Ibanez Musician

I have two of these now, an mc400 and an mc500.
I have changed the electrics totally - please see below.

I loved the through neck and woods from the moment I bought it, but it was pretty shabby and the electrics were not at all to my taste.
Far too complicated to be a gigging guitar and I thought the sound was thin, trebly and, unlike almost all the other reviewers, not very vestatile.
The solution was to replace the preamp with a new treble/mid/bass active system coupled with a pair of quality humbuckers.
I tried several bareknuckle pups in this guitar and preferred the Geoff Whitehorn.
Now this is a marvellous guitar.
Stock, i would rate this a 5 - now it is perfect - No really!

Beautiful.
Needed a make-over so I stripped the wood down to bare and it looks much better blonde on my opinion, New tuners helped too.
I love the neck, the action is terrific and the two Ibanez are now my favourite guitars - I have an SG, a Les Paul, a Strat and sold a Tele to buy the mc400.

So far so good. I use these a lot and they seem built to withstand gigging indefinitely.

Don't hesitate to buy one of these, but also don't hesitate to improve it.
I know there are a lot of folk out there who want to save these guitars as a holy relic and I don't doubt they will appreciate slowly over time.
Mine won't because I changed them. But what's the point of hanging on to a guitar which doesn't really please just to make a modest financial gain when with a few hundred pounds you can create something that sounds wonderful as well as looks magical?

My musician is a early model of the DS200 from 1978. It was made in japan same as all the other musicians. This model is neck-through with 24 frets. I would describe the neck as wide like a Les Paul but definitely a whole lot thinner. The body is a mix of a few different woods but I know mahogany is in there somewhere. The neck is walnut and mahogany. It has a standard les paul set-up. The 2 humbuckers on this model are passive. The finish is definitely poly and the body style is strat like but a little more rounded.

The pick-ups do well with cleans but do take some getting used. They can get dirty but it isn't that classic les paul humbucker sound. I would say you really have to judge them for yourself but I can say that I enjoy them.

The guitar looks perfect with it clear finish. Body wise it is well put together and the neck has just enough curve. The heel is a little rougher than what you see on modern neck-through s but is still superior to a bolt-on or set-neck in terms of playability.

The guitar seems quite reliable with solid wiring and a finish like a tank.Feedback however is a worry as when played under high volumes the neck pickups tends to start putting it out. Other than that the thing is rock solid.

n/a as it is a 30 year old guitar

I have been playing for a couple years now. My other guitars are: a hamer double cut les paul copy, a epiphone acoustic, and a cheap strat knock-off. Besides that I have played all of my friends guitars and tried out a lot more at music stores My current amp is a fender blues junior. The neck is definitely what I love most about this guitar and I can't really point out anything i hate. If it was stolen I would definitely attempt to buy another but would have a hard time finding one for the price I paid. The only wish I have about this guitar is that it included tri-sound switches like some of the later/high-up models

My musician is a 1980 model, made in Japan
24 frets ? Solid top ? 2 volume, 2 tone, two 3-way selectors.
Two humbuckers, originals ? passive electronics
Maple 24 frets ? Neck-trough ? Transparent finish
Solid bridge ? some kind of locking tuners ? Jumbo frets
Case included

I play a lot of different styles, rock, jazz, pop and metal. And as an additional guitar, both rythm and solo it suits me rather well. I often use my Selmer 68'amp and have a bunch of guitars, but this guitar seem to make strange distorted sounds my, more conventional guitars, can't make. The selmer is extremely clean, so I fuck things up, using an old MXR distortion and a Georg Dennis Volume/distortion pedal. Then this guitar behaves almost like an old synth or something...

This guitar, I've been told, has been hanging on a wall in a dry living room since the mid 80's. It's got some scratches though, but it seem to handle quite a beating. I just put new strings on the damn thing, and it all seemed to work fine. The only problem, is that the G-string has a hard time staying in tune.

I've not used this guitar live yet, because it's more of a special effect. My Musician was pretty beaten up when I first bought it. I've tried to rub it down with sandpaper, so it doesn't look pretty just now, but I think the finish was rather solid on this guitar. The top of one of the 3-way switch is torn of, but everything else seem to be solid stuff. I presume this guitar to be at my side until the day I die....

Well, this is my first Ibanez. I don't think there would be reasons to contact them. (But...I just bought a rare 62'Orpheus guitar probably made by the Ibanez company) I know a handful of guitar technicians, so I'll get all the service I need by them.

I've been playing, almost as long as I can remember (25-22 years). Maybe not the guitar, but music, all my life... I bought it from a friend, who got it from his father etc... I love the strange sounds it can make, and I think it looks adorable. But the main problem is, that it isn't an allround guitar.

From the serial numbers, mine is an MC300 from '78. Standard stuff that seems to be on most of these models - bolt-on neck, 24 frets, ibanez standard tuners, double cutaway style. Pickups appear to be humbuckers, but they sound to my ears more like those mini-humbuckers that were used on the Les Paul Deluxe in the 70s, definitely much brighter and cleaner sound than my Les Paul Standard. Pretty solid guitar all round and is a little on the heavy side.

If you're looking to play dirty Guns 'n Roses style rock or Sabbath-style stoner rock, you'll probably find the sound on this guitar a little too clean. This guitar does rock hard though if you want it to and still maintains good clarity even through a Marshall cranked to the max. The sound is also very good clean and can be good for jazz and blues, though again not if you want your sound pretty raw. The sustain on this guitar is not too shabby, but again I'm comparing to my Les Paul that absolutely blasts. The pickups are free from any hum and the neck pickup I found gave a nice warm sound without cutting off the high freqs. I use the bridge pickup less, but really was usefull for solos in the studio.

This is a very solid guitar and is very well put together. I would have no hesitations about gigging this guitar hard as I know it would stand up well. There isn't any tarnishing on the hardware and the body has maintained a good appearance. If you didn't know you'd swear the guitar was still fairly new. The only thing that I have found is that in the last 6 months or so the volume/tone knobs have all broken within a short time of each other and I have to get them replaced. Could be a major coincidence and I may have been taking the guitar for granted without realising it, but still...

Never had to deal with them

I bought this guitar about 3 years ago as a second guitar to gig with in my bluesy rock 'n roll band. It had apparently been sitting under some guy's bed for the best part of 25 years without being played and it was in top condition. I originally thought that this guitar would just be a backup to my main guitar at the time, an SG. I was wrong - this guitar felt really good in my hands and got me working at a whole new level. Typical setup at the time was the guitar straight into a Marshall JCM800 combo and it worked a treat - I actually recorded an EP using that simple a setup and got a terrific sound. I fell in love with guitar in a very short space of time and I don't know if I could ever sell it - it just seems to work so well in any number of styles. To my ears, this is a great guitar and I would highly recommend one if you can pick one up for a good price - I've seen recently others like mine running at about twice the price I paid for it.

I bought my Ibanez Musician 550 new in 1984.
My Musician is a 550, so it's got the arched top with the active three-way tone controls, master volume and two switches for changing from humbucking to out-of-phase mode. And of course the default volume and passive tone controls.
I've changed the original brown plastic pickups for black EMG ones some years ago, as I found the original pickups lacking in brightness. And they became microphonic at higher volumes as well.
Its body is made of maple combined with an ash top, I believe. And it's got the through-neck construction of course.
I also replaced the machines two years ago because the old ones were worn out and slipped.

I bought this guitar at the time for its versatility, with all its switches. However, I found out that the nicest sounds are all to be found in full humbucking mode. So the two switches look sophisticated but I don't use them.
Still, it does have a nice, full sound with a high end to it. Nowadays I mainly use it when either I want a thick, broad distorted sound (as opposed to more screaming-like sounds that my Stratocaster would produce, for example), using the bridge element, or a moderately distorted sound that has to be warm but defined when using the neck element or both.
One disadvantage is that, when playing distorted, it loses volume when playing notes above the 12th fret.
For a warm or bright clean sound I prefer to use either my Aria PE-175 jazz guitar or the Stratocaster. This Ibanez is in the middle of those two.
I played in a fusion band with it and also in a band that played music with fusion- and symphonic influences with this guitar.

This guitar plays very easy. At the time when it came out guitars tended to either have the broad, flat Les Paul type of fingerboard or the narrow, arched Fender fingerboards. This one was one of the first guitars with a combination of those features. It's got the width of a Les Paul fingerboard, convenient for people with large hands or who use their right-hand fingers a lot, but it's also got the arch in it which makes strumming funky rhythms much more comfortable.
The neck is quite slim but not too slim for my taste.
The guitar looks and feels like high-quality. It IS high quality.

Generally, the guitar is built well but after twenty years the machines had worn out and some of the gold-plating inevitably had faded.
Apart from that everything's solidly built on this guitar, and it still looks good (but it hasn't been on the road that much).

I've been playing for almost 30 years now, and this Ibanez was the first good electric guitar I ever had. It accelerated my progress as a guitarist because it was such a delight to play it.
I already had a Hopf classical guitar then.
Later I also bought a Stratocaster because I like that sound too, an Aria PE-175 jazz guitar and a Crafter GAE-30 acoustic.
If I'd lose it, it would be irreplacable, because it's my first electric guitar. But I guess I'd go looking for a new humbucking-sound guitar.
I almost bought a second-hand Yamaha 2000 back then, the only other Japanese quality brand in those days.

November 1978 model MC500 Musician, as documented by serial number beginning with K78. 24 frets, ebony fingerboard w/abalone dots, bone nut, pearl tuning heads, gold hardware, brass truss & electronics covers, 2 brown Super 88 humbuckers, neck thru design with various laminated woods: Mahogany, ash, maple, walnut. My guitar is mostly ash for a natural "blonde" look.

Controls are 3-way p/u selector, series/parallel/tapped toggles for each pickup, and master volume for the passive electronics. Then there is a switchable preamp with boost/cut knobs for bass, mid, and treble, and a separate preamp volume knob. There is no tone control for the passive electronics. Finish is a thick gloss - very tough. Neck is not as thin as Ibanez necks became in the 80's.

This is a very versatile guitar with many tones, yet it has its own sound throughout. The basic passive humbucker sounds are very 'clean' and and almost hi-fi. They are not "dirty" or particularly liquid like classic Gibson HB's or Duncan repro's of vintage HB's. The tone is somewhere like a P-90 but hotter and thicker, and with a very bright top end. This is in series (standard) HB mode.

The parallel settings are quieter with less bass, but this makes them very suitable for rhythm playing or for copping a bit of a Fender vibe. There are excellent sounds here for funk comping, particularly with a compressor in the chain to control the treble peaks. This guitar is excellent for funk, R&B, fusion, rock of all types except metal, but not so good for straight-ahead jazz. The neck humbucker never quite cops the tone necessary for jazz leads in the archtop vein.

The single coil sounds are quite anemic by themselves. However it is useful to have one pickup in HB mode and another in SC mode; these are good sounds. Also, the pickups can be used as single coils if you engage the preamp to balance the tone and gain.

The preamp... mine is very quiet sounding - no noise. THe separate preamp volume control is VERY helpful since there is so much variation among the different pickup settings, or when you boost the mids a lot but don't want the overall volume to get much louder. It makes switching between passive and active mode (i.e. for rhythm and lead respectively) very easy to accomplish. When the tone knobs are at the center detent (no gain or cut) and the preamp volume is at 0, it essentially equates to the passive mode. If you turn the preamp on and off at this setting, there is no perceptible tone change. This makes it very easy to A/B settings between passive and active modes.

Some of the brightness can be tamed with the active electronics, but the one glaring omission from this setup is a master tone control that would work in passive mode. If you are playing the guitar without the preamp, you cannot make the tone less bright - there is no control for that. Luckily it's not a major problem as the pickups sound very good, but I do miss this standard control and that knocks off a point for me.

The guitar was 25 years old when I received it, so I will judge this category on how easy it was to set up. And it was quite easy. I had to only raise the action a bit, as the intonation was nearly perfect. I also tweaked the pickup heights. After all these years, it seems rock solid and the only points off are for the minor wear of the gold bridge hardware, which is standard on these Ibanez guitars from the 70's and 80's. As for build quality, it is pretty obvious that this is a very well crafted guitar. It is quite striking and well-appointed.

No complaints. I have no track record, but its condition after 25 years speaks for itself. This is a neck thru guitar with very solid components that has withstood the test of time and I can see no reason why it won't continue to do so. The finish, as noted, is thick and very protective. Only a couple of dents have been penetrated it over its life - and they must have been pretty harsh blows to do so (ouch).

Not relevant here.

This guitar can't really be given less than "Fantastic value" for its combination of price and features. It is extremely high quality and something like it cannot be purchased today for anywhere close to what I paid. The neck-thru construction, laminated woods, electronics, hardware and aesthetic appointments, and build quality are all near or at first-class.

I have 14 other guitars, including Fender, Gibson, and 3 custom made instruments. I paid less for this Musician than any of the others! What a great deal. These are not terribly common, but you should seek one out as they offer a unique guitar playing experience and a taste of yesteryear that is a bit different from the more 'classic' vintage 50's and 60's instruments. The late 70's were a time of exploration in guitar design outside the Fender/Gibson camp, with manufacturers experimenting with electronics and funky designs. Some didn't cut it, but this one sure did.

I bought it 2 years ago in "never used" condition from a musicstores leftovers. It must have been there on the wall for almost 20 years. This is a 1982 MC-150 Musician, Made in Japan, 24 frets, Rosewood fretboard, Solid top. This is one of the cheapest versions of this series and so it has no active electronics. There is one three way pickupswitch and 2 pushpots to select the wiring of the humbuckers. The pickups are the usual P-58 Ibanez. The wood is only mahogany (on this model) except for the set through neck which is a walnut/mahogany sandwich.
The body looks actually very much like a (fat) strat with a slightly thicker body in the middle and the humbuckers do their part to complete that picture soundwise.
I give her only a 8 in this category because its one of the absolute low end models of the musician series and the others are all better equipped with active electronics and EQ.

I play almost anything between pop, blues, rock, reggea, heavy, jazz and even folk with it. I use it either to record direct with a Chandler "real tube" driver into my computer, or a little very old Dynacord Tube-Amp with a tiny cabinet with a 8" speaker. It sounds from full and bluesy to bright and sparkly. There is very little noise when you use the serial setting of the pickups, but no noise at all if you use them parallel. I absolutly love the sound this axe has. The set-through-neck is a tremendous advantage to me. I think that any guitar with such a neck has a much better sustain and harmonics. Of course the variety of sounds could be greater since the pickups are just average.
I think about changing at least the neck pickup for something more sophisticated like a Duncan,Bartolini or Lawrence.
Because of the pickups it gets only a 8 here.

The action on this guitar was so low (without fretbuzz)that I had to raise it. I had never had a guitar before where I had to do this but it was anyway just a matter of minutes. The setup of the pickups was also very acceptable I have changed it slightly but that is a question of personal taste rather than quality.
The fretboard is almost absolutly perfect, not as smooth like on a 3000$ LP but for 300$ its a great quality. The intonation is pretty good up to the last fret.
I have so far not found any flaws on it neither mechanical nor electrical. So I have to give it a 9 here.

This is a perfect axe for live playing. There are straplockers on mine which wont let go of it even if you run with the instrument over the stage. It hasnt let me down at all so far. I'll give it again a 9.

Dont know

I play since 30 years now and have owned quite some gutars (Fender Telecaster, Ibanez, Hagstroem, Yamaha) over the time and played for sure more(Gibson, Epiphone, Samick). I think its better made(crafted) than some of the so called "famous" guitars nowadays.
I love the set-through neck for obvious reasons(tone,sustain)and cant imagine now to have a guitar without it. If it would get stolen or something like that, I could shoot myself into the foot because I will probably never get a quality instrument like this for that price again. The only possibility would be buying an old one again. Which could turn out to be quite diffcult since I am not from US or UK but from a small Country (Austria) where the instrument market is very small and its hard to find a good instrument for that price. I cant see any new guitars these days for 300$ which match halfway to this one even its only a low end guitar from this series. To me its a absolute 10 for that price.

1979 MC 500 Musician w active electroncs

I play Dead related material and this guitar is wonderful. With an on board EQ and Pre-amp you can shape your sound from a fat humbicking tone to a twangy single coil. It really is amazing I don't have a clue why they stopped making them. The pre amp can push any effects pedals you have thru the roof giving you tones you never thought were possible.

it's all good....

an absoulte monster, solid as a rock and just as heavy (that's the only thing I don't like about it....the weight)

I've been playing for 25 years, have a 78 Strat and a 92 USA Standard Tele and 65 Fender Twin. There is nothing I wish you had asked before buying this guitar. If it were stolen I would definately try to replace it, but the 500's are getting harder to find. Love everything about it except for the weight. Now I know what a Bass player, quite possible a Tuba player must feel like at the end of a gig. It's so worth it though.....

'82 Musician model (the last year of the run).
24 Frets
3-way pickup selector; 2 volume, 2 tone controls.
H/H configuration with Gibraltar bridge assembly.
Covered pickups; not sure of type. I think they're super 58's, but could be wrong. Gold hardware, and matching gold pickup covers.
Neck-through construction. Opaque "white" (yellowed) finish, so body woods are not readily seen.
Style reminiscent of the alembics of the late '70s, with arched top and bevelled edge. Bridge is normal Gibraltar style, with brass block embedded within body.
Stock tuners.

I'm a Prog fanatic; and this guitar suits my needs perfectly. I run through a (recent) Fender Hot Rod deVille (60 w, 4x10) without problems. Low output pickups, but very toneful in humbucking mode. (I can always turn my amp up.) Little difference in either pickup (switches in push-push tone knob switches) between humbucking and single-coil modes. Very Les-Paulish, with slightly better definition. Sustain lasts almost forever. Love the tone and sustain; treble definition could be more defined.

Action was perfect, bought from an ebay seller almost 20 years after date of manufacture. Pickups were perfect for my needs. (High output is fine for metal and hard rock. For versatility, give me lower output clarity any day!) There was some marking from sloppy gluing techniques. (Some discoloration was present from the fretboard mounting glue which spread to the finish in the inner lower cutaway.) Hardware was fine, considering age.

The guitar will *certainly* survive a rigorous touring schedule. Hardware is solid; aside from normal pock-marking to gold finish. Additional strap button added to distribute the weight of the instrument more evenly. (Rear side of upper cutaway "horn.") Solid mounting, and original strap button still present. Either could be used safely and securely, according to preference. Very dependable instrument; comfortable to play, and toneful to be heard. Would use without backup woithout a second thought.

NA

Have been playing(mostly for my own enjoyment)for 13+ years. I have a Strat, and other Ibanez models, as well as Washburns and Alvarez instruments. The '82 Ibanez Musician (with arched top and bevelled edge)is easily my favorite gutar. It is versatile, and confortable to play, as well as being a fine looking instrument. If it were stolen, it would be a moral imperitive to find the thief and deprive him of certain bodily functions. It can be a little neck-heavy--but with proper playing posture, this problem disapears. The neck-through structure is solid and a joy to play. There are no problems with this guitar. Compared to a strat, the only thing it's lacking is a tremolo. The tone is sweet, and the sustain is supernatural. Truly the finest guitar in my collection; and I'd love to have a fleet of them!

1978 MC300DS. 24 Frets, neckthrough instrument. Super 88 pickups. Coil splitting switches. See other reviews for complete features.

I enjoy playing this instrument. This guitar in this particular incarnation has been discontinued for 20 years. A workingman's version of the custom Alembic guitars, the Musician has found its niche market with jam band/Jerry Garcia inspired players. The guitar fits that bill quite nicely.

I am disappointed with the tonal variations available, despite the number of switches and knobs, I find the tone knobs to be rather unresponsive and the split coil sounds to be overly thin and quite diminished in volume from the humbucking tones.

The darkstained wood finish is beautiful. The weight of the guitar is perfect. Heavier than a Strat--you really feel like you've got something to work with--but not the burdensome weight of a Les Paul.

My instrument was pretty beat up when I got it. I had a tech re set-up the instrument and clean it up and fix up the frets a bit. It plays quite well now. There is a problem with the neck alignment. The high E string almost hangs off the neck, while there is extra room under the low E string. Because this is a neck-through instrument, this is difficult to rectify.

My particular instrument has seen some abuse. I plan to enjoy it at home--it may have once been roadworthy, but not anymore.

My main guitars are a Les Paul Custom and a Taylor 814ce. This Ibanez guitar holds a good deal of hippie nostalgia for me and I'm happy I obtained it for that reason. If I was looking for a solid gigging guitar, I would look to something a little more versatile (and with more readily available replacement parts --try finding a bridge for this puppy!)

It is a good playing guitar, and a nice conversation starter. All the guitarists I've shown this guitar to want to know more about it.