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[NGD) Any love for the Ibanez Destroyer?


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Hello.

I just bought this Destroyer. Obviously it `ll need some TLC but according to the seller, it`s structurally good and the neck and frets are in good shape. One pickup is replaced and some earlier owner has done some "customization" with a marker pen. I assume this is a 1984 DT380.

I`ll do some touch ups and lightly restore it back to as original as possible without destroying the patina. It`ll be a fun project. 

(Sellers pic.)

895_1653303608.jpg

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10 hours ago, tbonesullivan said:

EVH loved his, and used it on early recordings. Then he decided to cut a chunk out of it, which ruined the tone.

Eddie cut up a Destroyer.  The OP's guitar is a Destroyer II, I believe.

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12 minutes ago, Ting Ho Dung said:

Wasn't one of the Destroyer models a lawsuit issue with Gibby?

"Lawsuit-era guitar" is thrown around pretty generously, but I think it only ever involved the Les Paul headstock shape.

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2 hours ago, kizanski said:

Eddie cut up a Destroyer.  The OP's guitar is a Destroyer II, I believe.

How different were they? Looks like the Destroyer I was only made until around 1980, and then the new style came out.

I just wish... that I could get my head around that body style. I feel that I'm missing out on a lot by not liking explorer style guitars.

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EVH said his Destroyer was made from Limba (Korina) before it got pricey.....not sure if he was correct or not, but that could explain why he loved the tone of his BEFORE he 'customized' it.....

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14 hours ago, hanspanzer said:

The DT555 is quite pricey as well, problably thanks to this guy. 

 

39af13a8c52807c1c271e247d2dfed7c.png

Man, I loved them when I was young.  Phil Collen was still cool and of course Iron Maiden played them too.  The first Explorer-style guitar I ever wanted was actually the Destroyer.  I liked the little points at the bottom and lower horn.  Gibson even did something similar with the Explorer XPL that was out around '84-'86.  I had one of the low end Phil Collen models with the dot neck (DT155?) at one point for a few years.

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On 4/21/2019 at 7:34 PM, Dave Scepter said:

Congrats!.. great guitars~ & that's a really cool graphic POSwlLb.jpg

Your picture of the Ibanez Destroyer II guitar looked very much like the 1981 Destroyer II guitar with OHSC that I owned for about 20 years and I traded it towards a 1996 Gibson Les Paul Custom in mid 2000s. My first good guitar that I got from a friend's roommate who was a classical guitarist in Foster City, CA around 1983. I added a rhythm/treble chip around the toggle chip on mine. I should of kept that guitar, but wasn't fond of the pointy guitars that much any more and wanted a more traditional Gibson style guitar with 2 humbuckers. The sound of   the  Destroyer II was awesome since I changed out the bridge pickup to a Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup since the original Super 58 pickup was microphonic, but the look, shape, & weight wasn't my cup of tea any more. 

  That being said, Happy New Guitar Day to the OP!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Guitar George

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59 minutes ago, Hamer95USA said:

the original Super 58 pickup was microphonic, 

Hi George, hope all is well... you had a Super 58 in the bridge?.. the pickups in this Destroyer II are the alnico 5 V2 bridge & alnico 8 Super 70 neck... pretty cool combo & surprisingly versatile

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22 hours ago, Dave Scepter said:

Hi George, hope all is well... you had a Super 58 in the bridge?.. the pickups in this Destroyer II are the alnico 5 V2 bridge & alnico 8 Super 70 neck... pretty cool combo & surprisingly versatile

Thank you for correcting me on the model of pickup that Ibanez installed on the Destroyer II guitar. It was funny that my neighbor next door in Hayward, CA in the late '80s owned an early '80s Hamer Standard with a red flame top (crowned & bound) that he let me jam on all the time at his house. I had somewhat of an idea of what a Hamer guitar was back then, but didn't know the value of his Standard until my discovery of this website. Unfortunately, he sold that guitar off in his move to Colorado. It's out there somewhere and someone will find it. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Guitar George

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Wow!  People are asking crazy money for the black Phil Collen Destroyers on eBay.  Over $2000 for the low end one like I had!  I paid (no joke) $350 for mine with the original case.  I think I got about the same when I sold it.  The high end models are priced at $3000-7,000.  I know asking ain't getting, but that's crazy.

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17 hours ago, tommy p said:

People are asking crazy money for the black Phil Collen Destroyers on eBay.

Yes they are.  A friend of Phil's bought my DT555 for $2500 in 2001. I think I paid like $500 for it.  Few weeks after the sale he emails a pic of Phil playing my old guitar. The factory trem was pretty bad and I was considering Kahlerizing my destroyer around the time I received the offer that came out of thin air.  Mine had a great neck - just fantastic if you like fatter/wide Ibanez necks. 

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