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What pro line model is this?

5K views 20 replies 9 participants last post by  Miphue 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi,

Interesting axe I found recently. Apparently it's from 1986, and is a Pro Line - that's all I know. The pickups are obviously not original, but I can't find this model in any catalog





 

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#5 ·
Yes, I thoguht it might be a refin - but I can't find any neckthrough HH models, and even though this might be a refin, I can't find any signs of filling up the middle SC; As most other Pro Lines are HSS with slanted single-coils.

The horns also look a bit different, same with the curved side edges on the top. And lastly, can't see to find any traces of where the previous mini-buttons / switches should have been
 
#6 ·
Taking a wild guess that this might have been an artist/endorsement prototype? Back around that time(middle eighties?) Hoshino had shops in Bensleham, PA and Hollywood where some customs were built. Back in the early nineties, I found a new candy red RG from a store that went under. It looked like a typical RG550 of the day(but candy red with a red mirror pickguard), but had no serial on the headstock, a neck plate with Bensleham, PA and 21 engraved on it and a trussrod cover that was engraved Custom Made(apologies for the crappy photo as its all I have left).

I agree that it looks like a refin(but done super nice!!) and it also looks like it might have been a prototype for the RGT42-DR(the neck-thru and heel details look very much the same) The routing looks more like the middle-eighties RG440, which preceded the 1987 RG550.
 

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#10 ·
Nice axe!

I think this is probably a Japan only model - there were a few Prolines which were such, namely the PL650 (HSS, basswood body, rosewood fingerboard, no binding, Super 80 bridge pu), which some people call a Proline Jr, as it's the most basic spec'ed model

The only other I've seen similar to this is a bolt-on version, candy apple red finish, HH, but VVT (probably with push-push on the volumes, like Roadstars of the same year), three way switch. Don't know what the model number is though.

As others have said, this one is a refin (originally silver, which was one of the Proline colours in 1986-87), and the front of the body has been recarved with some bevels. They also got rid of the notches on the horns, which are characteristic of the Roadstar/Proline shape.

I'd say the only hardware that's original to the guitar is the bridge - characteristic white gold finish version fitted to the silver guitars –, the jack, and the base of the nut. The rest is all aftermarket.

The neck construction follows the norm for this series - same width as the fingerboard and five piece maple/walnut. Body wings would be alder, I imagine.

Looks like a cool guitar; first time I've seen a neck-through version.
 
#11 ·
Hi, it looks close to my 540P (shape of the body, to compare I attached a photo) wich was released in 1987, a bit later than yours. I never saw this one. But Ibanez was a lot experimenting at this time and it was pre-internet. It could be a Japan only release, a prototype, an artist model, a refinished PL ... Anyway, it looks cool.
 

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#12 ·
Also, don't think this is a custom or prototype. If it was, it would have no regular serial number like this one has. These two bucker types weren't in any Ibanez catalogue as far as I know (US, Europe or Japan).

Control layout is the same as the PL2550 but without the preset switching system.
 
#13 ·
Having done some more digging, the following may be the best guess:

In 1987, Proline models were still being produced in small quantities in Japan, perhaps using leftover stocks of necks and bodies from the preceding year. The Japanese catalogue from that year lists several models from the previous year (with slight changes to model names) as well as two new ones: in H and HH pu configurations.

The H model was the PL5510/5511, white and black respectively. The former came with a maple fingerboard, the latter with rosewood. The HH model was the PL7520/7521 (white and black), with the same overall specs apart from the extra pu and sharktooth inlays. Both came with the new V pups, bolt-on necks, and basswood bodies.

The one in the thread title has mostly PL2550 specs (silver finish, ebony fingerboard, neck through, binding, control layout) but in HH form. As many of us know, Ibanez in these years often did things which do not appear in catalogues as they were making a big transition in their line-up.
 
#15 ·
^^ They did indeed. To me, the P shape is still a bit different, especially the forearm cut (steeper).

I think this is the same guitar (scroll halfway down): www.diskantforum.se ? Visa tråd - Småsunkig Ibanez Proline.

Seems that the person who owned it at the time (2010) made the post, saying they refinished it and did other mods. Clearly has a pair of BLs, different knobs, and black trem.
 
#17 ·
Thanks for all the replies, got the guitar a couple of days ago, and some observations

- Yes, it's the same guitar as in the Swedish guitar forum. I'm Norwegian, and it was bought here in Norway, so makes sense that it made its way here sometime the past 10 years

- It was bought as a project guitar (according to previous owner),and probably stripped of parts. None of the current parts seem to match those in the pics from 2010 (which were all black)

- The top seems to have gotten quite some mods, so I think you're on the right track of this being a traditional PL that has been heavily modded. Instead of plugging the mini holes for the push switches, it seems that someone just put a long strip of wood there, going from top to bottom?

Same with the pickup area - seems that someone just replaced the middle / neck area with a slab of wood, and routed new hole for neck humbucker

See pictures




 
#19 ·
That strip of wood on the top is curious, and looks like a clean job too.

This is a stripped PL2550, and you can see how the neck goes through all the way and the way in which the maple and walnut are laminated together. If the pu route of yours is modified, someone went to a lot of trouble to replicate the appearance of the stock neck lamination..

 
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