Ibanez Roadstar 2

St8 outta Japan i believe somewear around 82-83. 22 frets, poissbly rosewood neck. Originally the setup was with 1 master tone and a master vol. But i had to replace all the wiring and pickups due to previous bad care. Now i have 2 vol's, and a master tone with a push/pull that flips from parallel to series, the electronics are passive. Body is Alder, and the nect i believe is maple with a rosewood fingerboard. Finish is black. The bridge was something of which i had really never seen before, a really old-school massive recessed floyd rose system i really wanted to keep that on there to see what it could do but the string ferrels were all rusted out and the screws all striped so i needed to replace it, which was probably the toughest part of the reconstruction of this guitar. The neck was built top the same standards as a Fender Strat, the scale was the same as well, along with the extremely small frets.

Sound? hella heavy. I run it through a new school line 6 flextone head with two 4x12 cabs. The sound is fat and layered. The Duncan JB i put in at the bridge gives the guitar an extremely loud sound. High output duncan screamers (single coil sized humbuckers) are mandatory to match with the loud JB at the bridge. Suits a metal artist perfectly, me being a rock artist... well, it rocks.

The factory definately fucked up on the neck attachment. I re-routed that slightly deeper, but then this could be because of the wacky bridge on the guitar. only other flaw in prduction was the locking tremolo at the top. Something was and is still lose and floating around inside that little compartment, i cant get it out but its not in the way yet, just rattles.

This guitar is rock-solid. Road worthy and good for an artist with no sense of care like the last guy i bought it off. The finish wont chip unless you take a hammer to it, and even then its hard, trust me, ive tried this. (wanted to see what kind of quality this guitar was since there is nothing on it anywhere). strap buttons are gnarly!! i'm diggin the v-bolts, almost better then a locking strap button.

havent ever communicated with Ibanez directly.
Repairs all done by myself.

Ive been playing for 7 years now, and equipment i own include: Godin Artisan (tele styl); Home-produced electric guitar (was recently offer 1000$ for it); the Ibanez; and a battered up PRS Artist 91 model. Amps include: Line 6 Flex 300 watt (99'), Rivera Bonehead 150 Watt (95'). Effex: All built into the flextone= Compression/Sustain, Tremolo, Round Speaker, Flange (3 diff levels of..), Chorus and Super Chorus, Dual Overdrive, Sweep, Delay (8 diff versions of..) and Fuzz. Then, on the same amp, a copy of these old-school tube amps... Fender Boss Tweed, Mesa-Boogie Dual Rectifier, Marshall JCM 900, Fender Reverb pro, Fender Twin, Roland AG1 series, Marshall JCM 800, Engl Loudmouth, and Peavy Audition 300.
other effex (not on the amp) Vox Wah, and Bad Horsie Wah.

This one is an '87 Japanese made Roadstar II International Series model. Tobacco burst finish with a maple neck,rosewood fretboard and basswood body. This guitar has a very nice heavy feel without being a log around your neck when playing. Balance of the guitar is outstanding. The standard 22 frets and Floyd Rose tremlo which I don't use and have locked in place. It has two single coil pickups at the neck and center with a humbucker at the bridge. Five way switch and a push-pull coil splitter that should be a MUST for any guitar of this configuration as it allows an amazing array of sounds to come from this guitar and is standard for this model.

The sounds you can get from this guitar are terrific! Using the coil splitter you can get warm bright jazzy tones all the way to screaming rock and roll punch. Again I can't say enough good things about the 5 way switch that lets you phase between pickups and the coil splitter. Other manufacturers should get a clue here. The big word for this guitar is versatile. I can get sounds close enough to my Les Paul and Telecaster both that I have stopped lugging around a barrage of guitars depending on where I play. I run a Marshall VS100 head through a Marshall 2x12 half stack with a Digitech RP6 MFx pedal. Clean, overdriven or effects driven, this guitar is superb.

The bridge is graphite and set well. The bolt neck fits tightly in the body. The finish is clear and bright even though it is now over 16 years old. I am not one to ask about some of this though as I do guitar set up and take very good care of all my guitars. Amazing what a good going over with the right tools and regular maintenance can do.

Now about the action...when I got this guitar a few years ago I restrung with a set of XL DiAddario strings...my standard choice for a guitar of this type...and it was tooooo fast!! The action is quite amazing!! I have gone up two gauge series and made some slight adjustments to the bridge to get the action just right. It is low, fast and smooth.

The other wonderful part about this guitar is that the frets show virtually no wear on them. Again a nice surprise for an older instrument.

I have said a fair bit in this area already and will try not to repeat. This is a very solid piece of gear. It is already beyond the 15 year mark and looks/plays extremely well.

I think you could use it to hit center fence home runs in the afternoon and head out for a show that evening and may not even have to tune it. Its just solid.

Does not apply. First I have learned to look after my own gear and next this guitar could be close to the same age as the kids that answer phones. I can however give Ibanez a good rating from past experiences working in a guitar shop as a kid. They treated our store very well.

Overall here is a piece of advice....if you are looking for a versatile, quality instrument and don't want to spend heaps to do it....buy one of these. I have been playing for over 20 years and owned most all the top line (supposed to be anyway) guitars as well as now vintage models that people quiver over and this one will stay in the stable...front line. My gigging companions have now stopped asking why I use the Ibazez instead of the others. Its a great guitar.

This guitar was made in Japan in '82. I bought it in new in '83. 21 fret maple neck. 3 single coils with phase switch for center coil. 1 volume, 1 tone control. The bridge is standard strat copy with tremelo. Originally it had an off-white/ivory finish, but I've since refinished it. Headstock has string splitters (don't know if they have a real name) for the 1/2 & 3/4 strings. Came with a real lame oversized cardboard case, but that was probably the dealers fault!

Features are average so my rating is based on the phase switch which I think every single coil Fender Strat should include.

I play hard rock with a heavy blues influence (ie: Mick Taylor, Joe Perry, SRV-i wish!) and this guitar suited me just fine for a number of years. The original pickups were pretty basic, but in '83 so was my playing so I didn't know the difference. I hadn't played this guitar for a few years because I had newer ones I liked better and the pickups buzzed. I recently replaced the originals with Fender Vintage Noisless Strat Pickups. Wow!!! This thing sounds great now. Killer presence & awesome twang. It sounds so good clean I hate to play it dirty. Actually it also sounds good with grittier settings, but I prefer my Gibson SG for the heavy stuff.

Sound rating is based on overhaul with new pickups.

This was a quality guitar right out of the box. Almost 20 years later I've changed the electronics and finish, but it was a solid piece for the money. As mentioned above it came with an off-white body. I stripped that off and applied a birdseye maple veneer. I stained that yellow and airbrushed a candy apple sunburst. Some Gibsons have a similar style, but I've never seen a Strat that looked like this baby!

Rating based on old action with new & improved finish

This guitar has flown coast to coast in the previously mentioned lousy oversized cardboard case, while being tossed about by baggage handlers. Once I found it on the baggage carousel with the neck hanging out of the case. It's a freaking durability monster!

N/A

I've been playing for 27 years. This was my 4th guitar, but my first new one. I chose it because when I went into the music shop a kid from a local band I really liked was buying one. The sales guy was telling him the differences between it and a Fender Strat. I didn't buy it right away. I went to a gig that this guy was playing at and he was using his new Roadstar II. He wailed. I went back & got it the next day. Unfortunatley he's still better than me!

One humbucker (which I replaced with a Seymore Duncan JB) and One single coil which is stock, and sounds good. Single volume and tone knob. Tone knob can make wah sounds in the neck position. No pickguard, black with white binding. Pretty cool looking actually.

With the JB pickup, this guitar is hard to beat. Nice overdriven harmonic content, controlled feedback.

The setup was not good when I got it. However, I sent it out and had it done right. This guitar needs to be set up by someone every year at least. I'm not bitching here.

Heavy and solid. I still use a Rickenbacker 330 as my main guitar, this is my backup.

Always use it for recording. You can hear it here: www.bomb1.com/hifi.htm

Early 80s, I think the guy I got it from said an 83. it's got a maple neck, 21 frets, Ibanez tuners that work just fine. it came originally with 3 single coils, but the bridge pickup was chiseled out and a seymour duncan invader put in with a phase switch. it had a nice tobacco sunburst, but I got it for a friend who tore it apart and sanded off the sunburst. it also has a veneer over the top, which now has spots where the simulated wood grain was rubbed off. after he vandalized this guitar, he gave it to me to fix and disappeared, so I minimized the damage done... the stock single coils remaining sound OK, but nothing special. the invader is a good match. I tore the guitar down again and routed a space for a HB at the neck, and will have to make a pickguard for it. the bridge is solid, but I've never seen another like it. the strings go over the saddles and down into a groove in the bridge over a hole in the body, and locks in that way. the body is 5 pieces laminated together and heavy... planning on putting a JB at the bridge and a Jazz at the neck, considering more routing for active electronics.

with the invader and 2 singles out of phase, it worked for my HR/jazzy strangeness stylings OK, but I think the new duncans will be much better. I've used it through an ampeg, a fender and a mesa mark 4. the ampeg never would clean up, the fender was a typical thin sounding poo fest, and the mesa is just right... never was noisy, but with better electronics the sound will improve, I'm sure. the body wood is pretty heavy and dense, and the maple neck and fretboard make it pretty bright sounding. I sanded off the finish over the fretboard, it sounds a little more organic and rich, and has a better feel IMHFO. you could basically make it sound many different ways by tweaking it, which I obviously love to do. sound as I got it, I'd put it at a 7. that's bound to change though.

I doubt it was the factory set up, but the action was low, intonation perfect, pickups just right, good frets everything in its place and a place for everything. a real easy player.

the finish is destroyed, though not by natural wear. these things are unpretentious slabs 'o' wood, so that hardly matters, though. Yes, live playing is OK, Yes, the strap buttons are solid. they're in a v shape and fork back while fanning out. they're not straplocks, but I don't plan on ever changing them. you could throw this thing in the road for a day and it'd be no worse for the wear. brick shithouse.

no idea, but with all the mods past present and future, they'd have no reason to help...

I've played for 7 or 8 years, I've cleared out my gear and it's down to this guitar and a V, I'm still searching out the perfect amp. if I lost it, I'd get another in a jet flash, maybe a 22 fret model. the only 1 thing I'd ever change is the neck, because I like 22 frets on a baseball bat, and it's fairly slim, but not so skinny it bugs me.
I realize that few come this cheap, but even for $200 this would be a steal. it just feels and plays great. the stock electronics are mediocre, but when you've got custom guts in it, it's a dream.

Has two standard Ibanez Humbuckers, a 3-way toggle, 1 volume (push), Floyd rose type locking bridge (sucks) and Smooth tuners

I play through a randall warhead combo, GFX-707 muti effects pedal and MXR M-104 distortion pedal. This guitar has sounded pretty awesome on any amp or setup.

Action was great made to play fast and hard. A little wear and tear . Ugly but unique mint green finish pretty sure its the original finish.

Haven,t used it live yet, but will in a few days. everything seems to be sturdy right now but i will bring a backup with me

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Been playing for about 4 years. I have a cheap acoustic a Strat and my first guitar that I ever owned a eavily modified harmony guitar. If it was stolen I would buy a ES-335 (The king of all guitars)

Japan '86
22 Frets
Bridge & Middle Humbucker (no neck pickup), 3-way switch
Pickups: Crappy Ibanez pieces of shite
Rosewood fingerboard
Ibanez locking tremolo

Kinda tough, since I've so heavily modified the thing. See

http://www.psych.ohiou.edu/people/grads/berger/Guitars.htm

It's the top one. I do seem to recall that as soon as the pickups were replaced, the guitar started to kick ass. For those too timid to check the webpage, I put a S/C in the neck and a Lawrence in the bridge. Since the factory electronics were such crap, I give it a 5.

Got it used, but after 12 years, I have played VERY few guitars with action I like better. The roadstars RULE!!!

It has withstood sporadic live playing for many years, though probably only because I replaced the stock bridge with an original Floyd Rose. My favorite story is when I did a "rockstar" guitar spin and my straplock fell off, and the guitar skidded across the floor, ttremolo springs flying everywhere (There was no backplate). I jacked up on the bar, replaced the strings, and THE GUITAR WAS IN TUNE!!!!!

Not applicable. What sort of moron would tear apart a guitar, throw away half the factory parts, and then call for support?

Playing for 15 years. I've played 2 (count them), 2 guitars I liked as much; a Satriani Ibanez (before they became 'S-Series' mass-produced pieces of shit) and a Steinberger graphite neck.

If someone stole my baby, I would hunt them down and kill them. But only after I made him or her watch me torture and kill everyone in his or her family. Have you ever thought about "the one thing you would save" in case of fire? This is mine.

Anything I wish it had? A twin.

In summary, I give the guitar a 10 AFTER modification!!! The stock pickups are shite, the factory trem sucks, and the electronics are crap. However, the body and (most importantly) the neck are as good as ANYTHING made in the last 30 years.

1982 Japan
24 frets(maybe jumbo)
2x IBZ HB pickups
2x volume,1x tone control(volume push/pull style knobs),3-way
basswood body,maple neck w/rosewood fingerboard
Black coloured body&neck (The body is like a weird strat looking one
ProRocker bridge-Floyd Rose style
Ibanez FineTuners

I play metal,progressive and heavy rock;sometimes also blues.I find this guitar difficult to use when playing metal(the neck is too thick),but it has really a 'soul' when I play blues.Maybe there is a problem with my other gear(Line6 Pod,Marshell 8008 and a Fender GE412 cab)or are the frets(never changed since 1984)?The pickups are noisy when used like single coils,but cool when humbucked.The sound is too muddy in the neck position and there is not enough tone on the clean sound presets.Maybe it is Pod's fault...But I must say I like it after all(It's my first guitar).

Action is quite poor,I had to change the bridge pickup(replaced with a Seymour-Duncan JB),but I still have some problems with it.The main problem was the tuning,until I fixed the bridge(ProRocker is an early and bad copy of the Floyd-Rose trem).Now it is more stable-Ineed to tune it only once a week when using it every day for 3 hours.The finish seems to be new.My friends didn't believe the guitar was actually 15 years old when I got it 2 and a half years back(they have all 3years old guitars and actally my guitar looks better than their ones).Finish:10!

It seems it will last more than I will(I'm 19 years old:)!!!!!It's really a tank!Once it fell from the wall and had a flight of a 6 feet high guitar stand(that happened to the previous owner)and would you believe?-No finish damages!!!

N/A

I think it is a good guitar this RS-530...but i need something more powerful for my playing style-I'm thinking of buying a RG-507(520) and put on it dimarzios.When I'll get older and wanna play bluez it will be waiting for me.

Mine is a 83 that I traded to dealer for a Gibson Double neck SG that was not what I neede at the time. This ax has played from Alaska to Mexico and never let me down. It has 21 frets on a maple finger board, two humbuckers in what the dealer called a satin sunburst finish with a white pickguard and black trim. It has a five way switch, single valume and tone, and a phaser switch. It has a very thin neck, witch is cool because I have small hands, If I give it a nine, its because I know there must be something better somewhere for the money, but I havnt played it.

It is very vesitile. I use to play in a lot of country bands in bars around vegas and it was well suited to that. I played heavy metal in the late eighties and it worked well for that. Currently Im playing in three different Christian bands, 1 hard rock and two paraise and worship, and it still works really well. I can get a real nice strat sound sound for country. and with the phaser button and two humbuckers, I can get a nice Les Paul sound as well. And everything between.

I cant say how it was set up at the factory. I just don't remember. I got it new but that was a long time ago. The tech that sets my guitar up now loves it. There is no buzz with 8s and i could order 7s and it would still play fine. The satin finish on the body is just a little soft, but I take good care it and it has a lot of mile and will surly outlast me. But it stays in tune really well, I never have to adjust the pickups. I did have to replace the five way though, but that may have been my fault. The action is among the best Ive played

Enough said

I would love to find parts for this guitar. I would like to have a couple of different pickguards

I have been playing since I was eight. I have been playing well since I was maybe 16. I am now almost 40. Of all the guitars I have owned, this is the one I still play. It never fails. I suppose the best way to put it was told to me from a local dealer. If you are not making more than 30 grand a year playing. This is more than enough guitar for you!! Have a great day and God Bless!!!

I think it was mad ein 85...not sure...made in Japan....22 frets, 1 vol. 1 tone, 5 way, s/s/s.i think theyre factory pickups.they dont have magnetic poles tho, just these bars that run longways on the pickups..sound good tho...body-not sure, neck looks lke rosewood. Its balck, with a really really cool black metallic like pickguard.looks so sweet. Strat style, with floyd rose, and locking tuners. thin neck..great action.but not quite as low as my Epiphone G400..which is also a great cheap guitar..even if i coverd it in stickers....it also came with a randall 70 watt amp, and a hard case..not sure waht kind of case.

I play mainly punk, ska and reggae...and it suits all those, and im sure more.I use the randall, but that only plays clean. i have a crate 2x12, 120 watt......it has 16 built in effects, i also use ibanez distortion, and a really really old dod chorus pedal. its squeaks sumtimes, but i think thats just my amp....doesnt bother me much...the sound is very bright, and cuts thru alot of noise, such as bass and drums. I like that. i just wish it would squeak less.

I got it from a garage sale, so i cant say.

Will it withstand live playig? will fis h die if u take them out of water. this guitar takes major abuse. the locking system keeps it in tune mad good. u need to stretch and re tuen a few times which is a pain, but after that u never need to touch it. the finish seems like it will last. theres a few dings, but it doesnt seem that bad. the strap buttons i think arent factory and they remind me of the cadillac crest. whcih is cool cuz my strap never comes off it. very dependable, but id bring a backup to a gig, just to have in case anything did happen.

had no need too, it works great and if it broke i would be super pissed.

I ve been playing for about a year. I also own an old Sg copy bass, and a mapex drumset. i would definitley buy it again.if i could find it. i love the strap buttons, and the tone, but i hate the locking sysytem, altho it wont ever go out of tune. the headstock is pretty cool...very different from newer ibanez's. i just want to add that if anyone hs this guitar, and got it cheap.or used.or expensive, and new...its a great guitar, and the only way id ever give mine up is if my hands fell off.....and even then it would be questinable...but replace the pickups....it would sound even better.