Ibanez Lawsuit "Memphis" Tele Custom? - Guitar question..

[grek30]

* Has anyone ever heard of a "Ibanez Lawsuit "Memphis" Tele Custom??? (The Tele copy made in the early 70's, the humbucker and single coil version with the LP style controls)

* They were in fact made, but were they ever called a "Memphis" guitar??

* Does anyone know?? *

* And has anyone ever played one of these guitars? If so, feedback would be appreciated..

[Kevan]

www.vintageibanez.com

Enjoy!

(Please don't post the same question in multiple topics. *Thanks.)

[grek30]

* But did they call them "Memphis" guitars? Reason I ask is because this has the logo while the ones pictured do not and the only thing I can find about Memphis is that they are made by Samick..

* *

[Screamin]

Memphis was a dirt-cheep copy guitar. Strat, LP, tele, P-Bass, etc. *As I recall they lacked anything desirable. *They didn't play well, or stay in tune, or sound good. *Roller-coaster necks, squealy pickups, bad finishes, garbage tuners, you get the idea.
On the other hand, the Ibanez copies that were available during the same time were very well made. I had an old Ibanez Flying V copy, it was a very good guitar. *The "lawsuit" thing came around during the mid-late 70's when the Ibanez copies of the aforementioned axes rivaled the "originals". *As I understand the story, Gibson & Fender brought lawsuits against Ibanez for making guitars that infringed on their patents. Ibanez complied & stopped production. *They went on to create the Ibanez of current recognition. *
I think I also heard once that Ibanez built the Memphis line in a different facility, with cheaper materials. *
The Memphis brand was never involved in the lawsuit stuff, to my knowledge. *If you're looking to buy a "lawsuit" axe, it will say Ibanez on the headstock.

Of course I'm no expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

SS