Riffing through some of the collection tonight and couldn't find a thread on the topic so I'm starting one.

Out of all of the Ibby's that I love, the guitars that I don't see a great deal of discussion/respect for are the Blazer reissues (BL1025/BL850) from 1997-1998.

I've not played the BL1025 (if anyone's selling one, I'm still looking!), but I now own 4 of the BL850s, and they're remarkably consistent in their quality.

It's got the classic V7 S7 V8 pickup combo in an Alder body, and to me it just sounds and plays fantastic. It's almost closer to a vintage styled RG550 than anything "Strat" related, and has one of the most comfortable thick necks I've ever played, with tone for days.

It's gotten to the point that it's a near compulsion for me to buy these whenever they pop up, given the quality of the guitar, and the low prices they usually sell for....so I guess the lack of notoriety worked out well for me.

I can't think of a better playing, feeling, sounding guitar that is so IMO criminally underrated.

What are some of your favorite unsung heroes of Ibanez history?

RG560. The H/S/S gets no love for some reason.

I completely agree about the Blazer reissues. I own several BL1025s (sorry, none are for sale) and one BL850. I have them configured with a variety of pickup combinations, including one that I converted to HSS and another that is now SSS. I think it's fair to say that these guitars are on par with any boutique strat currently made. The neck is fantastic and the hardware (Sperzels, Wilkinson VSVG trem...) is top notch. Interestingly, the pickups in the 850 are a better fit than the quirky JDLs they put in the 1025.

Since you asked about unsung heroes of Ibanez history... Another guitar that is WAY under the radar is the oddball RX750. It is MIJ with a mahogany body and padauk top. This model really has nothing in common with the rest of the low budget RX line. It was only made in one year and is the most uncommon of any Ibanez I've paid attention to. I was fortunate to pick one up in this forum about 8 years ago and am really glad I did. It's the only guitar I've even owned that I would describe as sounding "woody." I'd heard that term used to describe tone, but never knew what it meant until I happened upon this guitar.

Of course, this forum is pretty fixated on relatively recent Ibanez models (late 80s to the present). If you check out the Ibanez Collector's forum, those guys are deep into the older models. This company has a long and distinguished history and there are a lot of very cool guitars lurking out there.

Wow.... that's a great question Man. I think a lot of the low/mid grade guitars are far to often overlooked. In particular, I'm a big fan of the RGT42/47's. they were VERY well built neck-thru's with only one downfall.....the trem. Whether it had the Lo-Trs2, the EP2, or the Edge 3..the trem always killed these things........ I had an 03 RGT42 in flame red. after replacing the EP2 with an OFR, the guitar was as solid and reliable as my SL-1.... and the neck played BETTER!!! Here's what mine looked like.



I also thing the old Destroyers (Pre-DT years) were absolutely exquisite machines with quality that far exceeded Gibson at the time. These guitars seem to be all but forgotten....

I gotta agree with the RGT42. I threw a lo pro on mine and its my main player.

Superb guitars, aren't they??

...and speaking of Destroyers, the only lower-end Ibbie in my collection is a DT-200. That thing is a beast! Nice neck, great chunk from mahogany body, and stock pups aren't too shabby.

Yes, the 70's Destroyers are all but forgotten, and not close to underrated. Those are rated as one of the better Ibz copies of G-style guitars from the lawsuit era, or? So are the 'korina' rocket roll'ers... In good shape they usually go for a descent amount of money. Cool guitars.

I think the lipstick equipped Talman's from mid 90's are pretty underrated. Think it came with to different trems, and the one that I had had the really crappy one (but you could fit a wilkinson with no problems). The neck was great and so was the stock pickups. I miss mine.

radius series..... highly underrated once the JS series came out they were abandoned. I would love to see this line reinstated with different pup options and bridge options.

This is an extremely excellent guitar that I really regret getting rid of. Calling this guitar underrated might be a bit of a stretch since the RBM1 was not exactly cheap ($100 more than an RG770/RG770DX of the same year). But these are totally overlooked when compared with the RBM2. It doesn't help that Reb Beach himself is quoted as saying that only the RBM2 was good and the rest were total crap.

I find that to be a totally unfair statement, especially taken out of context. It's more fair to say that it's a totally different guitar than the RBM2. If you like early 90's MIJ Ibanez guitars with a Wizard neck, then you will love this guitar. I always felt that I only wanted 24-fret guitars, but this guitar totally changed my mind. Upper fret access is way better on this than on an RG and you find that you forget about the missing frets instantly. The HB2 bridge pickup is also totally amazing. It's a shame that Ibanez only used it on a few guitars which were mostly signature models.

I've been looking to get another one of these, but every time I see one the damn fool who is selling it has pulled the stock pickups!

Yes! I totally agree!!! I put a Super Distortion in the bridge of my DT-200 and a HuMbucker from Hell in the neck slot. It's an AMAZING guitar!!!! The only thing I kind of find myself wishing for on the guitar is a 25.5" scale with 24 frets. It's not that big a deal though. Great guitar!

Great question too!

I think the RG560 deserves more love too. Although, I STILL see an alleged prototype RG1560 in blue floating around on the bay with a maple board. I have no idea why this guitar doesn't sell. Is there some kind of story to it? If I have the scheckles I'd snatch it up.

I think in the overall guitar playing community the RG550 is very underrated. I can get so many sounds out of a 550 and 570 and all the HSH derivatives, yet Fender and Gibson snobs will look down on me for playing this guitar. Whatever!

The last minty original one I saw go sold for over 3 grand..difficult to say they're under rated!

My choice would be the Artists from '78-'86 or so, those guitars are superb. I tend to favor the AR-300s because that's what I played in bands throughout the 80's, but there were a lot of good ones.

I completely agree, and you can still buy a great vintage example for less than the modern re-issues.

In the current lineup, I'd say the Artcores are extremely underrated. Chinese-made, but that factory knows what they're doing. Great values.

Peace

Mike

I think the '86 prolines are underrated. How can you go wrong with an ebony board? Original top mount edge. Crazy pickup switching. Absolutely love mine.

This one? I didn't even know these existed.