jwhitcomb3 Posted November 4, 2023 Posted November 4, 2023 Yeah, well, I certainly didn't NEED another Talman, but... For me, the Ibanez Talman 1702 is the perfect Telecaster - love the light offset body with tummy/forearm cuts, Gotoh locking tuners, and the Duncan Alnico II pro pickups. Then I added the Talman 1803 - same guitar adding a middle strat pickup with its independent volume control to blend or stand alone. Both in the Ibanez Prestige made in Japan line - flawless. I was tempted when the Yvette Young signature YY20 came out a couple years back with its orange cream sparkle but wasn't sure about $1100 for a made in Indonesia guitar. So when one popped up on the Manchester Music Mill used gear list I had to check it out (walking distance from my office). I was NOT expecting the Ray Gun Girl aftermarket pickguard (or the black metal dome knobs). There was not a mark on it, played pretty well in the shop (needed a setup), and it was priced at $550. And it is sparkle orange. So home it came, and after a truss rod tweak, nut slot filing, and saddle adjustment, it plays ALMOST as well as the MIJ models - same pickups and Gotoh hardware. The neck is a little beefier with more of a D profile than the others. Same great sound. This will be a fun guitar to gig with! And it's sparkle orange.
scottcald Posted November 5, 2023 Posted November 5, 2023 Nice! Those are certainly a flatter radius than a Fender?
Pieman Posted November 5, 2023 Posted November 5, 2023 Never jumped on a Talman when they came out. Always loved the design. Once a year I check them out on Reverb.
jwhitcomb3 Posted November 5, 2023 Author Posted November 5, 2023 14 hours ago, scottcald said: Nice! Those are certainly a flatter radius than a Fender? 12" radius. Comfy!
jwhitcomb3 Posted November 5, 2023 Author Posted November 5, 2023 4 hours ago, Pieman said: Never jumped on a Talman when they came out. Always loved the design. Once a year I check them out on Reverb. That body shape is compact, light, and well balanced, and the 3-and-3 headstock with tapered tuners gives a straight string path through the nut for very stable tuning. A really good platform. Over the years Ibanez has gone kinda nuts with it. There were the original 90s Talmans with a bunch of different pickup and bridge configs - some with "resin" bodies. It was resurrected for the 2015-2017 series (Tele or Strat setups) offering nearly identical low cost (China) and higher cost (Japan - prestige) models. Since 2020 there have been various artist signature models that don't have "Talman" in the title. Toss in the acoustics, basses, and a bewildering number of hardware/pickup choices, and it gets pretty confusing. Ibanez's naming convention doesn't help. I never saw the appeal of a Talman with Strat pickup and tailpiece configuration - might as well just get a Strat -although they did make one with lipstick pickups that was pretty cool. I only tried a couple of the Chinese Talmans, but they didn't stack up to the Prestige ones in terms of hardware or build quality. The 2015-17 Prestige models had a street price of $1200 but prices fell when they were discontinued - I got my TM1702 new for $600 in 2018. They have gotten harder to find and prices are often well above $1500. Oddly, the TM1803 (3 pickup Tele) can often be found for much less than the TM1702 (2 pickup version). My TM1803 has been my main guitar for the last year, really the only electric guitar I've been playing. Now I can leave it home and gig with the sparkly one. Here's a Talman decoder ring: https://ibanez.fandom.com/wiki/Talman_series
RobB Posted November 5, 2023 Posted November 5, 2023 Seems like a well-thought out, versatile guitar. The 3p/u one interests me since I sold my Tele recently.
Pieman Posted November 7, 2023 Posted November 7, 2023 That’s a greaT resource. Thank you. I recall a Seafoam green model ( but I could be wrong) with lipstick pickups (2 or 3) and a Bigsby. Very cool for any time period.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.