Which Ibanez guitar did Joey Tafolla use?

jj · #1 09-29-2005, 01:21 AM

Joey Tafolla recorded a killer album for Mike Varney's Shrapnel label back in 1987 called "Out of the Sun". Paul Gilbert played some solos on the disc, and Tony McAlpine played keyboards. Joey is pictured on the back cover of the album holding the white Ibanez guitar he played on the record. Anyone know which model of Ibanez he was using, or whatever became of Joey Tafolla?

nuno · #2 09-30-2005, 06:21 AM

HERE's an ad from the late '80s, and he's holding a 540 Radius in some custom finish. in these ad series, guitar players such as Satriani and Gambale were pictured with their own Ibanez guitars, not some random models chosen just for the ad, so i guess that was one of Joey's own Ibanezes.

darren wilson · #3 09-30-2005, 09:06 AM

I believe that was actually a stock colour... Fountain blue.

frankfalbo · #4 09-30-2005, 11:59 AM

I can't remember, but I thought when I saw that ad up close, it wasn't fountain blue, but rather a more silvery color. Plus he's got chrome hardware on that one too. So even if it was fountain blue it's not stock in that regard.

jj · #5 09-30-2005, 04:27 PM

Thanks for the info, but it seems that the white Ibanez pictured on his album is an older model, it has the older style curved headstock with a different logo, and a black pickguard. It's probably one he had custom made by Ibanez. But what I am really interested in is the type of DiMarzio pickups he was using on that first record. It's amazing how little information is available on the web about Joey. One of the most underrated guitarists out there in my opinion.

fettouhi · #6 10-01-2005, 03:34 PM

Yeah, Joey is one of those overlooked shredders who really deserved attention.

Regards

André

jj · #7 11-29-2005, 01:43 AM

Well, after much late-night internet research on my part I think I can safely say that the Ibanez guitar Joey used on that first album was indeed a 1986 or '87 ROADSTAR II RG440 equipped with custom wound Dimarzio pickups (S/S/H). Thanks to all for their input.

ShredHead42 · #8 11-29-2005, 03:26 PM

Now the question is what kind of guitar is that on the cover of Plastic? I think it says he uses carvin, but i've never seen that kind of pickguard on a carvin.

jj · #9 11-29-2005, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShredHead42

Now the question is what kind of guitar is that on the cover of Plastic? I think it says he uses carvin, but i've never seen that kind of pickguard on a carvin.

Neither have I. This one could take some time to figure out...

shred4Him · #10 11-30-2005, 08:22 AM

When his website was more active I e-mailed Joey and asked him what he uses now. He said it was a Carvin DC 127 that he put a pickguard on. He put some Duncans in it (can't remember which ones) and a 5-way switch. Not much more than that.

jj · #11 12-01-2005, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shred4Him

When his website was more active I e-mailed Joey and asked him what he uses now. He said it was a Carvin DC 127 that he put a pickguard on. He put some Duncans in it (can't remember which ones) and a 5-way switch. Not much more than that.

Sure doesn't look like a DC 127 to me. Body shape isn't quite right. But I suppose it's possible, if it's a custom job of some type.

shred4Him · #12 12-01-2005, 08:20 AM

I don't know how new the guitar is. They have changed the DC shape slightly over the years. I have seen a full picture of that guitar somewhere and it had a Carvin headstock.

jj · #13 12-01-2005, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shred4Him

I don't know how new the guitar is. They have changed the DC shape slightly over the years. I have seen a full picture of that guitar somewhere and it had a Carvin headstock.

Good enough evidence for me. If Joey endorses Carvin then you have to figure it would be a Carvin on the album cover. Jason Becker and Marty Friedman also endorsed them for a short time back in 1988 on Cacophony's second album. But personally I thought their tone was too mid-range heavy on that disc. I much preferred the killer shred tone of the Hurricane guitars they were both using before that. Very hard to find guitars now. I've never seen one for sale anywhere. Not much info on the web about them either.

shred4Him · #14 12-02-2005, 08:22 AM

I have never played a Hurricane, but I have heard from many people on the JCF forum that they are junk guitars as far as players. They have more collectable value than playing value. If you want more info I think you should get a bunch with a search over there.

To be honest with you, I have no idea if Joey ever used a Carvin on any of his earlier recordings. Even on Plastic he could have used a bunch of different guitars. He just put a Duncan Distortion and a Mini bucker in a custom pickguard and screwed it on to the top of a DC model guitar. There are other pics of him using an Anderson with a maple fretboard, but that is Michael Sweet's guitar from when Joey was in his touring band. He also has some shots of himself holding a couple of stock Carvin guitars, but that was for a promo shoot and they weren't his guitars. You should just shoot him an e-mail. I don't know if he responds much anymore, but when he did he was really friendly and was easy with info.

jj · #15 12-02-2005, 03:27 PM

Must have been some killer custom pickups in those Hurricane guitars that Jason and Marty were using back then. Check out the silky-smooth shred tone on Jason's "Perpetual Burn" or Marty's "Dragon's Kiss" albums. Nice.