"Dutch" Ibanez Guitar

[Nancebeest]

Hi,

I own a guitar that is probably made by Ibanez, but I do not have any information on it. Maybe you can help me.

The previous owner bought this guitar at "Gerritsen Muziekhandel" in the Hague in the late 70's early 80's. The sticker on the headstock say's made in Japan. Our guitar Guru thought it might be an Ibanez. The sound is very warm, but can change witch the flick of a switch. Especially when used with some effects, the guitar can produce many different sounds from clean and warm, to soft like on an old record, and sharp....

Some specs:

Headstock: Arrow, with the name "Dutch" on it
Body: Ash
Neck: Neckthru, 5 parts and the wood is a quarter turned. I don't know how to say that in english.
Pickups: DiMarzio Humbuckers
Electronics: there are two 3-fased switches and golden knobs. Like an Ibanez.
Plug is in the front of the guitar.

here is a pic:
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...eest/dutch.jpg


I hope you can help me find my baby's roots.

Grtz Nancy

[jim777]

Hi Nancy, welcome to Jemsite!
That's a nice looking axe you have there. It may have been made in Fuji Gen where the Ibanezes were made, though I don't recall that name "Arrow" being used before. It may also have been made in the Matsumoku factory in Japan, like a lot of Washburn and Aria guitars of the period. If I had to guess I'd say it was a Matsumoku guitar, as that style neckthrough was very popular in that factory at that time and a lot of their guitars have that look.
Do you have the serial number? That might help a bit as well.

[Nancebeest]

No I haven't got a Serial Number. The name on the headstock is "Dutch" In golden script.
I have heard names like Matsomoku, Hoshino, Ibanez and Westone. Maybe it's a one of a kind? I only know of two more in Holland. Like the Gerrinez custom?

[jim777]

Matsumoku was a guitar factory; they would build guitars for anyone who ordered them and put any brand name on it that you requested. If a German (or any other) distributor wanted to have some guitars made that said "Dutch" on them, they could simply order them and receive them and go from there. In the same way a Japanese company would order guitars that said "Washburn" on them. It might be close to one of a kind (more like one of 20 or 30 or 100 though) in that it is that particular body shape and says "Dutch" on the headstock, but that won't make it valuable. It would be more valuable if it had a more famous name on it. There may also have been more than 1 distributor that chose that body style (from all of the available to be ordered styles offered at the time by the Matsumoku factory) for their run as well, you so you could possibly see this exact instrument with other names on the headstock. Again, I would guess this is a late 70's Matsumoku factory guitar, and it is worth the same as a comparable Aria Pro of the same period. This seems more like an Aria Pro than an Ibanez, though. Ibanez did not use the Matsumoku factory to my knowledge.