Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

[tone?]

there are quite a few of these suckers floating around for sale.

what do you guys think of these?
they were made in Japan and are of pretty darn good quality. Compared to the stuff today they are above lots of middle of the line instruments.
about the only weak side they have are the bit cheap hardware and so so pickups (still better than todays so so hardware).
Strong points are the necks which on the oiled versions are amazingly comfy.

any opinions?


Also alot of old Ibanez artists and Musicians are up for sale cause they are not 'in'. These are some great guitars for the money.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

I've seen some i like and some i don't..... the keyboard player in my old band had a 1984-ish Roadstar.... The knife shape headstock, painted neck, and so on... he loved it... mind you it has been the only electric guitar he has owned in 22 years so he does not know any better...

But there is some that are quite nice and some that are so so... They were not bad, for the period when a fair bit of cheaper guitars were plywood anyways

 

[nuntius]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

You mean like this?

That's my RS530. I got it for £180 I think, which is about the same price as a new Squier strat over here in the UK.

It has a TB-5 custom in the bridge, and a dmz Fred in the neck.

Tbh it's one of my best purchases. Cheap, great construction and sounds good too now it's got new pups.

The neck was the thing that made me buy it - even though it's painted (I don't particularly like the feel of painted necks in general) it feels extremely comfy to me, and I couldn't leave it behind for the price.

Here are some clips of it

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=109785&songID=3613453

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=109785&songID=2648303

I currently use it with 11-53 strings tuned in D.

The only thing I'd change on the guitar is the trem, I don't think it's all that useable tbh. I've just screwed mine down so the guitar functions as a hardtail. One day I'd like to get it routed for a wilkinson trem or maybe even an OFR - tmk the posts are too far apart atm so they'd need moving.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

Back in the day i never remember seeing any in that finnish with a nice maple top

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

if I remember correctly there was a time when Stanley Jordan was using one of these along with his Travis Bean guitars. This was befor ethe Vigier endorsement though. That's pretty high price in my book.

 

[nuntius]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

Back in the day i never remember seeing any in that finnish with a nice maple top

Yeah, from what I've gathered my RS is one of the higher line Japanese models. If I saw another and had the cash I'd probably buy it!

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

Yeah, from what I've gathered my RS is one of the higher line Japanese models. If I saw another and had the cash I'd probably buy it!

most of the ones i remember seeing here in Canada had solid finnishes, and a few Sunbursts... i didn't see any see-thru colours at all... but that was many years ago... at the time i thought it was cool they finnished them in Vintage Fender Like colours... My buddies was solid red but had the all black painted neck.... I had seen some that the body and neck were painted the same

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

They should have the same appeal as the Japanese Squires. That's the same factory. I've got a Fendery one from 1983 that has the same neck as the Squires, but then there are a lot with larger frets and flatter radii, too.

I love them, but today they suffer a little from bad bridges. They aren't garbage, but the designs were a little primitive, and they look dated. None of those designs caught on, and they changed them a lot. So you really have a non-standard bridge that can't be replaced with anything else unless you route and fill/redrill studs. They always had great Gotoh tuners, and the pups are usable, but very average. A Japanese Roadstar with some Duncans makes a great guitar.

Caution: There are Korean Roadstars. They look very similar and it's hard to differentiate, but you can feel the neck carve is very different, and the fret size is also. The tuners are Gotoh style, but you can clearly tell they're not Gotohs. It's mostly the lower ones, like the RS140, etc. with the flat bar fulcrum tremolo.

 

[Jeroen]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

Roadstar II's are very OK, but whatever you do, stay away from the Powerocker tremolo! Rather than pivoting on two or more studs or bolts, it pivots on one rail which isn't very precise and stabile due to the shape of the tremolo's baseplate. It's really NOT a good system. If you do decide to get a guitar with that tremolo, be sure to block it :fingersx:

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

Back in the mid 80's after i saw the film Back To The Future... the first one.. I saw it in the theatres and in my teens in the 80's that was the cooliest film i had ever seen... rock, cars, magic, time travel, the 1950's... it had it all.... anyways i wanted one of the roadstars like they used in the scool dance band audition scene near the begining of the movie.... Buy the time i had enough money to buy the Roadstar like that one in the movie they had totally changed the design....

The one in the movie had a Floyd of some sort and was all black.....

 

[tone?]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

yeah man, i think they are great potential guitars. like by making a few changes you can turn them into pretty high caliber instruments. Like the bridge and the pups.

I have one with the oiled neck and thats where its at. Like i said i have heard everyone rave about those necks. how come they didnt model everything else around those necks?? i dont think that i have ever played a more comfy neck on ANY guitar.

What do you think about the wood that was used? besides the hardware i dont think that they are really that much different from a higher end Satch guitar. the necks were one piece maple back then with great fret work done. not like the multiple piece necks that are found on todays cheaper guitars.

 

[CGord]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

Here's my RG410 that I bought new back in late '86/early '87:

(I added the Dimebucker earlier this year.)

I wanted an Eddie-style guitar, but not a Kramer, which everyone had at the time. Ibanez popularity hadn't exploded yet, but it wasn't much later before everybody had one. Not this model, though, everybody got the next one. It was probably ten years after buying mine before I saw another, in a San Diego pawnshop. It's been my baby throughout the years, but over time, the Floyd has been a hassle. I doubt I will ever buy another trem-equipped guitar again.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

...over time, the Floyd has been a hassle. I doubt I will ever buy another trem-equipped guitar again.

FYI Do you realize in the pic, all 6 of your saddles have slipped all the way forward? Floyd or not, that guitar can't possibly intonate well.

And yeah those Rocker trems need to be set flush with the body for dive only. The Edge on the other hand is one of the best Floyd licensed trems of all time.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

I have a 84' Roadstar that I had listed in the trading post a while back. IMO it's a very well made Instrument.
BTW, It's Still available for sale.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

I've had one or two, and they were both sweet guitars.

 

[tone?]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

Kmcguitars,

I think you should really keep that guitar and fix it up. If i was in the states i would prob buy it off ya. they are really good guitars. With a change in pickups it would sound pretty darn good.

Someone should post a 'lost gems' post on guitars that are out there and are great value for the money.

Just like anything else guitars are fashion too and some real gems are out there that arent just 'In'.

I think that the roadstars are like that as well. Really great construction. I remember back in college when i bought mine a guy had this Jackson US made and we plugged both my Roadstar and his in and they didnt sound that different in terms of quality tone. What was different was the price!

And as i will say the necks are all the money!

 

[tone?]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

hey CGord i would buy that guitar off you. Sweet guitar!


That is probably as good as any Kramer.

Yeah, if you plan on fixing that like the other guy said fix the saddles so it will intonate properly.

Is the neck on that one oil finished??

 

[Jeroen]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

It's been my baby throughout the years, but over time, the Floyd has been a hassle. I doubt I will ever buy another trem-equipped guitar again.

How can there possibly be a hassle if the tremolo is flushmount against the body? And it's an Ibanez Edge trem! That guitar should have enormous tuning stability, if only it were intonated correctly like some other posters mentioned above. Because that guitar can't possibly be in tune over the entire neck with that setup...

 

[CGord]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

Yeah, I'm aware it needs the intonation set up properly. The hassle I refer to is changing strings or changing tuning; either is a chore instead of just getting it done & moving on. When I bought it, I had to have a Floyd Rose, but now, I don't really have a need for a whammy. tone?, yes, it's the oiled neck.

 

[tone?]

Re: Any opinions on Ibanez Roadstar II guitars?

CGord sell me that sucker!

you said that you dont want a trem equiped guitar!