing. Position 4 is good for rhythm (i.e. Black Sabbath). Posistion 3 is a very interesting interpretation of a Strat... hm. Position 2 sounds very artificial, almost lace sensor-ish. And, position 1 is muted, muddy, most fun when a lot of distortion is pushed through.
My playing through a Peavy Blazer 150 (ouch) affects my sound... but, still...

Ah, this is interesting. This guitar was a display guitar; there was no bar for the tremelo (why it isn't mentioned above). Which is okay, really; I eventually stuck a screwdriver in the hole for the bar and experimented with the tremelo. As to why a floating bridge was put in this guitar, who knows; the tuners surely can't handle string bends, let alone a tremelo. So this got locked up. The action was high, so I payed $20 to get that lowered, then did it myself again. The intonation seems okay...
To those who own one of these; your pickups probably drop down a lot, especially the humbucker. This is because of the springs and screws used to secure it. In some good guitars, there are holes in the body designed for the pickups. The Cimar, however, just has a big cavity in there, so the pickups are just floating with the pickguard. Ouch. I fixed the humbucker by sticking a block of styrofoam underneath it; your mileage may vary. I would immediately recommend LOCKING THE TREMELO. And replacing the nut with a graphite one. New tuners wouldn't hurt, either...

I don't play live very much, but my playing style has often been described as 'abusive.' The nut, being plastic, easily expands the .09-.46 DR strings I usually put on (like putting racing tires on a Pinto..) This is also the first guitar I learned how to do to play with a pop top, a coke can, and a variety of implements. It hasn't broke yet. Oh well.

Ibanez: Cimar? What's a Cimar?

Well, I've been playing for a while now, started off on my mom's Martin D35. I've been fortunate to play such wonderful instruments as Les Paul Standards to '52 Telecasters. This guitar is not in the same league as many of them. However, it's my first guitar, and that being said, I like it more than a Squier. I'd prefer to have a higher output humbucker, but that's what you get for a dozen or so sawbucks.

Ok guitar, 21 frets S/S/H pickup setup, cheep pickups (stock) along with cheep tromlo. strat style body maple neck, 1 tone 1 volume, 5 way switch.

I can get the sunds that i want i play more heavey metal like Korn,Metallica,Limp Bizkit,Rage ect. Sounds ok single pick ups are a little3 nosiey so i hasve both disconected cuz i only use the humbucker anyway and i replaced it with a Dimarzio.

poopy finish i have cloth tape and sitckers allover it anyways

this ting put up alot of crap, i have a cuple of backups like a RG270 ans RG7620<-- my fave!!! it takes a beatimg I was playing at my school and on the stage at lunch i beat it on the ground and picked it up and it still worked!

never delt with

Prity i mostly use it for practice of if i have to play in a little area i dont want to mess up my others. I run it throught a Mesa Boggie Triple Rectifier and a 4x12, with a Electro Harmonix BuffMuff,BossDS-1,Boss Sterio Chours,Crybaby wah,Ibanez Flanger and a Digitech XT-100 wammy wah.

I think it was made in 1995. 21 frets, S/S/H pickups, (cheap) 5-way selector. On mine, all the pickups have been replaced, so review is based on the guitar with the new pickups. Maple neck/fingerboard, strat style body. Had two people try to identify what wood the body was, to no avail. Came with a gig bag.

First off, I'd like to mention that I'm writing this review for the guitar because I wrote the old one before I knew what I was talking about. :) The original neck pickup sucked, it sounded flat and quiet (in a bad way) so I replaced that with a Fender Gold Lace Sensor. The middle pickup sucked too, but my friend liked it so he traded me a Fender Strat standard single coil. The humbucker was okay, but there wasn't as much output as I wanted so another friend sold me a humbucker he had, the brand name of which I am unsure of. He also added a coil-tap switch so I could shut off half of the humbucker for a better clean sound. The 5-way switch makes a crackling noise when moved, but it's nothing serious and replacing it is cheap. I use a Fender Deluxe 112 Plus, a Boss CH-2 Chorus, and a Boss Compression Sustainer with this guitar. In 4th & 5th positions it sounds great clean, a little muddy when distorted. I rarely use the middle pickup alone, but it's not too bad. Better clean than distorted. 1st & 2nd with the coil-tap on sound great distorted, and even better with the coil-tap off. I play anything from AC/DC to Green Day to The Smashing Pumpkins, and it's a good all-around guitar.

When I first got the guitar, I didn't even know what action was. :) But since I'm more of a rhythm player I raised the action a little and it's quite fast. My friend who I bought the humbucker from also installed it and re-wired the whole guitar (due to my lack of skill with the soldering iron :) ), and complained that the hole for the wire that went from the jack to the tone pot was too small. I guess it was. The volume pot quit about a week after I bought it, and that pissed me off. I bought it used and there were a few chips in the finish, but I don't mind. It gives the axe character. The tuning peg for the high E is loose, making it difficult to tune. As I said before, the pickup switch is crackily, but nothing serious.

Well, I've never played in front of people (with my own guitar, anyway) so I don't know about that. The hardware is going to last, I've made enough modifications to be sure of that. If it falls apart, I'll just whip out some duct tape. :) You can barely see the finish anymore cause I covered the guitar with stickers (it's not like it's a vintage piece or anything) The strap buttons haven't fallen off yet and I don't think they will anytime soon. I can honestly say I depend on it. I would probably use it without a backup, cause I can't afford more guitars. I'm getting an Epiphone SG in the future though.

They don't acknowledge the Cimar's existence.

I've been playing a year and a half now. Back when I bought this guitar, all I wanted was something that looked like a strat cause all my friends have strats. BIG mistake. But I still don't regret buying it cause I turned it into a mean motherfucker. If it were stolen, I'd be pissed off because of all the modifications I made. If it still had all the stock stuff, I'd be slightly less upset. But I'd finally have an excuse to buy a REAL strat. Don't get me wrong, this guitar is great, better than a squier. Just ditch the neck and mid pickups.

I have a Ibanez Cimar, though I am not sure the Year it was made. It has 21 Frets, 5 selecter pickup switch, one tone and one volume knob. as for the pickup config...S/S/H, The pickups are all stock as far as I know. I bought it for 300 dollars (canadian) Branty new out the door. To me, it was worth it. I got me a strap, Cord, picks, etc.

Ok, I play Mostly Metal and Alternative Styles of Music. This guitar Suits my style of stuff perfectly, It also suits that hard rock/blues style too providing you have the right gear. As for the pickups I get a buzzing on the Neck pickup and it sounds a little dull, the Bridge Humbucker is awesome for what I play, It gives me that Crunch and Heavy style i'm looking for. The guitar isn't the nicest plugged in Clean in my opinion though it's better than alot i've heard. The setup I use is the Cimar running Through either a Peavy Rage or a 150 watt speaker using the ZOOM 505 effects pedal. With the ZOOM 505 practically any sound can be made. Running this Guitar through the Peavy rage using the Amp Distortion you get an awesome Pearl Jam type sound or that Bluesy sound...Well, I like it. Sounds awesome Clean through a bass amp! Overall I like the feel of the guitar the look (strat style)and the sound I am currently getting. Now somedays I just don't like it at all, but others i love it!

The action was really good, not too high not too low. I guess this all depends on personal preferance. Me I like the action low but not buzzing all over the place! When I bought it the pickups drove me crazeeeeee!!!! The bridge pickup kept falling down into the guitar. The screws were sad and couldn't hold the pickup for the life of them. The pots were loose on the pickguard so i had to keep popping off the Volume and Tone knobs to tighten them up, same with the Jack. The intination was perfect when i bought it, the bridge was good too...after a while of using the whammy bar the bridge started pulling up, Now I also use a heavy guage string so maybe that had something to do with it? But I slapped two more springs in it and away i went...The Whammy bar is better than ever! I recommend 5 Springs in this guitar. as far as i'm concerned i shouldn't have needed to fool around with this guitar as much as i did when i bought it.

The only thing that it hasn't been tested against is Nuclear war, it seems to hold up pretty good under all the junk in my room, as a coat rack, as a target for junk being thrown around, being dropped, being knocked and beat against other things, and so on. The only thing that has happened to it from any of this is a little tiny dent in the finish that isn't that noticable unless you are looking for it.

I've never dealt with the company, then again I never needed to...Any little modifications or repairs I needed done I did myself. When I bought it, it had a 1 year parts and labour warrenty.

I have been playing for about two years now, I currently own the Ibanez Cimar, A Zoom 505, peavy rage (well, kinda...=)), a 40 watt head and 150 watt cabinet. If I had my time back I think i would have played this guitar in the store a little longer and gave it a good beating to see how it would hold up. I love how it wasn't expensive (well not for Canada (St. John's anyways), how it fits my needs and how it can withstand the punishment i sometimes give it. So for any of you people who are just learning or want something cheap, buy one! They're great for your needs...When you get into the playing a little more you may wanna play around with pickups by switching them or getting new ones. Other than that t was not a bad guitar at all. I think I'll go play it now.