Ibanez Roadstar 2

1983 Made in Japan Roadstar. It has 22 frets Royal Blue, not sure of the wood but this thing is pretty heavy. It has S/S/H. 5 way P/U/ switch with phase switch. Gives you some real incredible sounds.Neck and fretboard are maple. Not sure what kind
of tremelo it has but it doesn't work very well.

The sound of this guitar is amazing! I have had so many people come up to me at gigs and ask what I am playing and what kind of set-up I use etc. When I tell them they just can't believe it. It really pisses off my bandmate who has a $2,000 Les Paul and a $800 Tele. and he rarely gets positive comments on his sound. (He plays too friggin loud to appreciate his sound) I play through a Randall half stack with a boss blues driver. Also have DOD flanger which bring out the clean sounds of this guitar. Plenty of distortion power for my style of playing (Rock/Grunge/Pop). Real versatile guitar.

Bought this Guitar when it was 3yrs old in 1986 so I can't comment on the factory set-up. The action I have set-up now is perfect. I play other guitars and just don't feel comfortable. Finish is a little nicked up now but still looks cool.

This guitar is bullet proof. I was a drummer by trade and I bought this guitar to just fiddle around with. When I first got it I didn't have a case and I used to keep it in the back of my Chevy Blazer. Used to go offroading with it in the back and I remember it flying through the air and smashing around the back for hours on end. Nothing ever broke or came loose inside or out. When I got more serious about playing I brought into a guitar tech to have it set-up and he didn't have to do much but change the strings and adjust the action for me slightly. Dropped this guitar so many times I can't count em all and it never goes out of tune unless the the tuning pegs were knocked out. I have a Mexican Made Strat for a backup just in case but I have only used it 3 times in 5 years all because of broken strings.
This guitar is a War Horse.

Never dealt with em

I've been playing for about 20 years. 15 seriously. I do have Mex. Strat that was a gift but I hardly play it. It is the only guitar I ever want to play. It is like an old shoe. It just fits right. I have heard many strats,Teles, Les Pauls, SG's etc and although they all have there distinctive sounds I would take my $150 Roadstar over them any day. No Lie!
You touch my guitar you DIE!!!!!!!

I didn't know until recently that the guitar i bought in 1996 is an ibanez roadstar II. The original owner is an accomplished lead guitarist who bought it 2nd hand from another person. So that makes me the 4th owner of this guitar. It was painted red (originally blue), all cracking from wear, but decided to paint it black. The frets are really worn out but decided to buy it bec. it sounds great (fat but chimey). Its says made in japan, 21 frets, a really hard maple neck. Tuners are of gotoh type, pickups have no steel post, with really weak magnets. The bridge is standard fender type but is made of brass (fat tone). The nut is made of BONE!!

It sounds weak, but it doesnt really matter bec. it sounds fat and chimey. My roadstar goes into a local made wah, phaser, denio overdrive, arion tube mania and finally into a ROTO custom amp. I never really care so much about it till i found out that a lot of artists are using it and how much they value it. Its great for jazz and blues. Its not twanggy thu.

I never tried adjust its trust rod because the neck, although small is so rigid! I bought it with very low action setting, but raised it a bit to improve my bending. This guitar sounds quite and sustains very well. Kinmans right!!! strong magnets reduces sustain.

This guitar has been my main axe from 1996 to 2002. I decided to mothball is for a while due to worn frets. I am currently using a samick strato copy and an aria pro II fs series strato copy. But they dont come close to the sound of my roadstar. It has been dropped many times during gigs (due to crappy guitar bag) and still it has never been through any major damage. This guitar might even outlived me!!

never dealt with them.

This guitar sounds better than anything ive tried. It is supposed to sound like a fender but it sounds better and sustains better than the original. The yamaha pacifica sound great too but only when combining the bridge(H) and the middle pickup(S). My samick which im currently using sounds above average, really expressive, but again, cannot duplicate the sustain of my roadstar. Im thinking about reviving my roadstar, but the cost of refretting here in the Philippines is around $40, about $2 per fret. If you find one of these used, I mean really used and beat up, but them. These are collectors items!!!!

Ibanez Roadstar II, your basic Strat copy with a couple of sweet variations. Made in 1984 (1st two digits of serial # are 84), probably made in Japan. The body shape is slightly different from a Fender -- just enough to keep from getting sued is my guess -- with, oddly, a pickguard that resembles that of a Precision Bass, complete with perpendicular output jack instead of the angled jack of an actual Strat.

Electronics include three single-coil pickups, single volume and tone controls, five-way pickup selector and a phase switch. The pickguard came foil-shielded, but the routed cavity was not.

The standard six-post tremolo works OK with some setup. To further stabilize tuning and the trem's return to pitch, I replaced the factory Ibanez-stamped tuners (probably Gotohs) with locking Sperzels, the plastic nut with graphite and the metal saddles also with graphite. I also intend to replace the string trees (which tend to bind) with graphite.

The body seems to be made of basswood, although I'm not positive. The neck and fretboard are maple.

Lots of good to excellent features -- some rivaling or even surpassing Fenders of the same era. And for the price ... .

It's a Strat clone. Meaning that it's got the clear tones and flexibility to handle any genre you play -- from jazz to metal -- but it'll always have that twangy punch that single coils and a 25.5-inch scale give you. I happen to like that sound.

Where the Roadstar II stands apart is the phase switch. In the 2 and 4 positions, it throws the middle pickup out of phase with the bridge or neck pickups. The resulting sound ranges from rude and quacky -- rolling down the highs will make it less obnoxious -- to early Mark Knopfler. The out-of-phase sound really comes to life when I turn up the gain on my amp and play with the guitar's volume knob: I can get mid-period Knopfler ("Money for Nothing") or vintage Peter Green.

I'm not wild about the stock pickups. They probably could benefit from rewinding, if not outright replacement. But I'm a spareroom player anyway -- haven't gigged in years.

For that matter, I do much of my playing at night, either through headphones, or just unplugged. It actually has a better acoustic sound than a semihollow Carvin AE-185 I used to own, and a much better sound (acoutic or amped) than an '86 Fender Strat that I bought new and wound up selling. Unplugged, the Ibanez is loud enough for practice in a quiet house, and when strummed hard, the trem springs add a touch of boinginess that could be mistaken for reverb.

Factory specs? The guitar was almost 20 years old when I bought it. It was at least secondhand, and probably thirdhand -- someone along the line had converted it for lefty play, and a subsequent owner converted it back to right. Besides, I bought the guitar not just to play, but to tinker with. And I haven't been disappointed.

The first thing I did was to take it apart and gut the insides. I had considered replacing the wires and pots, but a little contact cleaner and a touchup with the soldering pencil worked wonders. Shielding the inside with aluminum foil eliminated most, but not all, of the hum.

Next, I recrowned and polished the frets, which had string grooves worn into the first five positions. To stabilize the stock tremolo -- I hate those locking Floyd Rose things, which aren't necessary if you know how to set up a standard trem bridge -- I upgraded the tuners and nut and replaced one back cavity spring with a trem stabilizer (I've forgotten the brand name).

New saddles and an intonation tweak later, the guitar plays like a dream. Because I had to do so much work to the guitar, I'm tempted to rate it low in this category. But 1) the guitar ws old and in a state of neglect when I bought it -- not Ibanez's fault; and 2) the parts I replaced are just parts. The electronics were in good shape, the frets can probably take another recrown before they'll need replacement, the pickups are adequate and the woodwork-- body, neck, fit of both -- is excellent. I had a lot to work with to turn this cheapo Strat clone into a great player.

The red body coating is a hard plastic-like stuff, although it's prone to chipping. But, as I've discovered, you can find shades of nail polish that cover those chips and match the finish color pretty closely. My wifehelped here.

The maple neck and fretboard have a beautiful amber finish that I'm pretty sure is aged lacquer.

It seems heavy, even though the body appears to be basswood. It's definitely durable. Between my own clumsiness, and my curious 4-year-old, who can't get enough of Daddy's guitars, we've bumped it, whacked it, jostled it and knocked it over more times than I probably realize. It doesn't even go out of tune.

I haven't gigged in years, and the only time the guitar leaves my house is for my weekly lesson. So I wouldn't know how it would stand up to the abuses of live playing. My guess would be that it could take abuse -- and possibly dish some out, in case a bar fight broke out.

The v-shaped strap buttons, by the way, are terrific. I wish more guitar makers would adopt the idea. Then again, I don't think even Ibanez uses them anymore.

Yeah, sure. Any manufacturer would be happy to provide warranty or other service on a 20-year-old product that the second (or third, or fourth) owner has tinkered with extensively.

Then again, the best customer support is building a quality product in the first place. These Japanese guitars from the '70s and '80s are much better than the shoddy instruments the Big Boys were churning out. I chuckle every time I see someone pay outlandish money on Ebay for Fenders and Gibsons of that era, while these gems from Ibanez, Tokai, Memphis, Vantage, etc. go for half, a third or a fourth what a used Big Name Brand will cost you. P.T. Barnum was right.

I've been playing 25 years now, although I took a 10-year break from serious play after college. Five years ago, I got semi-serious again, mostly as an acoustic player. I've since purchased a Taylor 310, a Gibson Nick Lucas reissue (great guitar!!) and a Carvin AE-185, which I sold to buy the Gibson.

This time around as a guitar nut, I also have taken an interest in maintenance and setup, which is why I bought the Roadstar. I wanted aguitar that I could work on without fear of ruining, yet I didn't want toput much effort into a yard salespecial. I saw this Ibanez in my favorite guitar store.

It was in decent condition for an abused trade-in special, but I realized it had potential for better. What surprised me -- besides the fact that I did a decent job on my very first guitar setup and semi-rehab -- is how well it turned out. It outplays any Squier or Mexican-made Fender I've ever picked up in a store (although I think the Mexicasters are much better deals than snob-appeal guitarists have yet admitted). And except for its 20-year-old pickups, the Roadstar can match up feature-for-feature with any current American-made Strat that didn't come out of Fender's custom shop.

If you're in the market for a Strat-style guitar, ask yourself some basic questions: If you want to impress your buddies, then spend the money and buy a Big F -- although you might want to save your pennies, because I see a Corvette in your sad future. But if you want a guitar that covers the same sonic terrain as well as or better than the Big F, consider one of these old Ibanez Roadstars. You can pick them up for less than $200. And use the hundreds you saved toward a decent tube amp.

Everything else is covered below.

Sounded very dull through the neck p/u but ok through bridge. Possibly just the amp I was playing through when I owned- 100W tranny amp. Bzzzzz. Ok variety but still a little dull.

Excellent. 2nd hand but everything was ship-shape. No-one does a cheaper guitar like Ibanez.

This thing is built like a brick. Everything's v. solid. Only thing I didn't like was the bridge end pin is kind of V shaped. What were they thinking??? (Ibanez or the clown that put it on.)

Customer support and Ibanez don't go together in my experience. I have 2 legendary CT strats (another great budget buy!) and there's nothing available anywhere on either the CTs or the Roadstar.

Own a Fender standard strat, home-made tele and jazzmaster and about a squillion cheap guitars 'cause I love 'em! Mix and match I say! As I said, no-one does a budget guitar like Ibanez does! Guitar then Washburn AD-2 then Boss OS-2 the Korg AX1000 then I double amp to a Vox Cambridge 30R and a Yamaha g-50 210. Usually the strat and the Jazzmaster though I love my cheapies!

Around 1983. 22 frets plus nut. Red gloss finish. Black fittings.
Standard Roadstar 11 chrome strip pickups. Locking nut and Floyd Rose setup. Black gloss kneck and no scratch plate.

Massive varriety of sounds. This could be radically improved by changing the pickup switching setup which is absurdly basic as the original configuration. Only having a three pos switch is this gats big weekness. Each PU should have its own switch could also change the phase. This thing sounds fantastic thru a Zoom Fire 30 amp. If you get the chance try this combination.The most impressive thing about these axes is the tonal range.You can easilly get that magic fender Hank B Marvin purity but the heavy body also has that Gibson Les Paul sustain quality on the kneck PU.

Superb red gloss thick dipped laquer. Perfectly smooth but borring. Very bland appearance with no scratch plate. This is an Ibanez oversight I feel and a silly mistake as it lets the guitar down badly in terms of its appearance. Overall assembly and build quality is excellent but the bridge assembly is corroding under the black powder coat and this suggests crappy muck metal is used instead of brass. I will get it lightly sand blasted and then refinish it.

Of coarse it withstands live playing what a stupid question. No guitar would ever be reviewed that would'nt! The overall strength and build quality is very good except for the bridgewhich would be better used as gape shot!

Not needed unless a truck ran over it. Well seviced prodct, ask George!

I have owned and played this guitar for 16 years or more and I would highly recomend them as a great allrounder that does not cost the earth. The pickups are fine but the bridge is a bit sad due to the crappy metal they use. There is no excuse for this, it really is a joke! The PU switching could be improved and a scratch plate would be nice but generally speaking they make a very nice budget priced instrument.

This one is a 1970 Japan model, with i think 22 frets. Lots of controls 2 humbucker that can switch to single coil. Maple body wit white pickgaurd. Floyd Rose Bridge. Maple neck. mine came with a case
All of the knobs and pickup switching is great

I play Grunge-Rock, Hard-Rock, And Punk-Rock mixed and for the clean verses i use it works great. Put some chorus on it and its even better. This has perfect Clean sound. For that Mid up distortion i switch to humbuckers and it had acually a great mid distortion. I dont recomend for bassy distortion. Works ok for that hollow treble sound.

i bought this used at Adrian Music in Oregon city and i dont know what factory or anything about its past. It has some marks on the back but pretty unoticable. It seems its held up great. The bridge looks alittle old but nothing is wrong with it.

ive played live with it 2ce and practice with my friend alot with it. The strap holds great thanks to the v strap holder it came with. I usually rock out during songs and it works pretty good nothing has happend yet. its good to move with to. it is a little heavy but thats good because when you jump with light guitars they go to high in air.

Never Tryed its been good. has no warranty i bought it used

This is great guitar for rock espacially sounds good with rickenbacker bass and Maple drum sets sound good with it too.Like i said pertfect for grunge with its chorus clean verses and sound plus its even great with hard rock with the humbuckers. A real all around guitar for Rock

I own a Japan-made Ibanez RoadStar II 530 TR, built in 1984.
It is made of Lime (Tilia) and Maple (Acer) wood, finished in a transparent red with black body binding. It is equipped with 2 Ibanez stock humbuckers which can independently be split to single coil PUs. This is done with the volume poties; by pushing them you switch between SC and humbucker. There are two of them, one for each pickup. Also, there's a 3-way-switch that switches between either one of the PUs, or both together, in middle position. There's a third knob for the tone.
The neck has 24 frets, the strings are locked to the headstock, and on the other side to a ProRock'r vibrato bridge (well improved Floyd-Rose) with fine tuners and 4 springs. Most metal parts are lacquered black.
The body has a Strat cut, but it is absolutely flat and far heavier and thicker. The strap holders are the StarTrek-" V "-ones which, once attached, are symbiotic to the strap and never release it again :)

The bridge is a real masterpiece. You don't have to cut of the ball ends like on a standard FloydRose, the strings lie on a little flat roll, you can bend the strings forward and backward, and the fine tuners have a wide tuning range.

The electronics are passive and put all out to a 3,5mm mono jack.
The output level of the pickups is about as much like that of a Standard Gibson SG.

The guitar makes every kind of sound you wish to have. When you've tested
out all variations of pickup settings, tone and volumes of the PUs, together with only a simple overdrive effect setting, you're stone old and know you have a device that behaves like a Pan flute, a trombone, roars like a lion, beeps like a mouse, has the blues or screams painfully. I can't judge a special "richness" of the sound, it depends solely on the knob positions. It's absolutely worth turning down the PUs output for some music. If I wanted to make Heavy Metal I'd just bring them up again. On most occassions I use it to play tunes originally for wind instruments, or classical guitar pieces, or making sound effects, and it fits me needs in any aspect, apart from being a guitar and not a bass, which I lack ;)

As I got the guitar third-hand, I have no idea about the factory setup. I think one of the 4 springs was added later. However, it doesn't really matter as there's nothing that couldn't be readjusted at home. Really. If you're a technical person, you'll love this guitar.
On the other hand, if you're used to opening devices with "Grundig", "Siemens" or "Marantz" labels... never remove the cover of the electronics. They must have been soldered by former locomotive manufacturers. I've never seen such a mess of solder wire blobs.

I never play live except with friends, but the guitar itself can't be harmed much. I have stumbled over the cables, the cats or other persons made it drop forward, sideward, everywhere, and it didn't get an additional scratch on the wood. I got it with a severe lacquer damage on the headstock and one or two chip-outs at the neck that were painted over with red fingernail colour, and I have no idea how they did that. I bumped against rough brick walls with it which produced an issue of polishing,nothing more.
What wears off, however, is the black lacquer of the metal parts. Even the tuners and their nuts are painted black, and you can't use pliers on it without scratching it.
Also, the screws wear out when used with wrong sized tools. For the locking screws at the head I need pliers to operate them, as they're no stadard parts, unlike the string mounting screws at the bridge which I could easily replace.
But if you don't care for black lacquer, get new screws and resolder the electronics once, you can play it as long as you wish, if it doesn't damage your neck first, due to its weight.
BTW, I never had a broken string.

I never dealt with Ibanez.
I just once tried to get replacement screws in a music store which would have to be ordered, would be extremely expensive, and not even sure when they could be delivered. I then gave a string mounting screw to a toolmaker who told me it were stardard parts which I could obtain in a hobby store. I guess you shouldn't rely on any music-oriented supporters with that guitar.

Unlike with my acoustic guitars, I have no idea why I should ever replace this guitar. Though it's old and has a few lacquer damages, it's still absolutely beautiful. I use it with an amp emulator which also converts the signal to be used with studio or home stereo equipment.
Besides I have various acoustic guitars and wind instruments.
The 3way switch and the fine tuners could be better hidden, but you get used to that.

1985 - Japanese, 22 frets, Solid salmon pink laquered Strat-style body (ugly colour but I love it). Only 1 single humbucker at the bridge with 1 volume knob that is a push button to switch between humbucking and single coil. I've never seen another with just one pickup - must have been the cheapest model at the time? Chrome-plated Floyd Rose style bridge - I think it called the 'Edge' bridge. Has a locking nut. Came with original brown Ibanez case in good condition. I found out about the push button pickup switch after I bought it.

I bought it because it was the cheapest guitar I could find at the time and I only wanted a temporary guitar while I was in the US on a trip from Australia. I nearly bought a Squire but it sounded like a cheap, nasty piece of crap. I ended up keeping the Roadstar and shipping it back home with me.

I play rock/blues. This guitar suits my style. I use an old Roland JC60 amp and a Boss GT5 effects processor. It is very quiet in both pickup settings. It has a better single coil Strat sound than my '91 US-made Fender Strat Plus Deluxe which cost 5 times the Roadstar! The humbucker setting isn't as great as the single coil sound so I only use it if I want to get rid of the sharpness of the single coil sound. It sounds excellent with both clean and distorted effects.

I bought it very used and pulled it apart, cleaned it up and put it back together. I didn't take my time to set it up properly but haven't needed to as it is so perfectly set up anyway. The action is very low with no buzz and it has a fatish/rounded neck that suits my hand really well. There is a slight finish crack in the body at the neck joint - classic Strat type crack. The pink/salmon finish looks like the colour of a toy doll and stands out like a sore thumb but is in excellent condition. There is some slight yellowing from previous players' hands.

I play it live all the time - stays in tune, even from week to week if I don't play it. Hardware is rock solid. Finish has lasted since 85 with only slght yellowing so it is good quality. The strap buttons are a 'V' type - a pain to get the strap on and off from but won't let the strap pop off. Very dependable and can use without a backup at a gig. I haven't busted a string in 2 years but I am not a really hard player.

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Been playing for 20 years. Own a 91 US Strat Plus Deluxe, 83 Ibanex Artist (AR300CS), the Roadstar, old Roland JC60 amp, Boss GT5 effects unit. The Roadstar is great and I'd replace it if lost or stolen. I may even look for another with more than one pickup - the only downside to this guitar. Despite this, the single pickup and pink colour make it very unique. I don't think I'd ever find another the same. I don't play the Strat or the Artist much anymore as this thing sounds so great. Overall rating is a 10.

Will buy any color, any fret board Ibanez Roadstar II (strat copy) Tremlo w/locking nut.

Actually it's the three single coil pickups with the silver blade running down the center of the pickup that I'm after, but I'll buy the whole guitar if need be.

Any of you pickers that have removed these blade pickups and replaced them, I'd be stoked to take them off your hands. I would really appreciate it! 505-670-9700. rddeshazo@aol.com

Will buy any color, any fret board Ibanez Roadstar II (strat copy) Tremlo w/locking nut.

Actually it's the three single coil pickups with the silver blade running down the center of the pickup that I'm after, but I'll buy the whole guitar if need be.

Any of you pickers that have removed these blade pickups and replaced them, I'd be stoked to take them off your hands. I would really appreciate it! 505-670-9700. rddeshazo@aol.com

Will buy any color, any fret board Ibanez Roadstar II (strat copy) Tremlo w/locking nut.

Actually it's the three single coil pickups with the silver blade running down the center of the pickup that I'm after, but I'll buy the whole guitar if need be.

Any of you pickers that have removed these blade pickups and replaced them, I'd be stoked to take them off your hands. I would really appreciate it! 505-670-9700. rddeshazo@aol.com

Will buy any color, any fret board Ibanez Roadstar II (strat copy) Tremlo w/locking nut.

Actually it's the three single coil pickups with the silver blade running down the center of the pickup that I'm after, but I'll buy the whole guitar if need be.

Any of you pickers that have removed these blade pickups and replaced them, I'd be stoked to take them off your hands. I would really appreciate it! 505-670-9700. rddeshazo@aol.com

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Will buy any color, any fret board Ibanez Roadstar II (strat copy) Tremlo w/locking nut.

Actually it's the three single coil pickups with the silver blade running down the center of the pickup that I'm after, but I'll buy the whole guitar if need be.

Any of you pickers that have removed these blade pickups and replaced them, I'd be stoked to take them off your hands. I would really appreciate it! 505-670-9700. rddeshazo@aol.com

This is an 1986 roadstar II,22fret unfinished maple neck,2 humbucking pickups, 1 volume and 1 tone control(when pressed, the volume knob splits the neck pickup, and the tone knob splits the bridge..good idea), and an Edge tremolo system. The finish is black with a metallic burgundy ring around the edge. It's a pretty simple setup, but is really all I need. Obviously purchased used. Looks good, but i feel the need to try and buff out a LOT of pick scratches.

I don't really have a specific preference as to what I play...I just kind of noodle around. I play through an AXYS-212, and it sounds very good both distorted and clean. It's a VERY quiet guitar, even in single coil mode. Pickups have a lot of power, and have a great deal of crunch in the bridge position. The neck pickup has a great bluesy tone to it, and when speed picking, you hear a minimum of pick noise. In single coil mode, it sounds very chunky which I like. Add some fuzz and a little reverb, and I can get the most wonderful blues sound I've ever had come out of an amp. The tone control on this thing actually works well enough to notice. All in all, this is a very versatile guitar.

Since this was purchased used, the only thing I'll comment on is that it was built very well. The neck joint is tighter on this guitar than on most others I've seen, and the neck feels fantastic, even though it's 16 years old.

As I mentioned above, I play just to play. From the looks of it, this guitar has seen a lot of playing over the years, and I'm sure it's seen its share of weekend gigs. It's built like a tank, so I should have no problems. I'll give it a 10, because I can't imagine any trouble with it.

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I've been playing for 16 years. I also own a '93 PRS CE-24, and a homemade strat style guitar. If it was stolen, I would for sure try to find another one just like it. I hope to purchase a Zachary guitar in the near future. If you like unique instruments, check 'em out. You won't be disappointed.