Is this an Ibanez lawsuit era Destroyer? It has been absolutely butchered by the router machine and Krylon

[79Sunburst]

[79Sunburst]

3 minutes ago, 79Sunburst said:

 

[kizanski]

The control knobs don't appear to be in line.  

[cynic]

Smart move to ask here. I asked the Ibanez fan club for help identifying a Hamer and no one over there knew a thing.

[79Sunburst]

18 minutes ago, cynic said:

Smart move to ask here. I asked the Ibanez fan club for help identifying a Hamer and no one over there knew a thing.

Username checks out. 

That said, there are knowledgeable people here that are quite adept a sniffing out fake or misrepresented guitars.  The guitar appears to be an Ibanez or Greco lawsuit era guitar, however the butchered routing toward the toggle switch area does not look like the rout on my Greco EX 800. ( It is essentially an Ibanez Destroyer with the Greco logo marketed in Japan).

I can't tell if that rout was altered or if it might be a Hondo version being passed off as an Ibanez. There has been so much damage to the original channel that it is difficult to tell. If it is the real deal, I'd be willing to restore it. 

 

 

[kizanski]

1 minute ago, 79Sunburst said:

...it might be a Hondo version being passed off as an Ibanez.

Clearly the end of civilization as we know it.

[79Sunburst]

My Greco rout. 

 

[79Sunburst]

4 hours ago, kizanski said:

The control knobs don't appear to be in line.  

Yep. I can't tell if it looks that way because a couple of holes have been widened or if the guy assigned to drilling control cavities that day had too much saki the night before. 

[murkat]

it is.

control knob hole were poorly reemed out from 10mm to 3/8, switch cavity bored out to switchcraft right angle toggle.

Long neck tenon, tuners, bananna headstock shape.

take that finish off to reveal multiple layers of senn

[79Sunburst]

4 minutes ago, murkat said:

it is.

control knob hole were poorly reemed out from 10mm to 3/8, switch cavity bored out to switchcraft right angle toggle.

Long neck tenon, tuners, bananna headstock shape.

take that finish off to reveal multiple layers of senn

Thank you. 

Your services would be useful over at Ibanez Fan Club. 

[cmatthes]

Something about the shape looks wonky to me - the upper/treble bout is more rounded than an Ibanez or Greco.  The switch cavity also looks wrong for an Ibanez/Greco, so unless that was altered, I'm guessing it was some other copy from the 70s (or maybe even early 80s) era.  Unless it's going for really cheap, I'd probably avoid it personally - at least without additional pics.

[gtrdaddy]

I'm thinking it's an Aria Pro II from the '70s.

T

The upper bouts of the Ibanez models weren't angled as sloped to the left as the Arias.

 

[topekatj]

9 hours ago, 79Sunburst said:

No extra charge for the weed 'stash hole' located between pickups

[topekatj]

9 minutes ago, gtrdaddy said:

I'm thinking it's an Aria Pro II from the '70s.

Fingerboard dot inlays (12th fret, as well) on the Aria look a bit different than the subject guitar

[gtrdaddy]

13 minutes ago, topekatj said:

Fingerboard dot inlays (12th fret, as well) look a bit different than the subject guitar

That doesn't really mean anything. They did more crap with inlays on '70s Japanese guitars than anyone can remember, changing  color of dots, types of dots, placement of dots, and inlay shapes. They didn't have any sets of rules and did whatever they wanted.

[topekatj]

20 minutes ago, gtrdaddy said:

That doesn't really mean anything. They did more crap with inlays on '70s Japanese guitars than anyone can remember, changing  color of dots, types of dots, placement of dots, and inlay shapes. They didn't have any sets of rules and did whatever they wanted.

I really like this ad -- nice looking guitar. It would be great to find a pristine, under the bed example. I wonder what these cost when new?

Where is that time machine? 

[gtrdaddy]

3 minutes ago, topekatj said:

I wonder what these cost when new?

I sorta remember them sitting around $150 new;

but then of course I bought a brand new "Silver Edition 25th Anniversary" Fender Strat new back then for $300.

[79Sunburst]

I agree with Topeka and CMatt

 

I cannot reconcile the channel rout from an Ibanez or Greco to this guitar. No doubt it is some sort of lawsuit era guitar, just not an Ibanez. It has the harmonica bridge but the angle of the rout toward the toggle just doesn't jive with Ibanez or Greco. Butchered or not the angle is not the same. Looking more like a Aria or some variation. 

 

Here's the Destroyer rout. Nothing close to this guitar. 

 

 

[cmatthes]

The list price was $395 back then.

[topekatj]

2 minutes ago, cmatthes said:

The list price was $395 back then.

Dang, I just noticed it says $395 in the ad....    "Honey, where's my pull my head outta my ass medicine?"

[topekatj]

I found the case!

https://reverb.com/item/33391429-vintage-ibanez-destroyer-chipboard-case-70s

[cynic]

The Aria Pro II EX-XXX models are actually very well made and are generally on par with the better MIJ guitars of the era.  One thing they have in common with the others is a two-screw truss rod cover.  Whatever the thing is in the OP had a three-screw TRC which doesn't rule out MIJ but calls it into question.

The routing between the pup cavities and wiring channel looks original to me, but there's been some unskilled hands in the cavities themselves.  Even Gibson uses a similar channel now.

The harmonica bridge is interesting.  

edited to add: The Arias also didn't have a pickguard screw on the neck side near the toggle.

[Biz Prof]

3 hours ago, gtrdaddy said:

I'm thinking it's an Aria Pro II from the '70s.

T

The upper bouts of the Ibanez models weren't angled as sloped to the left as the Arias.

 

Hard to know for sure, Jamie, but I agree it's some sort of MIJ or MIK import and could well be a '70s Aria.  The straight orientation of the harmonica jives with that of the tune-o-matic shown on the Aria (versus the angled tune-o-matic on the Ibby).  But....look at the distance between the high-E tuning post and the tips of the headstocks of all three examples. Lots of real estate on the Aria and Ibby examples in your posted photos, but not nearly as much on the guitar shown in the OP. 

[cynic]

I wouldn't pay much attention to bridge angle....these weren't CNC guitars.  There's also some strange things going on around those bridge posts.

[gtrdaddy]

5 hours ago, topekatj said:

II wonder what these cost when new?

 

5 hours ago, gtrdaddy said:

I sorta remember them sitting around $150 new;

but then of course I bought a brand new "Silver Edition 25th Anniversary" Fender Strat new back then for $300.

 

4 hours ago, cmatthes said:

The list price was $395 back then.

List prices were and are usually double street just like today. So street would be just under $200; my mammary isn't too far off 😉

[kizanski]

Well, if it comes with the speed knobs, definitely buy it.