Ibanez Cimar

My Cimar is a strat copy made probably between 78-80. It's made in Japan, it's unbelievably heavy and it has a thicker body than a Fender and without the carvings on the back. It has 3 single coils and a 3-way selector. It only has 2 nobs one for volume and one for tone. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard and it has a really thick gloss coat.

The sound is rather raw and resembles the vintage strat sound quite a lot. I ussualy play it through my Peavy backstage plus and it sounds ok, but in the studio through a UK marshall it really shines and there you can really get this retro strat sound. I prefer playing it clear through the neck pup to get a full, rich, vibrant sound, but it sounds ok also distorted through the mid or bridge pup.

I got the guitar second hand so I have no idea how it was set up. But when I got it the action was low enough and the neck was straight as an arrow. The action is relatively fast, no more so than a fender. The finish is still glossy and because it's so thick it's really hard to ding. The hardware started to show some rust, but nothing to be really worried about.

Well, it's a 30 year old guitar and it still plays pretty good and it can put any mexican fender to shame with it's clear vibrant sound. The wiring failed me a couple of times, but i got it repaired within a matter of a few minutes. Other than that everything is still in place, tight and solid.

Never tried them.

This is the second guitar I ever owned and I got it when I was 16. 20 years later and despite the fact that i own 3 more expensive and more respected guitars now the Cimar is the one that's always out of it's case next to the amp, plugged in and ready to play. I love the way it's fretboard feels and the fact that i can get sounds out of it that normally would need a much more expensive vintage instrument to produce. This guitar is by no means a looker, but when I play it and people don't see it they always assume it's a 60's strat.

I have an Ibanez|Cimar strat copy, Im not sure what year it was made I Bought it in 1984 and it looked quite a few years old even back then, it was my first guitar. Its made in japan and is pretty much a standard 70's strat copy its got 21 frets 3 single coils and a 5 way selector switch. Its a clearcote brown type color with a black pickguard I used to think it was the ugliest guitar on the planet.
I always thought it was a piece of crap and never treated it with any respect whatsoever so it has a few dents scratches etc. I bent the original maple neck and replaced it with a 60's style strat copy rosewood one a few years after i bought it, this added a little bit of warmth to the sound i replaced the stock tuners with some slihtly better ones i bought cheap off a friend as the originals were useless if you wanted to stay in tune. I also replaced the bridge pickup with a semour duncan at the same time.
Even after the alterations i still thought this guitar was crap and i must say it took a hell of a lot of punishment i have thrown it at walls many times. Ive used it live a few times and it even went on tour as my backup guitar when playing interstate where it was very mistreated.
Everything has been thrown at this guitar its been dropped,its been smashed against walls its had drinks dropped on it you name it.
Later on i retired it where it became my bedroom guitar for a few years. A few years later I gave it away to a friend who travelled around the country with it for 12 years. Yep and guess what he gave it back to me 12 years later a few months ago.
Well this thing is indestructible its still works fine, stays in tune, and the neck is still straight, the action is incredibly low and fast for any strat. The sound is quite good like a 70 s strat but a little less refined which makes it sound angry, i like it. It sounds crispy and fresh clean and quite tough and cutting with distrotion its a really cool strat. Ive had alot of good guitars since those days but this is something else its a bit hard to play and a little noisy but its kindof rewarding. I never used it on a recording before but I will in the future.

I mostly play metal so it doesnt really suit that style, its noisy with distortion but its got single coils so watdoya expect.
Its got its own unique angry strat sound thou wich i like very much.
Lacks tone but has nice sharp harmonics.
Good for most styles from dido to deicide.

Its got a brass bridge which contributes to its sound i guess.
If you put a decent pickup in the bridge you wont be disapointed.
Other 2 pickups are fine as they are, neck is a little boomy but i like it.
Guitar seems well made.
Its probably 30 years old I cant believe it, electrics still sound good.

This is one of the toughest guitars on the planet
Finish looks shit but its durable damn hard to scratch
Its kinda like an old holden it will never run well but itl never let you down either.

forget it

Ive been playing guitar for 21 years and am mostly an Ibanez RG player.
A friend of mine who is a master lead man and fender lover loves it so i guess that means something.
Ill be looking after this guitar from now on I didnt realise i missed it untill i got it back.

I even like the way it looks now.
If you find one of these for under $200 and like strats buy it.

i have bought this one on ebay, and it is great guitar. it was build in japan in the middle seventies, cimar was an ibanez-company.
i have no idea of what the body is made of, it is not as heavy as a gibson, but has a nice warm sound. pickups are well, rich of tone. it comes with the classical 4 knobs and the rythm/lead-toggle, wich all work very well.
the tuners are also wellmade, the guitar stays in tune also due heavy usage with some beers and a spliff... :-)

i mostly play rock and blues with a slight touch of britpop. more crunchy sounds. the sound lies somewhere between a gibson lp and a strat, not so fistle like a strat, but a bit more aggressive like a lp.
noise is no problem, i play it with an 100W carlsbro amp.

even the guitar is about 30 years old, the finish and all the hardware is perfect. ok, some dings and dongs, but hey, this is ok.

the only thing i replaced was the strap-button-screw which was loose. all oter stuff works and fits perfect since 30 years.

no idea.

I really love this guitar! not more to say!

When I was ten 31 years ago I bought an Ibanez Cimar C300cw accoustic. It was my first guitar, the neck is mohaganny but the back and sides are Cherry! with a spruce sound top. I've had well over fifty guitars since those early days...and guess what the Cimar is still my favorite, despite having been stolen from my road gear after a show, a quick cop spotted it in a pawn shop and I got it back. The action is faster then any accoustic I have ever played, and the Cherry wood gives it a distinct, chrisp tone like no other guitar.

Just a perfect instrument though the bridge is lifting a little bit these days. Chrisp, yet warm tone, and speed you shouldn't be able to get on an accoustic

The finish is getting a little rough these days, having been back and forth across the continent dozens of times. But the deep translucent burgundy finish is what caught my eye the day I bought it!!

It's 31 years old November 2005, and still my favorite accoustic...what's that tell ya about durability

Never talked to customer support

This was my first guitar and will be my last and i might even ask to be buried with it! It's absolutely stunning in all respects!!!

I have a similar story to the guy who paid 85 for his V shaped guitar. This one was also a cashies find, and we paid around $135 for it. The only major problems were that the nut was buggered and there were some chips in the dark navy blue paint, but other than that, it's in good condition! I did a bit of research and discovered that this guitar is called the Cimar Star (hence the star shape), and was made in around '81. Mine has a single bridge humbucker, one volume pot and one tone pot. The humbucker is a gotoh something or other, and it screams. It is really a great sounding guitar. It's a shame that these beauties seem to be a rarity,

Sounds absolutely awesome. Plugged into my metalzone, then into my Peavey Mace (brought from the same cashies for $400...it has 6 power tubes!!!), you can get practically any sound. However, my guitar is pretty much set on 'death metal' ;).

When it comes to clean sounds though...it kind of fails. If I could get the next model (which has a neck humbucker as well), that would be great. But to get clean sounds out of this beast, you need to roll off the volume abit, and roll down the tone as well.

When I got the guitar, the action sucked, and still does slightly suck, due to the neck not being %100 straight...but im getting that fixed.

The paint work was chipped, and i don't really fancy the dark navy blue paint job.

Besides those two things, this is one nice looking guitar, and it is a dream to play...feels alot like my ibanez roadstar.

Hehe, when i took the scratch plate of this thing, i discovered that the body is routed for a neck humbucker ;D

This guitar will definitely withstand live playing, but i would use a backup anyway :). The hardware is definitely heavy duty, but i think (for asthetic reasons...i don't like having even little scratches or dents in the hardware) i might replace the tuners, and maybe put on a fixed bridge.

One thing i noticed about the strap buttons on this guitar, is that they are really chunky! I love em!

Never dealt with Cimar/Ibanez...

Let me see...I've been playing geetar for around three years now (started playing seriously when I was about 14) and this has to be one of my favourite pieces of gear. I own a bunch of other guitars, including an original Ibanez Roadstar, a mystery 'onyx' guitar, a fender acoustic from like...thousands of years ago, and probably a bunch of others sitting around in the shed. Amp wise, I'm using a 160 watt combo Peavey Mace (2 12inch speakers, 6 power tubes, solid state pre-amp :( ), but before that i was using a Marshall Lead 20, and before that, A Roktek something or other :P. The only pedals im using at the moment are my Boss Metalzone, and my DOD Icebox chorus.

If my guitar were stolen, I would have a serious cry, and then I would save the cash to buy another one. I LOVE THIS GEETAR!!!

My favourite feature about this guitar, is how grim it looks :).

It's funny, because if dad didn't mention that there was an explorer style guitar in cashies, then I probably wouldn't have ended up scoring this guitar (he got a bit muddled up with his guitar descriptions :P). And he even paid for it :D.

Man...the only thing this guitar needs is a pointy headstock, ALA jackson.

If you come across one of these sexy guitars, buy it, or tell me about it so I can buy it :)

I have a Cimar Strat made in Japan circa 1985 - that's a total guess though. I bought for $150 from a friend of the family - it belonged to their son, who had left it floating around their basement. Since it's a knock-off, I'm going to compare it to the real deal - my friend recently bought a high end Fender Strat originally listed at $1,300, but it was marked down to $1,000 for a damaged strap bolt on the upper bout - it looks like the screw hole for the bolt was bored too wide, so the screw and bolt keep popping out.

Cosmetically, the Cimar isn't a real looker; appointments are Spartan. It has a blonde neck with painted on black markers and average quality wood (appears to be maple), solid red body (wood unknown), white three ply pick guard, three way selector switch, three single coils and volume/tone/tone controls. I do like the brass bridge saddles and string-through-body fixed bridge. The instrument takes a pounding and stays in pretty good tuning despite the less than stellar tuners.

The Fender definitely wins in the looks department, with greater attention to detail and better overall quality. In fairness, you'd have to expect this from a guitar listing for $1,100 or more than what I paid for the Cimar. The only thing is I've always thought Fender Strats are really fucking cheap looking from giddy up, so the difference in appearance between the two guitars didn't really impress me all that much. Overall, the guitars are equally functional and equally comfortable.

It sounds great - at least as "Straty" as the Fender. However, the neck pickup can get really muddy and blooms very hard if you lay into the strings. I think this is mostly a function of the height of the pickup in relationship to the strings - now that I'm thinking of it, I'll try lowering it to see if it helps. The middle pickup and the "in-betweens" are great for country, funk and reggae, and the bridge pickup works surprisingly well with overdrive and distortion - no ice pick in the ear syndrome. My favorite pickup position is the neck, even though it can get muddy; it's incredibly ballsy. As is typical for a single-coil design, it's somewhat noisy, but no worse than any strat I've ever heard. In all honesty, I think the Cimar sounds as good, if not better, than the Fender. The Fender definitely sounds a bit more refined all around though; less noise, less bite, but the rawness present on the Cimar is missed.

I adjusted the action myself, and was able to get it amazingly low without string drop off. It keeps intonation very well, and the neck has never bowed at all, which is pretty amazing, since I string it with 0.11's. My main guitar is a Carvin, which are reknowned for low action and a superfast neck. The Cimar actually beats my Carvin in terms of action and overall neck stability. The Cimar's neck is very easy to play and only comes up short to the Carvin in terms of scale length 22 vs. 24 frets.

It also beats the strat in terms of neck stability and tuning. The biggest difference with the Fender Strat seems to be the height of the neck above the pickguard. The rosewood fretboard on the Fender makes it at least 3/16th of an inch higher than the Cimar's maple neck. This works to the disadvantage of the Cimar, because there is more range in pickup height with the Fender

I've approximated the age of this thing at roughly 19 years. It could very easily be 5 to 10 years older for all I know. I've treated the thing like a piece of shit, and it has withstood everything I've thrown at it. I'm actually starting to appreciate it a good deal more. The one exception is the nylon nub on the pickup selector switch keeps popping off - a recent development, but nothing that a little glue won't fix. It's as solid as you'd expect a real Fender Strat to be, and in actuallity is probably more sturdy given the MAJOR defect with the strap bolt on my friend's guitar.

Never dealt with them. As far as I'm concerned, for $150 you're on your own.

I've been playing guitar for about 20 years and played pretty much every type of guitar out their, including premium Fenders (Tele and Strats), Gibson SGs and LPs, highend vintage Ibanez models, BC Rich, Carvins, tons of knock-offs, etc. I find nothing not to like about this thing. It sounds as good as a true blue Fender, but I find it has a lot more personality than modern Fender Strats. I don't particularly care for its looks - it's very boring in this department. However, it would make an especially good project guitar for people who like to mess with their stuff. I could easily refinish it and restock the pick-ups if I were so inclined. Howeverm being that it sounds great, a kicker in the looks department is all it really needs. So it looks like I'm going to be the only schmuck on this page to give it a good review. Maybe there is substantial QC issues from model to model. All I'll say is if your not embarrassed by the Cimar name on the headstock, this thing is as least as good an all around performer as a bonafied Fender.

judging by the serial number on the neck plate, this beauty was made in 1982. It was made in Japan. it has 22 frets,it has a maple neck and i guess a ash body/ Only one humbucker pickup, tone and volume knobs. Its red with a white scratchplate, the shape of the body is weird, is like a flyin V with the top wing shorter and two other wings diagonally so it looks like a star!, good tuners and original japanese strat tremolo, it came "in the nude", no case. The brand name on the headstock reads "cimar, electric guitar" (well of course)

sounds great if you're into ACCADACCA or ZZTOp or similar bands but i guess it goes well with any bluesy music you'd play, i havent cranked it up yet

action's was rooted, i had to fiddle around with the truss rod and saddles but i got it sounding pretty good, i had to add the volume and tone knobs

it looks like its pretty tuff, i guess its been around since 82' it has some scratches but theyre minor, it looks great, it goes out of tune a little bit but it may be b/c the strings are new and/or hadsnt been played for a mighty long time

company support does not exist!

i've been playing for 20 years, i bought a flying v from the same place for a similar amount of money, and i vowed never to part with it, but i did and ive been kicking myself for it so to find this one again was a blessing. I love it because its unusual, it has a good sound, simple setup,one pickup, and it just looks damn cool. Kids at the school where i teach music also love it, they just drool over the fact that i paid so little for it! I mean, you cant buy a decent guitar for under 400 bucks so this one was a great deal People at this shop are total idiots, dont know how to value these guitars, which is cool, i will keep buying them cause i just lurv guitars! i have a hi way one strat,a squire strat, and a classical and 12 string, i have this one to trash around, but i may take it to gigs for a laugh

This is a early 90s guitar thrown out by ibanez. it has 21 fret heavy I think maple neck and fretboard. simple tremola and HSH pickup setup. Resembles a strat or ibanez grx. crapy hardwear. heavy body made of uknown meterial (probably lead)

this would be a great guitar, if i was trying to get a broken down, buzzing, drowned out sound. but fortunatly im not I play evrything else though blue's, metal, and light rock. it did'nt work for any of these exept for metal. I smashed this thing so hard it felt good.

crap crap crap

hey the paint stayed on....damn

I like Ibanez just not this guitar

I've been playing for almost 3 years and i've owned several guitars. this being by far the worst. I own a destroyer that blows this out of the water. I own a Rg570 That makes this look like crap. I own a cheapo squire and when thats held up against this thing, it shines. even my cort is better than this. But hey if your lookin for sompthing you can throw around and not worry about breakin this is the guitar for you. trust me you will want to throw it around.

THIS WAS MY 1ST GUITAR. IT HAS 3 PICKUPS AND IS A SIMPEL START COPY.IT LOOKS ALWRIGHT BUT IS A BIT HEAVY AND DOSENT STAY TUNED FOR LONG.

IT SUITS MY MUSIC STYLE FINE BECAUSE I PLAY ALOT OF PUNK AND GRUNGE,ITS A BIT TOO NOISY.SHOULD USE A GOOD AMP OR IT SOUNDS LIKE CRAP.

I DONT L;IKE THE PICKUPS, NOT GOOD SOUNDING,

GOD FOR PLAYING LIVE AND JUMPEN AROUND,STRAP BUTTONDS SEEM TO BRAKE EASY AND I WOULDENT DEPEND ON IT IN A BIG SHOW

WHO MAKES THESE THINGS,. IF U KNOW EMAIL ME CON_THE_PUNKER@HOTMAIL.COM

GOOD FOR STARTING OUT, THE THING I DONT LIKE ABOUT IT IS THAT IT WILL UN-TUNE WHEN U ARE STRUMING IT.ALSO VERY HEAVY, BUT ALROUND A GOOD GUITAR.

early eighties strat i assume,hasn`t got a serialnumber,made in japan.relative heavy body,unknown wood.5way selector,21fret maple fingerboard on a 25 1/2 scale maple neck i presume.string-thru body,really painful playing with the stringheightadjusters digging into my hand.the bridge is also put on a little askew,the strings doesn`t match the polepieces on the pickups.s/s/s pickupconfiguration,noisy bastards!!!iceblue finish,white 3ply scratchplate,crap tuners but gentle playing help keeping the guitar in tune.

I am not a strat-man,I am more like a Gibson les paul dude,but there is some good tones in this cheapo strat,it doesn`t really sounds bad at all,except for the noise .I play metal mostly and this guitar can handle it,except the tuning goes out after a few Randy rhoads-licks.
I guess the faulty bridge placement contributes slighty to the sound

I bought this used from a buddy of mine so I can`t comment on that.crap tuners,bridge installed slightly wrong,otherwise good.just needed to get a good setup

this guitar has been played live on a few occations,it can handle it all.I once threw it out of a car,build like a tank

nix og nei.repaired it myself.

been playing since I was 11.now I am 26 so it has been a while.own about 12 guitars ,Ibanez,cimar,epiphone,gibson,washburn,westone,hondo(!!!!)samick,.if it were stolen then...not the end of the world,would happily smash it in bin ladens head without consideration!!in fact i would smash all of my guitars in that bastards head anytime.merry christmas everybody!!!

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.

I tried to find out when it was made, to no avail. I estimate around '95. 1 volume, 1 tone. S/S/H pickup config, the mid single coil and the humbucker are stock pickups, but the neck single coil is from my friend's Fender Strat. Passive electronics. 21 frets. Maple neck and fingerboard, not sure what wood the body is. Standard tremolo. It's basically a Strat copy. Mine came with a free gig bag.

I play mostly rock, alternative, and punk, and it suits my playing style. I use it at home with a Fender Bullet Reverb (going to get a Fender Deluxe 112 later on), but I play over my friend's house on his huge 150 watt amp (I forget the brand). The stock pickup I had in the neck position sounded really flat and dull, but when I put the Fender pickup in it sounded much better, a lot more full. The mid single coil sounds real nice playing clean, it's not too full, not too bright. I use the humbucker when I'm playing something a little heavier than regular, almost always with distortion.

I bought this guitar used, and it was in pretty good shape. However, about two days after I got it the volume pot went bad and I had to get it replaced. After that I never had any more problems.

I'm not in a band and I don't plan to be in the near future, so I couldn't say how it would hold up live. It seems pretty sturdy, I've dropped it a couple times and it was unharmed. I'm probably going to get straplocks because the strap I have now falls off a lot (probably not because of the guitar, but the cheap-ass strap I bought). And I don't play gigs, I mostly just play for my own entertainment or just while hanging around other people. But if I did, I think I'd keep a backup no matter what guitar I had.

I've searched everywhere and no one seems to know that the Ibanez Cimar exists. Not even Ibanez. The warranty is probably expired, since I bought it used, if there even was one.

I've been playing for about a year and a half, and this is my second guitar. I don't own that much gear, because I usually borrow all the stuff I need from a friend of mine who has a ton of guitar stuff. If it were stolen, I probably wouldn't buy a new one, but it's still a decent guitar. I compared this one to a couple Squier strats and my friend's strat and it was better than the Squiers. I didn't have a lot of money to spend, so it was either this or a Squier strat, and this one came out on top. Another tone control would've been nice.